Freedom of Faith

Galatians 4:21-5:1

Law and faith have two different ears.  They hear and perceive reality very differently.  And so they hear and perceive truth in stories very differently.

And we get a glimpse in today’s reading into the two different ways that Paul and the teachers heard the story of Ishmael and Isaac.

For the teachers the main point to take away from the story
was that Isaac, not Ishmael was the rightful heir,
Isaac was born of Sarah,
Isaac was the son promised of God.
And the teachers probably taught that the Galatians are like the descendants of Ishmael,
Ishmael was born of Hagar, Sarah’s slave,
Ishmael did not inherit the promise of Abraham.
But, the Galatian community can become part of that promise by becoming like Isaac in being circumcised, in following the law.  
This is how the teachers probably heard and communicated the story.  
And so the Galatians are being told that they can become right with God, 
they can make themselves acceptable, if only they will do x, y, and z.

But Paul looks at this logic and calls it bondage, calls it slavery.

For Paul, the story of Abraham’s two sons needs to be read as an allegory,
not as a literal historical foundation for ethnic identity.

So what’s an allegory?

Merriam-Webster defines allegory as “a story in which the characters and events are symbols that stand for ideas about human life or for a political or historical situation.”

As a side note, I think this is a very helpful way to read scripture
When we find that a certain passage doesn’t seem relevant or make sense when read literally.
Early Christians would read Psalms that wish terrible things on their enemies and read them allegorically – wishing terrible things on their inner enemies, anger, fear, self-doubt, anxiety.
Contrary to what modern liberal or fundamentalist scholars might suggest, scripture has an abundance of meaning and this is why we can return to a passage and mull over it and find a fresh and new way to hear it for our situation, for our lives, for our souls.

And so Paul sees that the literal sense of this story of Isaac and Ishmael is not relevant for the Galatian community in light of Christ.

So he suggests it be read as an allegory.

Paul reads the two children of Abraham as symbols of two spiritual realities.

Isaac is the spiritual child of faith.
While Ishmael is the spiritual child of human efforts.

The one is free because faith frees.  The other is a child of slavery because human efforts to attain peace of mind and salvation are self-defeating – they come out of a desire to control our reality and so are unrealistic from the start.

There are two realms of spiritual reality, Paul is saying.
And the Galatians began in the realm of freedom by the Spirit who accepted them as they are and loved them into relationship with God and with one another.

But they are being brought into slavery by this new teaching that in order to perfect their spirituality, they must follow the law.

So much of why people have been burned by church comes from this dependence upon law.  It is a kind of spiritual sickness that only grace can heal.

Churches teach that if only you do x, y, and z, God will love you and you will be safe with God.  But the gospel is just the opposite – whatever you do or don’t do.  God loves you and nothing can separate you from God’s love.

There’s another allegory that came to mind.
John Bunyan writes in his book Pilgrim’s Progress that the one who depends on law is like someone sweeping dust in a room.

“Then he took him by the hand, and led him into a very large parlour that was full of dust, because never swept; the which after he had reviewed a little while, the Interpreter called for a man to sweep. Now, when he began to sweep, the dust began so abundantly to fly about, that Christian had almost therewith been choked. Then said the Interpreter to a damsel that stood by, Bring hither the water, and sprinkle the room; the which, when she had done, it was swept and cleansed with pleasure.”

For Bunyan, that sweeper represents the person who depends upon law to order their life.  But since law has no power to heal the inner anger and frustration, pain, loneliness, anxiety – the law just sweeps the dust into the air and creates a neverending headache of a job.

What is needed is the water of grace.

I read that quote from Frederick Buechner a couple of months ago and bears repeating:

He writes:
“The grace of God means something like: Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are because the party wouldn't have been complete without you. Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid. I am with you. Nothing can ever separate us. It's for you I created the universe. I love you.”

What we crave more than anything in our souls is the peace that only grace can give.

And it is held out to us, if not by anyone in our lives (and I think many people have that person in their lives that consistently becomes a fountain of fresh water for their grace starved souls)

But it is held out to us by the Spirit of God through the promise of God’s everlasting love.

It doesn’t take long for me.  I’ll speak for myself here.  To forget grace.

All it takes is another paper deadline and the anxiety kicks in.

Life is full of anxious possibilities.  And life is full of frustrating realities.

It’s not hard for that dust to get kicked up.

But as long as we are trying to sweep it by the sheer will of our human efforts, as long as we are not trusting in God’s care, we will find ourselves sweeping ad nauseum.

And so Paul concludes powerfully with this statement:

For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

In other words:  It is for freedom that you are set free by God’s grace.  Don’t let anyone tell you different.  Don’t let someone tell you that God will only love you if you do, x, y, or z.  God’s not like that, that’s some human creation of God.  It is for freedom Christ has set us free.

Be free.

Amen.