Message 01-01-06

Series: Lectionary [New Year’s]

Scripture: Galatians 4:4-7

Title: Because You Are Sons

Intro:

There was once a little boy who hated to be picked up late from school. His father was responsible to pick him up from nursery school each day and for a variety of reasons every now and then he would come late. The parents of the children would line up in their cars at the end of the sidewalk leading to the front door of the school and the little boy would look out at the line. If he did not see his father’s car in the first three cars in the line his lip would start to quiver. Then, as the moments went past, if he did not see his father’s car very soon he would start to cry. His teachers tried to explain this to his father and his father would promise to be on time, to be one of the first cars in line and he’d do pretty well for a while, but then there’d be another long distance phone call, a report he was completing or a meeting that ran a bit over his appointed time.

One day, after sending his son off in the morning with the words, "I’ll be here on time today", he was just finishing his work when he looked up at the clock and realized that he was already 10 minutes late. He leaped up and ran from the building. People were watching him go, some speculating that there must be a severe emergency. He jumped into the car and turned the key. Nothing happened. There wasn’t even a click. It had been foggy that morning and when he looked around at the dashboard he discovered that the lights were still on – at least the button was pulled. How could he have gotten out and not heard the alarm that always sounds when the lights are still on? He pulled on the button, but it was all the way out. The lights had definitely been left on, but he hadn’t paid attention to an alarm if it ever did sound.

He jumped out of his car and ran around to the trunk. He found that the jumper cables that he was sure were going to be there, weren’t there. He turned toward the building. He stepped back and forth looking for someone, anyone to be coming out, looking for a ride. No one came out. He scanned the parking lot, hoping to flag someone coming through the lot. No cars were moving. He looked toward the street. He thought about his son. He thought about the faces of the teachers, scolding faces that said, "We’ve explained this to you before. How can you be so heartless? How do you not understand?"

He ran. He just took off running. The preschool wasn’t that far away he kept thinking and he ran. His lungs started to burn but he kept running. His feet started to hurt from the toes and the ankles and then the pain continued up into his shins, but he kept running. He ran until he came to the cross street across from the school and then he slowed to make it through the cars that were passing. He dodged. He ducked. And then he went on running.

He came running around the building to the back door where the parking lot was, where the door to let off and pick up children was, to where his son would be looking out the window. He ran across the grass and came barreling in the door. He was thinking, they’ll see. They’ll see that I’ve been running. They’ll see I care. But he knew that this would only get him past the teachers. He burst into the door of his son’s classroom and everything stopped in front of him.

Children were seated opening lunch boxes, teachers were half bent over talking to them. His son was seated at the end of the table closest to the door eating a cookie someone must have given him. The dad waited for the crashing condemnation, but his son smiled and waved his cookie and said, "Hi, Dad! I’m ready!"

Together they left the building, making sure the jacket was zipped and the cap was in place. Together they began to walk back toward the man’s office. The dad was noticing all the things around him that he hadn’t, while at the same time he was trying to just explain to his son what had happened. He apologized and told the boy, the best he could about his work and the project he was into and what had happened to the car. He thought about telling him about running, but that was understood. "I came as fast as I could," he said about 3 or 4 times throughout the explanation.

The boy just stopped and awkwardly pulled his backpack off there on the side of the road. He handed his dad the very last morsel of cookie while he zipped open his bag. He rummaged for a bit and then he pulled out a little piece of paper. He looked at it and then looked at his dad and said, quite calmly, "I forgive you." And then he handed him the little piece of paper. His dad took it and read it. This is a free second chance. Use it wisely and then pass it on to someone else who needs one."

Study

Let’s leave them there on the side of the road and come back to them in a bit. Let’s look at our Scripture.

Galatians is one of the oldest parts of the New Testament. It was probably written within 20 years of the lifetime of Jesus. That makes it an important letter for people who are wondering whether Jesus was real or not. This is one of the earliest references to Jesus that we find anywhere and what we find is that there was a community of people who were not only hearing about Jesus much earlier than this letter, but that they had heard different things about Jesus from different teachers.

Galatians then is a letter that the apostle Paul wrote to a group of people to try to set them straight about what it means to be a person who follows Jesus. These people were living in a region of Asia Minor referred to as Galatia. This area would be north and east of Greece and the people we now call Galatians would later become known as Gaels. These were Gaelic people who had come to know Jesus through the preaching of the good news by Paul and by other people.

But Paul was disturbed by the news he’d received about their understanding of Jesus. These people were hearing that they had to become Jews before they were really going to be Christians. They had to get circumcised to show that they were true Jews. They had to follow all the teaching of the law of Moses – all the commandments and all the commandments that had been added on to the original commandments by teachers of the law since Moses.

And Paul writes to them, almost shouting off the page, what’s wrong with you. I brought you freedom in Christ. Why would you give up freedom to be shackled by anything – rules or laws or people’s ideas or customs? He tells them how he tried to live by these rules and that he had perfected his life by them. He had become a slave that was completely obedient, brilliantly engaged in achieving his own salvation by following the rules.

"Foolish Galatians" Paul calls them. "What has bewitched you" that you would give up belief in Jesus for a regiment of regulations? So, he calls them back to freedom by painting out for them the truth of the gospel one more time.

It’s a funny thing isn’t it… how long joy lasts? Isn’t it odd that we sometimes give up joy a little too quickly? Maybe it’s because we’ve had it taken away. Something comes our way and we just rejoice inside, but then we stop or hold back. Don’t want to be too happy. You know what’s happened before. Someone comes in and says, but "here’s the hard work." Sure you got that new job, but now the real work begins. Alright you moved into the new house, but now you have to fix it up don’t you. What do you have to do to it? You’ve waited so long to have this baby, but now you’ve got to bring her home. Sleepless nights, coughs, colds, and she’s going to become a teenager someday.

Isn’t it funny? We can learn to hold back, to keep ourselves from rejoicing. He can learn to sit quietly in church. We can learn not to dance to the music. We can learn not to laugh or jump up and down on the couch – ok well, maybe you don’t want to be like Tom Cruise, but every now and then we’re supposed to be jumping up and down, right?

The Galatians were a people who understood hard work. They had a religious style that require sacrifice, diligence, discipline in order for their gods to give them any kind of help. Here the news of Jesus came to them and they were suddenly given freedom, but then it seems like the other shoe drops. Other teachers show up and begin to tell them that "now the hard work begins." Sure, yes, we have acceptance by God through Jesus, but real acceptance, real assurance that you’re going to make it only comes when you follow the rules.

Sometimes that feels right to us. It seems to have felt right to the Galatians. It must have fit somehow with what they had come from. The rules were different but there are still rules.

God only hears you when you wear a tie in church. God only pays attention to you when you remember to have your quiet time. God only helps you when you make it to church every Sunday.

You see there’s nothing wrong with wearing a tie to show that you respect coming into the presence of God. There’s nothing wrong with having a quiet time as a regular part of your day, every day. There’s nothing wrong with making it to church every Sunday, in fact any of these things and numerous others can help you spiritually, but they don’t do anything for God. They don’t do anything in relations to God’s love for you.

So Paul tells them tells them that they are sons. Just before the passage we read this morning Paul writes to them:

The promise is the one made to Abraham. The promise is if you believe in Jesus, if you have faith, God will see that as righteousness. You are made pure and clean through faith, through a relationship with Jesus, but even more than that. You are made someone who receives everything of God. You are an heir. You are a person with the same rights in God’s kingdom that were held by the only person with rights in the time of Galatians – the eldest son. The eldest son received all the benefits – he received the inheritance, the land, the business, the blessing. But in Jesus you all are sons. Forget about political correctness and all its rules! You are the recipient. You get it all. All the grace, power and love of God come down upon you not as if you were sons, but because you are sons.

All the rules have been broken and thrown away.

You have been given a new start, a fresh allowance, you have had all your debts cleared and the future is wide-open. My friends, we serve the God of second chances and he has given you the grace of a new start. Here on this first day of a new year, of a new month, and of a new week you have a reminder here in the day itself that you are given a second chance. This table before you is a reminder that you have received a second chance.

Christmas is the celebration of the coming of life – new life – the new second chance.

Once upon a time there was a little boy who dug inside his bag and pulled out a gift for his dad – a free, second chance. I’ll never forget the day when Sam Kohler pulled out of his bag my free, second chance.

More than that I’ll never forget when Jesus gave me a new start, a free second chance, the grace of God.

Have you received your free second chance? Have you been baptized? Do you know God as your own father that you can call out to? Are you no longer a slave and are you a son? If you are free or want to be free you are welcome to this table. If you know Jesus or want to know Jesus you are welcome to this table. If you have never been baptized, then you should consider giving yourself over to Jesus and becoming baptized – take on the sign that you have been adopted into the household of God. Have you received your free second chance?

If not… then here – [hand out a second chance slip] Have you gotten your second chance? [Throw the second chance slips in handfuls into the congregation.] Here, take them, take as many as you need. Use them wisely and then pass them on to others who need them. Never be afraid to let them go. I mean, they’re priceless, but then, how much did they cost you? They cost Jesus his life… as we remember at this table. And we receive these gifts that say, your life was take in place of mine. This is my second chance. Priceless.