Boasting in Jesus Christ

Okay, thanks so much, Gary. Folks, keep that passage open in front of you in Galatians chapter 6.

Galatians 6 · chapter mention

! According to website L.com, E-L-L-E, avid readers I'm sure you are.

Here's what's making something of a comeback in the world of high street fashion.

The cross pendant. Now if you're there, you're here, and you're wearing one today, then go ahead and enjoy the next five,

five seconds, knowing that you are bang on trend.

And let me then burst your bubble and tell you why it's really strange.

Suppose for a minute that we were to jump in a time machine, travel back to the first century,

and walk around the region of Galatia, what is now modern day Turkey, wearing a cross around our necks.

People would not be thinking bang on trend.

People would be squinting and looking at us with a puzzled expression,

and they would likely ask us, why on earth are you wearing a symbol of torture, of humiliation, and agonizing death?

That's the thing that criminals are executed on, and where they are made an example of.

And you're wearing it around your neck? What's the matter with you?

And case in point would be Jesus of Nazareth.

You see, the Romans, in the first century, looked at Jesus on the cross, and they concluded powerless.

The Greeks looked at Jesus on the cross, and they concluded foolishness.

The Jews looked at Jesus on the cross, and they concluded cursed by God.

But have a look at verse 14 of Galatians chapter 6.

Galatians 6 · chapter mention

And remember that Paul, the guy writing this letter, was formerly one of those Jews who looked at Jesus and thought good riddance.

But now having encountered the risen Jesus, he now looks at what Jesus did on the cross, and he says,

My boast.

My glory, my revel, my pride, my everything, my boast.

And fast forward 2,000 years, and here's Alice, a girl from Cumbria, studying to be a vet.

Her life totally different from this man, Paul, and yet she's declaring exactly the same thing.

Curious, isn't it?

As so many people in our world see the futility and fleeting nature of what modern culture holds out to us.

And as people today are looking for a bigger and a truer story to anchor themselves in.

One that spans the generations and is swept like wildfire across the nations.

It really is curious.

And it's worth reflecting on the durability and timeless nature of the Christian faith.

I was listening just the other day to a young man in his 30s called James.

James was talking about how growing up he swallowed a secular mantra.

And try this one on for size when it comes to genius atheist marketing.

He said, this is what I heard.

I heard the mantra that science will fly you to the moon, but religion will fly you into buildings.

And he thought, genius.

Got it.

A snappy slogan, he said, that had me hook, line and sinker.

But years later, reflecting on the mental health and meaning crisis facing his generation,

he thought to himself,

maybe there is something in this Christianity stuff that I was so quick to dismiss.

And turning to the Bible, he finds in the person of Jesus and specifically at the cross of Jesus,

a message that is both compelling and true.

You know, I wonder if you, maybe you're here this morning and you're somebody that I think G.K. Chesterton was thinking of all those years ago

when he said the Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting.

It's been found difficult and left untried.

You see, Paul, as he finishes his letter to the people in these churches in Galatia,

as a church, we've been through this letter over the last couple of months.

And the words in this section might be different, but here's the thing.

The base is exactly the same.

Nothing's changed in his final plea.

Here's the big thing.

Really simply, Jesus is all you need.

Jesus is all you need.

And he's going for one last big play,

one last big pitch in this letter.

That's what the whole

see with what large letters I write thing

is all about.

In case you were thinking, what on earth is that?

Because here's what would have been going on.

Paul would have been dictating this letter to a scribe

up until this point.

But now, as it were,

he takes the scroll, he grabs the quill,

and he goes to town on the papyrus.

You can imagine that whoever has the task

of reading out this letter in these churches,

holding it out so that everyone can see at this point,

and saying,

hey guys, we know that handwriting.

It's him.

It authenticates Paul.

But it does way more than that.

This is his way of getting their attention.

What would we do when we send emails today,

or texts, or WhatsApp messages?

What's really important is the text in bold,

font size large, underlined.

You need to get this.

If you get one thing, get this.

And this is what Paul's doing here.

He's saying, you've got to understand this

as I leave you.

And what really simply we have in this passage

is a comparison in boasting.

And here's the reality for all of us this morning, friends.

We're all boasting in something.

Something gets each of us out of bed in the morning.

Something gives purpose to each of our days.

Something provides the reason for our existence.

Something means that we think there is a future.

Something, that something is what we boast in.

The only question is, what is it?

So here's this comparison in boasting.

Firstly, from verse 12, he gives you these false teachers

who've invaded this church, these churches in this region.

And they're peddling the mantra

that faith in Jesus is a cracking start.

But if you really want to perfect your faith,

if you really mean business,

if you really want to be in,

then you must add to your faith

a suite of Jewish religious practices.

So Jesus isn't quite enough.

It is Jesus plus the addition of all this stuff.

That's the solution to your problem.

And Paul in this message, he says,

see if you strip it back.

Really, this is just three quite simple, hollow things.

Number one, these guys are all about,

just see it in the text,

these guys are all about self-promotion.

So they're after boasting in how many converts they make.

That's their skin in the game.

They're not really interested in you.

Right?

It's like when you phone up a call center

and they say your call is really important to us

and you think, well, if I'm caller number 362,

I'm not quite sure that's true.

That's what he's saying here.

They don't care.

You're just a number to them.

You're just a statistic to them.

You're a tally mark.

And what does it come down to?

Verse 12, what do they want?

They just want to impress people

with the number of converts that they've made.

Number two, these guys are all about self-preservation.

They just don't want to be persecuted

for what they believe in.

Do you know, a message that says at its heart,

really, it's still all about you

and what you do and what you contribute.

That kind of goes down well with the world.

Okay, you do your Jewish things,

but we'll do our pagan things.

We'll do our other things.

And we're all kind of in the same game here.

We just all think we're working our way to God.

Christianity is completely different.

But these guys don't want to be persecuted.

A state-approved religion is not a threat to the world.

And three, these guys,

their message really is all about self-help.

Saying that there is something that you can do

to contribute something to your salvation.

But Paul says, verse 13,

do you see the emptiness of it all?

They don't even keep the law themselves.

So the very thing that they want you to do,

they don't even do it themselves.

Do you see how hollow that is?

These teachers, they talk big.

But at the end of the day, there's no fruit.

And here's the drum that Paul's been banging

all the way through this letter.

It's a mindset.

It's a mindset.

Thinking that by cleaning up your outside,

your inside is going to follow.

Think again.

It just doesn't work like that.

You've got a completely the wrong way around.

But do you know what does work?

Do you know what really does work?

It's the thing that I'm about to tell you

I'm about to boast in.

Verse 14.

I boast in the cross of Jesus Christ.

And you think, hang on a minute.

That brutal form of execution?

How does that work?

What did Paul find?

What has Alice found as they both look

at the old rugged cross?

Friends, that's the place where you and I see

what God really thinks of us.

The cross says two things to us.

It says, number one, that you and I are more broken

and rebellious and lost than we stop to think.

And let's be honest, that's really jarring.

Because we're not used to that kind of talk

in our culture.

Right?

At kids' sports days today,

everybody wins.

At Pass the Parcel,

if you watched that Bluey episode,

everybody gets a prize.

That's the reason that love hearts

are still one of the best-selling items

from the sweetie aisle at the supermarket.

You're the best.

You're awesome.

You're perfect.

You're number one.

The cross says, no, we're not.

We're not.

We're really, really not.

And deep down, friends,

we know that that's true.

We look out and we see that.

We look inside and we feel that.

Multifaceted problems.

Multifaceted problems.

And it's really interesting

because the Bible,

into these multifaceted problems,

gives us a multi-angle definition of sin.

lives that fall short of God's standards,

missing the mark,

minds that are darkened,

desires that are bent out of shape,

lives that long to worship,

but look for that object of worship

in all the wrong places,

hearts that suppress the truth,

like a beach ball holding it underwater,

suppressing the truth,

the things that we know to be true.

And I'm really glad that the Bible does that.

Because when I came to Jesus

and I read his diagnosis

of the world out there

and the heart in here,

it fitted hand in glove.

The cross declares to you and I publicly

that there is a problem.

A problem so big and unsolvable by us

that God sent his son, Jesus,

who willingly stepped into our earthly existence,

who knew pain,

who knew grief,

who knew mocking,

who knew injustice,

and all of those things culminating

in the only perfect one

being crucified on a Roman cross.

It says there at the cross

that God is just.

In our world where we long for justice,

that's what the cross declares,

that every evil thing,

every bit of suffering,

everything that's wrong with the world,

that declares to us the cross that it's true.

God's just.

He is perfectly just.

He cannot just sweep sin under the carpet.

What kind of God would he be

if that was what he did?

God's justice,

his wrath,

his anger,

all of human sin and evil.

Jesus goes to the cross

and pays the penalty for it all.

And no one puts this better than

John Stott.

And this quote stopped me in my tracks this week

when I was preparing for this.

Can I just read it to you?

See if this connects.

He says this.

Every time we look at the cross,

Christ seems to say to us,

I am here because of you.

It is your sin that I am bearing,

your curse that I am suffering,

your debt that I am paying,

your death that I am dying.

Nothing in all the universe

cuts us down to size

like the cross.

All of us have inflated views of ourselves,

especially in self-righteousness

until we have visited

a place called Calvary.

It is there

at the foot of the cross

that we shrink

to our true size.

And it is there, friends,

that Paul and Alice

and every single believer bows

because it is the place

that says,

my sin put him there.

It declares there is a problem

in the cross,

but here is the wonderful second thing

that it declares,

that you and I are more loved

and known than we could ever

hope possible.

Paul has already talked about that

back in chapter two.

He talked about the Son of God

and Alice quoted it,

didn't she?

Of the Son of God

who loved me.

And it is really interesting there

that he goes personal.

He doesn't say us,

which would have been true.

He says me.

Jesus loved me.

And Paul, of all people,

knows that he deserved

nothing but the opposite.

That is the guy with dead Christians

on his conscience.

He says,

Jesus loved me.

Jesus was patient with me.

Jesus showed grace

and kindness to me

when I didn't deserve it.

And that's where he showed it.

At the cross.

And so bring these two things together,

friends.

Do you see the perfect justice of God

and the unfailing,

unrivaled love of God?

They kiss at the cross.

Some of you might remember,

you might be of a vintage,

that you remember tennis player

from years ago,

a female tennis player

called Chris Avert.

Some of you will have no idea

what I'm talking about,

but some of you will know.

She was formidable in her day.

I think her career win-loss record

was the best of any singles player

in history.

But here's the really interesting thing

I read this week.

See, she contemplated retirement.

The massive success of her career.

She was utterly petrified

of giving it up.

Here's what she said in this interview.

She said,

winning made me feel

like I was somebody.

It made me feel pretty.

It was like being hooked on a drug.

I needed the wins,

the applause,

in order

to have

an identity.

Now listen,

tennis might not be your thing.

You might not know

your forehand

from your backhand,

but sketch what she's saying

onto each of our lives.

What is the thing?

What is the thing

that we're all looking to

to give us that sense

of being somebody?

Putting in

the work at the gym,

in front of the mirror,

cramming at the library,

extra hours at the office,

trying to get your kids

into that school,

contemplating taking

the bigger mortgage

to get the house.

Listen,

none of these things

in and of themselves

are bad.

But whatever that thing is,

it's as if Jesus

would come alongside

to us and say,

listen,

what's really going on

in your heart?

What's the applause

you're living for?

What's the thing

that you are seeking?

Listen,

see,

whatever it is,

is it going to be enough?

Whatever it is,

you're chasing bubbles.

You know that song,

they fly so high,

they reach the sky,

and like my dreams,

they fade and die?

What has Paul found

at the cross?

Why does he boast?

Because he's found

everything that he needs.

He's found the one

applause worth living for.

Because he's found

at the cross,

he's found in Jesus

the way to be reconciled

with the living God.

The God that he thought

he was pursuing

in all the wrong ways,

the God that met him

in Christ,

he's been reconciled

reconciled to the living God.

And he's been saved

to know the living God.

And it was nothing

to do with him.

What greater purpose

is there in the world,

according to Paul,

than to experience

that possibility?

And that's why Paul says,

I boast.

I boast in the thing

that made me right

with my creator.

I boast in the place

where the justice

of God is seen.

I boast in the place

where the love of God

is seen.

And I boast about the fact

that I can know

this God is my Father.

And do you see

in this text

how he doesn't leave it there.

He kind of drills it down.

Notice the two C's.

What does that mean

for our lives

if we follow this Christ?

It means,

first of all,

do you see

that the world

has been crucified

to us?

Paul says,

I have been crucified

to the world.

And caught up in that

word world

is a whole plethora

of values,

of desires,

of ambitions,

of logic,

of thinking,

of the God-doesn't-exist

mindset.

And Paul said,

now the world,

ambition,

status,

value,

all these things

that I once pursued,

they no longer

have the entrancing

appeal

that they once

had in my life.

And guess what?

It works both ways.

I have been,

as it were,

untethered

from the world.

I don't recognize

the world.

And it works both ways

because the world

doesn't recognize me.

It thinks I'm bonkers.

But guess what?

I don't care

what the world

thinks of me

and I don't want

what the world

has to offer me.

because I have been

crucified to the world

and the world

has been crucified to me.

And by implication of that,

to drill down

into application.

Friends,

I faced up to this

language this week.

Faced up to the language

this week of that word

crucified.

And faced up to the

many, many ways

that my heart

is still drawn out

to dance the tango

with the world.

I don't know

do you know

what's going to

wean me off that

the best?

It's when we see

the second C

that he talks about here.

It's the word

counts.

What now counts?

What now is the

ultimate thing

in Paul's eyes?

He says,

have you been circumcised

or haven't you

been circumcised?

That's the wrong question.

If that's the question

that you're drawn to,

can I suggest

your horizons

are way too small?

It doesn't matter.

What matters,

verse 15,

is the new creation.

That because of what

Jesus did for you

and because the Spirit

now lives in you

and because God

is now your Father,

you have every single

reason to live.

the old you

has gone.

Have you ever thought

about the fact

that that's what

a baptism service

is?

It is the funeral

service of the old you.

And it is,

if you like,

the birthday party

of the new you.

You are a new person.

God has saved you

and he's called you

out of the darkness

to live in his

wonderful light

and to live in a new

way of life.

A life because of

the Spirit

that is slowly

and gradually

producing marks

of the new age.

It's a wonderful thing

to think about.

Maybe if you're

slightly older

in the Christian life,

many people tell me

that they're struggling

with old age.

Listen,

that might be

absolutely true.

But here's the challenge

is you grow

and experience

the old age.

Why not make it

your thing

to excel

in showing

the evidences

of the new age?

Love,

joy,

peace,

patience,

kindness,

goodness,

faithfulness,

gentleness,

self-control.

Younger people,

if you want to be

a revolutionary today,

remember what it was like

being your age.

You get what I mean?

Leaving university,

at university,

with plans to change

the world,

and then getting

beyond university

and then realizing

that I've got not a lot

to offer.

But if you want to be

a revolutionary today,

don't think fight,

think fruit.

Display in your life

those things.

In our world,

it just seems to be

so angry.

Angry.

Why not excel

in displaying

kindness

and patience

and self-control?

Do you know

what those things are?

They are evidence

that Jesus reigns

in your life.

And as somebody

reminded us

in our home group

last week,

we should be better

as a local church

at spotting

those things

in each other's lives.

You know,

you're really growing

in gentleness.

You're really growing

in goodness.

You're really growing

in faithfulness.

You're really growing

in all these things

that won't make

the news at 10,

but boy,

will they show up

on the new speed of heaven.

The marks of

the new age.

And Alice,

that is why

God has saved you.

So that you would bear

witness to him

by a life

that's been transformed

by him that you are.

And those are the people

he envisages

when Paul says,

all those who walk

by this rule.

That's all those

who put their faith

in Jesus,

who live by that mantra,

by grace alone,

through faith alone,

in Jesus alone.

They are the true

Israel of God.

Listen,

our time is gone.

Let me try and land

the Galatian plane

by leaving you

with one question.

If you've been tracking

through this series,

here's the question.

What's just been

your biggest takeaway?

What's been the biggest

thing that you've been

challenged on,

maybe that you've learned

or you've seen

for the first time?

Can I give you mine

just as we close?

Try and get you

into mine

by telling you

about my weekday routine.

Every day begins

with the school run.

And I play a little game

with myself.

It's called

Parent Phrase

Lingle Bingo.

It begins

after I've taken

great delight

in putting on

the big light

in the kids' bedroom,

the thing that I hated

my mum for,

but now I am so that man.

The questions come.

You can tick them off.

Right?

What do you want

for breakfast?

Have you got a snack?

Where are your shoes?

Where is your water bottle?

What jacket do you want?

Have you done your teeth?

Has mummy done your hair?

Because it's been

made clear to me

that that is not

daddy's gig.

Right?

But there's a new phrase

that's just entered

the top ten.

As we leave the house

and we walk to school

and we cross

the various roads

that we come to

en route

and I find myself

every morning

saying that phrase

see if you can

complete the sentence.

Have you looked

both ways?

Yeah?

Have you looked

both ways?

Every morning

have you looked

both ways?

And the thing

about that phrase

is that there's

pretty good advice

for the Christian life.

Because this is how

Galatians has

challenged me

and invited me.

See when it points

in your life

you're struggling

and you maybe

don't know

what's up ahead.

You're feeling a bit weary.

You're feeling a wee bit tired.

Your life story

is maybe lost

and you think

I've lost sight

of the big story.

Friends, here's the thing.

Look both ways.

In that word

new creation

that's what it's

inviting us to do.

Look both ways.

Here's what I mean.

Look back

to the cross

and see the place

where Jesus secured

your forgiveness

and won for you

that newness of life.

That empty tomb.

Look back the way

and see it all.

You didn't earn that.

I didn't earn that.

He won that for us

on the cross.

He secured our place.

He did it there.

Look backwards.

Look to the cross.

But don't stop there.

Look forward

to the new creation.

Alice has mentioned

that it's great.

It's great when someone else

does your sermon for you

before you've even got up here.

The new age,

the place where

righteousness dwells,

where we will be

with God,

where sin will be

a distant memory,

where there will be

no more death,

where tears will be

wiped away.

Friends,

we live our lives

between these two

great bookends

that Jesus

has won

for us.

And these two things

will not change.

So when I'm

struggling,

when I'm working out

what I'm doing

in my life,

I look up and I see

these two bookends

and the invitation

in the middle

as we wait for Jesus

to come back

is to know

that he's not left us.

We have his spirit.

And what is the spirit

doing?

It is drawing

out our hearts

to say no

to the old us

and yes

to the new us.

I am a new creation.

I am a new creation.

So friends,

look both ways.

Look both ways.

And maybe even

this morning

is the day,

the morning,

where you put your faith

in this

Jesus for yourself.

Why don't I pray?

Father,

we thank you this morning

for everything

that we've heard

and sung

and read.

Father,

thank you for this

wonderful testimony

about the transforming

grace

of Jesus Christ.

And so,

Father,

I pray maybe

for many of us here

who are struggling.

Maybe we are doubting.

Maybe we're weary.

Maybe we're even thinking

about tapping out.

Lord,

may this morning

by your spirit

as your word

has gone forth,

may you encourage us

and challenge us

in the perfect way.

Lord,

thank you that

it is true

that all

the books

in the world

couldn't tell

the glory

of your son,

Jesus.

And so,

Father,

we look to him

this morning

and we pray

that you'd be with us

just as we close

our time now

in Jesus' name

we ask.

Amen.