A Promise Made

A PROMISE MADE Galatians 3:15-29 October 25, 2020 Never tell a child you're planning to do something, unless you are completely committed to doing it. Children accept every word which comes from an adult's mouth as a promise. If you say - 'hey, we should go to Disney World this Summer' - then you better make Disney World happen. If you don't have the money for Disney World, and you don't have a plan to save the money, then don't be talking about Disney World. The child believes you have your act together. They trust you to handle all of the details and complications. Sure, unforeseen problems will arise. But, you better be ready for those if you're going to bring up the topic in the first place. Because, it doesn't take too many disappointments before a child loses faith in you. It doesn't take too many broken promises before a child stops trusting you, and believing you. I was blessed to grow up with parents who always kept their promises. If my mother or father said - 'here's what's going to happen' - that's exactly what happened. And, it happened even if they had to sacrifice their own wants and desires to make it happen. My parents kept their promises. And, as I grew up, and watched the lives of my friends, I became aware that my parents held a very high standard. I saw most of my friends go through disappointment after disappointment when their parents made, then broke, a promise. That had an impact on me. It impacted me enough that keeping my promises to my children was a very high priority for me. I did the very best I could to do exactly what I said I would do. I knew my children were paying close attention to any promise I made. Why am I talking about this? Paul has been arguing for two and a half chapters on Jesus is enough. You don't need to become Jewish. All you need is Jesus. And, today, his argument revolves around the fact Jesus is a promise. Jesus was promised to Abraham, and to the entire world. Jesus was promised to save everyone, and to be enough. And God, the Father, always keeps his promises. In verse 16 Paul mentions a promise from God to Abraham, father of all the Jews. God says to Abraham, I will save the entire world through your 'child'. And, Paul makes a point here - child is singular, not plural. God doesn't say I will save the world through your children, your descendants. That would imply that Judaism, the religion of Abraham's descendants, is the way to Heaven. But, God speaks in the singular, which means only one of Abraham's descendants will be responsible for salvation. And, Paul asks, is there any doubt at all, we're talking about Jesus? Jesus is the promised salvation. Paul says it was another 430 years after that promise before Moses received all the rules, all the do's and don'ts, the Law - from God. You might wonder, were they keeping a calendar? Did they know the exact day Abraham received the promise? How did they know it was exactly 430 years from the promise until Moses gets the Law?1 That number comes from Exodus chapter 12 (40-42). Moses writes, "The people of Israel had lived in Egypt for 430 years. In fact, it was on the last day of the 430th year that all the Lord's forces left the land. On this night the Lord kept his promise to bring his people out of the land of Egypt.". It's the night of the first Passover. Moses isn't saying it was 430 years from God's promise to Abraham until he received the Law. He is saying, it was exactly 430 years that the Israelites were slaves in Egypt. But, God promised they would return to their own land, and God kept his promise. Moses uses those exact words. Paul's point is - if God kept his promise to save the Israelites from slavery to Egypt, he will keep his promise to save us from slavery to sin. And, God told Abraham the fulfilment of that promise is Jesus. So, the people who are saying you must work your way to Heaven by following all the rules are wrong. The rules will not save you, only Jesus will save you. And then, Paul gives us four reasons why the rules cannot save us. Reason one: it's four centuries too late. Do you think God said to Moses - 'look, I was going to send Jesus, but it's too hard and I just can't get it done. I ran out of time, I wasn't able to complete the assignment, so I will just give you a bunch of rules instead'. Is God the kind of Father who says - we will go to Disney World this Summer. Then, at the end of the Summer, says - we will go to Disney World next year. Then, next year, says - look Disney World isn't going to work, we'll go to Six Flags instead? It's a step down, but at least it's something. Is that the God you know? If you grew up with parents like that, you might think God is like that too. Paul wants you to know God never breaks a promise and replaces it with a lesser promise. Reason two: the Law doesn't count as a promise because it didn't come from God himself. God gives Moses the Ten Commandments. And, he writes those on stone with his own finger (Exodus 31:18). Those come directly from God. But, what about the other rules? Depending on how you count, there are between 400 and 800 additional rules in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. Where did all those rules come from? Did Moses just make that stuff up himself? In the book of Deuteronomy, and in at least three places in the New Testament, it says God gave all those rules to angels. God gave the Law to angels. The angels came down and gave the Law to Moses. Moses then gave the Law to the people. Paul says when that many people handle the content, you can't really call it a promise. Paul isn't saying Moses got the rules wrong. But, he says when that many people get involved, we shouldn't say it was a promise directly from the lips of God. Certainly nothing like the Ten Commandments. Reason three: the Law can't save you from sin, because the Law only defines sin. The purpose of the Law is to tell each of us what is, and is not, sin. Otherwise, we will each create our own definition. And, our definitions will be drastically different. And, our definitions will probably conflict. So, the Law defines sin, but doesn't cure sin. Knowing what something is, isn't the same as fixing it. For example. In Jesus' day doctors could identify and diagnose leprosy. They could tell whether you had a bad rash, or leprosy. But that was it. They couldn't cure leprosy. The Law diagnoses you, but it doesn't fix you. Reason four: in day to day practice observing the Law prevents harm, but doesn't promote good.2 Putting a speed limit sign on the road doesn't make people better drivers. It does help to reduce the number of accidents. But, if you were a bad driver before the sign went up, you are still a bad driver. Obviously, they did not have automobiles in Paul's day, so he uses another analogy. He says the Law functions as a paidagōgos; a Greek word. Sometimes it's translated tutor, sometimes disciplinarian, sometimes protector. In a wealthy family, a slave was purchased to be the paidagōgos. When your child was home the slave educated your child in morals and ethics.3 What is right behavior? What makes a man or woman good? The paidagōgos had deep, profound discussions with your child on what it means to be a good person. Then, when your child left for school, to get their academic education, the paidagōgos followed along behind them as a bodyguard, or protector. They kept the bullies, and the kidnappers, from assaulting your child. Paul says that's what the Law does for us. It tells us what is - good behavior. But, it doesn't make us good. You can know every rule in the entire Bible. But, it's still up to you whether you follow them or not. The Law helps protect us from danger. If you don't lie, steal, or murder; if you don't commit adultery, your life should be much better. It's not a guarantee, but you've gone a long way towards a happy, healthy life if you follow all the rules. Paul says there are four good reasons why the Law cannot save you, so the Law cannot be the promise made to Abraham. OK, great. God promised to save Abraham and his children through Jesus. How do I know that means me too? Paul says it ties in with baptism. First of all, being baptized does not save you. You can go to Heaven even if you have never been baptized. So, what's the purpose of baptism? Well, first, baptism is a statement we make to the rest of the world.4 It says we have decided to follow Jesus. In a very public ceremony we claim we will live the Christian life, and follow Christian values, and claim the salvation that only comes through Jesus Christ. It's something like a wedding ring. When you see a wedding ring you can make several assumptions about the person wearing it. Baptism allows the world to make assumptions about us. But, what is frequently overlooked, are God's promises to us. In the baptism ceremony God makes promises to us as well. In the Methodist baptism ceremony God promises to: send his Holy Spirit, wash away our sin, clothe us in righteousness, and resurrect us to life eternal with Jesus.5 Paul says God always keeps his promises. Your baptism was you giving your life to Jesus. In return, God has promised to take away all your sins, through Jesus, and bring you to Heaven. If you believe God keeps his promises, you must believe you are saved. And, it doesn't matter who you are. This promise is to everyone. Don't care what race you are, don't care how wealthy you are, don't care what your gender is. God's promise includes you. This is one of the most important verses Paul would ever write. And, it altars the very structure and behavior of the Christian church.6 Jew and Gentile was a racial barrier. The Judaizers have been telling the Gentiles, until you renounce your race as inferior, admit that you were born inferior, you cannot go to Heaven. Did you know for the first 125 years of the Methodist Church in America, black people were not allowed to pastor black churches. Black people could come to white churches if they went up into the balcony and promised not to make a sound. Or, they could have their own church, and worship as loudly as they wanted. But, they could not have a black pastor. Only white men could pastor a church. It was a clear statement black people were born inferior. As the civil war approached, many began to ask why? Why can't a black man pastor a black church? In fact, why can't a black man pastor a white church? And, this verse, Galatians 3:28, became the justification for lifting the racial barrier. It changed the church. Slave versus free is an economic barrier. In Israel, people who were too poor to support themselves voluntarily went into slavery. Hebrew slaves were not captured, they were contracted. It was an economic decision a father would make to save his family. For the longest time, only the wealthy could be Christian pastors. In the 1600's and 1700's this was codified in the British practice of primogeniture. In a wealthy family the first son inherits the estate and becomes the next Lord. The second son is sent to Law school and becomes a litigator. If you have a third son he is sent to seminary, and becomes a priest. For 200 years the Church of England was pastored only by the sons of the wealthy. That practice came to America. It was only in the 1800's that this verse was used to ask, why can't a poor man be a pastor? If he understands the Bible, what does it matter how wealthy he is? It changed the church. Obviously male and female is a gender barrier. In the 1960's American women began to ask - if a black man can pastor a white church, if a poor man can pastor a wealthy church, why can't a woman be a pastor as well? If we're going to knock down barriers with this verse, why not use it all? It changed the church. Paul's call to inclusiveness in the promises of God, changed the church. God promised salvation to Abraham, through the arrival of Jesus Christ. God gave Moses rules, to help people know the difference between right and wrong. But, those rules never promised to save us. The original promise to Abraham is the only one of perfect salvation. And that promise is available to every person who has ever lived. No matter who you are, or where you are. And, while your earthly parents may not keep their promises - God always keeps his. 1 R. C. Sproul, general editor. New Geneva Study Bible (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995), 1851. 2 NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2016), 2048. 3 William Barclay, The Letters to the Galatians and Ephesians (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2002), 38. 4 Jason N. Yuh, "Analyzing Paul's Reference to Baptism in Galatians 3:27 Through Studies of Memory, Embodiment and Ritual, " Journal for the Study of the New Testament, 41 no. 4 (June 2019), 478-500. 5 The United Methodist Hymnal (Nashville: The United Methodist Publishing House, 1989), 36. 6 Mary Elise Lowe, "A New Creation: Sex and Gender in 'Faith, Sexism, and Justice: A Call to Action'," Currents in Theology and Mission, 47 no. 2 (2020), 53-59. --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ 2