Radical Struggle

Galatians 2:15-21 (NRSV). 15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law. 17 But if, in our effort to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have been found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18 But if I build up again the very things that I once tore down, then I demonstrate that I am a transgressor. 19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; 20 and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.


Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to set us free from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

I want to talk today about struggle. About the struggle to be radical. As people of God, about our struggle to be followers of a radical Gospel.

I bet I already know what you’re thinking.  This intern. More specifically, this intern who has spent nearly all of her adult life in California. Right? This kind of stuff--this radical stuff--well, it will never fly here in Minnesota. Right?

So, humor me a little this morning. Allow me to explain how I came to this topic.  And in the process of my explanation, I’m going to break a primary rule of preaching, one that my preaching professor hammered into us. This is the rule to never exhibit one’s exalted knowledge of Greek in a sermon.

Since I figure I don’t have much of an exalted knowledge of Greek, it’s not a huge concern. So, I’m going to break the rule.

I want you to consider three words in our Galatians text today.   Here they are: πίστεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ.  

This phrase, or some version of it, shows up three times in the seven verses of today’s reading from Galatians. The phrase shows up twice in verse 16. Whenever a word or a phrase shows up several times in a verse or a series of verses, well, that’s like a red flag waving at you.  It’s something to take note of.  

If you take the words one by one, the translation seems pretty simple. The first word of this phrase mean “faith.” The second and third words mean “Jesus Christ.” Simple, right? It’s not. Because how the words are translated and used in a sentence can make a huge difference, just as in English. So, it’s really not so simple. But, I’ll get to that in a minute or so.

Up until this point in his letter to the Galatian churches, Paul has laid out the facts. He’s like an attorney. He’s put forward the story of what happened--the narrative of facts that have established his authority as an apostle of Christ and his basis for ministering to the Gentiles. 

But, here. Here in verses 15-21, in our reading today--and, specifically, in verse 16--Paul lays out his main point. This is his thesis statement. It is the heart of his letter. It’s also the heart of his theology. And, coincidence or not, it is here, in verse 16, where this Greek phrase--πίστεωςἸησοῦ Χριστοῦ--appears twice.

Each week, as I’m preparing to write my sermon, it’s always my practice to read the appointed text for the day in several different translations.  I usually start in the New Revised Standard Version--the NRSV--which is the translation we usually use in worship. I also always read it in the Common English Bible translation--the CEB--which is a new translation that I like a lot.  I’ll also read it in a few other translations. 

Why do I do this? It’s because I want to see and to compare the decisions that translators have made in interpreting the texts.  Translators make decisions when they are translating. They interpret.  As a preacher, I also make decisions in interpretation. And as believers and hearers of God’s Word, well, you make interpretation decisions, too. 

So, imagine my surprise when I read our Galatians text for today in both the NRSV and the CEB. I’ve put the texts side-by-side in today’s bulletin for you, so that you, too, can see the differences. I’d call your attention, especially, to verse 16 and the phrases in bold. These phrases are the translators’ interpretations of the three Greek words I mentioned earlier.  

Do you see the difference? One version--the NRSV--translates the three word Greek phrase as “faith in Christ.” The CEB translates it as “faithfulness of Christ.”

That's a big difference. My first reaction to this--coming from my very Lutheran framework of belief and understanding--was that this newer translation had to be wrong. So, I researched the phrase. And I found out that the phrase is, indeed, ambiguous and can be translated either way.

At first, I thought that this newer translation might have the potential to challenge my Lutheran belief system, and yours, too. My own understanding of justification--that we are saved by grace, through faith, and not by works. So, I initially intended to play it safe today. To use the NRSV--the translation that seemed to fit best within my Lutheran framework.

But the other translation continued to nag at me all week.  I couldn’t get it out of my mind. All week long, I wrestled with it.  

Have you ever had something like that happen to you? Had a phrase from Scripture stick in your mind and keep bugging you? Have someone come into your life and upset your routine, maybe challenge your belief system a little, and know that you should, perhaps, pay attention to them, yet who you can't wait to get rid of so you can get back to normalcy? Have you ever struggled with playing it safe instead of being radical?

A few years ago in my church in Pasadena, we experienced this. For several years we had professed and believed that we were a hospitable congregation, welcoming all people. And, for the most part, we were.

Yet, we had a problem with the homeless population. They liked to camp out overnight on the church property.  Usually, if we gave them a little cash or let them use the phone or internet, or allowed them to stay overnight, well, eventually, they would move on. 

But, then, Monica and Vern arrived. (I’ve changed their names.) They lived in a beat up, broken down van--a van that they had parked at the edge of our parking lot. Eventually, we figured they would move on as so many others had. So, we were polite. And helpful. And hopeful that they would eventually leave.

But, they didn’t leave. In fact, they started to push themselves into our congregation. When we opened up on Sunday morning, Vern was right there to help set up tables for morning fellowship. Both of them began coming to Sunday morning Bible study.  Monica asked if she could sing in the choir. And on and on. They just continued to push their way into our congregation.

Now, mind you, most congregations would be thrilled with newcomers like this. How often do we proclaim our openness to visitors and our desire for them to become a part of us? How thrilled we would be if newcomers wanted to immediately become so involved!

Well, to be truthful, we weren’t really all that thrilled. We weren’t thrilled because Monica and Vern were so different from us. For one thing, they were homeless. For another, well, they didn’t have regular access to showers and so, sometimes, they smelled a little. Sometimes, they smelled a lot. They didn’t always say or do the “right” things. They didn’t fit into our norm. Into our small-minded, closed-hearted norm of what our church should look like.

And, so, we struggled with being radical people. With being followers of a radical Gospel that teaches us that each one of us is enough and is good enough, that God has done it all for us and for every person--that there is nothing we need do to be made righteous, but that we simply accept the gift of faith and the freedom that comes with it.  That we are all good enough for God's grace.

That’s what my struggle was this week with this text. It was a reminder for me that everything I have--justification, faith, salvation--that the whole shebang comes from God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ on the cross.  It takes all of the authority and power away from me and places it solely into God’s hands. It is nothing that I do. It’s the difference between law and gospel. It’s the difference between good works and grace.  It’s also the heart of my Lutheran understanding, expressed in Luther’s explanation to the Third Article: “I believe that by my own understanding or strength I cannot believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him…”

This new translation that I was so fearful of, that I tried to push away, in fact, reminded me of and further deepened my own Lutheran understanding of grace.

So, when you struggle with those new things, whether they are words from Scripture or things or people that just won’t go away, consider that, perhaps, God is at work in them. That, just as God was at work in the Pharisee-sinner question of today’s gospel lesson, or the Gentile-Jewish challenges of Paul’s world, or the grace and good works struggles of Luther’s time--consider, just consider that in these perceived challenges to your belief system or the status quo, God may be, in truth, at work in them to further transform you and me and the entire world. 

Wrestle with them. Allow God to challenge you. Live into the struggle to be radical. To step outside the norm of this congregation or the status quo of our society. I promise you that, just as I was transformed, as my Pasadena congregation was transformed and, yes, as Monica and Vern were transformed, you, too, will be transformed through the grace and authority of our God. 

May our sovereign God so grant it. Amen.

Preached Sunday, June 12, 2016, at Chatfield Lutheran Church (ELCA).
Fourth Sunday after Pentecost (Year C).
Texts: Galatians 2:15-21, Psalm 32, Luke 7:36-8:3.