First Lutheran Church
July 4, 2021
The Sacrament of Holy Baptism
Galatians 3:1-29 You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly exhibited as crucified! The only thing I want to learn from you is this: Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? Having started with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh? Did you experience so much for nothing?—if it really was for nothing. Well then, does God supply you with the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard? ….
Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. Therefore, the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.
“The Yardstick vs The Cross”
Pastor Greg Ronning
I want to begin today by taking some measurements. As you can see, I brought a yardstick with me. It may appear to you, as a normal yardstick - 36 inches long. However, this is no ordinary yardstick, this is a “spiritual yardstick.”This yardstick is only available to ordained ministers. (Sorry Jasmine.) We use it to measure faith. And so it is that today, I am going to be evaluating your faith, assessing your spirituality, taking stock of your righteousness;to see if you measure up to salvation. (Pastor Greg holds us yardstick and pretends to be measuring the people sitting in the pews.)It appears that some of you are doing better than others. Some of you are “barely saved.” Yeah, and some of you are right on the line. And a few of you, let me double check, yeah a few of you may be in trouble.
You know what I really like about this spiritual yardstick? The person holding it, always seems to measure up! Check it out, I measure in at over six feet. That’s a lot of faith. And Jasmine, (Pastor Greg closes one eye and holds yardstick out towards Jasmine) she measures in at only six inches. I really hope your second year of seminary will accelerate your spiritual growth!
This (holding up yardstick)is what’s going on in today’s reading from Galatians.On one of his missionary trips, St. Paul founded the churches in the region of Galatia. But now Paul is concerned that these churches have strayed away from his teachings about the death and resurrection. In chapter one he writes, “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel.” He adds, “there are some who are confusing you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.”
It seems that the churches in Galatia were doing fine, living in the grace of Christ, experiencing the fruits of the Spirit; until one day some other religious leaders showed up with their “spiritual yardsticks.” And using those “spiritual yardsticks” they, with the gift of eloquence, somehow convinced those good people of Galatia that their faith did not measure up, that grace, that the cross of Christ, was not enough, and that they were thus in fact,not good people. Their message - It was not enough to believe in Jesus, they also had to fulfill the Jewish law.Salvation demanded both faith andgood works, strict adherence to the Law of Moses. And consequently, none of them measured up!
In today’s reading Paul responds, “You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?” The Contemporary English Version translates Paul’s response more emphatically, “You stupid Galatians! I told you exactly how Jesus Christ was nailed to a cross. Has someone now put an evil spell on you?”You stupid foolish Galatians, you gave up the cross, grace and mercy,- for a yardstick, the law that condemns!
Unfortunately, this two-thousand-year-old story from Galatia continues to be lived out even today. Everywhere we go, and even at church, even in Lutheran churches, we encounter “spiritual yardsticks.” We encounter situations where people remind us that we don’t measure up. And they have “bewitched”us! They hit us in our weak spot and get our full attention. We’re all afraid that we don’t measure up.
And out of fear, we let others judge our faith as lacking, our spirituality as insufficient, and our salvation as untenable. And sadly, we begin to fall away from our beloved-ness, the beloved-ness proclaimed in our baptism. “Foolishly” we fall away from the “cross” and begin to cling to the “yardstick.”And in fear, feeling unloved, we fall deeper into the viscous circles of “measurement,” until we find ourselves holding the yardstick, judging others to justify ourselves, finding and creating scapegoats to satisfy the false righteousness of a false gospel.Finding a dishonest salvation in the condemnation of others. Sometimes we all go the way of, “You foolish Galatians!”We lose our grip on grace and fall into the anxiety of works righteousness.
Yet today, in the sacrament of Holy Baptism, we are reminded that we are saved, made whole, defined, and set free in the death and resurrection of Jesus. We are reminded that nothing more is needed. We are a people of the “Cross” and not the “Yardstick!”The cross reveals that we are loved, the cross sets us free, – in Christ God’s love is complete.We are, by grace and love, the beloved children of God. In Christ the yardstick has been forever broken! (Pastor Greg breaks the yardstick in two!)
Martin Luther wrote, “A (person) becomes a Christian, not by working but by listening.” It’s not about measuring up, it’s about letting go, and listening to the gospel, trusting in the promises of baptism, “You are my child, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” Luther adds,“And so, anyone who wants to exert (themselves) toward righteousness must first exert (themselves) in listening to the gospel.” You are “saved,” “made whole,” “set free,” not by doing good works but by listening, listening with your heart! Put your energy into your listening skills not in trying to justify yourself by doing good works.
I hope you “heard” the gospel this morning as we celebrated the sacrament of Holy Baptism. I hope that you “heard” in the promises spoken to Gavin, promises also being spoken to you. But just in case you did not hear it, I want to conclude this sermon with my baptism song, “One More Life.” Today I sing it for Gavin, and I sing it for each of you, and I sing it for myself. May we all hear and believe the promise of the Gospel. “Let those who have ears, hear!”
“One More Life”
One more life, a bright shining light
One more hope, that the world will be all right
You're a miracle child, Love made alive
Water falls from heaven, as God says you're mine
God says you're mine
One more heart, begun by You
One more soul, and hey all things are new
And soon you'll know your name, love's made its claim
Heaven will be calling you, and you'll never be the same
You'll never be the same
And you'll never be alone, when you feel lonely
You'll always be loved, yeah, you're part of a family
Something's happened today that can never fade away
When God comes down from heaven, He's here to stay
Here to stay
In one more life, one more life,
One more life, one more life
You're a miracle child
Love made alive
Water falls from heaven
God says you're mine
God says you're mine
Amen.