The Means to the End :: Galatians 5:25-6:10
Are you a realist or an idealist? A pessimist or an optimist?
Before you answer, let me clarify the terms: A realist is someone who views things as they really are. They’re the ones who face facts and deals with them accordingly. An idealist is someone who cherishes or pursues high or noble principles, purposes, and goals in every facet of life; they are the visionaries of the world. Pessimists tend to see the worst aspect in things ... they are the glass is half-empty people; whereas optimists are always hopeful and confident ... the glass is half full.
I’d be willing to guess that if we don't kid ourselves, most of us are a combination of all these things, to some degree or another. We are realists in everyday living and idealists with ourselves. We take pride in our own conduct and work ethics and are absolute moralists who believe right is right and wrong is wrong. But we also are realists, especially when we look at ourselves in the mirror and realize the person I see reflected isn’t the one I had pictured in my mind.
People do the same sort of thing with their faith-life. When we see sin in others, we think the worst; but within ourselves, we hope for the best. We think that we are better people than we really are. We are afraid to confess our sins, to drag them into the light; afraid that God could never forgive me for that ... whatever that may be.
So we hide. We lose step with the Spirit. Then, all too often, we forget why we’re here this morning ... and by that I don’t mean we forget because we’re old; no, we forget because that’s what sinners do. We fail to examine ourselves, to scope out our own faults (v. 1), so that we can actually receive the forgiveness of sins God actually gave to you yesterday, has given to you today, and is giving to you forever. We forget our failings, and we polish the things we think are strengths ... and at times, we sing with more gusto ... so that Presto! ... we can convince ourselves that we are better and more pious than we actually are.
Our text today for this Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity is encouraging us to be honest and realistic about the realities of the real and ideal Christian life.
So in his letter to the Galatians, Saint Paul says ...
DON’T KID YOURSELF: HE’S THE ONE WHO KEEPS YOU IN STEP WITH THE SPIRIT.
1. The Word of God challenges us to stop kidding ourselves about who we are ... to get back into step with who he wants us to be (v. 25).
Saint Paul is pulling no punches as he addresses our conduct and the situation in which we live. He says IF we are who we confess to be ... that is, children of God, baptized into Christ, being led by the Holy Spirit to receive his means of grace ... which actually deliver to us the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation ... then we must live differently than the world around us ... resisting the works of the flesh (5:19-21), examining ourselves, mending each other, bearing each other’s burdens, sharing everything we have, and stop deceiving ourselves. He reminds us pointedly that God deals with reality ... not with our idealistic fantasies ... those thoughts that we are forgiven just because, that we are good to go just because, and that we can all take care of ourselves. Don’t be deceived, God is not mocked (v. 7).
In other words, don’t kid yourself ... you are not who you think you are.
2. God deals with what is, not with what we hope to transform ourselves into or what we think we are. This is how he keeps us in step.
He says, Let’s not become conceited ... that is having empty glory ... provoking one another, envying one another (v. 26). ... Stay in step with the Spirit. When we stay in step with the Spirit ... when we follow the promptings of God ... he leads us to the altar, where he delivers to us the means of grace, and where he brings heaven to those of us on earth.
As Paul says that as the child of God, being led in the Spirit, he will change how you live and think and speak ... he will change the gifts you desire. His changes are not something forced upon you. It is something God makes possible for you .. through his means of grace ... in particular, in baptism, absolution, and the Lord’s Supper.
There’s been a lot of religious claptrap written and spoken for far too many years about how God totally transforms those who “believe.” Don’t kid yourselves: God doesn’t make us holy the way that so many evangelicals depict it, that suddenly you will stop sinning, that suddenly you will be a better Christian. To be clear: God does transform you, declaring you will be holy because he is holy (Lev 19:2); that he will pour clean water on you and you will be clean (Eze 36:35); and that he will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you (Eze 36:26). And as our Old Testament reading for today reminds us: He will provide you with the bread of life every day on account of our faith in Christ (1 Kgs 17:14).
He transforms us by uniting his word with the water and the bread and wine to forgive, nourish, refresh, cleanse. Through his means of grace, which he delivers through his Divine Service to you, to bring you love, joy, peace, long-suffering, meekness, goodness, faith, and self-control (5:22-23) ... God opens the door of possibilities. No kidding!
3. God has promised to keep you in step through his means of grace.
Wouldn’t that be awesome to rejoice all the company of heaven in these means of grace every chance we get ... to be reminded that the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation are ours not just periodically, but all the time ... and that on account of our life in Christ we can now bear witness to God bringing heaven to earth!?
If we live in the Spirit, in the Spirit let us also stay in step (v. 25). These means usher us into his heavenly paradise. As Luther wrote in the Large Catechism: “Baptism is not a work that we do but ... a treasure that God gives us and faith grasps. ... We must regard baptism and put it to use in such a way that we may draw strength and comfort from it when our sins or conscience oppress us ... [So] say: ‘I am baptized! And if I have been baptized, I have the promise that I shall be saved and have eternal life, both in soul and body.” (LC IV 37, 44)
This is an expression of true faith in Christ. In the same way, the Sacrament of the Altar is necessary to nourish troubled souls. It is food for the soul, for it nourishes and strengthens the new creature. In the first instance, we are born anew through baptism. However, our human flesh and blood, as I have said, have not lost their old skin. There are so many hindrances and attacks of the devil and the world that we often grow weary and faint and at times even [lose step]. Therefore, the Lord’s Supper is given as a daily food and sustenance so that our faith may be refreshed and strengthened and that it may ... become stronger and stronger (LC V 23-24).
This is why we shouldn’t kid ourselves into thinking we are strong enough on our own merits ... and in our own preparations for the Lord’s Supper. Don’t kid yourself: The devil is still out there, attacking and tempting Christians to turn away from the forgiveness of sins provided in these means of grace. These means of grace are shields that protect us until the Lord returns to take us from this valley of sorrows. These means of grace strengthen each of us ... You ... the Spiritual Ones ... [to] mend each other in a spirit of meekness.
So receive the sacraments as often as possible. This is a primary way we can bear one another’s burdens, and in this manner fulfill the law of Christ.
4. No kidding: That is exactly how Christ keeps us in step with the Spirit.
Jesus lived His entire life for us without sin and trespass, and then died for us, fulfilling all of his promises to us, for us, through us. Our Lord Jesus showed us exactly what love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control really is ... He took all of our burdens upon himself; he carried all of our sorrows to the cross, and he took our punishment from us, dying the death we deserve. Then on account of the baptism he gave us, we are being raised into the newness of life in paradise. Baptism now saves us (1 Pt 3:21).
His word isn’t an empty word. Our Lord Jesus Christ has lived for you, died for you, and is raising you into eternal life ... as he brings you back into step in His Divine Service to you, where he loves you just as he expects us to love each other. Here we come to understand the true mystery of godliness: that though he was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death even death on a cross (Phil 2:5-6). Here he could be giving us his body and blood that deliver the tangible forgiveness of sins. Christ won this gift for us so that by his wounds we can be healed (1 Pt 2:24).
Brothers and sisters in Christ, don’t kid yourself, Jesus urges us to come to receive eternal life. The comfort and strength we receive from his sacrificial love empowers us to stay in step with the Spirit.
And now you can understand what Jesus told us himself in our Gospel reading. I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was wrapped around like one of these (Matt 6:30).
It’s a done deal: You are saved. Just as surely as you crucified with Christ (Gal 2:20) and raised into eternal life (Rm 6:4), our Lord lives in you and you in him. He will keep you in step with the Spirit, constantly forgiving you and cleansing you ... clothing you in his righteousness ... to your good and his glory ... in Jesus’ name.