P&F Lectionary Commentary: 3-Pentecost 06/15/2001

Lectionary Commentary

I Kings 21:1-10, 15-21a
Psalm 5:1-8
Galatians 2:15-21
Luke 7:36-8:3

I Kings is the story of Ahab's greed concerning Naboth's field; Psalm 5 is like a commentary on the Kings passage, saying “The Lord abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit.” Galatians is the great passage declaring justification not through works of the law, but through faith, and Luke 7 shows this faith in Mary, who washes the feet of Jesus and wipes them with her hair.

Theological Themes
If the two passages from Hebrew scripture point out God’s judgment on human failure to live righteously, the two passages in the New Testament declare what became the great Reformation theme, justification by faith rather than through works. The context of Galatians is the issue of whether or not Gentile Christians were sufficiently “Christian” if they did not conform to the stipulations of the Jewish covenant, and for men, of course, this was particularly the covenantal rite of circumcision. Paul argues that faith in Christ replaces the works of the law insofar as salvation is concerned, therefore we are justified by faith, not works.

Contemporary Application
The problem persists, albeit in different guise. Throughout Christian history, we have consistently fallen into the temptation to divide Christians between those who conform to (fill in the blanks) and those who do not. In former times, the issues were as various as how one interpreted the “natures” of Christ, the legitimacy of lay movements, who could and could not take the Lord's Supper, whether or not infants could be baptized, whether or not women could be ordained. Today the issue may be a particular interpretation of the Bible, of creation through evolution or otherwise, one’s stance concerning the legitimacy of homosexual love, or one’s “political correctness” on a host of issues. Regardless of which issue it is, the Galatians text thunders at us that we can not—or should not, for we too obviously can—divide Christians into the”genuine” and “second class.”

We are all justified through Christ, not through these various issues, and in Christ—like it or not (and too often we don’t)—we are one. A process approach to this reality of strong differences of opinions among Christians would be to accept the contrasts of difference, and then prayerfully to look for ways of creative transformation—new possibilities for the good that emerge in and through the differences. For example, through our controversies, can we witness to the world that there is a loving way to deal with differences? A final admonition, applicable to Methodists and others alike, is John Wesley's definition of pride as the “refusal to learn from another.” He extended this definition even to the refusal to learn from one who is not a Christian! If we can learn from non-Christians, can we not learn from one another—not in spite of our differences, but because of our differences? The message of Galatians—and Luke—is that it is Christ who saves us, not the works of the Law, or our own peculiar variations of what ought to be the case in any particular circumstance.

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