No Isolation - Galatians 6:7-16

Galatians 6:7–16 NRSV

7 Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. 8 If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit. 9 So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. 10 So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith. 11 See what large letters I make when I am writing in my own hand! 12 It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh that try to compel you to be circumcised—only that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 Even the circumcised do not themselves obey the law, but they want you to be circumcised so that they may boast about your flesh. 14 May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything; but a new creation is everything! 16 As for those who will follow this rule—peace be upon them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.

There are so many ways we find ourselves separated from each other these days. There is so much in our world that divides communities, families, churches, people.

Religious practice and devotion, is, unfortunately, can become a lightning rod of division as well. We’ve witnessed this first hand in our nation over these last few weeks. What is true faith, what is true devotion? Is it the marks we bear on our bodies or the piety we show before others?

Paul writes the closing words, having dictated the letter up to this point. This is a common thing for Paul to do, to make a personal connection with the people he is writing to and this section is his longest closing remark in a letter.

Again, there is much to decode and contextualize for us today. Paul goes back to one of his core arguments and teachings — we should not let the customs of circumcision be a dividing matter, something that allows us to isolate others and turn them away.

First, we hear Paul speak of the work we do and the harvest of righteousness we anticipate, understanding that this is what the good work of God’s people will yield.

Galatians 6:9 NRSV

9 So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up.

But boy, isn’t it is very easy to grow weary these days? And can you blame us?

When I read this text, I hear a call for us to remain connected to one another, to keep showing up and serving one another, to faithfully fight against the urge to isolate ourselves and rely upon our own deeds to justify our existence.

Do not be deceived, we hear. God is not mocked, for you reap what you sow. There is a sense that somehow, we believe we can hide our pride or our greed or our anger from God. That we can harm or betray one another without God noticing. Or perhaps we believe that if we show God our good works enough, God will overlook the hardened parts of our hearts. No, my friends, we cannot hide. Nor should we.

The God we come to know in Christ is the God of closeness and intimacy. God takes on flesh to be with us, Emmanuel, close and personal. And yet we are prone to isolate ourselves, to set up barriers between each other, despite God’s invitation to come close and participate in reconciling relationships with one another.

So what is the alternative that we are presented with here, if we are not to isolate ourselves or boast of our good deeds?

Acting according to the flesh, as Paul speaks of it, is perhaps what we would describe as focusing on ourselves alone. There is certainly nothing wrong with taking care of ourselves, but it appears that in this case, members of the Galatian community were more focused on their bodily piety, the marks they bore for their faith, than actually living that faith out in relationship and love of each other.

The alternative to this is, instead, to live out of a place of self-giving. In Christ, we learn to share who we are and what we have to offer. We may take on the same marks on our flesh or live out the passions God gives us in the world, but we do this from a place of coming close to one another, belonging to one another, with Christ as our center.

We’ll go on to the second part of this text in a moment, where Paul gives a pretty clear example of this distinction between the flesh and the Spirit as it is lived out.

But this alternative way is spoken of here as well — Do not grow weary of doing what is right — do not give up!

It is a lot of work to stay together, to keep working for the good of each other, when we are pulled and encouraged even, to isolate ourselves.

Y’all didn’t need to be here today. You didn’t need to tune in or come down to the church. On a rainy July Sunday in the Pacific Northwest, perhaps its easier to be cozy and turn away from each other. Why bear the burden of connection, why bear the weight of hearing each other’s sorrows and joys? Are we not weary? Do we have the energy for this, the drive to stay in connection and relationship, to do the work of being the beloved community of God together?

These last couple of years have been incredibly intense and difficult. It has been a time when we have seen people we love turn to isolation and despair. And can we blame them? Can we blame our friend for not returning our calls or emails, as they bear the weight of sorrow and concern at the state of the world? When we’re weary, we want to separate, to hole up, and we start asking what we can take off our plates. Maybe it’s just time to say goodbye to a community of people, time to tighten our personal circle.

It seems the Galatian church needed encouragement not to do this kind of thing. And here is a key in understanding the work of the Spirit opposed to the work of the flesh. Our flesh, our material bodies and their desires, when we work from them alone, we get worn out.

I’m starting to train again to hopefully run a half marathon later this year. And honestly, I need encouragement. My flesh, my body, is weak. I haven’t run consistently in a couple of years. And so, when I go out even for a few miles, I feel it in my muscles and joints — weariness. My body is not up to fitness to run 5 miles well yet, let alone attempt 13.1 miles.

And so, I need encouragement. I need my community to spur me on, to challenge me. I have accomplished this kind of a fitness goal in the past and I know I can do it, but even still, I know that I need people to support me in making the effort. Our bodies can’t just wake up one more and run long distances without injury and pain. So we need to take incremental steps, supported by each other, to grow and gain strength.

Let’s look at the second part of this text now, acknowledging that we must bear one another’s burdens, that we must not grow weary of doing the right things, supporting one another.

We celebrate our nation’s Independence Day tomorrow. There is much that we are thankful for, the liberty and freedoms of this country that we profess as a people. I hope you enjoy your celebrations tomorrow, remembering all the legacy and hope that we hold dear as a people.

I’m a big fan of the musical, Hamilton, which tells the story of the founding fathers and the creation of our nation in defiance and independence from Britain. As I’ve been thinking on this week’s preaching text, I keep recalling one of the most powerful lines from Lin Manual Miranda’s Alexander Hamilton character. He is questioning what comes next when the fight for independence is over. He sings,

“If we win our independence? / Is that a guarantee of freedom for our descendants? / Or will the blood we shed begin an endless / Cycle of vengeance and death with no defendants?”

The powerful question here is not whether the pursuit of liberty and independence is worth fighting for, but rather, what comes after? And I think it illustrates a dark side to the fight for independence. When we hold a value of independence, then it can be a very hard ideal to overcome when compromise and relationship demand it. The value of independence will quickly lead us to isolation and categorizing others as in or out.

Don’t we see this today? Out of the value of independence, we have competing factions of people who speak of liberty and justice for them. Not for all, not for those people, but for me. When I am focused on my independence, then my liberties can quickly lead me into taking care of what’s mine and mine alone.

And this runs contrary to the teaching we have here today, this alternative way of being where we lean on each other, where we bear each others’ burdens.

This is where Paul’s argument, written in his own hand, about circumcision comes in. The problem is that there are folks in the Galatian church who would boast that they have done it right because they have marked their flesh through circumcision, a religious practice that signified membership and identity for the people of God.

He makes his statement clear and plain in vs. 14-15:

Gal 6:14-15 “14 May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything; but a new creation is everything!”

The markings we bear, the flags we fly, the degrees we have — these things are quick to divide us, but mustn’t.

Take it from here and see where it goes… You’ve got this.