In the first half of this chapter, Paul scolded the Galatians

You know how sometimes, as a parent,
- when you're very worried about your child–maybe they did not arrive home on time
• when they finally show up, your worry turns to anger
◦ if ever our lectures were rougher than they needed to be,
◦ it was because we had agonized over their safety
• I think that's a little piece of what is happening here
◦ Paul has called the Galatians "foolish" and asked "Who has bewitched you?"
◦ that is because they had him worried about the stability of their faith
- it is often the people who are most concerned with pleasing God,
• that are misled by false preachers and teachers
◦ they desire so much to be absolutely right with God that they fall victim to someone who seems knowledgeable
• anyway, Paul' agitation rises to the surface in these short, clipped statements that barely say enough
- here in verse 15, he presents Abraham as an example of being true to a promise

Do I need to mention that Paul does not try to hide his frustration with the Galatians?

To our ears, his language--"foolish" and "Who has bewitched you?" sounds offensive
- later on he will say, if they’ve truly taken this wrong path,
“You are severed from Christ . . . you have fallen away from grace” (Gal. 5:4)
• he doesn’t mince words, because he’s terrified for their sake
◦ he wants to make the strongest possible impression on them
• and this is just the beginning
- we’re going to spend some time in verse 1
• first, because the truth in it is so rich and enlightening
• second, because here Paul constructs a foundation for everything else

Paul has shared with the Galatians a brief autobiography

He completed it with a story about his run-in with Peter
- when Peter first came to the Gentile church in Antioch,
• he allowed the wall between Jews and Gentiles to collapse
◦ but when rigid and dogmatic believers arrived from Judea,
◦ he broke away from close contact with Gentile believers
• how sad, when a person withdraws from generous gestures,
◦ ones that represents acceptance and camaraderie,
◦ and make the break for fear of being attacked by narrow-minded zealots
- somewhere along the way, Paul left off telling his story
• it was a backdrop for the point he wanted to make;
• namely, Jesus--and not the law--works God’s righteousness into believers

If you remember from last week, Paul is telling his story

Now, at the end of his autobiography he mentions Peter (Cephas)
– this is the only record of them ever having a personal encounter
• as Paul approaches the primary purpose of his letter
• he uses this story to illustrate his central point
– the leaders of the Church in Jerusalem recognized
the difference between his ministry and Peter’s
“they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted to the circumcised” (v. 7)
• he used those “circumcision” terms to distinguish between Gentiles and Jews, because he wanted to make a point
• they all belonged to Jesus, but Jewish believers had an obligation that did not apply to Gentiles
◦ circumcision is shorthand for all the laws of Moses

Last week we ventured into Paul’s letter to the Galatians

Right away we learned that he was not pleased with these Christians
- he accused them of deserting Jesus for “another gospel”
• but he hasn’t defined that other gospel specifically
• that's what he does in the next section of the letter that we will cover today
- beginning in verse 11, Paul writes a brief autobiography
• he does this because his personal history tells a story
• as we make our way through this passage I’m going to include details supplied by the Book of Acts
◦ that will give us a fuller perspective of the problem in the region of Galatia

I’m going to make this simple, and show you what I see in the introduction to this letter

First, there’s something different about the way it begins
- in Paul's usual typical greetings he identifies himself, his title, and whoever else is with him
• then, he greets and blesses his readers with, “grace and peace”
• but in this letter, before he mentions his companions, he takes a detour
◦ he turns this simple greeting into a strong assertion
- humans had nothing to do with Paul becoming an apostle
it was “not from man nor through man”
- this cuts to the heart of what Paul wants to say in this letter
• he’ll spend most of the first two chapters with autobiography
◦ how he was inspired and the revelations that came to him
• but that is because Paul is very upset, as will become obvious
◦ if you’ve ever been “lectured” by a parent, a police officer, or a teacher,
◦ you will recognize how Paul is dealing with the Galatians

For a few weeks we’ve been bouncing around in Scriptures

Next week we’ll settle into something more consistent,
- and I’ve chosen to hike through Paul’s letter to the Galatians
• but not today–
• my talk this morning will be another random meditation
- what I will say about this letter,
• Paul was not at all pleased with the churches in the region of Galatia
◦ he had introduced them to a life in God through Jesus
◦ but others had followed Paul with a “distorted gospel”
• so the Christian faith was represented by two different forms
◦ the distorted version emphasized a deadly legalism
◦ Paul’s version was a new life in the Spirit of God
“Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (Gal. 3:2-3)
- I believe this letter identifies a problem that’s prevalent today

Pastor Allen was a preacher in Small Town, U.S.A. Relaxing at home one evening he settled into his recliner, pushed his reading glasses up to the bridge of his nose, and reached over to his side-table for something to take his mind off of work. He could have picked up one of the magazines lying there, or a novel with a bookmark where he left off, or if all else failed the TV remote.

He accidently grabbed his Bible.
Normally, when worn out in the evening, all he wanted was a distraction; anything that didn’t require exertion. The Bible, however, was “work.” He was never able to read it in a light-hearted way  or for entertainment. The Bible required a serious attitude. One needed to come to it with reverence, humility, and focused attention.
His inner voice told him, “Read this.”  So he chose to glance at a couple verses and move on. Without looking for any particular place to begin, he let his Bible fall open wherever it would, only being careful not to land in the Old Testament. Looking down he found himself in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 8. Skipping to the red letters, he began to read and heard Jesus saying,
    “I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

In May we completed our trek through the Sermon On the Mount

Since then, I have not felt a strong direction toward bringing another series
- Nancy Lopez, whom I love and trust,
• suggested that we go through the Minor Prophets
◦ I’m still mulling that over
• meanwhile, I’ve been sharing on Sundays my own random musing from the past week
- today I’ve chosen an odd place to drop into the Scriptures
• and it will require some explaining,
• but I promise, the point I want to make is important

The way Luke introduces John the Baptist has a familiar ring:
“The word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness” (Lk. 3:2)

For example: “The word of the LORD that came to Hosea, the son of Beeri” or “The word of the LORD that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel”
- Luke is obviously forging a link between John and previous prophets
• Jesus will soon say, John was a prophet “and more than a prophet” (v. 26)
◦ John also appears as an eccentric character
• we usually focus on John’s wardrobe and diet
◦ but his message was edgy too – “fire and brimstone”
“He said to the crowds . . . ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? . . . . His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.’ So with many other exhortations he preached the good news to the people.” (Lk. 3:17-18)