Counterfeit Faith. Promises, Promises Ruth 1:1-18. Galatians 1: May 29, Rev. Jeffrey V. O Grady. Pastor.

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1 Counterfeit Faith Promises, Promises Ruth 1:1-18 Galatians 1: 1-12 By By Rev. Jeffrey V. O Grady May 29, 2016 Rev. Memorial Jeffrey Day V. Weekend O Grady Pastor January 14, 2007 San Marino Community Church 1750 Virginia Road San Marino, CA (626) San Marino Community Fax: (626) Church Virginia smcc@smccpby.com Road San Marino, CA (626) Fax: (626) smcc@smccpby.com All rights reserved. These sermon manuscripts are intended for personal use only and may not be republished or used in any way without the permission of the author.

2 May 29, 2016 To the extent possible, effort has been made to Counterfeit preserve the quality Faith of the spoken word in this Rev. written Jeffrey adaptation. V. O Grady, Pastor This week President Obama has been visiting Japan. He is the first sitting President to visit Hiroshima since the atomic bomb was dropped and exploded there on August 6, 1945, which helped end World War II in the Pacific. He was unapologetic but expressed regret and called for a moral revolution in the face of our capabilities for self-destruction. He said, We have a shared responsibility to look directly into the eye of history and ask what we must do differently to curb such suffering again. 1 He went on to say, The memory of the morning of August 6, 1945 must never fade. That memory allows us to fight complacency. It fuels our moral imagination. It allows us to change. 2 In his book, Reason and Common Sense, George Santayana first coined the phrase, Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. 3 Santayana was a Harvard professor, philosopher, and poet who left Harvard in Throughout the past century, in the profound hope of avoiding the mistakes and the tragedies of history, we have sought ways to remember our past so that the future is better informed and our life together can move forward peacefully. If only it were that easy to create a safer future through memory! On September 11, 2006, on the Fifth Anniversary of another tragic event in American history, an effort to remember was launched in San Marino. I was asked to speak at the beginning of the fund raising effort for a memorial to those in our community who have given their lives in defense of our country and the values we cherish. It is one way we can preserve those values we share and remember together that the freedom we enjoy is not really free, and that we are the recipients of a way of life that others have paid for with their lives. That memorial now stands in Lacy Park and there will be an event there tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. to remember on Memorial Day. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was an officer in the Civil War who was previously a professor at Bowdoin College in Maine, but left his position there to join the Union Army. During his years of service, he was wounded six times while serving in 20 battles, receiving the Medal of Honor for his role in the battle of Gettysburg in Following 1 The Memory of the Mourning of August 6, 1945, Must Never Fade, New York Times Saturday May 28, Ibid. 3 Santayana, George, Reason and Common Sense, Dover Pubns (June 1980) 2

3 the war, he would return to teaching at Bowdoin and serve as the Governor of Maine for four terms. Upon returning to the national memorial at Gettysburg, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain penned these words about the significance of remembering: In great deeds something abides. On great fields something stays. Forms change and pass; bodies disappear, but spirits linger, to consecrate ground for the vision-place of souls. And reverent men and women from afar, and generations that know not and that we know not of, heart drawn to see where and by whom great things were suffered and done for them, shall come to this deathless field to ponder and dream; and lo, the shadow of a mighty presence shall wrap them in its bosom, and the power of the vision pass into their souls. 4 The Memorial in Lacy, like those in Hiroshima and the United Nations, and at ground zero in New York City, are efforts to remember and to consecrate ground for the vision place of souls. So that those generations that know us not and that we know not of might be drawn by a mighty presence, to ponder and dream. And that vision which directed the lives of those now lost may pass from their lives, and their sacrifice, to the souls of those yet to come. Our text this morning in Galatians has some of the strongest unapologetic language to come from the pen of the Apostle Paul. He quickly dispenses with the usual salutations in the opening of a letter and launches directly into the reason for his writing; I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel. This is a call to remember and to resist the influence of the super religious. They apparently were accusing Paul of seeking the approval of people rather than God, and therefore his spirituality was not strenuous enough. It relied too heavily on grace and not enough on effort. So Paul has to defend himself and his authority, while trying to carefully delineate the distinction between real faith and counterfeit faith that kind of faith that looks vaguely similar to the real thing but produces the opposite of Christian virtue. Instead this counterfeit faith produces pride, and fractiousness, and superiority. It alienates rather than unifies

4 I know a couple who are responsible and committed people. They participate in church and try to live consistent with biblical principles, but some might say, in a legalistic way. They met in high school where he was a star athlete and she a cheerleader. The world was simpler back then. They are grandparents now. But sadly, they aren t permitted to see most of their grandchildren. One of their daughters and her family won t have anything to do with them. She is now convinced that her parents are the real problem in her life, so she has cut off all contact, wanting to protect her children from the narrow legalism with which she was raised. On the other hand, (and conversely!) their son is now in the military and apparently seems to be doing better in that strictly regimented, disciplined environment. He just seemed to spin his wheels in life and couldn t find a gear to save his life but apparently he is learning to follow orders and it is good for him. Their other daughter is living in a committed lesbian relationship. She and her partner have just adopted a son. It s not a lifestyle the parents condone, largely because it s not biblical, but she is the only one of their three children who is not alienated from them, so they are reluctant to be too critical in case it might disaffect the only child and grandchild with whom they have a continuing relationship. Life has not exactly turned out the way they imagined back when they first married. They did all the right things but somehow life turned out differently. Counterfeit faith often leads inevitably to narrow-mindedness and intolerance. People with counterfeit faith know every answer, living in a black and white world of absolute certainty about almost everything. A fanatic was once defined (by Winston Churchill) as one who can t change their mind and won t change the subject! 5 Let s be honest; religion produces its share of intolerant fanatics. Here Paul is using strong language to ensure that the faith of the Galatians is built upon their understanding of Christ and what God has done in Christ, not upon their own achievements and discipline, their own performance of the law. He will write in the same letter, Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? Having started with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh? Some of our refrigerators still tell stories about us. We don t have kid s school projects or report cards to place on our refrigerator any more, with carefully placed magnets. But we have our kid s family Christmas cards there instead along with pictures of cousins 5 4

5 and pictures of our grandchildren. I guess today many people use their Facebook page as kind of a refrigerator with all their most important pictures. Too often they are only about the individual and do not include the relationships that have meaning in their lives. Recently I visited my sister in her rented home on the east coast. She has one magnet on her refrigerator. It says simply, Life begins at the edge of your comfort zone. She lives with a willingness to take risks and reminds herself that life is about more than security and safety. It is a mantra that guides her actions and activities in the world. What is your mantra? What expression would you post on your refrigerator or Facebook page? What guides your action and activities today and this week? Religious people sometimes set about trying to please God rather than receive God as a gift. They rebuild oppressive systems of rules and requirements that allow them to take their destiny back into their own hands. Paul wants their lives to be built upon another foundation the grace of God known in Jesus Christ. He longs for the Spirit to be unleashed in their lives so they will know the freedom of serving the cause of Christ and the fruits of that Spirit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, and yes, even self-control. It is easy to forget. We are so apt to want to take control of it all ourselves rather than learn to depend upon God s grace for our daily actions and activities. Don t get me wrong. It s not that effort isn t called for each day. We can and must use what God has given us, investing it for the sake of the transformation intended for all. But first we must receive before we can achieve. In the world, it is the other way around. You achieve before you receive. That is a recipe for disaster when it comes to faith. That is counterfeit faith. So beware of those who claim they are the real Christians, because of the style of their worship, or the way they eat, or because they don t drink alcohol or caffeine or they drive cars that are eco-friendly. Beware of those who claim they are the real believers because they don t wear jewelry or don t have tattoos, or tithe ten percent or leave a smaller carbon footprint. The relative merits of these behaviors can and should be discussed but they have little to do with what constitutes a real Christian. You can worship in a variety of ways and still be a real Christian. You can eat a variety of foods and still be a real Christian. You can drive a variety of cars (or motorcycles) and still be a real Christian. It comes down to where you place your confidence and trust in your own abilities or in God s grace. 5

6 I recently heard a story about a woman who wrote to a newspaper columnist about her friend who had been diagnosed with cancer. She first asserted that her friend was a very negative person and asked whether her critical and negative attitude had caused her cancer? The response was first to assert that no, her friend s cancer was not caused by her attitude. And then the columnist wrote, It concerns me that you are raising the question. Why are you asking? Is it because you think that by not being negative you can avoid cancer? Because if that is what you are thinking, you are mistaken. And it astounds me that your friend who is in need of your support and kindness now is receiving little from you, because you are focused upon how to avoid contamination yourself rather than caring for her. It is an example of shifting the conversation to something more real and helpful. What Paul seems to be doing in this first chapter of Galatians is shifting the focus from selfpreservation and their effort to avoid contamination in the world, to real and substantive engagement in life that is the result of knowing that you cannot be contaminated any longer, thanks to the grace that is ours in Christ Jesus. The cancer of sin is no longer determinative. Now we can live fully and freely because we know we live eternally. Never forget that you belong to Christ. The Spirit is active in the world and in our lives. This memory must never fade. It will fight complacency. It will push our comfort zones. It will stimulate our moral imaginations. Upon this rock we can build a life, and we can build a community. Thanks be to God. Amen 6