1
00:00:09,480 --> 00:00:13,280
teaching scripture, we're going 
to be in Galatians chapter 1 

2
00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:19,760
verses one through 9. 
Paul, an apostle, sent neither 

3
00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:23,280
by human Commission nor from 
human authorities, but through 

4
00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:27,920
Jesus Christ and God the Father,
who raised him from the dead. 

5
00:00:28,760 --> 00:00:32,119
And all the brothers and sisters
with me to the churches of 

6
00:00:32,119 --> 00:00:37,120
Galatia, grace to you and peace 
from God our Father and the Lord

7
00:00:37,200 --> 00:00:41,960
Jesus Christ, who gave Himself 
for our sins to set us free from

8
00:00:41,960 --> 00:00:46,440
the present evil age, according 
to the will of our God and 

9
00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:50,120
Father, to whom be the glory 
forever and ever. 

10
00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:55,240
Amen. 
I am astonished that you are so 

11
00:00:55,240 --> 00:00:58,320
quickly deserting the one who 
called you in the grace of 

12
00:00:58,320 --> 00:01:01,280
Christ and are turning to a 
different gospel. 

13
00:01:01,720 --> 00:01:05,239
Not that there is another 
gospel, but there are some who 

14
00:01:05,239 --> 00:01:08,800
are confusing you and want to 
pervert the gospel of Christ. 

15
00:01:09,320 --> 00:01:12,560
But when? 
But even if we or an Angel from 

16
00:01:12,560 --> 00:01:17,280
heaven should proclaim to you a 
gospel contrary to what we have 

17
00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:22,160
proclaimed to you, let that one 
be accursed, as we have said 

18
00:01:22,160 --> 00:01:26,520
before. 
So now I repeat, if anyone 

19
00:01:26,520 --> 00:01:30,840
proclaims to you a gospel 
contrary to what you have 

20
00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:34,360
received, let that one be 
accursed. 

21
00:01:35,920 --> 00:01:42,960
This is the word of the Lord. 
All right, Welcome, friends. 

22
00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:45,960
I'm glad you're here. 
My name is Parker. 

23
00:01:45,960 --> 00:01:49,200
I'm one of the pastors here. 
So if we if we haven't met, it's

24
00:01:49,320 --> 00:01:50,640
it's good to be with you this 
morning. 

25
00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:52,120
It's also good to be with you if
we have met. 

26
00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:59,240
But about 100 years ago, a 
French anthropologist named 

27
00:01:59,320 --> 00:02:04,640
Marcel Moss wrote a little book 
called The Gift that people in 

28
00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:08,520
that field still engage with 
great interest. 

29
00:02:09,120 --> 00:02:13,280
He went looking all across 
cultures, travelled the world 

30
00:02:13,920 --> 00:02:19,040
studying different people 
groups, looking for the idea of 

31
00:02:19,040 --> 00:02:25,200
a truly free gift. 
He was searching for something 

32
00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:31,040
given with nothing expected in 
return, and he ultimately 

33
00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:37,200
couldn't find it anywhere. 
That concept was, in the the 

34
00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:40,680
results of his research, absent 
from the face of the earth in 

35
00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:43,040
any culture. 
Instead, he found that across 

36
00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:48,920
cultures, a gift always leaves a
thread between two people. 

37
00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:53,520
You give me something, and now 
there's a connection there. 

38
00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:58,640
There is something owed back. 
But more than that, there is a 

39
00:02:58,640 --> 00:03:02,000
sense that something associates 
us together. 

40
00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:07,520
That concept is seemingly 
unavoidable for us as humans. 

41
00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:11,440
The point that Moss makes was 
that this is how human beings 

42
00:03:11,440 --> 00:03:16,240
are wired. 
A gift ties people to each 

43
00:03:16,240 --> 00:03:22,280
other, and it's actually not a 
catch in the way that gift 

44
00:03:22,280 --> 00:03:25,000
giving works. 
What he discovered was that this

45
00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:28,080
was the entire purpose of giving
gifts. 

46
00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:31,960
Throughout all of human history,
the the thread that connects us 

47
00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:34,720
when a gift is given is 
something that we call a 

48
00:03:34,720 --> 00:03:38,760
relationship. 
Most gifts happen in the context

49
00:03:38,760 --> 00:03:41,920
of a relationship, whether it's 
a new one or an old one. 

50
00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:46,040
There, there. 
There might be good or bad 

51
00:03:46,040 --> 00:03:51,040
motives tied to that gift, but 
ultimately gift exchange takes 

52
00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:53,800
place in a relationship between 
one person and another. 

53
00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:57,840
And most of us know this in our 
bodies, even if we've never 

54
00:03:57,840 --> 00:04:01,920
studied anthropology. 
Somebody does something generous

55
00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:05,480
for you, does something that you
can't pay back. 

56
00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:08,840
And there's a kind of sweetness 
to it. 

57
00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:12,680
There's, there's something that 
you can think of with fondness. 

58
00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:17,079
I can, I can think of many times
in my life where people were 

59
00:04:17,079 --> 00:04:20,959
extravagantly generous toward me
and it's endeared me toward 

60
00:04:20,959 --> 00:04:23,800
those people. 
And I, I just want to say, I 

61
00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:29,080
don't think that's a bad thing. 
The idea of an altruistic free 

62
00:04:29,080 --> 00:04:32,040
gift we sort of think of as the 
ultimate expression of gift 

63
00:04:32,040 --> 00:04:34,560
giving. 
But the truth is, some of my 

64
00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:37,640
dearest friends and some of the 
people that I have come to love 

65
00:04:37,640 --> 00:04:41,400
and respect the most are people 
with whom I've, I've built a 

66
00:04:41,400 --> 00:04:45,720
relationship with over time of, 
of giving and exchanging, 

67
00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:50,280
whether it's gifts or help or 
kindness in relationship with 

68
00:04:50,280 --> 00:04:53,400
one another. 
But there is also this little 

69
00:04:53,400 --> 00:04:57,360
itch for all of us. 
We start looking for a way to 

70
00:04:57,360 --> 00:05:02,040
kind of even out the two columns
naturally as humans, because a 

71
00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:07,280
gift that you can't repay leaves
you tied to someone in a way 

72
00:05:07,280 --> 00:05:11,800
that you can't control. 
And ultimately what we want as 

73
00:05:11,800 --> 00:05:15,320
humans is to have control over 
our lives and control over our 

74
00:05:15,320 --> 00:05:17,840
circumstances. 
And the thing that we do almost 

75
00:05:17,840 --> 00:05:22,320
every time is to try to turn 
that thread, that connection, 

76
00:05:22,320 --> 00:05:25,680
that relationship with another 
person into something that we 

77
00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:28,960
can manage into something that 
we can control. 

78
00:05:28,960 --> 00:05:34,080
We turn our relationships into a
kind of Ledger where we keep 

79
00:05:34,080 --> 00:05:38,920
track of gifts given and gifts 
received in in one column or the

80
00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:42,720
other. 
Hang on to that idea this 

81
00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:46,640
morning because it sort of runs 
underneath everything that we're

82
00:05:46,640 --> 00:05:49,160
going to look at actually for 
the next couple months through 

83
00:05:49,160 --> 00:05:52,280
this series on Paul's letter to 
the Galatians. 

84
00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:54,720
So we're starting this new 
series that's going to take us 

85
00:05:55,320 --> 00:05:59,440
probably over the next 8 or 9 
weeks, most of the way through 

86
00:05:59,880 --> 00:06:01,920
Paul's letter to the Galatians. 
We're not going to look at every

87
00:06:01,920 --> 00:06:05,440
single verse in that book, but 
we're we're going to look at the

88
00:06:05,440 --> 00:06:09,600
most of it. 
And so naturally, we start at 

89
00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:12,920
the beginning. 
Most of Paul's letters have a 

90
00:06:12,920 --> 00:06:16,600
little bit of a, a warm up. 
He tends to kind of ease in 

91
00:06:17,440 --> 00:06:20,520
almost for an entire chapter in 
most of the books that he 

92
00:06:20,520 --> 00:06:22,880
writes. 
He opens with a Thanksgiving and

93
00:06:22,880 --> 00:06:26,320
he tells the church that he 
prays for them and he's grateful

94
00:06:26,320 --> 00:06:27,920
for what God is doing among 
them. 

95
00:06:27,920 --> 00:06:30,560
And sometimes he even reminisces
a little bit what it was like 

96
00:06:30,560 --> 00:06:34,640
when they were together. 
And he skips almost all of that 

97
00:06:34,640 --> 00:06:38,480
here. 
The greeting is there, but it's 

98
00:06:38,480 --> 00:06:40,000
significantly shorter than 
normal. 

99
00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:43,360
It's just a couple verses and 
then he's just into it. 

100
00:06:43,360 --> 00:06:48,960
I'm astonished he writes that 
you are so quickly deserting the

101
00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:53,520
one who called you. 
The Greek word that he uses is, 

102
00:06:53,520 --> 00:06:56,360
is something close to 
speechless. 

103
00:06:56,360 --> 00:07:00,800
Agitation is what my, my, my 
dictionary said. 

104
00:07:01,360 --> 00:07:03,880
Like, what are you people 
thinking? 

105
00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:08,560
He is he's rattled by some news 
that he receives. 

106
00:07:08,560 --> 00:07:11,400
He can't believe what he's 
hearing about these people who 

107
00:07:11,400 --> 00:07:14,160
he loves and he spent time with 
and invested in. 

108
00:07:14,160 --> 00:07:18,720
This is a letter from somebody 
who has gotten some news and had

109
00:07:18,720 --> 00:07:21,560
to respond. 
And what, what makes it, I 

110
00:07:21,560 --> 00:07:25,280
think, worth several weeks of 
our time is that the thing that 

111
00:07:25,280 --> 00:07:28,040
he's so worked up about in the 
beginning of this letter is 

112
00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:31,920
something that each of us has 
done and are probably still 

113
00:07:31,920 --> 00:07:36,080
doing in one way or another. 
And so I think it's apartment 

114
00:07:36,080 --> 00:07:38,560
that we sort of dig in and 
understand a little bit of what 

115
00:07:38,560 --> 00:07:40,240
he's talking about. 
So here's the story. 

116
00:07:40,880 --> 00:07:44,760
You can you can read in Acts, 
actually a lot of the background

117
00:07:44,800 --> 00:07:46,960
for what this, what's where this
letter is coming from. 

118
00:07:46,960 --> 00:07:50,200
But Paul came through a city 
called Galatia and he preached 

119
00:07:50,200 --> 00:07:52,760
the gospel there and something 
real happened. 

120
00:07:52,760 --> 00:07:55,520
Lots of people were met by the 
grace of God. 

121
00:07:55,760 --> 00:07:58,760
People came to know Jesus for 
the first time. 

122
00:07:59,760 --> 00:08:04,680
They they came into contact with
this free gift of God in Jesus 

123
00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:07,400
Christ and people's lives were 
changed. 

124
00:08:07,720 --> 00:08:12,600
This kind of self giving love 
that God pours out into the 

125
00:08:12,600 --> 00:08:16,280
world through the cross. 
People heard about this and it 

126
00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:18,800
transformed the way that they 
thought about their lives. 

127
00:08:19,600 --> 00:08:22,960
And then Paul left. 
Galatia and other teachers came 

128
00:08:22,960 --> 00:08:25,000
through with a different 
message. 

129
00:08:25,920 --> 00:08:30,440
So Paul's message said, you 
know, Jesus has has rescued the 

130
00:08:30,440 --> 00:08:33,640
whole creation, has rescued the 
whole creation from sin and 

131
00:08:33,640 --> 00:08:38,440
death, and you no longer need to
live under the constraints of 

132
00:08:38,440 --> 00:08:40,360
the old law. 
This is a gift that's been 

133
00:08:40,360 --> 00:08:44,320
freely given and you enter into 
relationship with Jesus. 

134
00:08:44,560 --> 00:08:48,120
And then the the teachers who 
came through after Paul were 

135
00:08:48,120 --> 00:08:50,360
sort of adding some ingredients 
to this message. 

136
00:08:50,360 --> 00:08:53,960
And so they would say, you know,
keep the Torah practices, keep 

137
00:08:53,960 --> 00:08:58,640
the Hebrew law, get circumcised.
And if you do these things, then

138
00:08:58,640 --> 00:09:02,520
you'll really belong to the 
covenant people of God. 

139
00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:06,120
And the Galatians started doing 
it. 

140
00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:09,840
So this is the thing that Paul 
is writing in response to. 

141
00:09:09,840 --> 00:09:13,240
These people have heard other 
teachers add ingredients, add 

142
00:09:13,240 --> 00:09:16,080
requirements. 
They've begun to do those 

143
00:09:16,080 --> 00:09:17,840
things. 
And Paul is writing back 

144
00:09:17,840 --> 00:09:21,320
basically to say, hey, I told 
you you didn't need to do any of

145
00:09:21,320 --> 00:09:23,400
those things, and now you're 
doing the things. 

146
00:09:24,560 --> 00:09:29,360
So they took the freest gift 
that had ever been offered to 

147
00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:32,560
anybody. 
And this is the part that's 

148
00:09:32,560 --> 00:09:35,320
important for us to to hear 
clearly. 

149
00:09:35,640 --> 00:09:40,880
They begun, they began to do the
most human thing imaginable with

150
00:09:40,880 --> 00:09:43,520
that gift. 
It's easy for us to sort of 

151
00:09:43,520 --> 00:09:45,920
distance ourselves from these 
people as we read this letter 

152
00:09:45,920 --> 00:09:47,800
and think, well, that's awfully 
silly. 

153
00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:51,680
They received a free gift and 
started adding requirements to 

154
00:09:51,680 --> 00:09:53,320
it. 
But remember what we were just 

155
00:09:53,320 --> 00:09:56,000
saying about the way that we 
often think about receiving 

156
00:09:56,000 --> 00:09:58,120
gifts in relationship to other 
people. 

157
00:09:58,800 --> 00:10:02,120
We start keeping a Ledger 
without the other person ever 

158
00:10:02,120 --> 00:10:05,320
asking us to. 
We begin to think to ourselves, 

159
00:10:06,120 --> 00:10:10,840
I know that that person, you 
know, gave me a thing generously

160
00:10:10,920 --> 00:10:15,880
or was just trying to help or 
was trying to express kindness. 

161
00:10:16,360 --> 00:10:20,880
But I feel the need to keep 
track of that internally. 

162
00:10:21,040 --> 00:10:24,640
And I'm actually imposing on 
myself and on the relationship, 

163
00:10:24,640 --> 00:10:28,720
the need to sort of keep, keep 
the balance, keep this thing 

164
00:10:28,720 --> 00:10:33,880
even. 
And this fits perfectly with the

165
00:10:33,880 --> 00:10:39,040
research from Marcel Moss and 
others on gifts and connection. 

166
00:10:39,040 --> 00:10:41,120
It's our human instinct to do 
this. 

167
00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:44,320
So Paul's letter, and this is, 
this is important. 

168
00:10:44,320 --> 00:10:47,320
It's less about a theological 
correction. 

169
00:10:47,800 --> 00:10:50,920
It's less about writing to these
people and saying, you know, 

170
00:10:50,920 --> 00:10:52,960
you've begun to believe the 
wrong thing. 

171
00:10:53,520 --> 00:10:56,840
You've misunderstood the text, 
You've misunderstood the message

172
00:10:56,840 --> 00:10:59,440
of Jesus. 
Paul is writing to them because 

173
00:10:59,440 --> 00:11:01,960
they have made a deeply human 
error. 

174
00:11:03,120 --> 00:11:06,360
They've made the most natural 
human error. 

175
00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:10,600
Upon receiving a gift, they 
started to place conditions on 

176
00:11:10,600 --> 00:11:16,600
that gift themselves. 
And so why so we, we have to 

177
00:11:16,600 --> 00:11:20,640
ask, would people who received a
free gift start trying to earn 

178
00:11:21,040 --> 00:11:23,840
that free gift? 
And the honest answer is that 

179
00:11:23,840 --> 00:11:26,720
it's very difficult to receive 
something that you didn't earn. 

180
00:11:27,280 --> 00:11:30,160
It actually takes a tremendous 
amount of humility. 

181
00:11:31,240 --> 00:11:34,840
Most of us have been taught this
idea that, you know, we, we 

182
00:11:34,840 --> 00:11:38,120
should work hard for the things 
that we have, that we should 

183
00:11:38,120 --> 00:11:42,400
earn the things in our lives and
not, not just be given handouts.

184
00:11:42,680 --> 00:11:49,320
And so we sort of idealize the 
idea of a free gift because of 

185
00:11:49,320 --> 00:11:52,640
some of the things that we were 
taught to believe about gift 

186
00:11:52,640 --> 00:11:56,000
giving as modern Westerners. 
But there's something in most of

187
00:11:56,000 --> 00:12:00,880
us that really struggles to sit 
in the presence of the idea of a

188
00:12:00,880 --> 00:12:06,080
pure gift without keeping score.
You already know this. 

189
00:12:06,320 --> 00:12:11,000
Somebody picks up a check and 
you hear yourself say you got it

190
00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:13,640
last time, I'll get the next 
one. 

191
00:12:14,280 --> 00:12:18,240
Somebody helps you move and 
you're already calculating how 

192
00:12:18,240 --> 00:12:21,920
you can pay it back in their 
life because they've taken time 

193
00:12:22,200 --> 00:12:27,040
to to be with you. 
Somebody gives you a gift that's

194
00:12:27,040 --> 00:12:30,960
clearly nicer than the one that 
you were able to give to them. 

195
00:12:32,040 --> 00:12:35,160
And you smile and you accept 
that gift. 

196
00:12:35,480 --> 00:12:40,200
But inside the meter starts 
running and you're already 

197
00:12:40,200 --> 00:12:43,600
thinking about, I don't know how
I'm going to get out from under 

198
00:12:43,600 --> 00:12:46,720
this indebtedness. 
And that's almost certainly not 

199
00:12:46,720 --> 00:12:48,880
what the person giving you the 
gift intended. 

200
00:12:49,400 --> 00:12:50,920
But that's the way that we 
think, isn't it? 

201
00:12:51,840 --> 00:12:56,520
And so if most of us are honest,
this is the the tough part. 

202
00:12:56,520 --> 00:13:00,760
We actually prefer it that way 
because as exhausting as a 

203
00:13:00,760 --> 00:13:05,880
system of owing is, it at least 
tells us where we stand. 

204
00:13:07,080 --> 00:13:13,400
You know, being on a treadmill 
is awful, but at at least I know

205
00:13:13,400 --> 00:13:20,760
how to run on a treadmill. 
And, and what scares me is being

206
00:13:20,760 --> 00:13:25,560
handed something free and just 
having to trust that it's, it's 

207
00:13:25,560 --> 00:13:31,440
an honest, real free gift. 
Am I the only one who feels that

208
00:13:31,440 --> 00:13:33,160
or do you have a similar 
experience? 

209
00:13:33,640 --> 00:13:37,680
I've, I've spent a frightening 
amount of my life sort of 

210
00:13:37,680 --> 00:13:43,560
performing to appear worthy of 
some of the things in my life, 

211
00:13:43,560 --> 00:13:48,280
performing competence so that 
people in my life think that I 

212
00:13:48,280 --> 00:13:54,760
kind of have it together, 
performing faith so that people,

213
00:13:54,800 --> 00:13:57,600
you know, thought that I was the
the real thing, right? 

214
00:13:58,040 --> 00:14:01,960
And I've done it in prayer with 
nobody watching but God, which 

215
00:14:01,960 --> 00:14:07,160
is one of the strangest places 
to perform of all, doing 

216
00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:10,840
spiritual things quietly hoping 
that they build up some kind of 

217
00:14:10,840 --> 00:14:13,800
credit for me, even though I 
clearly understand that that's 

218
00:14:13,800 --> 00:14:17,800
not how this thing works. 
Because this is an urge that's 

219
00:14:17,800 --> 00:14:21,640
just deep inside of all of us 
that's incredibly difficult to 

220
00:14:21,640 --> 00:14:25,960
work our way around or out of or
convince ourselves isn't there. 

221
00:14:26,960 --> 00:14:31,080
I was trying to explain this 
series Debris a few weeks ago, 

222
00:14:32,320 --> 00:14:34,800
maybe earlier this week, and she
said something that I think is 

223
00:14:34,800 --> 00:14:38,040
so important. 
She said even people who have 

224
00:14:38,040 --> 00:14:41,880
been told their entire lives 
that grace is free still feel 

225
00:14:41,880 --> 00:14:44,960
like they have to earn their way
to favour people. 

226
00:14:45,080 --> 00:14:48,600
People who have spent a long 
time in the church especially 

227
00:14:49,240 --> 00:14:51,200
feel that way. 
They feel like they're on the 

228
00:14:51,200 --> 00:14:53,160
hook. 
And when somebody starts talking

229
00:14:53,160 --> 00:14:58,520
about responding to the free 
gift of the love of God, it just

230
00:14:58,520 --> 00:15:02,000
sounds like the same heavy 
burden that we carry around, but

231
00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:03,680
maybe with slightly better 
marketing. 

232
00:15:05,280 --> 00:15:09,200
So that when the person talking 
about it says it, it doesn't 

233
00:15:09,200 --> 00:15:12,040
feel like I'm, I'm laying a 
burden on your shoulders. 

234
00:15:12,040 --> 00:15:14,800
But instead, oh, it's something 
that you ought to feel. 

235
00:15:15,680 --> 00:15:18,200
And I don't want to rush past 
that that fact. 

236
00:15:18,200 --> 00:15:23,520
Because what the Galatians did 
was this very normal impulse 

237
00:15:23,520 --> 00:15:27,400
towards self protection. 
They were being handed the one 

238
00:15:27,400 --> 00:15:33,000
free thing in the universe and 
on reflex, trying to turn it 

239
00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:35,840
into something that they could 
manage, trying to turn it into 

240
00:15:35,840 --> 00:15:38,920
something that they could 
control or comprehend by their 

241
00:15:38,920 --> 00:15:43,120
own actions and behaviors. 
Because it's so hard to get our 

242
00:15:43,120 --> 00:15:46,000
minds around the idea of 
something that's given to us for

243
00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:50,360
free. 
And so before we go on in the 

244
00:15:50,360 --> 00:15:53,000
text, I want to, I want to just 
talk a little bit more about the

245
00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:56,240
world that these Galatians were 
living in, because it turns out 

246
00:15:56,240 --> 00:16:00,800
that they had even more reason 
to reach for this sort of 

247
00:16:01,320 --> 00:16:04,640
relationship, the counting, than
we do. 

248
00:16:06,520 --> 00:16:13,640
The Galatians weren't just 
reaching for that Ledger out of 

249
00:16:13,640 --> 00:16:16,000
habit. 
They were doing it because they 

250
00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:20,160
had real reasons to be afraid in
the moment that they found 

251
00:16:20,160 --> 00:16:21,560
themselves. 
They were living inside the 

252
00:16:21,560 --> 00:16:26,800
Roman Empire, and Rome had a 
very specific, very efficiently 

253
00:16:26,800 --> 00:16:31,720
enforced idea about who counted 
and who didn't, particularly 

254
00:16:31,720 --> 00:16:36,280
when it came to religion. 
Bridget Call, a New Testament 

255
00:16:36,280 --> 00:16:40,560
scholar who spent years reading 
this letter and its imperial 

256
00:16:40,560 --> 00:16:44,440
backdrop, makes an important 
point on her commentary on 

257
00:16:44,440 --> 00:16:47,000
Galatians. 
The Galatians were being 

258
00:16:47,000 --> 00:16:50,800
pressured to take on Jewish 
practices, and they probably 

259
00:16:50,800 --> 00:16:54,400
weren't doing it because they 
were theologically confused. 

260
00:16:54,720 --> 00:16:57,080
They were actually probably 
doing it because they were 

261
00:16:57,080 --> 00:17:00,160
scared. 
And the the point that she makes

262
00:17:00,160 --> 00:17:03,920
in her commentary is that in the
Roman world, to be a recognized 

263
00:17:03,920 --> 00:17:07,319
religion and stay out of 
trouble, you had to have some 

264
00:17:07,319 --> 00:17:11,079
recognizable practices and some 
recognizable patterns to count 

265
00:17:11,520 --> 00:17:14,760
as a real religion, a real 
religious movement. 

266
00:17:15,160 --> 00:17:21,079
And so Judaism had that. 
It was ancient, it had standing,

267
00:17:21,079 --> 00:17:25,000
it had legal protections. 
But if you were following some 

268
00:17:25,000 --> 00:17:29,880
recently executed teacher from 
the backwater of Galilee, with 

269
00:17:29,880 --> 00:17:33,880
no temple standing anywhere to 
its God, you were a little bit 

270
00:17:33,880 --> 00:17:37,000
exposed. 
At the time, it was maybe a 

271
00:17:37,000 --> 00:17:40,320
little bit harder to recognize 
these early Christians as part 

272
00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:45,200
of a valid religious movement. 
So this was the kind of group 

273
00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:47,880
that tended to get noticed by 
the wrong people. 

274
00:17:49,040 --> 00:17:53,720
Taking on these Jewish markers 
might have actually felt like 

275
00:17:53,720 --> 00:17:55,440
finally getting your papers in 
order. 

276
00:17:56,320 --> 00:17:58,520
And so if we have some of these 
things, if we have some of these

277
00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:01,400
practices that we can sort of 
point to when the authorities 

278
00:18:01,400 --> 00:18:04,480
come knocking, we can say, well,
clearly we're part of this, you 

279
00:18:04,480 --> 00:18:06,640
know, this specific religious 
sect. 

280
00:18:07,040 --> 00:18:09,440
Here are the things that we do 
that make us part of that. 

281
00:18:10,120 --> 00:18:12,000
Please don't haul us off to 
prison. 

282
00:18:15,320 --> 00:18:23,040
But when somebody starts talking
about this, this free gift that 

283
00:18:23,040 --> 00:18:28,160
removes the need for a lot of 
those societal markers, it 

284
00:18:28,160 --> 00:18:30,720
starts to get a little bit 
confusing for these people. 

285
00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:35,280
There's actually even more on at
stake than what initially 

286
00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:38,520
appeared. 
What the Galatians did was was 

287
00:18:38,520 --> 00:18:41,280
very normal. 
They're getting handed something

288
00:18:41,280 --> 00:18:44,440
free and they're trying to 
manage it. 

289
00:18:46,320 --> 00:18:49,240
So Paul writes to them and says 
basically this. 

290
00:18:49,640 --> 00:18:53,120
That's actually not safety. 
That's the thing that you had in

291
00:18:53,120 --> 00:18:57,120
the first place. 
It might feel a little more 

292
00:18:57,120 --> 00:18:59,320
clear. 
It might feel a little bit more 

293
00:18:59,600 --> 00:19:04,360
like you have firm ground to 
stand on, but you're backing 

294
00:19:04,360 --> 00:19:06,880
yourselves into the thing that 
you were just freed from. 

295
00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:11,280
He actually has a word for the 
thing that they're turning back 

296
00:19:11,280 --> 00:19:13,480
to. 
He, he calls it Stoichia, which 

297
00:19:13,480 --> 00:19:17,880
basically it gets translated all
these different ways, weak and 

298
00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:22,400
beggardly elements or elemental 
forces or the basic principles 

299
00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:25,400
of the world. 
What he means is that there is a

300
00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:30,280
whole machinery of the way that 
the world works, the ways that 

301
00:19:30,280 --> 00:19:34,680
people sort of interact with 
each other in a, in a very rules

302
00:19:34,680 --> 00:19:39,840
based sort of economy. 
And Paul says you were just 

303
00:19:39,840 --> 00:19:43,280
rescued from all of that. 
You were just rescued from 

304
00:19:43,280 --> 00:19:46,920
having to make this exchange and
having to keep things even. 

305
00:19:47,480 --> 00:19:53,240
And now you, you are walking 
back in that door and closing it

306
00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:59,240
behind you. 
There are great African 

307
00:19:59,240 --> 00:20:02,640
theologians who argue that those
of us in the West tend to 

308
00:20:02,640 --> 00:20:06,160
flatten Paul's language about 
these powers into metaphor. 

309
00:20:06,720 --> 00:20:11,080
And you know, when we do in 
polite Western society, we kind 

310
00:20:11,080 --> 00:20:14,400
of lose the plot. 
Paul is not just being poetic 

311
00:20:14,720 --> 00:20:18,320
about these powerful ideas. 
He's not talking about the the 

312
00:20:18,360 --> 00:20:24,000
elemental forces of the world to
to use nice flowery language. 

313
00:20:24,440 --> 00:20:28,840
He believes that these are real 
systems and real structures that

314
00:20:29,040 --> 00:20:31,880
sort of inform the way that 
people are able to show up in 

315
00:20:31,880 --> 00:20:34,160
the world. 
And he thinks that these things 

316
00:20:34,720 --> 00:20:39,720
hold people in genuine captivity
to patterns of living that the 

317
00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:42,000
gospel is meant to liberate them
from. 

318
00:20:42,480 --> 00:20:44,960
So when he says that the 
Galatians are turning back to 

319
00:20:44,960 --> 00:20:48,560
elemental spirits of the world 
or the present evil age, he's 

320
00:20:48,560 --> 00:20:52,680
not exaggerating for effect. 
So let's look at what Paul 

321
00:20:52,680 --> 00:20:56,720
actually writes Paul, an apostle
sent not from men or by a man, 

322
00:20:56,720 --> 00:21:00,440
but by Jesus Christ and by God 
the Father who raised him from 

323
00:21:00,440 --> 00:21:02,920
the dead. 
Grace and peace to you from God 

324
00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:06,240
our Father and the Lord Jesus 
Christ who gave himself for our 

325
00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:09,920
sins to rescue us from the 
present evil age according to 

326
00:21:09,920 --> 00:21:13,960
the will of God, the the will of
our God and father. 

327
00:21:14,560 --> 00:21:20,160
So before he's even said hello 
properly in this letter, he he 

328
00:21:20,160 --> 00:21:24,960
kind of goes on this soliloquy. 
This is this is important to 

329
00:21:24,960 --> 00:21:29,000
remember who's writing this. 
This is Paul, who was relatively

330
00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:31,640
recently hunting Christians 
down, dragging them out of their

331
00:21:31,640 --> 00:21:36,200
homes, standing by, observing 
while Stephen was stoned. 

332
00:21:37,040 --> 00:21:40,960
Jesus interrupted his life and 
pulled him into a story that he 

333
00:21:40,960 --> 00:21:45,320
was actively trying to destroy. 
And he becomes part of this 

334
00:21:45,320 --> 00:21:48,200
people of God. 
And so even in the opening that 

335
00:21:48,200 --> 00:21:52,080
can sound a little bit like 
fluff, he stops to say what the 

336
00:21:52,080 --> 00:21:56,920
grace actually is. 
Jesus, who gave himself, nobody 

337
00:21:56,920 --> 00:21:58,960
took his life from him. 
He handed it over. 

338
00:21:59,360 --> 00:22:03,400
And then notice the scope of 
what he's talking about here. 

339
00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:08,960
He he doesn't say Jesus forgave 
our sins in some private 

340
00:22:08,960 --> 00:22:13,440
transaction between US and God. 
The point that he's making is 

341
00:22:13,440 --> 00:22:17,880
that this grace, this free gift 
of grace rescues us from the 

342
00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:21,760
present evil age. 
So the gospel is not about 

343
00:22:22,800 --> 00:22:27,240
humans moving toward a more 
blessed state of being. 

344
00:22:27,840 --> 00:22:32,240
It's about God's liberating 
invasion of the whole cosmos. 

345
00:22:32,760 --> 00:22:36,440
You know, many of us, I think, 
were handed a gospel that was 

346
00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:42,960
about getting my individual soul
into the best spot when I die. 

347
00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:48,640
And what's happening here in 
Paul's explanation of the gospel

348
00:22:49,040 --> 00:22:54,400
is that God breaks into enemy 
territory to get his people out.

349
00:22:55,200 --> 00:22:58,120
And this is the primary picture 
of the gospel that Paul is 

350
00:22:58,120 --> 00:23:01,480
working with. 
So it's not primarily a a 

351
00:23:01,480 --> 00:23:05,440
courtroom scene where one 
individual is on trial. 

352
00:23:05,800 --> 00:23:10,480
We're talking about the epic 
rescue of the whole cosmos. 

353
00:23:11,360 --> 00:23:13,200
So that's how Paul opens this 
letter. 

354
00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:16,840
I think that's I think that's 
quite the stage. 

355
00:23:17,120 --> 00:23:21,320
And so then on verse in verse 6,
the temperature changes a little

356
00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:25,880
bit in what he's saying. 
I'm astonished that you are so 

357
00:23:25,880 --> 00:23:29,080
quickly deserting the one who 
called you to live in the grace 

358
00:23:29,080 --> 00:23:31,960
of Christ and are turning to a 
different gospel. 

359
00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:38,960
The word different that he uses 
means different in kind. 

360
00:23:40,080 --> 00:23:43,480
It's a it's a different, it's a 
different species. 

361
00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:45,240
It's a completely different 
thing. 

362
00:23:45,240 --> 00:23:49,520
It's not just we've, we've 
changed a few ingredients where 

363
00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:52,080
we've like added a little bit 
here, taken away a little bit 

364
00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:54,240
there. 
He's saying that this thing that

365
00:23:54,240 --> 00:23:58,880
they have bought into is a, is a
fundamentally different message 

366
00:23:58,880 --> 00:24:05,160
than the one that he brought. 
He, he says that the gospel that

367
00:24:05,160 --> 00:24:09,760
he preached to these people is 
one that operates on the basis 

368
00:24:09,760 --> 00:24:13,640
of of a free gift from God. 
And the one that they've begun 

369
00:24:13,640 --> 00:24:18,800
to embrace moves them back 
toward this, this habit of 

370
00:24:18,840 --> 00:24:22,400
earning what they have. 
And those two things don't mix. 

371
00:24:22,720 --> 00:24:24,680
They're different. 
They're fundamentally opposed. 

372
00:24:25,080 --> 00:24:27,480
And this raises the question 
underneath all of this, that if 

373
00:24:27,480 --> 00:24:33,560
the gospel of grace is really 
free and it's this beautiful, 

374
00:24:33,960 --> 00:24:40,920
can't be taken back thing, how 
does it so easily for so many of

375
00:24:40,920 --> 00:24:45,000
us become a burden as we try to 
sort it out in our own lives, as

376
00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:48,360
we try to think, how do I live 
into the shape of this story 

377
00:24:48,600 --> 00:24:51,960
that's been put in front of me? 
And then verses 8. 

378
00:24:51,960 --> 00:24:55,920
And nine are are even more 
confrontational. 

379
00:24:56,680 --> 00:25:00,080
Even if we are an Angel from 
heaven should preach a gospel 

380
00:25:00,080 --> 00:25:01,640
other than the one we preach to 
you. 

381
00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:05,560
Let them be under God's curse, 
as we have already said. 

382
00:25:05,680 --> 00:25:09,280
So now I say again, if anybody 
is preaching to you a gospel 

383
00:25:09,280 --> 00:25:13,360
other than what you accepted, 
let them be under God's curse. 

384
00:25:14,360 --> 00:25:19,080
Some translations in place of 
God's curse use the actual Greek

385
00:25:19,080 --> 00:25:24,120
word anathema. 
And in in the Jewish mind, this 

386
00:25:24,120 --> 00:25:26,760
meant something that was 
distinctly set apart for 

387
00:25:26,760 --> 00:25:31,160
destruction, handed over to 
judgement, completely cut off. 

388
00:25:32,480 --> 00:25:35,880
This is rarely how Paul talks. 
You know, he can sound a little 

389
00:25:35,880 --> 00:25:40,480
salty in some of his letters, 
but I think this is the only 

390
00:25:40,480 --> 00:25:44,880
place where where Paul actually 
sort of directly invokes a curse

391
00:25:45,640 --> 00:25:48,960
on his opponents. 
So this is he. 

392
00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:53,080
He means business. 
He gets angry in. 

393
00:25:53,080 --> 00:25:56,120
Other letters, but not a lot of 
stuff like this. 

394
00:25:56,840 --> 00:26:00,680
And and he throws himself. 
And and the. 

395
00:26:00,680 --> 00:26:03,800
Angels under this language, he 
says. 

396
00:26:03,800 --> 00:26:08,280
Even if I come back and preach 
something else, even if an Angel

397
00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:13,320
does, let it, let it be cursed. 
So this is this is how strongly 

398
00:26:13,320 --> 00:26:17,880
this is how consequential he. 
Feels that this. 

399
00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:20,320
Is he knows exactly how this 
sounds. 

400
00:26:20,720 --> 00:26:24,680
He is not fussing over some 
secondary thing. 

401
00:26:25,360 --> 00:26:29,240
You know, it's not about 
denominational preference or a 

402
00:26:29,240 --> 00:26:32,840
worship style or, you know, any,
any of those sorts of things. 

403
00:26:32,840 --> 00:26:37,760
He he's saying that the free 
gift, taking this free gift and 

404
00:26:37,760 --> 00:26:41,560
turning it back into a 
transaction, pulling it into 

405
00:26:41,560 --> 00:26:46,680
sort of our human frameworks for
how we have to account for 

406
00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:50,720
relationships with other people 
is catastrophic. 

407
00:26:51,880 --> 00:26:55,400
To the. 
Message of Jesus and I want to 

408
00:26:55,400 --> 00:27:01,600
slow down because we we have to 
get clear about what Paul is so 

409
00:27:01,600 --> 00:27:04,720
worked up to protect because 
we're going to spend quite a bit

410
00:27:04,720 --> 00:27:08,280
of this series unpacking the 
idea of, you know, how how do we

411
00:27:08,280 --> 00:27:12,400
respond to the free gift of God?
How do we respond to the grace 

412
00:27:12,400 --> 00:27:14,880
that we've received? 
And and it is. 

413
00:27:15,040 --> 00:27:19,280
It's just a click off. 
But it makes a world. 

414
00:27:19,280 --> 00:27:22,760
Of difference, the way that this
this thought can kind of unfold 

415
00:27:22,760 --> 00:27:29,120
in our minds. 
There's a New Testament scholar 

416
00:27:29,120 --> 00:27:33,200
named John Barclay and some of 
our team is, is actually reading

417
00:27:33,480 --> 00:27:36,440
his book on Galatians as we 
preach the series. 

418
00:27:36,880 --> 00:27:41,360
And he asked the same question 
from a more theological angle 

419
00:27:42,320 --> 00:27:46,280
that Moss did, but about Paul's 
world specifically. 

420
00:27:46,680 --> 00:27:48,840
And he wrote this book called 
Paul and the Gift. 

421
00:27:49,360 --> 00:27:54,000
And what he found actually lines
up with with Moss almost 

422
00:27:54,000 --> 00:27:58,200
perfectly. 
In Paul's world, gifts were not 

423
00:27:58,200 --> 00:28:02,000
thought of as free. 
The way that that sounds to us, 

424
00:28:02,760 --> 00:28:06,520
a gift created a a connection, a
gift created a bond, a gift 

425
00:28:06,520 --> 00:28:08,840
created a relationship between 
two people. 

426
00:28:09,240 --> 00:28:12,840
And that's actually how all of 
society held together. 

427
00:28:13,680 --> 00:28:19,960
There's extensive writing on 
this in in Roman society, this 

428
00:28:19,960 --> 00:28:22,920
was sort of one of the customs, 
one of the ways that people 

429
00:28:22,920 --> 00:28:27,400
thought about how their whole 
world held together was around 

430
00:28:27,400 --> 00:28:31,200
these these sort of social 
obligations that revolved around

431
00:28:31,200 --> 00:28:33,480
gifts. 
If somebody gave you something 

432
00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:37,360
and you didn't reciprocate, you 
weren't just rude, you were 

433
00:28:37,360 --> 00:28:42,640
breaking the social contract in 
a way that was really important 

434
00:28:42,640 --> 00:28:45,520
to understand. 
So I want you to picture what it

435
00:28:45,520 --> 00:28:49,120
sounded like when Paul came into
that world. 

436
00:28:50,240 --> 00:28:53,000
Where failing to. 
Reciprocate a gift wasn't just 

437
00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:56,680
rude, it was a failure of 
conscience. 

438
00:28:56,680 --> 00:29:02,240
It was a failure of nerve. 
And Paul starts saying that 

439
00:29:02,240 --> 00:29:06,680
there is this God who gives 
gifts to people who have not 

440
00:29:06,680 --> 00:29:10,560
earned them and who can't 
reciprocate Who? 

441
00:29:10,560 --> 00:29:12,920
Gives. 
Before they have done a single 

442
00:29:12,920 --> 00:29:15,760
thing. 
Who gives to people who are 

443
00:29:15,760 --> 00:29:22,080
unworthy on purpose without 
checking whether they deserve 

444
00:29:22,120 --> 00:29:24,720
that thing or not that? 
Didn't. 

445
00:29:24,720 --> 00:29:28,640
Sound generous to these people? 
That would actually not. 

446
00:29:28,640 --> 00:29:32,400
Have been their first thought. 
It sounded irresponsible and 

447
00:29:32,400 --> 00:29:35,320
hard to believe. 
So one of the reasons that 

448
00:29:35,320 --> 00:29:38,600
people struggle with this, with 
this aspect of the gospel so 

449
00:29:38,600 --> 00:29:41,040
much in this moment is because 
they hear this and they don't 

450
00:29:41,040 --> 00:29:43,600
instantly think, oh, how good is
that? 

451
00:29:43,680 --> 00:29:46,440
We're rescued. 
They think this is a God who 

452
00:29:46,440 --> 00:29:49,880
doesn't follow our rules. 
And that's sort of. 

453
00:29:49,880 --> 00:29:53,960
Offensive, isn't it? 
Barclay says. 

454
00:29:53,960 --> 00:30:01,000
That God's grace is incongruous.
I think I said that. 

455
00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:03,760
Right. 
It it it. 

456
00:30:03,760 --> 00:30:06,560
Doesn't match. 
It's like misaligned. 

457
00:30:06,880 --> 00:30:11,920
So we live in a world where 
gifts go to worthy people. 

458
00:30:12,960 --> 00:30:16,880
And. 
We sort of track status based on

459
00:30:16,880 --> 00:30:19,920
honor and people get what they 
have coming. 

460
00:30:20,680 --> 00:30:25,240
And then there's this God who 
gives not just gifts, gives 

461
00:30:25,240 --> 00:30:31,000
himself by the spirit to the 
people who had the least coming 

462
00:30:31,480 --> 00:30:34,800
of anybody. 
And that's why the, one of the 

463
00:30:34,800 --> 00:30:37,960
reasons that the gospel was 
thought of as as scandalous, 

464
00:30:38,280 --> 00:30:41,000
because it violated this social 
convention. 

465
00:30:41,680 --> 00:30:45,920
And here's the the move that we 
have to track because I, I 

466
00:30:45,920 --> 00:30:48,640
really think it's the hinge of 
this whole series. 

467
00:30:48,640 --> 00:30:51,800
As we work our way through this 
letter, you would expect the 

468
00:30:51,800 --> 00:30:55,840
punchline to be. 
So the gift is. 

469
00:30:55,840 --> 00:31:00,400
Free Nothing is asked of you, 
and a lot of us have heard this 

470
00:31:00,400 --> 00:31:04,120
preached exactly that way. 
Nothing required, nothing 

471
00:31:04,120 --> 00:31:08,200
required whatsoever. 
But Barclay shows that grace. 

472
00:31:09,440 --> 00:31:12,720
This this idea. 
That grace asks nothing of you 

473
00:31:13,560 --> 00:31:17,200
is a very modern idea only. 
Just. 

474
00:31:17,200 --> 00:31:21,520
In the last, you know, couple 
100 years, have we sort of 

475
00:31:21,520 --> 00:31:25,840
invented the idea of a purely 
altruistic gift that doesn't 

476
00:31:25,840 --> 00:31:30,200
create any kind of a, a bond or 
a connection or, or serve a 

477
00:31:30,200 --> 00:31:32,440
relationship between two 
parties? 

478
00:31:33,440 --> 00:31:36,400
What Paul is saying is, is 
stranger than that. 

479
00:31:36,400 --> 00:31:38,160
It's a little bit less black and
white. 

480
00:31:39,480 --> 00:31:41,480
The whole point. 
Of God's gift. 

481
00:31:42,960 --> 00:31:46,480
Wasn't. 
To settle a score or clear 

482
00:31:46,480 --> 00:31:51,960
balance, it was to make a people
who represented this kind of 

483
00:31:51,960 --> 00:31:59,320
grace to the watching world and 
to open a relationship with a 

484
00:31:59,320 --> 00:32:05,280
people group, to fold you into a
family, to pull you into a life 

485
00:32:05,280 --> 00:32:10,680
with the living God. 
And the gift is free and it's 

486
00:32:10,680 --> 00:32:14,920
relational. 
And those two things, we're 

487
00:32:14,920 --> 00:32:18,800
really not put in tension. 
We're not put at odds with each 

488
00:32:18,800 --> 00:32:21,400
other. 
Until pretty recent history, 

489
00:32:21,960 --> 00:32:24,440
people people started to put 
them into tension. 

490
00:32:27,080 --> 00:32:31,400
The freedom. 
Of this gift is what makes the 

491
00:32:31,400 --> 00:32:34,280
relationship real instead of 
coerced. 

492
00:32:35,240 --> 00:32:38,080
It's a thing that. 
You can receive or not receive, 

493
00:32:38,240 --> 00:32:41,000
but it's it's clear where it's 
coming from. 

494
00:32:42,160 --> 00:32:45,600
And it's. 
Clear that we can't just sort of

495
00:32:45,600 --> 00:32:50,080
separate a gift out from the 
giver and we can't separate a 

496
00:32:50,080 --> 00:32:53,240
gift out from the circumstances 
where we find ourselves when we 

497
00:32:53,240 --> 00:32:56,000
receive it. 
So all of these things have to 

498
00:32:56,000 --> 00:32:58,960
be true at the same time for 
this to really operate the way 

499
00:32:58,960 --> 00:33:04,200
that that Paul claims that it 
does and. 

500
00:33:06,080 --> 00:33:08,560
What being? 
Loved like that does. 

501
00:33:09,400 --> 00:33:16,120
Is it calls a response? 
Out of us, not a payment, not 

502
00:33:16,120 --> 00:33:21,320
not a way of getting even, not a
way of, of keeping that Ledger. 

503
00:33:21,640 --> 00:33:25,920
But there is a response. 
And those things can look 

504
00:33:25,920 --> 00:33:29,960
similar on the outside, but 
they're worlds apart on the 

505
00:33:29,960 --> 00:33:34,120
inside. 
And so I sort of described the 

506
00:33:34,120 --> 00:33:38,000
shadow side of what happens 
inside of us when we give and 

507
00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:40,720
receive gifts. 
But now, I'd love for you to 

508
00:33:40,720 --> 00:33:44,880
call to mind some of the most 
beautiful instances of giving 

509
00:33:44,880 --> 00:33:47,680
and receiving that you can 
recall in your life. 

510
00:33:48,480 --> 00:33:50,800
What have? 
Those moments. 

511
00:33:51,640 --> 00:33:56,640
Created my. 
Assumption for many of us is 

512
00:33:56,640 --> 00:33:59,120
that they've called a response 
out of us. 

513
00:34:00,040 --> 00:34:03,240
Toward the person who's. 
Given generously to us or to the

514
00:34:03,240 --> 00:34:05,600
person who's been radically kind
to us. 

515
00:34:06,040 --> 00:34:09,080
Not, you know, when. 
When we trust that person's 

516
00:34:09,080 --> 00:34:11,960
motives, When we understand who 
they are, When we understand a 

517
00:34:11,960 --> 00:34:15,159
little bit of their character. 
Not because we feel. 

518
00:34:15,159 --> 00:34:17,440
Like we have to, not because we 
feel like we have to pay them 

519
00:34:17,440 --> 00:34:22,360
back or to get even or get right
with them, but because receiving

520
00:34:22,440 --> 00:34:25,719
a gift from one who loves us is 
a beautiful thing. 

521
00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:30,120
And the response. 
To that is good and appropriate.

522
00:34:30,520 --> 00:34:39,159
It's a It's beautiful. 
Paying back is what you do to 

523
00:34:39,159 --> 00:34:41,600
clear a debt and get free of 
someone. 

524
00:34:45,120 --> 00:34:46,199
You know when? 
When? 

525
00:34:46,199 --> 00:34:49,639
You're in debt to a credit card 
company. 

526
00:34:50,719 --> 00:34:54,000
That's not a relationship that 
you want to continue on into the

527
00:34:54,000 --> 00:34:56,679
future. 
When you're. 

528
00:34:56,679 --> 00:35:01,160
When you're paying off your 
mortgage to the bank, that's a 

529
00:35:01,160 --> 00:35:04,480
relationship that's clearly free
of of altruism. 

530
00:35:06,320 --> 00:35:10,240
There is obviously a motive 
there and it's to extract as 

531
00:35:10,240 --> 00:35:14,360
much money from you as possible.
But that's not what we're 

532
00:35:14,360 --> 00:35:16,720
talking about. 
We're not talking about getting 

533
00:35:16,720 --> 00:35:19,400
free of someone. 
Responding is what happens when 

534
00:35:19,400 --> 00:35:23,880
we believe that we're loved and 
we don't want to get free. 

535
00:35:26,160 --> 00:35:30,000
We want to go deeper. 
We want to grow in understanding

536
00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:33,040
and being understood. 
And so no, that's not the 

537
00:35:33,040 --> 00:35:36,200
relationship that you have with 
the credit card company, but 

538
00:35:36,200 --> 00:35:38,280
hopefully that's the 
relationship that you have with 

539
00:35:38,280 --> 00:35:42,920
a close friend or with a spouse 
or with your kids. 

540
00:35:43,720 --> 00:35:47,760
This is the kind of beauty in 
relationship that human beings 

541
00:35:47,760 --> 00:35:52,240
are designed for This, this 
attachment style, this, this 

542
00:35:52,240 --> 00:35:55,720
thought that we just want to get
free of someone. 

543
00:35:55,720 --> 00:35:57,120
We want to get out of their 
debt. 

544
00:35:57,440 --> 00:36:02,520
That's anxious and insecure. 
And the other is the most 

545
00:36:02,520 --> 00:36:07,160
natural thing in the world when 
we find ourselves in in the free

546
00:36:07,160 --> 00:36:10,440
exchange of love one with 
another. 

547
00:36:10,920 --> 00:36:14,000
Robert Capen, who wrote some of 
the most beautiful sentences 

548
00:36:14,000 --> 00:36:18,880
about grace that I've ever read,
put it plainly in his book 

549
00:36:19,320 --> 00:36:22,560
Kingdom Grace and Judgement. 
He said grace doesn't sell. 

550
00:36:22,960 --> 00:36:27,280
You can hardly even give it away
because it works only for losers

551
00:36:27,600 --> 00:36:29,680
and no one wants to stand in 
their line. 

552
00:36:31,880 --> 00:36:35,480
I love that idea because you 
know what is it? 

553
00:36:35,480 --> 00:36:37,920
I mean, you don't give grace to 
one who you think you're going 

554
00:36:37,920 --> 00:36:45,280
to get a lot from, right? 
But to stand in line with 

555
00:36:45,280 --> 00:36:47,320
losers? 
Right. 

556
00:36:47,640 --> 00:36:50,520
Is there a more? 
Is there a more Jesus thing? 

557
00:36:51,480 --> 00:36:54,040
And so here we are. 
Friends, people who we we've 

558
00:36:54,040 --> 00:36:58,600
been convinced that we live in 
this economy of of give and 

559
00:36:58,600 --> 00:37:01,680
take, of staying, even of 
getting out of one another's 

560
00:37:01,680 --> 00:37:04,320
debts. 
And I I. 

561
00:37:04,320 --> 00:37:07,200
Just think that one of the 
things that that the Spirit of 

562
00:37:07,200 --> 00:37:10,920
God wants to do in people is to 
draw us into this understanding 

563
00:37:11,160 --> 00:37:14,080
of who God is. 
That would allow us to just say 

564
00:37:15,120 --> 00:37:16,800
I'll stand in line with the 
losers. 

565
00:37:18,400 --> 00:37:20,360
I'll take whatever. 
You'll give me knowing that I 

566
00:37:20,360 --> 00:37:25,080
can never pay it back, but what 
it will draw out of me will be 

567
00:37:25,080 --> 00:37:29,640
the kind of response that's 
hopefully so full of of love, so

568
00:37:29,640 --> 00:37:32,760
full of gratitude that I'm not 
concerned with getting even. 

569
00:37:33,320 --> 00:37:35,200
I'm not concerned with paying it
back. 

570
00:37:35,840 --> 00:37:38,640
It's just because I've embraced 
this reality. 

571
00:37:38,640 --> 00:37:42,840
The freedom that Paul is 
fighting for is, is this idea 

572
00:37:42,840 --> 00:37:46,120
that you are not on the hook. 
You're not on the hook for 

573
00:37:46,120 --> 00:37:49,840
anything by receiving this gift.
This this gift won't be 

574
00:37:49,840 --> 00:37:53,800
repossessed if you don't respond
the right way. 

575
00:37:55,440 --> 00:37:58,400
You know, I, I don't. 
Want to overuse this analogy, 

576
00:37:58,400 --> 00:38:03,760
but but borrowing in our in our 
sort of economic structures as 

577
00:38:03,760 --> 00:38:05,680
they exist. 
This is a great example for how 

578
00:38:05,680 --> 00:38:09,600
it's not supposed to work. 
You know, think about this kind 

579
00:38:09,600 --> 00:38:15,080
of stuff like if you are, if you
borrow money to buy a thing and 

580
00:38:15,080 --> 00:38:17,200
you can't repay the money, what 
happens? 

581
00:38:17,680 --> 00:38:21,400
Somebody comes and takes it. 
That's not what we're talking 

582
00:38:21,400 --> 00:38:27,120
about this that's that's not the
kind of gift giving, that's not 

583
00:38:27,120 --> 00:38:30,560
the kind of love that calls 
forth a response from US. 

584
00:38:32,480 --> 00:38:35,960
One more verse before. 
We close and then I'll say a 

585
00:38:35,960 --> 00:38:37,680
little bit more about where 
we're headed for the next 8 

586
00:38:37,680 --> 00:38:41,280
weeks. 
Paul's deep into this argument 

587
00:38:41,760 --> 00:38:46,960
by Chapter 4, and he's made his 
case about the gift and about 

588
00:38:46,960 --> 00:38:49,920
the freedom of the gift, and 
then he writes this line. 

589
00:38:51,160 --> 00:38:54,640
But now that you. 
Know God, or rather are known by

590
00:38:54,640 --> 00:38:57,560
God. 
How is it that you are turning 

591
00:38:57,560 --> 00:39:00,080
back to those weak and miserable
forces? 

592
00:39:01,400 --> 00:39:04,040
And I want you to. 
Catch the little self edit that 

593
00:39:04,040 --> 00:39:07,840
he makes right there and it 
would be fascinating to know if 

594
00:39:07,840 --> 00:39:10,880
it were written this way on 
purpose or if he sort of caught 

595
00:39:10,880 --> 00:39:14,480
himself mid thought and and and 
made this little change. 

596
00:39:14,760 --> 00:39:18,560
But either way, it's in the text
he starts to write now that you 

597
00:39:18,560 --> 00:39:21,040
know God and. 
Then he interrupts. 

598
00:39:21,040 --> 00:39:24,640
Himself to say no, wait, that's 
backwards. 

599
00:39:26,680 --> 00:39:28,600
Or rather are. 
Known by God. 

600
00:39:30,320 --> 00:39:35,080
That's the entire that's the 
entire gospel in one little self

601
00:39:35,080 --> 00:39:38,200
correction. 
This version that starts with 

602
00:39:38,200 --> 00:39:41,360
you knowing God. 
Is the one that we. 

603
00:39:41,360 --> 00:39:46,160
Default to it's the oldest story
that humans have that we cling 

604
00:39:46,160 --> 00:39:50,280
to this idea that I climb toward
God and I eventually get there. 

605
00:39:50,960 --> 00:39:55,800
I follow the steps, I climb the 
ladder and you know, it's this, 

606
00:39:55,800 --> 00:39:59,080
it's it's magical thinking, 
really, it's what it is. 

607
00:39:59,080 --> 00:40:03,840
I pray the prayer, I recite the 
right incantation or perform the

608
00:40:03,840 --> 00:40:07,960
right sacrifice. 
And I conjure favor as a result.

609
00:40:09,160 --> 00:40:13,840
And Paul flips. 
It and he says it actually never

610
00:40:13,840 --> 00:40:17,560
started with you. 
This. 

611
00:40:17,640 --> 00:40:22,760
This idea, this gospel doesn't, 
it doesn't terminate on you or 

612
00:40:22,760 --> 00:40:25,880
your ability to understand 
something or your ability to 

613
00:40:25,880 --> 00:40:30,480
behave a certain way. 
It terminates on God and so. 

614
00:40:31,560 --> 00:40:33,760
If you have. 
Ever been on the outside? 

615
00:40:33,960 --> 00:40:37,560
If you've ever been the person 
who had to prove that you 

616
00:40:37,560 --> 00:40:40,080
belonged before anybody let you 
in. 

617
00:40:41,400 --> 00:40:44,160
You hear? 
This verse differently than 

618
00:40:44,160 --> 00:40:47,040
people who are a little more 
comfortable in life do. 

619
00:40:49,560 --> 00:40:51,080
And so for people. 
Who? 

620
00:40:51,120 --> 00:40:54,440
Maybe, maybe you've had to earn 
your way into a lot of rooms. 

621
00:40:56,600 --> 00:40:59,360
This idea that. 
You were known before you proved

622
00:40:59,360 --> 00:41:01,760
anything. 
It's not just a. 

623
00:41:01,760 --> 00:41:06,840
Nice theological idea. 
It's the whole, it's the whole 

624
00:41:06,840 --> 00:41:09,160
gig and. 
That's what this whole. 

625
00:41:09,160 --> 00:41:12,400
Series is about South. 
For the next 8 weeks, we're 

626
00:41:12,400 --> 00:41:16,320
asking one question together. 
If everything starts with a 

627
00:41:16,320 --> 00:41:21,440
gift, if you were known and 
loved before you did anything, 

628
00:41:22,040 --> 00:41:25,520
then what does the rest of the 
Christian life actually become? 

629
00:41:26,200 --> 00:41:29,520
And the answer that we'll 
continually come back to is that

630
00:41:29,520 --> 00:41:33,360
it becomes a response. 
It's not a it's not a payment 

631
00:41:33,360 --> 00:41:38,280
plan on debt or some way for us 
to get even with the God who's 

632
00:41:38,280 --> 00:41:42,760
given generously to us. 
It's not a list to keep so that 

633
00:41:42,760 --> 00:41:46,880
you don't lose your spot. 
All of this stuff that we talk 

634
00:41:46,880 --> 00:41:50,440
about, prayer and worship and 
generosity and the way that we 

635
00:41:50,440 --> 00:41:52,600
treat each other and the way 
that we want to show up in our 

636
00:41:52,600 --> 00:41:56,080
neighborhood, all the practices 
that we're going to build toward

637
00:41:56,480 --> 00:42:02,400
together as a church, all of it 
is meant to be a response that 

638
00:42:02,400 --> 00:42:09,000
we can share to a love that has 
already been found in each one 

639
00:42:09,000 --> 00:42:11,360
of us. 
And so some of you. 

640
00:42:11,880 --> 00:42:15,040
Are already feeling that I spend
time with some of you in the 

641
00:42:15,040 --> 00:42:18,120
question that's rising up. 
That's right at the surface is 

642
00:42:18,720 --> 00:42:20,920
what do I do with this? 
Where do I start? 

643
00:42:20,920 --> 00:42:24,160
How can I help? 
And hear me. 

644
00:42:24,160 --> 00:42:27,920
Clearly that question is good. 
I love sitting with people who 

645
00:42:27,920 --> 00:42:31,400
are like, put me in coach. 
That's fantastic. 

646
00:42:31,760 --> 00:42:37,040
And you know the gift in your 
case is doing exactly what a 

647
00:42:37,040 --> 00:42:39,560
gift does. 
It stirs something. 

648
00:42:39,920 --> 00:42:43,600
There's a response that's in you
and it's wanting to come out 

649
00:42:43,600 --> 00:42:47,160
because it's come into contact 
with a new way of being loved. 

650
00:42:48,040 --> 00:42:52,360
And so we are going to spend 8 
weeks trying to help you find 

651
00:42:52,360 --> 00:42:56,440
language for that response. 
And I just want you to hear that

652
00:42:56,440 --> 00:43:02,280
there is nothing suspect about 
wanting it and others of us are 

653
00:43:02,280 --> 00:43:08,240
somewhere else entirely. 
Something closer to I don't know

654
00:43:08,240 --> 00:43:12,320
if I feel anything ever. 
How am I supposed to? 

655
00:43:12,320 --> 00:43:16,640
Respond to that. 
I'm not sure. 

656
00:43:16,640 --> 00:43:20,480
God is anywhere near me. 
I've. 

657
00:43:20,680 --> 00:43:24,120
Been at this for a long time and
the well is dry. 

658
00:43:25,840 --> 00:43:28,880
You know, it's interesting. 
That those two things can can 

659
00:43:28,880 --> 00:43:32,000
coexist in the same room at the 
same time in response to the 

660
00:43:32,000 --> 00:43:34,400
same love of God that's being 
poured out. 

661
00:43:34,600 --> 00:43:37,520
And I just want to say, if 
that's you, you are not failing 

662
00:43:37,520 --> 00:43:40,720
the assignment. 
If you find yourself. 

663
00:43:40,720 --> 00:43:46,400
Not particularly responsive or 
not particularly full of joy or 

664
00:43:46,400 --> 00:43:49,120
excitement. 
When you think about this, the 

665
00:43:49,120 --> 00:43:52,600
thing that we're after isn't, 
isn't your performance. 

666
00:43:53,920 --> 00:43:55,800
And it's actually not. 
Even your response. 

667
00:43:57,840 --> 00:44:00,520
My hope is. 
That the gift would actually 

668
00:44:00,520 --> 00:44:03,880
land in your life in a new way 
in this season. 

669
00:44:04,440 --> 00:44:07,440
And so there's no need to rush. 
There's no need to rush a 

670
00:44:07,440 --> 00:44:10,080
response. 
If you're not feeling anything 

671
00:44:10,080 --> 00:44:13,920
to respond to yet, that's OK. 
There's room. 

672
00:44:13,920 --> 00:44:17,080
For that. 
My hope is that that. 

673
00:44:17,080 --> 00:44:22,200
You'd know underneath all of all
of that you were known before 

674
00:44:22,200 --> 00:44:25,160
you knew anything. 
And I think that's what. 

675
00:44:25,160 --> 00:44:30,520
Paul is trying to communicate 
here, so as we move into a time 

676
00:44:30,520 --> 00:44:33,440
of response, I'll invite the 
worship team to come back up. 

677
00:44:34,160 --> 00:44:37,760
And parents, you can prepare to 
receive your kids back into the 

678
00:44:37,760 --> 00:44:44,350
room. 
And I'd love to invite. 

679
00:44:44,350 --> 00:44:47,230
You to stand if you're able. 
I'm going to pray for all of us 

680
00:44:47,230 --> 00:44:50,630
here in a moment. 
Our prayer people will. 

681
00:44:50,990 --> 00:44:53,150
Make their way out to the edges 
of the room. 

682
00:44:56,840 --> 00:44:59,360
Some of you have. 
Been doing this for a long time 

683
00:45:00,040 --> 00:45:03,200
and you could probably preach 
this sermon better than I just 

684
00:45:03,200 --> 00:45:05,240
did. 
And if you're, if you're honest 

685
00:45:05,240 --> 00:45:11,520
with yourselves underneath all 
of that, knowing you still feel 

686
00:45:11,520 --> 00:45:12,880
like you're on the hook for 
something. 

687
00:45:14,000 --> 00:45:16,160
There's still a little bit. 
Of like, I hear all of this, I 

688
00:45:16,160 --> 00:45:19,640
hear all the free gift stuff and
the, and all of that and I, I 

689
00:45:19,640 --> 00:45:23,520
just still feel like there's 
something that I'm supposed to 

690
00:45:23,520 --> 00:45:25,440
be doing or something that I'm 
not doing right. 

691
00:45:26,600 --> 00:45:28,920
And that that. 
Feeling runs really really deep 

692
00:45:29,240 --> 00:45:33,400
and knowing better doesn't seem 
to be moving it. 

693
00:45:34,400 --> 00:45:37,520
I want to invite you to come and
and receive prayer this morning.

694
00:45:37,520 --> 00:45:41,960
If that's you, I don't have any 
technique for that. 

695
00:45:42,320 --> 00:45:45,320
But the gift doesn't expire and 
the the free. 

696
00:45:47,480 --> 00:45:49,600
Price tag. 
On the gift doesn't doesn't 

697
00:45:49,600 --> 00:45:51,680
expire either. 
And so I would just love for you

698
00:45:51,680 --> 00:45:55,680
to come and receive prayer. 
You know, that's the only kind 

699
00:45:55,680 --> 00:45:59,120
of gift that that God gives is 
the one that that doesn't match.

700
00:45:59,800 --> 00:46:01,880
It doesn't fit. 
It was never meant to fit. 

701
00:46:03,400 --> 00:46:07,440
And so the fact that you can't 
you can't make it add up is is a

702
00:46:07,440 --> 00:46:09,640
testament to the way that grace 
works. 

703
00:46:10,520 --> 00:46:13,520
And I would just say for the 
rest of you, if there's anything

704
00:46:13,520 --> 00:46:17,400
in your life, spiritual, 
emotional things going on in 

705
00:46:17,400 --> 00:46:20,520
your family, things going on in 
your body, come, we'd love to 

706
00:46:20,520 --> 00:46:23,600
pray for you. 
So Lord, we welcome your spirit.

707
00:46:23,760 --> 00:46:25,560
And as we worship God, I pray 
that you would. 

708
00:46:26,720 --> 00:46:28,040
Fill fill this. 
Room. 

709
00:46:28,040 --> 00:46:31,800
Fill us, fill our praise. 
Lead us together.