MPC, 14th May 2000.Galatians 4 - Change Time
Phil Campbell MPC, 14th May 2000.
In January 1972, a Japanese soldier was found hiding in the jungle on the island of Guam. 28 years after the end of the war. His name was Sho-ichi Yokoi, and he'd been living in a cave since the end of World War II. He was drafted into the Japanese army in 1941, became a sergeant, and was stationed in Guam. Which was over-run by the Americans in 1944. He escaped into the jungle, and survived by eating nuts, berries, frogs, snails and rats. And for 28 years he hid there, NOT KNOWING the WAR WAS OVER. In fact, even when they told him, he wouldn't believe it. Until he was taken back to Japan.
When they brought him back to Japan, there was a huge crowd of reporters and TV cameras trying to get an interview with this old soldier who'd thought the war was still going for the last 28 years.. And all he said was this: "It is with much embarrassment that I return."
Too right you'd be embarrassed. I mean, back in New South Wales where they have daylight saving, we forgot to change our clocks; turned up to church just as everyone leaving. That was bad enough. But Sho-ichi Yokoi got the time wrong by 28years. Missed the END OF AN ERA... and the start of a whole new one. Too right you'd be embarrassed.
Our passage in Galatians 4 is about a very SIMILAR embarrassing situation. About not noticing when it's the change of an era. About keeping on living an OLD WAY... when there's a whole new way. A better way. It's about people who want to keep on living like SLAVES... when they've been set free. About people who want to keep living like CHILDREN... when they've grown up. People who still want to be under OLD TESTAMENT LAW... when there's a whole NEW COVENANT to live under and enjoy.
Pick up in verse 4 and you'll see that's what Paul's on about... the END OF AN ERA. And the start of a new one. Words like BUT WHEN THE TIME HAD FULLY COME, God sent his son. Verse 7, YOU ARE NO LONGER a slave. Verse 8. FORMERLY, you were like this. Verse 9. BUT NOW, things are different. Time words. You used to be. Now you're not.
Used to be slaves. NOW... you're free. What a tragedy if you haven't noticed THE CHANGE. The CHANGE Jesus brought.
SLAVES TO SONS
Let's have a closer look at verse 1 to 7 and see if we can pick up what he's saying. Because it's all about the CHANGE OF ERA JESUS BROUGHT IN. Which Paul says moved Israel from being like SLAVES... to being SONS.
I remember when I was 16, I spent the Christmas holidays working in my dad's shop. It was called CAMPBELL BROTHERS, and it was right in the main street of Inverell, where I grew up. Campbell Brothers sold seed and grain and fertiliser - all sorts of stuff that plays havoc with your hayfever. And Christmas holidays, I worked there... for $20 a week. Now Dad and my uncle, it was their shop. Campbell Brothers. But when I was working there, I was the bottom of the heap. One of the other staff was told to keep an eye on me, keep me out of trouble, and tell me exactly what to do. To make sure I earned my $20.
I guess if I'd wanted to follow in Dad's footsteps I could have grown up to take over the family business. I guess in a way some of the other people working there KNEW THAT. So they treated me with a bit of extra respect. But in the end, even though I was the HEIR, while I was still a kid I was treated just like the HIRED STAFF.
Which Paul says here, is exactly how it was for Israel - before TIMES CHANGED. And they GREW UP.
"What I am saying is this," verse 1, that as long as the heir is a child he's no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. He's subject to GUARDIANS and trustees UNTIL THE TIME SET BY HIS FATHER." But what happens WHEN THE TIME COMES? The time set by his father. Everything CHANGES OVERNIGHT, doesn't it. From EMPLOYEE TO BOSS. Slavery to FREEDOM. Overnight. The keys to the company car, everything's DIFFERENT. How EMBARRASSING... if you overslept and didn't notice. And kept living like a slave.
Verse 3. Keep reading. So also, when we JEWS were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world. Which literally translates as we were in slavery under the basic RULES THAT MAKE YOU STAND IN LINE. Do this. Don't do that. By which he means THE LAW. But look what's happened. Here's the turning point. Here's the World War II armistice. BUT WHEN THE TIME HAD FULLY COME... when the time was just right... God sent his Son, born of a woman, BORN UNDER LAW... to REDEEM those UNDER LAW, that we might receive the full rights of sons.
Somehow, says Paul, somehow in what Jesus has done, the LAW'S BEEN LIFTED. Lifted, because the PENALTY OF IT for everyone born under the law, the once and for all PENALTY has been paid. The OLD TESTAMENT LAW HAS BEEN REPEALED.
On the 25th of August 1998 the Legislative Council of the Federal Government REPEALLED the BULK HANDLING OF GRAIN ACT. Which means from then on, if you're involved in the Bulk Handling of Grain, THE OLD LAWS ARE GONE. In 1997 the Traffic Statute No 16 of the Canberra College of Advanced Education was repealed. If you're parking in the Canberra College of Education, from that point on, THE OLD RULES WERE GONE. Paul says, when the time had fully come, God sent his Son to REDEEM THOSE UNDER THE LAW... law repealed... and turn them from LAW SLAVES... into SONS. Under the Guardianship of the law before. But now THE FULL RIGHTS OF SONS. And because you are sons, verse 6, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts... so with Jesus, we can say, "Abba. Dad." ... to God.
A whole new era. What a tragedy to miss it... miss the privilege of living like a SON instead of a slave. Don't miss it. Verse 7. So you are NO LONGER a slave... but a son. And since you are a son, God has also made you an heir.
You know, the radical thing about REAL CHRISTIANITY is, it's got just nothing to do with what most people think of as RELIGION. What's religion look like? A whole stack of rules. Do this, don't do that. Eat this, don't eat that. This day's special, that day's a feast day. This law, that law. But this is stunning if you haven't stopped to think about it... CHRISTIANITY IS NOT MEANT TO BE LIKE THAT. Which is hard to believe, when someone tells you this is the 5th Sunday after lent and you're not meant to eat meat on Good Friday. Paul says, that stuff's like SLAVERY. It's not KNOWING GOD AT ALL. That stuff's WEAK. Miserable. Look what he says; now that you know God, or rather GOD KNOWS YOU, how come you're turning back to that stuff. Do you want to be ENSLAVED BY THEM ALL OVER AGAIN? Verse 10. "You are observing SPECIAL DAYS and MONTHS and SEASONS and YEARS. I fear for you... that somehow you haven't caught on... that somehow I've wasted my efforts on you."
He says, you just don't get it. SLAVERY TO PRINCIPLES LIKE THAT, slavery to RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCES... that's what SLAVES DO. That's all about trying to WIN GOD'S FAVOUR, stay on his GOOD SIDE. Try, try, try. Do, do, do. Don't you realise you've got God's favour already? Because you've put your trust in JESUS. Who God always favours. God says, any friend of my SON is a friend of MINE. And yet you're still pedaling away trying to get God to notice. Marking off religious days on your calendar, holding onto all the rules. If you did the Growth Group study this week, did you see the little newspaper clipping? Because for so many people, here's what Christianity really is.... those three bishops welcoming the season of LENT in a joint ASH WEDNESDAY service where they make crosses with ash on each other's foreheads. Very moving. Absolutely NOTHING to do with Paul's GOSPEL. Paul says, ONCE you might have been slaves to that sort of stuff. But that era's over. Finished with - by Jesus. Why turn back?
I want to come back to the next few verses at the end verse 12 to 20 - because they talk about some of the IMPLICATIONS... some of the CONSEQUENCES... that come from the problem Paul's talking about... of missing the change of eras. Living in the past. Still under the law. After Jesus has come. So just skip over there for the moment to verse 21. Where we come back to SLAVERY and FREEDOM.
Seems to me like there's an underlying problem Paul's facing when he's dealing with CHRISTIAN JEWS back then. And remember, we've seen the last few weeks, that's the issue. Here for the first time in history, you've got something called THE CHURCH. Christians. In Galatia, way up in Turkey. Made up of Jews. And non-Jews. And the problem is, the Jewish Christians are so attached to their Old Testament LAW that they won't give it up. Not even after it's repealed. And they're even IMPOSING IT on Gentile Christians. Saying they CAN'T BE SAVED without it.
Reminds Paul of a very old story. About a slave boy. And a free boy. The son of a slave. And one he calls a SON OF PROMISE. Their names were Isaac... and Ishmael. Sons of Abraham. Isaac born to Sarah in her old age, just the way God promised. Ishmael born to Hagar, slave woman. And as the boys grew, the slave son persecutes his younger half brother. Jealous. I guess of the FREEDOM of Isaac, child of promise.
And that's the story Paul's picking up. Verse 21. Tell me, you who want to be under the law, don't you know what the law says? And he takes them back - Genesis 21. For it is written that Abraham had two sons... one by the slave woman, and the other by the free woman. His son by the slave woman was born in the ORDINARY way, but his son by the FREE WOMAN was born as the result of a promise.
Which Paul says, can be taken FIGURATIVELY. Because if you're Jewish and you want to hold onto the LAW, he says you're like ISHMAEL. Slave boy. And if you've come to faith in Jesus then you're a CHILD OF PROMISE. Born to be FREE. He says, Jerusalem here on earth, the Jews holding onto the law... they're ISHMAEL. And if you follow Jesus and you're free from the law... you're part of the JERUSALEM ABOVE. Children of heaven.
He wraps it up in verse 28; now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of PROMISE. And if it works the same way as it did back in Genesis, don't be surprised if you get a hard time... from the SLAVE CHILDREN. From the law-keeping Jews. Verse 29. At that time, the son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It's the same now. But what does the Scripture say? Genesis 21 again. "Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman's son."
Hard words. For these teachers back then who are wanting to say to the Gentiles, TRUSTING JESUS ISN'T ENOUGH. You've got to be CIRCUMCISED. Become Jewish. You've got to KEEP THE LAW. You've got to observe the SABBATH. And the feast days. Paul says, that stuff's got NO PLACE HERE. Get rid of it. Come out of your cave and RECOGNISE THE WAR IS OVER.
CONSEQUENCES
Now for Sho-ichi Yokoi, the japanese soldier who hadn't heard the news, the consequences were pretty obvious. Living in a cave, wearing a shirt made out of paperbark; eating rat soup. But I want to ask you to think about the consequences for us... when we don't realise THE LAW IS OVER. When we live our Christian lives thinking it's all about keeping rules, observing special days, going through the same rituals over and over again, don't drink this, don't touch that; living like SLAVES instead of living like SONS AND DAUGHTERS? What are we losing when we make that mistake? Because it's a mistake often made.
I want to finish up just by quickly observing some of the things the GALATIANS were losing. And you'll see them in the section we skipped over before. Verses 12 t0 20. What do you LOSE... when you want to keep living under the law. Because remember, that's the issue. Paul's come to them a few years back with the gospel, he's told them about JESUS. They've BELIEVED. And received the Holy Spirit. Now there's a bunch of teachers who've come up from Jerusalem to say PAUL'S GOT IT WRONG. That as well as Jesus, you non-Jews have got to take on living by the Old Testament LAW. So what are they LOSING if they do that?
LOSING JOY
Well, number 1, Paul says it's cost them their JOY. Paul says it in verse 15. As he looks back to how they WELCOMED THE GOSPEL when they first heard it. Great news. That their sins could be wiped absolutely CLEAN AWAY because of what Jesus did on the cross. That the cycle of sin and futility and death were over and done with. But somehow, now the joy's GONE. And instead of celebrating something wonderful DONE FOR THEM, they're struggling with something THEY HAVE TO DO.
What's happened to ALL YOUR JOY?
Can I ask you what you'd say if Paul asked the same thing of YOU? Because Jesus actually SAID it, didn't he... that his load was a LIGHT LOAD. Instead of the heavy load of the law. Where's the JOY?
LOSING LOVE
That's not all they've lost. Because it looks like their LOVE'S GONE as well. Paul looks back to the time when he was with them. And he was ill. Something wrong with his eyes, who knows, conjunctivitis maybe. And he says, back then you were so glad to hear the good news, you treated me like an ANGEL. He says, if you could have done an EYE TRANSPLANT you would have. You would have torn out your own eyes and given them to ME. And now... suspicion, I guess. Not wanting to hear what he's saying. Because they've turned back to TRYING TO BE RELIGIOUS. Have I know become your enemy... verse 16... by telling you the truth?
Friends, I wonder if you've seen that... that the sort of legalistic religion that delights in laws and rules... is the very same sort of religion where the JOY IS GONE. And the LOVE IS GONE.
A WRONG KIND OF ZEAL
The things that's still there, though, is ZEAL. Which maybe you can tend to admire. A PASSION... for doing RIGHT. And being RIGHT. And TELLING EVERYONE ELSE what's right. And making sure they DO WHAT'S RIGHT. No lack of zeal at all. But lest you think that all zeal is good zeal, make sure you read verse 17. Because these people who are pressing the Galatians to take on the law, to go back to slavery, they're full of zeal. Those people are zealous to win you over... BUT FOR NO GOOD. What they want, says Paul, is to alienate your from us, so that you may be zealous for THEM. Factionalism. It's FINE TO BE ZEALOUS says Paul - provided you're zealous for the RIGHT THING. For the GOSPEL THAT SETS PEOPLE FREE. Rather than the LAW that makes them slaves.
PERPLEXED...
How perplexing; how confounding; how incredible; that there are people who'd rather live like slaves under law... that like children who want to please their dad. Who'd rather celebrate a ritual... than live the day by day reality of celebrating freedom. Who'd rather observe a SPECIAL DAY as a slave... than realise EVERY DAY'S a special day when you're a SON.
And yet it's not just a theoretical problem back then, is it. It's alive and well. At which point you can only say what Paul says in verse 19. He's brought them to birth once already when he preached the gospel to them in the first place. Now it's like he's doing it all over again... as they're turning back the clock. And he says, My dear children, for whom I am AGAIN in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you... how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I'm PERPLEXED about you.
Have a good think... what tone he'd use... how he'd feel... as he looked around us... here today. Sons? Or slaves? Understanding that things CHANGED with the coming of Jesus? Or missing the point? Living under law? Or celebrating FREEDOM? How is it with you?