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Meditations in Galatians #25, Saturday, June 27, 2009 Galatians 4:11-20
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"I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain.I beg of you, brethren, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You have done me no wrong; but you know that it was because of a bodily illness that I preached the gospel to you the first time; and that which was a trial to you in my bodily condition you did not despise or loathe, but you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus Himself. Where then is that sense of blessing you had? For I bear you witness that, if possible, you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me. So have I become your enemy by telling you the truth? They eagerly seek you, not commendably, but they wish to shut you out so that you will seek them. But it is good always to be eagerly sought in a commendable manner, and not only when I am present with you. My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you--but I could wish to be present with you now and to change my tone, for I am perplexed about you."
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Father, Paul is really hurting, isn't he. He really loved those people deeply. Is he saying that the outcome of this pseudo-judaistic movement could lead to the total destruction of the church that he had planted among them? Paul had never seen a church die. No one had seen a church die. He had seen churches have fights, and divisions, but this was somehow much more serious than that.
The churches at Galatia weren't in danger because of economic hardship or population shifts, or even persecution. They were in danger of becoming just another dead religious institution. They had abandoned their pagan religious rituals, but now had been deceived into replacing them with Jewish rituals that would place them under a new (to them) but similar, religious bondage. They were overcompensating. Had Paul not seen this before? Perhaps he had adddressed the possibility at Antioch, but I don't think he had ever imagined anything like this.
And now he is getting personal with them.
Paul reminds them of how they loved him when he came and brought the Gospel to them, and established their fellowship. He remembers how joyful and blessed they were in those days. He talks about their great affection for him, saying that if they could have donated their eyes to him, they would have done so. (I wonder what would have happened if this had been today. Maybe they would have gone thorugh with it!) Paul was so proud of them for enduring his own personal health struggles.
He feels betrayed. Why does he think they consider him an enemy? And what information is this based on? Actually, what information is this entire letter based on? Somebody must have come to Paul and described all that they were doing. He just keeps revealing more and more of what he knows about the problem and those who caused it. When Paul says, "they eagerly seek you..." he knows exactly who they are and what they are doing. It's as if he understands their stragegy. "They have created this "holier than thou" club and only those who see Moses the same way they do can join. So this is an "uncommendable seeking"? Today, many different kinds of groups are trying to get us to join them in their own religious legalism. And of course, all of them deny that this is what they are really doing. But since their method is exclusion by a legalistic religious initiation, then that is an "uncommendable seeking." And then he says it is good "to be sought in a commendable manner." Could that be when believers who really are close to God want you to hang out with them?
So Paul ends this paragraph saying that he is back into the "labor" mode, to get them back on the "straight and narrow" and he really wants to be literally with them, because of the frustration and confusion he feels towards them.
I guess you had to be there. Oh, You were. I like the part where Paul says they received him as if he were an angel, or even as if he were Jesus Himself. I wish I knew more people that weren't afraid to show such respect for others. I do know some. It really does make a difference to a minister when the people he serves treat him special. And even Paul saw it as a good thing. Well, tomorrow, we have a guest speaker at our church. I wonder how we are going to treat him?
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these Meditations in your life. Thanks, Richard.
(Corrections are ok too!)
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Thank You for giving me a few minutes of your time. Galatians is a unique letter. It will take some time to get into Paul's mind, and from there to understand what God has chosen to reveal through the disaster that the congregation at Galatia was experiencing.
The effect of these Meditations will be cumulative, and the real benefit may have nothing to do with what I have written. I believe that the discipline of having a brief daily conversation with God about the meaning of a variety of Bible passages over a period of a few weeks, even if you come to some very different conclusions, will still be a wonderful and enlightening experience for you. At DeadRight.net, under the Yellow Pages, is some background info about Galatians. If you missed an earlier Meditation, you can still read it at DeadRight.net by going to the homepage, clicking on Newsletter, and clicking on "browse previous newsletters"