You have heard, no doubt, of my earlier life in Judaism. I was violently
persecuting the church of God and was trying to destroy it. I advanced in
Judaism beyond many among my people of the same age, for I was far more zealous
for the traditions of my ancestors. But when God, who had set me apart before I
was born and called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me,
so that I might proclaim him among the Gentiles, I did not confer with any
human being, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were already apostles
before me, but I went away at once into Arabia, and afterwards I returned to
Damascus. Then after three years I did go up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and
stayed with him fifteen days; but I did not see any other apostle except James
the Lord’s brother. In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie! Then
I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia, and I was still unknown by sight
to the churches of Judea that are in Christ; they only heard it said, “The one
who formerly was persecuting us is now proclaiming the faith he once tried to
destroy.” And they glorified God because of me.
(Galatians 1:13-24
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He sounds so boastful and full of
himself. I've preached from this passage before, and read it countless times,
and every time I deal with it that's one of the first things that comes into my
mind. Seriously. "They glorified God because of me." What?
"Because of me"? Are you serious, Paul? It just sounds like you're
maybe a little bit full of yourself. In a way I suppose I could understand it.
Paul does seem to have been a pretty impressive figure with a conversion story
that beats all conversion stories. In the end, not even Jesus' apostles could
turn him away. But still - "they glorified God because of me." It sounds
just a little bit arrogant. But then I started to reflect on the words a little
bit more. Was Paul really being arrogant, or was he really just teaching the
Galatians (and us as well) about what our own priority should be: to glorify
God through our works and through our witness. Essentially isn't that what a
life of faith is about after all? To glorify God.
It seems to me that “why? Is a big
question for a lot of people. We all ask that question
from time to time. Why? Something bad happens, and we ask “why?” Things don't
turn out the way we want them to or the way we think they should and we ask,
“why?” “Why?” is a question that traps us and holds us hostage because more
often than not there's no answer to it. In fact, more often than not I think we
ask the “why?” question because we know that there's no answer. It's often an
expression of frustration more than faith; anger more than devotion. But
sometimes the “why?” question can be a productive one as well. I like to think
of it as a challenge question; as a question that pushes us to reflect more
deeply. In fact, I believe that people misunderstand and misinterpret Scripture
because they approach Scripture with the wrong question in mind. Some people
want the Bible to function as a history book, answering the question of what
happened and when it happened. Others want to Bible to serve as a science
textbook, answering the question of how things happened. Either way, we then
have to force the Bible into strange sizes and shapes to try to make it answer
questions that it's not really addressing in the first place. The Bible – and
our faith in general – doesn't really address the questions of what happened,
or when things happened or how things happened. The Bible is a “why?” kind of
book. The Bible goes deeper than history or science. The Bible addresses
purpose. Why are we here? What are we called to do? These are the real
questions of our faith when everything is boiled down to its essence. God
created us – but why? What was the point? Do our lives mean more than just the
relatively few years (speaking in cosmic terms) that we draw air into our
lungs? That's the issue for people of faith. Why? Our “why” question isn't a
lament or a complaint. Our “why” question is a quest for meaning and a search for
purpose.
Almost 400 years ago the Church of England tried to answer that “why?”
question with what’s now known as the Westminster Confession. The first
question and answer of the Cathechism based on that confession, in the dated
language of that era, is to the point: “What is the chief end of man? Man’s
chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.” To put it in more modern
and accessible language, we might today say, “What is the main purpose of
humanity? Humanity’s main purpose is to glorify God and to rejoice in God
forever!” Either way, the point is to glorify God. Paul said in our reading
today that the Christians of Galatia “glorified God because of me.” Perhaps he
wasn’t being arrogant. Perhaps he was trying to set an example for the
Galatians of what a life of faith would look like – any life of faith (Paul’s
or anyone else’s) should glorify God.
No. I don’t think Paul was trying to brag about himself. Paul gets a bit
of a bad rap in the church today. People read some of what he wrote about women
or homosexuals and they think he was anti-woman or anti-gay, but they don’t
understand the historical context of his writing. In fact, Paul was a pretty
egalitarian type of guy. And in this case I really don’t think he’s boasting. He’s
simply proclaiming the truth about a fundamental change that’s happened in his
life – a change so extraordinary and so unexpected to everyone (including
himself) that it had to have come about because of God’s intervention in his
life. The one who once persecuted the faithful now proclaims that very faith.
The one who once depended on earthly credentials as justification for
persecuting the church now claimed only the call of God as reason to preach the
gospel. The very fact that Paul was preaching in Galatia said something. By
earthly standards he didn’t belong in Galatia. By all rights he should have
stayed in Jerusalem with the other apostles. Do you remember the theme song
from the old TV show “The Beverly Hillbillies”? It said, in part, “Well, the
first thing you know old Jed’s a millionaire, the kinfolk said, ‘Jed, move away
from there.’ They said “Californy is the place you oughta be.’ So they loaded
up the truck and they moved to Beverly.” Why did Jed’s kinfolk tell him to move
to California? Because he was now rich. He didn’t belong in the backwoods of
the Appalachian Mountains. He should be surrounded by other rich people. But Jed
never really fit in California - and Paul didn’t really belong in Galatia. It
was a bit of a backwater. He was a learned man with impeccable credentials. He
should have been hobnobbing with the apostles in Jerusalem! But he followed God
– and however boastful “they glorified God because of me” might sound to our
ears, the truth is that they were glorifying God simply because this man – who
could have been doing something much more impressive by earthly standards – had
given up a comfortable life for the uncertainties of following God – and if
there’s one thing that people of faith should know, God doesn’t always call us
to comfort.
So, I wondered: what actually glorifies God? Well, I’m familiar with an
old gospel song that includes the words “seek not ease nor the approval of
men.” The language again is dated, but the point is pretty clear. It seems to
me that our lives glorify God when we stop seeking credit or glory for
ourselves. It seems to me that our lives glorify God when we do the unexpected
- things no one else would expect us to do – because we’re convinced that God
is calling us to do them. What glorifies God is when we allow our faith to
change the very direction of our lives, and when we are transformed from what
we were into that new creation that God calls us to be. What glorifies God is
not seeking the approval of others but rather giving oneself for others. What
glorifies God is when we seek not to be puffed up with pride but to be emptied
in humble service. What glorifies God is when we choose not to turn away from
those who are otherwise excluded or oppressed or looked down upon but rather to
embrace them and welcome them as part of the family.
We are reminded of that truth every time we approach the table and find
ourselves welcomed – sometimes in spite of ourselves. In prayer, Jesus said to
his Father in John 17, just before his crucifixion, that “I glorified you on
earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do.” Whatever work God has
given to each of us to do, may we also glorify God by finishing it, and may our
approach to the table this morning truly be a time in which we remember Jesus
by re-committing ourselves anew to glorifying God through the humble service we
offer.
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