“WHERE IT CAME FROM”
Third Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 5)
June 5, 2016
Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church
Glenshaw, Pennsylvania
TEXT:
I would have you know, brothers, that the Gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
Galatians 1:11, 12 (ESV)
How did it all get started? That’s a question that often comes to mind when we think about various customs, stories, or rules of conduct that have a long history. Many years ago, when my son was still in elementary school, I got into a conversation with a few of the mothers of his classmates, and we were talking about all of the things that our mothers warned us about when we were children. You know the kinds of things that I’m talking about: wait for half an hour after eating before you get back into the pool, don’t put new shoes on the table because, if you do, they’ll hurt your feet when you wear them--things like that. The funny thing is that these young mothers all had very serious doubts about the truth of all of this sage advice, yet they freely admitted that they not only observed these rules themselves but were also telling their children the very same things. It’s amazing how much authority something can accumulate just because it’s been around for a while. It makes one wonder: How, where, when, why, and by whom did all of these things originate?
I suppose that a lot of people wonder the same thing about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When you really get down to it, we place an awful lot of confidence in this story. We go even farther than staking our life on it; we stake our eternal destiny on it. I’m sure that the Galatians to whom Paul was writing in today’s Epistle wondered about the origin of the Gospel even more than we do today. After all, the Gospel was relatively new at that time and the Galatians were recent converts while most of us have been Christians for most of our lives. Aside from that, the Galatians were being harassed and confused by certain people among them who began to cast some doubt on what Paul had preached to them. For these reasons the apostle makes it a point to carefully explain to the Galatian believers the source of this Gospel message that he shared with them and that they believed. Let’s listen carefully to what he says so that our faith, like that of the Galatians, might be strengthened as we face the trials and temptations of this world.
The apostle makes it abundantly clear that the Gospel that he preached among the Galatians was not something that originated with him or with any other man. This story of Jesus Christ is so dramatically different than the typical human myth or legend in that human values are turned upside down and inside out in the Gospel of Christ. Death becomes a victory. Humility becomes pride. Service becomes greatness. Humiliation becomes glory. The Hero of the Gospel is Someone who was born in poverty under circumstances that would lead most people to conclude that He was of questionable parentage. He goes against tradition in the pursuit of truth. While other people jockey for position and try to rub elbows with the great and the respected, He makes Himself at home among the dregs of society. While other people are asserting their “rights,” He is humble and silent on His own behalf. While other people who are on trial for their lives vigorously defend themselves, He says and does nothing to save His life. If the Gospel story were the creation of man, it certainly would reflect more of the values that are important to man.
This uniqueness of the Gospel is something that the so-called “smartest” people have never quite been able to accept or even understand. Many so-called “Biblical scholars” (some of whom even call themselves Christians) have adopted what is known as “higher criticism” in their interpretation of all the Scriptures, including the Gospels. They treat the Word of God as if it were no different than any man-made piece of literature. If a book of the Bible happens to use two different words to describe a person or a thing, they will conclude that this book must have at least two different authors. If a book of the Bible prophesies something that later came to pass, they will conclude that the “prophecy” had to have been written later--after the event had taken place. Their minds are so full of “knowledge” that there is no room there for ideas such as divine revelation or prophecy.
The apostle also makes it clear that the Gospel that he proclaimed among the Galatians is from God Himself. The story of Jesus is a story that is rooted in the infinite love of God for the people who He created. It was God’s love for lost sinners that caused the events of the Gospel to unfold. This alone makes the Gospel vastly different than anything that is of human origin. There are many different religions in the world, but Christianity is the only religion of grace. All of the others are religions of works: They tell you that because you have acted wrongly you must atone for the wrong and amend your ways by somehow reaching up to the deity (whoever or whatever that might be) to appease him or her. They tell you that because their source is the human mind and that’s the way that the human mind reasons. Christianity, born of God, turns that all around by proclaiming a God who has mercy on His sinful creatures and reaches down to them in love, making atonement for their sin Himself and inviting them in love to live in fellowship with their Redeemer and with one another. What makes this message of the Gospel so radically different than the message of the world’s religions is that Christianity alone is of divine origin.
The Gospel of Jesus is also unique in that it is transmitted by the power of the Holy Spirit of God. The Spirit works in so many ways unbeknownst to the average person. Wherever and whenever the Word of God is proclaimed and received, the Spirit is at work. His power and inspiration were in operation in the writing down of God’s Word in the Scriptures and continue to be in operation in the reading, studying, preaching, and hearing of that Word. It is the Spirit of God who through that Word creates saving faith in the hearts of lost sinners and comforts their troubled consciences with the assurance that forgiveness and everlasting life are theirs by the mercy of God manifested in the Christ who lived, died, and rose again for them. This again sets the Gospel of Christ apart from all man-made messages that, more often than not, instill guilt and fear rather than the peace that comes with forgiveness.
Why do you suppose that Paul went through the trouble of specifying to the Galatians that God rather than man was the Source of the Gospel? And why do you suppose that the Lord in His wisdom saw to it that the apostle’s words were preserved and passed on to us? The reason is that it’s important for us to know this. It is important for us to know that in the Gospel we meet God Himself in the Person of His Son and not just some mere human’s opinion of what God might be like. Knowing this makes all the difference in the world. It makes the difference between uncertainty and confidence and it gives us an even greater joy as we celebrate God’s redeeming love for us--love that sent Him to the cross and the grave in order reclaim us as His own and to give to us all the blessings of salvation.
Amen.
May the Lord bless your hearing of His Word, using it to accomplish in you those things for which He gave it. May you be enriched and strengthened in faith that you may leave here today to go out into our world armed with the whole armor of God, prepared to be able ambassadors of your Savior Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, and He will do it. Amen.