Adult Teching Resources June 26, 2016 Getting On in Glti: Pul s Angriest Letter (My 29-July 3) Sul s Cll Mkes Pul Gltins 1:11-24 Do You Feel Justified? Gltins 2:15-21 No More Lines Relly? Gltins 3:19-29 Wht Will Previl? Gltins 5:1, 13-25 www.bptiststody.org Subscribe to Bptists Tody to ccess the core Bible content for this lesson. www.nurturingfith.net Find links nd videos relted to this lesson. 1 Nurturing Fith June 26, 2016
Wht Will Previl? Gltins 5:1, 13-25 FIT Teching Guide by Rick Jordn This dult teching outline is designed to support The Bible Lesson by Tony Crtlege, printed in Bptists Tody. You cn subscribe to either the digitl or print edition of Bptists Tody to ccess the lessons. Plese lso ensure tht ech person in your clss hs copy of Bptists Tody so they cn prepre before the lesson. Fellowship Question Use one of the following to brek the ice, to begin discussion, nd led into the study: To me, July 4th mens [cookouts, freedom, fireworks, vction, etc.] Of the five highlighted in the US Bill of Rights, which is your most cherished freedom? (These re in the US Bill of Rights: Freedom of religion; speech; press; ssembly; petition) Informtion Of course, we Americns love our freedom! We hve freedom to move from stte to stte, from job to job, from church to church, whenever we plese. Those in Bptist nd other congregtionl churches enjoy the freedoms to worship in whtever style we wish nd to choose whtever we leders we wish. Pul ws very concerned for the young church in Glti, becuse they seemed willing to reject the spiritul nd religious freedom they enjoyed in Christ for the bondge of keeping the old Jewish lws. Concerned is ctully too csul word Pul ws furious. [Hve clss member red Gltins 5:1-12.] Strong words! The Bible Lesson writer notes, Pul s strong words revel how firmly he believed tht putting one s fith in Christ nd putting one s fith in works were mutully exclusive. Pul ws ngry tht some of the men were choosing to be circumcised. He ws not ngry bout the wht (the ct of circumcision) but bout the why of circumcision. In hopes to ern slvtion, these men were dding n ct of personl scrifice unnecessrily. They were rejecting the truth tht no ct we do cn ern God s love for us. God loves us with grcefilled, unconditionl love. The men found it hrd to believe tht God would ccept them unless they first did something in this cse something pinful, to prove they were relly serious bout this. Do we hve tht sme tempttion? Do we plce Jesus nd conditions on potentil converts? Do we put tht burden on others who might wnt to follow Christ nd/or join our congregtion? 2 Nurturing Fith June 26, 2016
Informtion continued Set free implies tht they were under constrint or bondge. Wht is Christin set free from? [Note to techer: probbly vgue nswer of sin will be given.] A little bit lter in his letter, Pul will itemize some sins. These re not every sin, but smpler pltter of spiritul poisons. [Hve clss member red Gltins 5:19-21.] Let s choose sin nd explore together, how does tht prticulr sin crete bondge? Let s tke envy. How does the sin of envy put us in bondge? [Hve clss member red Gltins 5:13-15.] There is nother rel risk of the spiritul life. A person might decide, Now tht I hve (sid tht I believe in Jesus; been bptized; been confirmed; joined the church, etc.), I cn live however I wnt. How does this ttitude of license put us into bondge? Liberty my be lost, in the first plce, by leglism But liberty my lso be lost by licence. [sic] The mn who sets out to express his freedom by following nothing but his own plesure will find himself bound to himself, the slve of his own lusts nd pssions. He too hs lost his freedom. [C.K. Brrett. Freedom nd Obligtion: A Study of the Epistle to the Gltins. Phildelphi: Westminster. p. 56.] In verse 6, Pul sttes, For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision hs ny vlue. The only thing tht counts is fith expressing itself through love. Leglistic customs nd religious rites don t count. But if we re to experience rel freedom in Christ, it comes through n ctive expression of fith through love. So, there is freedom. But there is lso n obligtion. Wht if we replced circumcision/uncircumcision in verse 6 with some religious rites of the Church bptism, church membership, denomintionl ffilition, speking in tongues, etc.? Are we tempted to put these bove fith expressing itself through love? [Hve clss member red Gltins 5:16-18.] In generl, we might sy tht being free is the libertion of person s spirit from everything tht shckles it to sin nd ugliness; being free is the libertion of person s spirit to do wht God wnts, to be wht God wnts, nd to enjoy the life God gives us on this erth. [Scot McKnight. Gltins, The NIV Appliction Commentry. Grnd Rpids: Zondervn. 1995. p. 245.] So we re set free FROM, but we re lso set free TO. We re set free from living in the flesh. We re set free to live in love. Flesh is positive force for evil, nd it will tke dvntge of Cristin freedom if it cn You re not to use your freedom s n opportunity for the flesh; but, on the contrry, through love serve one nother The opposite of flesh is love; nd love mens serving one nother Flesh, defined by its opposite, mens self-centered existence, egocentric existence; not specificlly 3 Nurturing Fith June 26, 2016
Informtion continued proclivity to crnl sins (s we cll them), but concern focused upon oneself [F]or Pul flesh cn express itself in non-mteril, indeed in religious wys. [Brrett, 72f.] Some of the sins tht Pul describes re sexul sins. These re the sins our seculr culture religious cultures seems to be obsessed over. However, most of the sins in Pul s list re not sexul sins. All of these cn lso be found in contemporry culture nd mny of them in the Church itself. Let s listen gin to this list, nd s we do let us consider how these re self-centered existence nd egocentric existence : [Hve clss member red Gltins 5:19-21.] Pul gives wrning tht those who clim to live by fith but ctully live by the flesh will not inherit the kingdom of God. They hve rejected God s commnd to love. They hve crowned themselves god of their own kingdoms. Either God is God or God is not, prcticlly speking, God. Wht do you think of this theology? Pul clled tht list (nd, gin, these re not the only self-centered sins there re!) works of the flesh. Now he offers different list. [Hve clss member red Gltins 5: 22-25.] Pul clls the first list works, but the second list fruit. Wht is the difference? Why not cll them both works? Pul s use of works suggests works tht men do, nd these [fruit] re not humn products but the result of God s dwelling within men All [of the fruit of the Spirit] re the consequences of the self-forgetfulness tht looks wy from itself to God. [Brrett, 77.] Prdoxiclly, true freedom comes to us s we submit to God. Indeed, when Pul begins most of his letters, he refers to himself s Pul, slve of Christ. [Hve clss member red Mtthew 6:24.] We re going to serve somebody or something. Our Mster my be fme, lust, pride, or welth. Our Mster my be our self-interest. But those msters led only to spiritul bondge. Or, we cn be slves of Christ, which leds to full freedom nd finl fulfillment of who we were creted to become. Trnsformtionl Exercise With freedom comes responsibility. We use our freedom in Christ to work for the emnciption of other souls. Pul does not wnt the Gltins to retret into spiritul slvery. Once free, they re to remin free, but this is not freedom for the ske of freedom. Rther, since I m free, I will invite others to experience this freedom lso. [Red or summrize the following illustrtion.] 4 Nurturing Fith June 26, 2016
Trnsformtionl Exercise continued Hrriet Tubmn hs been in the news recently, s her imge will next grce the front of the US twenty dollr bill. According to the PBS series, Africns in Americ : Hrriet Tubmn is perhps the most well-known of ll the Underground Rilrod s conductors. During ten-yer spn she mde 19 trips into the South nd escorted over 300 slves to freedom Tubmn ws born slve in Mrylnd s Dorchester County round 1820. At ge five or six, she begn to work s house servnt. Seven yers lter she ws sent to work in the fields In 1849, in fer tht she, long with the other slves on the plnttion, ws to be sold, Tubmn resolved to run wy. She set out one night on foot. With some ssistnce from friendly white womn, Tubmn ws on her wy. She followed the North Str by night, mking her wy to Pennsylvni nd soon fter to Phildelphi, where she found work nd sved her money. The following yer she returned to Mrylnd nd escorted her sister nd her sister s two children to freedom. She mde the dngerous trip bck to the South soon fter to rescue her brother nd two other men. On her third return, she went fter her husbnd, only to find he hd tken nother wife. Undeterred, she found other slves seeking freedom nd escorted them to the North. Tubmn crried gun which she used to threten the fugitives if they becme too tired or decided to turn bck, telling them, You ll be free or die. [http:// www.pbs.org/wgbh/i/prt4/4p1535.html] How could we relte Hrriet Tubmn s experience to our spiritul experience? ( You ll be free or die! is close to wht Pul is sying to the Gltins, in spiritul sense. We re set free so tht we my love those who remin enslved nd to invite them to experience freedom in Christ. Etc.) In his lst writing, the book of Romns, Pul confessed tht he struggled to be completely free of sins tht enslved him. [Hve clss member red Romns 7:21-25.] Wht cn this pssge tell us bout our spiritul life? [We will struggle with the lure of sin ll our life; Christ will set us free, ultimtely; etc.] In eight dys, we will celebrte our freedoms, ntionlly. As we pproch tht, let us recll the spiritul emnciption tht God offers us through Christ nd in the power of the Holy Spirit. [Close in pryer something like this: For freedom you hve set us free. Help us overcome ny tempttion to return to sin s tyrnny. Live through us s we love others nd serve them. Amen. ] Comments or Questions for Rick Jordn? You my send comments to the lesson pln uthor t rjordn@ cbfnc.org. Rick is lso vilble to led workshops nd conferences on Christin Eduction, with prticulr emphsis on how best to use the FIT Fith model. 5 Nurturing Fith June 26, 2016
Digging Deeper by Tony Crtlege Digging Deeper is designed to support The Bible Lesson by Tony Crtlege, printed in Bptists Tody. Wtch for the shovel icon in the The Bible Lesson, nd then reference tht item in this Digging Deeper resource. You cn subscribe to either the digitl or print edition of Bptists Tody to ccess the lessons. Plese lso ensure tht ech person in your clss hs copy of Bptists Tody so they cn prepre before the lesson. Filling in the gps The Revised Common Lectionry text for the dy is Gl. 5:1, 13-26. We hve chosen to include some brief comments on vv. 2-12, s well, so we cn better pprecite Pul s entire rgument. Free bird Here s longer version of Loren Eisley s story bout the sprrow hwk mentioned in the lesson: Eisley ws well-known Americn nturlist with literry gift tht enbled him to shre concepts lerned from science with brod udience. His writing communictes fr more thn science. Eisley died in 1977, just fter putting together collection of essys nd poems tht were published s The Str Thrower. One of the essys is biogrphicl ccount of n erly experience tht sys something importnt bout freedom. As young nturlist, Eisley spent much time in the wilderness doing primry reserch on living cretures in the wild. Museums, zoos, nd similr institutions funded much of his work. On one occsion, s wy of providing some return on their investment, Eisley set out to cpture some interesting specimens of birds for museum s viry disply. Deep in the dry mountins of the Big Sky Country, Eisley knew of n bndoned cbin in high drw of tht desolte terrin. He knew tht birds of the region often flew in through the tttered roof nd roosted there. So, Eisley gthered his equipment, mde his wy to the cbin, nd crouched beneth n old mntle piece. He covered himself with blnket nd wited for drkness to rrive, hoping birds would soon follow. As dusk fell, he herd the flutter of wings nd the scrtching of two birds settling on the rugged mntle. Crefully he reched up, trying to grb both of the birds, but he only cught one. The other bird scremed nd ttcked his hnd, pecking nd clwing until he turned the first bird loose, but by then he hd cptured the one who ws chewing up his finger. Finlly, Eisley ws ble to pinion its wings nd hold it from behind, so tht he could control it. The bird ws fine specimen of mle sprrow hwk, who hd scrificed himself so tht his mte could be free. Wishing tht he could hve cptured both nd kept the pir together, Eisley crefully put the bird in smll box designed to hold the bird so tightly tht it could not hurt itself. Then he bndged his hnd, rolled out his sleeping bg, nd turned in for the night. The next morning, Eisley took his ger outside nd checked on the hwk, crefully removing it from the box. Apprently sensing tht the cuse ws lost, the bird remined limp in his hnd, with listless eyes. Moved by sudden impulse, Eisley stroked the hwk, then gently lid it on the grss. For moment, the bird did not move, not relizing tht it ws free. Then, in flurry of fethers, the hwk lunched itself stright into the sky. Eisley reclled tht his most remrkble memory of tht moment ws the shrp cry of joy tht cme, not from the mle, but from the mte, who hd been circling overhed. Rushing together in joyful 6 Nurturing Fith June 26, 2016
reunion, the two hwks begn n crobtic dnce with ll the sky for their bllroom. Wht specil moment it must hve been to see tht brve hwk set free to become wht it ws ment to be creture of the wild, n inhbitnt of the sky. Christins re likewise clled, in freedom, to become wht God hs creted us to be. Strong words Pul ws so disturbed wht hd hppened in the Gltin churches tht he used shocking lnguge. Concerning those who sought to persude the new believers to dopt circumcision removing the foreskin from the mle penis tht he sid I wish those who unsettle you would cstrte themselves! (v. 12). The verb he used is my be stronger thn the trnsltion: it could be trnslted s cut themselves off, or emsculte themselves. Some commenttors rgue tht Pul only ment tht he wnted them to cut themselves off from the Gltin churches, but his intention seems cler. Even though it s n obvious hyperbole, the expression is strkly forceful. Flesh nd Spirit When Pul spoke of the flesh, it ws not in the metphysicl sense of seprting the evil body from the good spirit, s in some Greek thought, but s euphemism for self-directed humn desires. Running into prison Our ides bout freedom come from the ongoing ide tht the people most free re the rich ristocrts who hve the time nd money to do whtever they wnt. But tht ide of freedom is fntsy. As long s we think tht freedom mens doing whtever we wnt, we re so enslved by tht fntsy tht we hve no ide wht rel freedom is. We re like Hnsel nd Gretel in the firy tle, running hedlong into the gingerbred house, expecting sweets but discovering prison. Good fruit nd bd While Pul sometimes used fruit in the literl sense, he most commonly spoke of it metphoriclly. He spoke of people who cme to Christ through his ministry s fruit in Rom. 1:13 nd Col. 1:6, nd s the outwrd signs of fithful living (Rom. 6:22; 7:4; Eph. 5:9; Phil. 1:11, 4:17; Col. 1:10) or ungodly wys (Rom. 6:21, 7:5; Eph 5:11). In Rom. 15:28, he spoke of contributions mde for the suffering believers in Jeruslem s fruit given by the churches of Asi. Spiritul work? While Pul contrsts the works of the flesh with the fruit of the Spirit in Gltins 5, he does use fruit for both flesh nd spirit in 6:7-8, nd he lso used work with reference to spiritul mtters in other plces (5:6, 6:4, 10, cf. 2 Cor. 9:8, Phil. 2:12, 1 Thess. 1:3). Richrd Longenecker notes tht we should not emphsize the Spirit s role to the point of suggesting tht Christins re entirely pssive: For s the exhorttions throughout this entire section suggest, combined with the givenness of these virtues by God is the believer s ctive involvement in expressing them in his or her own lifestyle or s Pul puts it pointedly couple verses lter: Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit (v. 25; Gltins, vol. 41 of Word Biblicl Commentry (Grnd Rpids: Zondervn, 1990), 259-260). Crucifying the flesh For Pul, to clim identifiction with Christ in his crucifixion mens tht one cnnot espouse lifestyle tht expresses either leglistic or libertine orienttion. For in being crucified with Christ both the demnds of the lw nd the impulses of the flesh hve been crucified s well (cf. Rom 7:1 6; Col 2:13 15; Longenecker, 264). 7 Nurturing Fith June 26, 2016
The Hrdest Question by Tony Crtlege The Hrdest Question is designed to support The Bible Lesson by Tony Crtlege, printed in Bptists Tody. You cn subscribe to either the digitl or print edition of Bptists Tody to ccess the lessons. Plese lso ensure tht ech person in your clss hs copy of Bptists Tody so they cn prepre before the lesson. How cn one be free nd be slve? Pul s lnguge in 5:13 ppers to describe conundrum: he speks to the Gltins in personl, impssioned terms tht sound like rllying cry: For you were clled to freedom, brothers nd sisters Yet, he knows tht freedom cn be misunderstood nd misused. Without the voluntry recognition of pproprite limits, freedom devolves into chos, tyrnny of our bser instincts. Thus, he tells them wht not to do: freedom should not be used s n opportunity for self-indulgence. Imgine fmily in which the prents wnt to go out of town, nd decide to leve two teengers t home. The teens re delighted by the prospect of freedom from prentl control, but left with cler wrning not to let their freedom become n opportunity for misbehvior. If the teens turn their liberty into weekend bsh for their friends, it s unlikely tht ny future freedoms would be severely curtiled. Pul doesn t wnt believers to be motivted by fer, however, but by love, guiding principle tht he previously mentioned with respect to slvtion in v. 6: the only thing tht counts is fith working through love. The experience of Christ s love becomes the primry guide for Christin living. Now Pul tells the Gltins wht they re to do: rther thn using freedom s free pss to bd behvior, he sys through love become slves to one nother. How cn Pul sy we re clled to freedom nd clled to be slves t the sme time? He doesn t even use milder injunction to serve one nother, but bltnt commnd to become slves to one nother. Despite the lnguge, Pul ws not suggesting tht believers leve their homes nd live s slves to others. Still he ws insisting tht followers of Jesus regrd others needs bove their own. To love others s Jesus loved is to do so scrificilly, being willing to do whtever is needed for others good. In Pul s dy, slve would not question his or her mster s orders, but obey. Christins, in Pul s mind, should not stop to deliberte whether to show kindness nd cre to others, but just do it freely not becuse the lw sys so, but becuse of love. Prents of newborn, in sense, become slves to the new life they hve brought into the world. They respond to the bby s cry nd rise t ll hours of the dy nd night to provide food, comfort, nd clen dipers. They don t do tht becuse there s lw ginst child neglect: they do it out of love. It my seem extreme to extrpolte prent s love for children to the believer s love for others, but tht s the imge Pul is using. Christ hs clled us to freedom within the kingdom of God nd in tht freedom we become slves to one nother becuse we love. 8 Nurturing Fith June 26, 2016