CMLC 2025-06-22 Sermon

As we're going through life, we discover that

the world in each subsequent generation is always

a little bit different. We're always trying to

make sense of how to navigate it. You know, whenever

I was in elementary school, whenever we would

finish the school day, my parents were still

at work, and so I was there at the after -school

program. You know, and one of the things with

after -school programs, you know, you get a chance

to do fun, you know, hobbies and events and maybe

play sports and do other things. But that's not

what I did in the after -school program. You

see, my parents, they didn't realize how much

homework kids had anymore since when they were

kids. So they would always tell me, Jason, do

your homework first, and then you can go play.

They forgot that they had enrolled me in the

advanced, gifted, and talented program. And so

I was trying to get through all the homework

before they came to pick me up. And the thing

is, the math... That wasn't an issue whatsoever.

I love math. Everything's great. I was always

a slow reader. See, I was a child back before

they invented ADHD. You know, it didn't exist

back then, of course. So, but, joking aside though,

is my mind would always be scattered all over

the place, and I just could not get through it

that quickly. And by the time I finished it,

or even hadn't gotten through most of it yet,

and my parents came and I'd miss out on getting

to go play with everybody else. And that was

one of the things about this is my parents, they

didn't realize what was going on because I never

told them. I never said, hey, is there any way

that I can maybe do half the homework and then

I'll do the rest at home so I can spend some

time with the other kids? In my mind, Being a

good kid meant I was supposed to do exactly what

these rules had for me. Now, my sister, definitely

not. No, she was going to go off and play with

her friends and everything, and she had a great

time. Lots more friends and everything else,

and that's totally why I'm still scarred to this

day. Kidding aside, my parents didn't know. That

wasn't anything. But realizing that I was spending

so long... making sure that I was following the

rules from my parents, that I forgot that I had

a relationship with my parents. I was spending

so long thinking that doing all these things

was somehow going to make me right in their eyes

and that they, I don't know, love me or whatever

might have been playing in my childlike brain,

and not realizing that I could have just turned

to them and trusted that they would have given

me opportunity to get to know other kids and

enjoy things. I was looking to the rules to guide

me, instead of turning to my parents, the real

guides, the real relationship that was there.

And that's much of what we end up seeing from

Paul today in the Galatians, is that in this

letter, he's speaking about how people had been

spending so long looking at the rules, the laws

that they had, that they were missing out on

the fact that they had been given the Son of

God, and through Him, God's spirit. They had

spent too long looking at their laws and not

looking by faith at God himself. But that's something

to find that's important is to realize that the

law is oftentimes so temporary. It's not what

actually has the final word in our relationship

with God. See, laws change, but God's desires,

they don't. And that's something that we can

oftentimes miss out on. You see, the law, it

serves an important role. Laws, rules, guides,

they offer boundaries, guidance, discipline.

Over time though, laws change. Different times,

different places, different reasons. It doesn't

mean that these were necessarily wrong, just

because these might be right for today, but realizing

that... they might have to be flexible for where

we're at. Because the laws that we have aren't

universal. When the children of Israel left Egypt,

they had left a country, a nation, where their

standards were so biased toward these gods that

they had there. They were so out of keeping with

what God would want, that basically had to start

from scratch. He had to give them the Ten Commandments

just to even make sure that they even knew what

was even good and right in the world. But you

see, the Ten Commandments, they were the moral

backbone and the guidance of this nation, but

this nation needed more guidance because there

are other things that you're going to face. So

there were rabbis that had these other traditions.

They had different layers of how to try to do

more with following what God was wanting. You

see, some of them would be very, very helpful.

Like, well, you know, what type of clothing should

we wear? Or how do we prepare the food so that

it's clean in the sight of God? And how do we

make sure that our practices show that we're

different? These could be really good, but they

could also be really burdensome. Because sometimes

they could... make up more and more rules that

don't even serve the original purpose. Someone

had mentioned before that apparently there was

even a rule where on the Sabbath day when you

were not supposed to work, you were not even

allowed to spit on the ground because if you

did, it was furrowing the dirt which was in their

eyes the same as working. Did you catch that?

They had gotten so caught up in trying to make

extra laws for themselves, they even took that

idea of honor the Sabbath from the Ten Commandments,

and they abused it to the point of, I saw you

spit on the ground on the Sabbath day, you're

in trouble now. And that's oftentimes what we

do, is we may take something good, like the commandments

of God, and the way we use them can be so hurtful.

And so even to the point where then we see Jesus,

and Jesus, they come to him, they're saying,

you know, well, Jesus, which of the commandments

is the greatest? And he doesn't say something

like, well, all 10, you gotta follow them all

10, you know, perfectly, and then there you go.

He says, love God, love your neighbor. And to

remind them how straightforward it's really meant

to be. But even to a point where people were

even trying to figure out, not just for the Jewish

community, But what about for everybody else?

What laws, what rules do we give them to make

sure that God will be happy with them? But in

Acts 15, they actually keep it pretty simple.

Don't have sexual immorality and don't eat...

food worship to idols that still has the blood

in it and I know we get like kind of confused

with that because how many of you how many of

you like a really bloody steak I mean let's be

honest right oh man yes thank you like medium

rare rare on occasion if you really if the meat's

really really good but to be honest that's actually

not really the blood when you're cutting it it's

actually breaking the tissue and those that's

actually what's coming out that's actually not

the blood but the You like it tissue -y, doesn't

sound nearly as good as liking it bloody. But

the reason was because they wanted to make sure

that they weren't worshipping other gods. All

of these rules, all these laws, there was a purpose,

there was a point, but it wasn't for their own

sake. And it says in here, how is it that we

would follow what God desires? And it talks about

the idea that they used to follow the law, But

now they follow by faith. And I want to make

sure I clarify this. Is that Abraham, Moses,

the people of Israel? They were always supposed

to follow by faith. It says so in Romans and

Hebrews. There was always faith to follow. But

what Paul is trying to get at is they spent too

long looking at the rules. And now we need to

spend the time following after the Spirit. Because

what we end up seeing is that while rules may

change depending on circumstance Our faith and

the one we have faith in does not That's why

we say God's word never changes We don't say

God's law never changes We say God's word never

changes Because you have to see all of God for

who he is and for what it is he desires But then

maybe asking this question of why was it that

the laws were even dividing people in the first

place? Why was it so important that in the time

of Israel? Why did they have all these laws with

distinctions that kept them separated? Why was

that such a big deal? Well, there were really

important reasons in that context like number

one You had to make sure that you weren't following

after other idols It is so easy that when we

mingle with different people, we oftentimes take

on their beliefs, their values, their morals.

See, at that time, if they were too close to

the Gentiles, they started picking up their idol

worship. And there were some really terrible

practices that came in with worshiping these

other idols. It wasn't just bowing down. It was

death for children. It was harm for one another.

It was sexual hurt and immorality. But the same

thing also for marriages. When they married someone

from a different group, they were supposed to

also take on their idols. And that's why it was

so key to remember to be united with someone

who had the same beliefs and values. Because

we're people. We have a natural tendency to try

to find the middle ground wherever we are. or

even more than that, they wanted to keep their

cultural identity because Israel was tiny. All

these other nations nearby, Egypt, Assyria, Babylon,

they were huge. And this tiny little place, if

they weren't careful in holding on to their culture

and their customs, they could easily get swallowed

up by all these other places. But it turns out,

even health and hygiene, were benefited by these

things that if you had pork back then this isn't

something like oh man one of the hot dogs that

we have over here and we're like yeah grill it

up guys this is going to be awesome this stuff

was gross all right this was the sort of thing

you did not want inside of you but also even

their cleanliness because they didn't have the

same types of soaps or antibacterial gel that

you might have today and even making sure it

kept them together. Ever wondered why we even

have Advent and Lent seasons in the first place?

Things that help us to see the commonality and

it draws us together as a community. But you

see, God wanted all these things because He had

His people set apart. But here's the difference

though, is that in today's world, you don't have

to be physically separated. to be separated in

spirit and in truth. The thing is, is that now

we can see the ways in which we can live alongside

other people and still hold to who we are and

what we believe. And even times where we may

even come together with someone and find out

that while our backgrounds may be different,

is this an opportunity now to share Christ with

this person? and to be able to bring our future

families and our future community to know who

God truly is. What we end up seeing here is that

to be set apart by faith, we can still be united

in the world, but still hold to what we believe.

And that's what Paul is seeing. You notice the

list that he made? The Jews and the Gentiles,

the slaves and the free people, men and women?

It was realizing that now, The Jewish people

were going to be living among the Gentiles, but

they were all called to be in Christ Jesus. Even

realizing that in those days, the ways in which

they treated people that were called slaves or

servants, whatever term they were using for them,

and realizing that that was keeping them from

who God was and from being in the family. And

even more than that, The way that they use the

roles of men and women and the way that they

were harming the women in their society with

it Paul is trying to remind them you may have

had customs before that made sense But now don't

let those keep people from a life in Christ It

was not supposed to be about bloodline. It was

supposed to be about faith But knowing this In

the past, they had been like children with their

laws, but now they were meant to live as heirs

by the Spirit. You know, what would it be like

if, as we grow up, we still end up going to our

parents to answer everything for us and tell

us what to do? Could you imagine that? I'm 45

years old. Could you imagine me waking up in

the morning and say, Mom? Can I have tricks for

cereal this morning? I'd really like I've got

some Golden Grahams mom would that be would that

be okay? Could you imagine that I wanted to go

to comic blues and I said mom I promise I'll

be good. Don't worry I won't get into a whole

bunch of trouble could you imagine that I'm even

trying to make career changes and You know Christ

Memorial calls me up and says would you like

to be the pastor here? And I said yes, but let

me check with my parents first Could you imagine?

And yet, that idea is what people had been doing

in regard to the law. They were acting like kids,

going back over and over and seeing whether or

not the rules that they had created for themselves

were still in place. See, we oftentimes use the

laws as guardians. because laws oftentimes make

us feel comfortable. Even if it's not legal laws,

we're also looking at things that we set up in

our own lives, rules that we think will help

us live the life that we want. I'll only be okay

if I get this particular job, so I have to do

that one. Or I must be married by this age. Some

of us are in trouble. Or, if I just stay in control

of everything or everyone, then everything will

be okay. I'm sure no one's ever felt that need

to be in control. But we create these rules thinking

that somehow that will bring life, even though

we know that the law only brings death. And then

we do the same thing for others in our lives

too. We see them. We see the choices that they

make. We see the words that they use. We see

the ideas that they promote. And then we decide

that there must be something wrong with them.

And God couldn't possibly have any use for someone

like that. And we discover ourselves judging

people for things that if we were being honest,

in our hearts, we're not following them either.

We're being honest. We're struggling the same

way. Using the law does not actually bring us

life. We know that because of what happened to

Christ Jesus. Christ was there among people and

He was doing exactly what the Father wanted.

But they had all of these laws and rules in their

mind that they wanted to see people abide by,

especially Him. And He ends up getting killed

because He wasn't abiding by their rules that

they wanted. That's the thing about what happens

is that when we use the law and the rule around

us, we use it as a weapon so often, instead of

pausing and saying, how do I follow God more

clearly at this moment in time? But the amazing

part about grace is that even though Jesus had

to suffer for our laws that we created, He still

did it to bring us life. Forgiveness. His Spirit.

Because that's the thing that we're trying to

see here is that Paul is trying to get across.

Stop trying to make extra laws for yourself and

stop trying to make them for other people. Stop

and come to the one place that you and everyone

will find life in Christ. Seek Him. Follow Him.

Know Him. Listen to His Spirit. Pause and ask

not did I manage to do all the things that are

expected of me Instead pause and say what would

God call me to right now? What would God actually

find joy in at this moment? Because that's the

thing about us Is that it's time for us to finally

grow up in faith is that it's time for us to

stop letting what our rules and our laws in the

past told us and dictated instead say, where

are we supposed to be right now? Because if we

spend all this time figuring out whether or not

we are a failure according to things on our checklist,

then we don't stop long enough to realize that

we are a child of God because of love. And that

as that child, we're called to live accordingly.

When we see that, then we realize that following

God's law is not about the laws. Following God's

word is about following who God is. It's about

asking what the heart of God is and then seeking

how we make that our reality. Thing is, better

laws will never be the true answer. We need them.

And we need to follow them, because we need to

make sure that in this broken world, we don't

make a complete mess of it. But it's never the

final say. Because we are the heirs to the kingdom.

And as heirs to the kingdom, we already have

God's law in the one place it needs to be, in

our hearts. So my hope, for each of you, and

for the church as a whole, is that we will spend

our time asking how in the Spirit we're living

by relationship more than living by the rules.

Because the rules always have their limits, but

the love of God has none. May He lead and guide

us now and always by His Spirit. Thanks be to

God.