David’s StarEvangelicalLutheranChurchPastor Kurt Loescher
Jackson—Kirchhayn, WisconsinJune 14-17, 2007
The Third Sunday After Pentecost
Galatians 1:11-24
I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.
For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. But when God, who set me apart from birthand called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus.
Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter and stayed with him fifteen days. I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord's brother. I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie. Later I went to Syria and Cilicia. I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only heard the report: "The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy." And they praised God because of me.
In the name of Jesus,
“What kind of a wacko cult-like church is this? You people just aren’t normal.” Have you ever heard that accusation made toward you or your church after someone actually finds out what you and your church really believe? Take our readings for today for example. In two of them there are people who were brought back to life. Now, it’s ok in most circles to understand these stories as just that—stories. But do you actually believe that it really happened that way, that those raisings from the dead were actual historical events?
I hate to tell you this but, while in Jackson around our circles of family and friends it is expected that we believe these things, in the world, in the circles of thinking people—intellectuals, you say this and you lose all credibility.
In the letter to the Galatians, Paul was fighting to regain credibility among the Galatians and he was doing it by defending the message he proclaimed. It was the message of the gospel that was and always will be the power to override the pride of the human mind and change the heart toward God. It has that power because it is the power of God. This Gospel that we believe is its own proof that it is true and right. It is living and active to convict the sinful heart and convince it of God’s gracious gift of forgiveness. It’s truly amazing.
The Gospel is Out of this World
It is not the product of great thinkers
Some people who opposed Paul approached the churches in Galatia and attacked Paul’s credibility by saying that the Gospel he was preaching was something he came up with on his own. This gospel of Paul they said was not the sanctioned message of the Apostles in Jerusalem. Paul is just a loose cannon spreading his own ideas in order to gain followers and notoriety.
Paul’s point here and the truth we marvel at today is that this gospel that we also believe and confess is not something that a person could come up with on his own. It’s out of this world. All of the great thinkers of the world have come up with different sometimes fascinating religious notions about who god is and how we relate to him. But they all have the same basic philosophy, that is, that we must please a god or gods by how we live and how we relate to them. The best the great thinkers can come up with can look wonderful. They are sometimes elaborate systems of thought and conduct that make a person look really good in the eyes of the rest of humanity. Some can look so good that it causes Christians to think, “Surely, that person is in heaven.” Most of us know of Mahatma Ghandi. He was a very good man. He never showed anything but love and compassion for anyone else—even his enemies. His very being proclaimed peace to all around him. Any thinking person would assume that Ghandi was one of the people of the history of humanity that was close to God. But that’s because people can’t know the Gospel. The greatest thinkers can never come up with what we know and believe. Paul’s letter to the Romans, “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.” Even the greatest most compassionate people of the world, even the Ghandis of the world when measured against the law of God are found woefully wanting. Their sins condemn them. Their goodness is sin stained and worthless to justify them before the holy and just God. Ghandi’s Hindu religion like all other religionsof the world is flawed with the only way the human mind can think—I must please god.
We know that thinking, too, don’t we? When sister Theresa died, Christians around the globe whether they were Roman Catholic or not thought that she was not only in heaven, but that she had a special place in heaven. Why? Well, she was such a good person. We might find ourselves saying it at the funeral of a faithful Christian. “Oh he has a special place right next to God because he was such a good person.” That is a normal sinful reaction. It is the default setting for the sinful mind. We will always go back to the only way the sinful mind can think. We must please God. That’s the notion that is in the world, but the gospel is out of this world. It is the wonderful revealed truth of God.
It is the revealed truth of our Great God
The gospel says the exact opposite of where our minds would have us go. We cannot please God, we will never want to please God and we wouldn’t know how to please God. We are by sin entirely inept, so God came to us. God had to relate to us by sending his Holy Spirit to give us understanding that we wouldn’t otherwise have. The Holy Spirit had ot create a new heart and spirit within us so that we could accept that we are by nature enemies of God and sinful to the core. The Holy Spirit had to teach us that God is not only holy and angry toward our sins, but he is also loving and willing to make the necessary atonement for our sins. God had to become one of us to live a life that pleased God. God had to be one of us to pay the price that atoned for all the sins of all the human race. God had to do everything to reestablish a pleasing relationship between us because we can’t do anything at all. None of these great thinkers understand that at all. They are far from him because the gospel doesn’t come from them. Even if they would come across this truth, they wouldn’t accept it without the power of the Holy Spirit changing their hearts.
I don’t think any of us think of ourselves as living a good enough life that we shouldn’t have any problem getting to heaven, do we? We believe that Jesus died for our sins making us holy and giving us free access to God restoring a loving family relationship with God our Father? None of us thought about that on our own. None of us believe it because our parents or teachers or pastors taught us. No, it was revealed to us through their teaching, but we believe it because of the power of the message itself and the wonderful working of the Holy Spirit. This powerful message is out of this world and is capable of turningthe hardest heart to Christ. It is capable of consoling the most guilt ridden heart. It can even work in us all a faith in Jesus who presents us to the Father as holy and blameless.
Is that a wacko, cult-like teaching? No, but it’s not normal. The normal, natural mind of man, even when it does hear and grasp the idea of the gospel, does not understand or accept it because it doesn’t come from their way of thinking. How special! How amazing that God has granted us to not only grasp this heavenly, holy truth, but he has also caused us to believe it. The Holy Spirit has overcome our sinful hearts and renewed us to think like Christ. Thank him that we believe a Gospel that is out of this world. Amen.