Galatians 1:1-12
July 6
Lauren J. McFeaters
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I hope you can hear the sound and the fury, that is Paul’s Letter to the Galatians. It’s a tsunami of Biblical proportions. You picture him in some far-off region; feverishly picking up the papyrus, dipping pen to ink, and writing in a frenzy.
And he doesn’t stop for the niceties or blessings. There’s no “Peace be with you Galatians,” or “O how I love you Galatians!” or “How I give thanks for you Galatians!”
He doesn’t give thanks because he’s infuriated about the news that the Galatians have deserted their faith for a gospel that includes some and excludes many. [ii] [iii]
And Paul will have none of it. He’s entirely annoyed, completely exasperated, and out of his mind with worry. I love him for that, because sometimes we need to be shaken out of our Greeting-Card faith; stunned out of our soft-indulgent faith; and startled out of passivity.
Sometimes we need to be plopped back into the faith of tumult and whirlwind – where Christ crucified is not a sugary treat that keeps us content, but an all-out hurricane of guts and glory.
Before I was a pastor, I was a pastoral counselor, and I served at a counseling center here in Princeton called the Northeast Career and Pastoral Counseling Center. This Center was founded by our General Assembly in 1965 as a place for church members, clergy, and seminarians to do the work of vocational discernment and psychological assessment. They go hand on hand. Our General Assembly created 10 of these centers to be located near our 10 Seminaries.
Over a 3 day session, and through a series of evaluations and conversations, we guided people to assess their faith, their life, and work. We asked the central questions:
- Who is God calling you to be?
- Where is God calling you to serve?
- What are the gifts and liabilities you bring to your work in the world and your life of faith?
It’s very meaningful work for any of us to take stock of our lives and to prayerfully discern the movement of God’s Spirit. Everyone should have a chance to do this. It’s not easy.
- It takes vulnerability to lay our lives before God.
- It takes trust to share our burdens and joys.
- It takes an authenticity to hold God’s hand and to walk together on Salvation’s Road.
- It takes maturity to be teachable.
What I found, and I certainly include myself, is that the number one thing that holds us back from full maturity in Christ is our resistance to our Lord’s authority. And here’s what I mean:
- We struggle to be obedient.
- We fight against obedience to the Gospel.
- We oppose anything that seemingly takes away our control. And Oh how we love to be in control. I do.
- We pretend we are not utterly dependent on the Lord who has given us life.
- We deny our own authority as Christ’s disciples: using our voices to speak, our hearts to pray, our bodies to act, our wills to serve.
The Galatians feel our pain. They, too, are being told by powers and principalities to scorn the authority of our Lord who loves all people; to mistrust the Gospel of Justice & Joy; and to bow at the altar of a church that excludes and judges.
For Paul, when we live as if our life of faith is ruled by personal enrichment, without the healthy discipline of Christ’s authority, the effect on our lives is beyond devastating.
This week, the Rev. Jihyun Oh, the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) sent a letter, an epistle, to all the U.S. churches. She, like Paul, knows it is Jesus Christ who sets us free from the present evil age.
Jihyun Oh writes, servanthood is the heart of Christian life: to serve others instead of insisting on one’s own greatness, to lift up others instead of pushing them down, to show honor to the least, instead of denigrating their humanity, to use one’s power and authority to work toward the wholeness of God’s beloved world, instead of harming those who are most vulnerable in society.
We find ourselves in a nation in which leaders, who purport to be people of faith, are attacking those who preach the mercy and love of Christ Jesus, and are arresting those who pray for justice.
Instead of emulating Christ’s ministry of justice and love, these leaders seek to create a society that is marked by fracture and violence, a society in which power matters more than truth. This is not Christian. This is not Christian leadership. [iv]
And so we of Nassau Presbyterian Church; we will continue to stand with and for the most defenseless in our society, especially on this weekend when we celebrate 249 years of our beloved country. We stand beside, sit beside, kneel beside the most vulnerable in our society, whether that is because of economic status, identity, ability, gender, resources, or anything else; for we are all created in the image of God. All.
As we travel along Salvation’s Road and come to the Table our Lord has prepared, Paul’s words, Jihyun’s words, draw us closer to:
- The One for whom we offer our obedience.
- The One who has all authority in our lives.
- Who is all authority in Heaven and on Earth.
- The One in whom we live, and move, and have our being:
- Jesus, our Deliverer and our Salvation;
- Our Way. Our Truth. Our Life.
ENDNOTES
[ii] Margaret Whyte. “Sermon: Galatians 1.” www.churchofscotland.org, June 2013.
[iii] Jaime Clark-Soles. “Commentary on Galatians 1.” Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN, workingpreacher.org, June 2010.
[iv] Jihyun Oh. Presbyterian News Service, pcusa.org/news-storytelling, July 1, 2025. Note: The Rev. Jihyun Oh is the Presbyterian Church (USA) Stated Clerk of the General Assembly and Executive Director of the Interim Unified Agency.