Zion Lutheran Church

This Word’s From God
Galatians 1:11-12

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The text for this morning’s sermon is Galatians 1:11-12: “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” (ESV). Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen.

I heard the story once of a congregation that purchased each of its newly confirmed teenagers a brand new Bible. The Bibles were beautiful—faux leather cover, gold gilded pages, words of Jesus in red. These were real keepsakes, Bibles the young men and women could treasure for many years to come. As the Bibles were handed out, the pastor encouraged those young men and women to take care of the Bibles. “That gold on edge of the pages comes off pretty easily,” he said, “and the pages can get tattered. Take good care of this Bible so it doesn’t start to come apart.” Nice advice, but that’s sort of like buying your child a beautiful, brand new bicycle and saying, “Now, don’t take any risks riding this thing. In fact, maybe you better just leave it in the garage so it doesn’t get any scratches in the paint and so the colors don’t fade from the sun.” Some gift, huh? That church was teaching its young people and the whole congregation to treasure a physical object rather than the words of the God who inspired the message inside the book. What a shame. Basically the pastor was saying, “Keep the book safe,” and he was implying, “Don’t use your Bible very much.” Nice message, huh?

The new pastor was making the rounds, visiting the families of his new parish. He visited each family at their home, got to know all the family members, and learned about their religious background. Sometimes he asked about family devotions; sometimes families shared with him what they do for devotions without his asking. Part way through his visiting, he called on an older couple (no, these are not members of our Zion Lutheran Church), folks who attended somewhat regularly. As he sat sipping tea and getting to know them, the wife suddenly said, “You know, Pastor, we read our Bible every day.” She then reached down to pick up a Bible from a table near her chair. Then, as she brushed off cobwebs and dust, she said, “I just don’t know where all this dust came from.” Well, you don’t have to be a pastor or housecleaner to know how that Bible got covered up in a thick layer of dust. That Bible had lain unused for sometime. It lay like some old photo album or outdated magazine, collecting dust. And you don’t have to be a pastor or a housecleaner to guess what regard this couple had for the words written in that Bible. They were not gladly hearing and learning the Word of God.

Now, if you’re at all like me, you’ve got a couple of Bibles in your house. Question is, how many of them are still as pretty as the day you got them? How many are gathering dust? How many of you are failing to hear and learn the word of God gladly?

“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel” (Galatians 1:6 ESV). Paul had traveled through the region called Galatia, and while there he had planted numerous little churches, gatherings of people called by God the Father to faith in our Savior Jesus by the Holy Spirit. These people—Jews and Gentiles alike—had learned from Paul that there is one and only one God, and that, “when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4-5 ESV). They had learned that Gentiles do not have to become Jewish and follow the Old Testament laws to be saved, and they learned that even Jews are not saved by following the Old Testament laws—or any laws whatsoever, for that matter. Salvation comes simply and solely through faith in the second person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ, because God the Father in his grace forgives you all your sins for the sake of Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross and gives you eternal life through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Faith alone, grace alone, scripture alone is what Paul preached, and the people had joyfully accepted his message.

Yet not much later, after Paul had left, so-called teachers came to the Galatian churches and sowed seeds of doubt and distrust. “Paul learned from the apostles in Jerusalem,” they said, “but Paul didn’t get the whole story. Yes, you are saved by God’s grace, but you’ve got to get circumcised,” the teachers taught. “If you can just sin and get forgiven, then there’s no motivation for doing good works, so Paul’s gospel is incomplete,” they said. Unfortunately, the Christians in Galatia began to doubt what they had learned from Paul. They began to doubt the good news of free forgiveness for the sake of Jesus. They began to doubt the gospel. Therefore Paul wrote to them, and he started off with strong words: “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel” (Galatians 1:6 ESV).

To you and me, Paul might have spoken slightly different words: “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are neglecting the Word of God.” Our Bibles grow dusty. We get confirmed and believe we know all we need to know, instead of heeding the command in Hebrews, “Let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity” (Hebrews 6:1 ESV). We take time to make sure our children take part in every imaginable activity that give them the skills they need for life or could lead to scholarships for college, but we don’t take the time to sit down with them and read the old Bible stories that give testimony to God’s love in Christ—and it’s not just cooking skills or college scholarships we’re talking about here, but the Word of God which leads to eternal life. We order and avidly read The Hunter’s Bible and The Fisherman’s Bible and The Woodworker’s Bible and The Macintosh Bible and whatever other bibles are out there, but we leave the original Bible up on a shelf gathering dust. Not good, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ. Not good at all. As it says in the explanation to the third commandment, “We should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and his word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it” (Small Catechism, CPH 1991). Or, as God himself says in the Scriptures, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Colossians 3:16 ESV). The word of God won’t dwell in you if you don’t take it in through your eyes and ears, and it won’t dwell in your children if you don’t help them take it in through their eyes and ears. The Galatians turned to a different Gospel, but you and I just let the Gospel gather dust. Are we any better than they? Maybe we’re worse. They at least had conviction, even if it was the wrong conviction. Do we have conviction about the Gospel? Enough conviction to hear it regularly?

“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). Paul’s response to the Galatians was that the gospel he preached was not from any human being. It came from God. It was God’s Word. He goes on to give a short history of his life and conversion. He had zealously persecuted Christians in hopes of destroying the church. He was there when Saul was stoned to death for proclaiming the name of Jesus, and he soon went to Damascus to arrest and imprison the Christians there. On the way, Jesus appeared to him and showed him the truth, and soon enough Paul became a most zealous preacher of the gospel. What he preached—salvation through faith in Jesus Christ—was God’s own word. Any other word led to death and damnation—as Paul wrote, “Even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:8-9 ESV). When Paul had preached that we are saved by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ, that was God’s own word to us.

And that, my dear friends, is what you and I must remember about the Scriptures. They are not on the same level as The Hunter’s Bible and The Fisherman’s Bible and The Woodworker’s Bible and The Macintosh Bible and whatever other bibles are out there. Those books take years of human experience and wisdom and convey it to you for some earthly pursuit. That’s okay. But the Scriptures “are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15 ESV). The Scriptures tell the story of God’s love to sinful humanity, and they tell the story of God saving sinful humanity by sending his Son Jesus Christ to take away our sins by his death on the cross and to give us eternal life by his resurrection from the dead. You won’t get that from The Hunter’s Bible or The Fisherman’s Bible or The Woodworker’s Bible or The Macintosh Bible. Only the Scriptures—the Word of God recorded in the Old and New Testaments—gives you the knowledge you need to spend eternity in heaven.

But it gets even better than that, because the Scriptures are God’s own word. “All Scripture is breathed out by God” (2 Timothy 3:16 ESV). God himself speaks through the Scriptures, and he speaks in order to give you faith as well as knowledge. When you pick up your Bible and begin to read and ask, “How does this show God’s love to me, the same love that caused him to send Christ to forgive me?”—when you search the Scriptures for Jesus, then the Spirit is working faith in your heart. When you go out and buy the Bible on CD and pop it in your car as you drive back and forth to work, and when you listen for God’s love in those words from our gracious God, the Spirit is working faith in your heart. When you pull out a children’s Bible story book and read to your children and help them see God’s love in the Bible, then the Spirit is working faith in their heart. And God does this because he wants you to have eternal life. After all, that’s why he sent Jesus, and that is why he caused the Scriptures to be written. They are his word, and through those words you gain life.

Which reminds me of another congregation I heard about. This congregation handed out a new Bible to every confirmand and to every new member. After the pastor handed out the Bibles, he told the recipients that the Bibles came with a guarantee. If any Bible ever wore out, the church would gladly replace it for free. Then he challenged the confirmands and new members: “I dare you to wear one out. And maybe another one or two after that.” That’s good advice. Wear out your Bible. Use that Bible on CD until it doesn’t work anymore. Listen to the Bible on your MP3 player so often that the battery in your MP3 player goes bad. After all, it’s God’s Word you’re listening to, and that Word points to Jesus, and through faith in Jesus, you have eternal life. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.