Sermon Tone Analysis

*Sermon Worksheet & Manuscript*

*Robert L. Hutcherson, Jr.*

*Quinn** Chapel A.M.E.

Church*

*                                        Sermon Preparation~/Delivery*

*Galatians 3:23-29*

*/ /*

*/“What The World Needs Now”/*

*The Reverse Karla J. Cooper, **Pastor*

* July 1, 2007*

\\                                                        *Proper 7 (12)*

\\ Sermon Worksheet & Manuscript

*TEXT*

/Galatians 3:23-29/

/“Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed.

Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith.

But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.

As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.

And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring,//heirs according to the promise.

“/

/ /

*BODY*

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*/“What the world needs now – /*

*/Is love, sweet love – /*

*/It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of…”/*

 

*This is the major problem that haunts society.

WE DON'T GET ALONG!

We argue and we fight at all different levels in society.

Families argue and fight.

Brothers and sisters do.

Nations go to war with each other.

Races conflict with each other.

People divide up into different political parties and different ideologies.

We divide by ethnicity, by class and by gender.

Sadly churches and congregations don't always get along either.

This is not new and it has been occurring since the first century.

Our text today from the letter that Paul wrote to the Galatians was dealing with a church conflict.

Now, while I confess that the “bee in my bonnet” these days is usually about church conflict, today with the help of the Apostle Paul we’ll examine the problems, purpose and calling of the church in a deeply divided society.

The church is called to display to the world the Kingdom of God.

We are called to embody in our common life God's intention for all humanity, while inviting humanity to join in.

At the end of verse 28 of our text, Paul says, "For you are all one in Christ Jesus."

Literally it reads "You are all one person in Christ Jesus".

We belong not only to God as sons and daughters but also to each other as brothers and sisters.

We are all one in Christ.

That is a constant theme throughout the New Testament.

It is the central teaching of the book of Ephesians, in which Paul says, "There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all."

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*In his letter to the Corinthians Paul says, "For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ."

Here, in his letter to the Galatians, Paul proceeds to break it down for them…and us…*

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*First, Paul tells us there are NO RACIAL DISTINCTIONS.

He says, "There is neither Jew nor Greek…" God chose Abraham and his descendants the Jews to be His chosen people.

However, in Christ God fulfilled His promise to Abraham that "in you all the nations shall be blessed".

This includes "all nations," people of every race, color and language.

God has sons and daughter by faith in Christ in every people group in the world.

One of the most powerful scenes to me in the entire Bible is the picture of worship around God’s throne in the book of Revelation.

"After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’.

"For You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth".

See, black militants, white supremacists and oh so many others who believe that God loves or will save only certain races of people have never seriously studied the Scriptures.

This was the primary struggle that occurred in the church in Galatia.

There were individuals there who believed that Christians were obliged to obey the purity and shame laws of the Hebrew Scriptures.

These groups were ethnically Jewish and it was natural for them.

But the church of Galatia was not just made up of converted Jews.

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*Gentiles, that is, people from other nations, joined the community of faith.

The two groups divided up and differed over what was essential to the Christian life.

The former Jews insisted that Gentiles needed to become Jewish.

They claimed to be the children of Abraham and Moses and inclusion in the covenants that God made with Abraham and Moses was necessary.

You get the picture.

This explains the first comparison that Paul makes.

There is neither Jew nor Greek.

All are children of Abraham through Christ!

The differences are ultimately unimportant.

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*Second, Paul tells us there are NO CLASS DISTINCTIONS.

"There is neither slave nor free.”

These were economic classes.

Christian faith, with its message of freedom had a great appeal to slaves in that ancient society.

Many of them converted to Christianity, but they were of a different economic status... really, that is to say they had none.

So naturally there was an arrogance that developed between those who were free citizens and those who were slaves.

We need to understand the powerful implications of Paul's statement.

Within the community of faith there was and is, no difference between the two.

In fact we are equals.

We all are sisters and brothers in Jesus Christ.

The Church has a long and proud history, but part of that history has included a separate section in the sanctuary where the slaves of the members sat, segregated from the rest of the membership.

This was quite common but it goes against Paul's statement that within Christian faith there is no economic difference.

Do we still try to divide up by economic class today?

I fear we do but Paul admonishes us that these walls of separation have been broken.

In the kingdom of God there is neither slave nor free, rich nor poor, upper nor lower class.

Imagine living in a culture of slavery.

Some of the masters and some of the slaves were both Christians and both in the same congregation.

When it came to Christ, they were equals.

In every human society circumstances of birth, wealth, privilege and education have divided men.

It is not so in Christ.

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*Someone has well said, "The ground is level at the foot of the cross."

If we are to truly be a “Whosoever Church”, all people must be welcome here.

There are enough churches that cater only to the wealthy or elite.

The Apostle James speaks of bringing dishonor on a poor brother.

He asks in his second chapter, verse 5, "Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?"

He brings us to the bottom line in verse 9, "If you show partiality you commit sin." *

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*Third, Paul tells us there are NO SEXUAL DISTINCTIONS.

He says, "There is neither male nor female."

Paul, who is regarded by many as being sexist, makes a radical statement for his day.

The differences between men and women are meaningless in the community of faith.

We are still men and women, but neither sex enjoys superiority.

It isn't always this way in church, and certainly not within the world.