KNEEWALKING (Galatians 2) 7/8/12

          In the cotton mill, one of my bosses was named Fred. Fred was my favorite boss, but then, he was just about everyone’s favorite. The years I worked in the mill were a time of construction. Everything was being updated or replaced or added on to. My department had many work crews, and they would get into disputes about how to do a job. Fred would come out to troubleshoot the problem. Usually, it was more about psychology than construction. Fred would tell a story. At the end, he had everyone laughing. I can’t remember him ever actually offering a particular solution. He just got everyone cooled off and they saw what they needed to do.

          In the second chapter of Galatians, the apostle Paul tackles a number of issues. He points out the unity of leadership that arose from the famous Jerusalem conference. He states his own case for independence from group opinions. He takes on the behavior of Peter himself at Antioch. He ends by emphasizing the doctrine of justification by faith. I think Paul could have used my boss Fred in his dealings with the apostolic fathers and the Galatian churches. Paul got so passionate, he couldn’t keep his cool.  I don’t want to minimize the great struggle about the true gospel that Paul articulated so well. He probably single-handedly pre-empted the idea of a works-required approach to faith. I use this opening just to emphasize that even the great theologian of the New Testament had so much passion for the true gospel that sometimes he just could not muster very much tact. It must have been really tough at times to work with him.

          Fourteen years in the field. If you were in the army, you would be wearing three stripes by then. That’s plenty long enough to prove your credentials.  That’s when Paul finally went up to Jerusalem to talk to the leaders of the Jerusalem church about his work with the Gentiles. He had formed churches in Asia Minor, been shipwrecked, run out of town, thrown in jail and beaten. He had earned every one of those stripes. So when he came to town with Barnabus and Titus, his opinions and his beliefs were well formed and tested. Paul says he went up because of a revelation. In other words, he was not summoned by church leaders, but called by God. Titus, his Greek helper, seems to have been the focus of some attention. The Jewish faction, the Judaizers--Paul calls them false brothers--wanted to see Titus circumcised. Paul’s position prevailed, apparently with support from Peter, James, and John. By the way, the James about whom we read here is not James the apostle, but rather James, the half brother of Jesus and leader of the Christian church in Jerusalem.

Even here, Paul is not happy with the church fathers. He claims that they added nothing to the decision about Titus. Yet his declaration is still one that seems to echo unity among his apostolic peers. Paul identifies their differences in terms of audience. His is the uncircumcised-the Gentiles, while Peter evangelizes the circumcised, that is, the Jews. But Paul acknowledges that Peter is indeed entrusted with the gospel just as much as he, Paul, is.

          Though the “pillars,” as Paul referred to them, had extended him the right hand of fellowship and had endorsed his ministry to the Gentiles, this did not stop Paul from a public censure of Peter in Antioch. Apparently, Peter had come to Antioch and was taking meals with both Jews and Gentiles without observing the ritual purity laws. You will remember that Peter had a vision which convinced him that such laws should not prove a stumbling block to the spread of the gospel. Yet when certain church leaders showed up in Antioch and complained of his liberality, Peter backed down and ceased eating with the Gentiles. Paul erupted. He called Peter a hypocrite.  He said Peter was not in step with the gospel. So much for tact.

          Are you? Are you in step with the gospel? If Paul were here, would he eat dinner with you or call you out in public and label you a hypocrite? He was right, you know. Peter was acting like a hypocrite.  He was a Jew living like a Gentile, yet as Paul said, he dared to ask Gentiles to live like Jews. Poor Peter. He is our example in more than one way. He took giant steps of faith. But he also took giant falls. In this case, I think God provides us yet another view of how human and frail are even the best of us. If Paul is our role model, Peter is our brother, standing beside us, looking for the truth as he tries to preach it.  

Paul is a shining light of courage and commitment here, but his story is much more complicated. This is the same man who stood by earlier in his life and watched Stephen being stoned in the name of Christ. Paul’s hands are clean only by the grace of God. But that’s the point, isn’t it? Just as if I had not sinned.

In the rest of this passage, Paul gives a summary of the theology that he more fully develops in the coming chapters. While the first part of the chapter is an assertion of unity, of independence, even of Paul’s challenges of the patriarchs of the church, the balance of the passage is laced together with humility. Paul has spent a lot of time kneewalking. He knows what God looks like from the ground up and his point of view takes dead aim at everything that is important to the understanding of the gospel.

Kneewalking is not a technical term. I googled it and turned up a few references to a new kind of dance. It hasn’t caught on anywhere, so I think the term is up for grabs. To me, it describes a state of mind, of communication, maybe even a state of grace---in which the kneewalker has spent a lot of time in prayer---on his or her knees. It’s different down there. If you haven’t tried it, I highly recommend it. It helps get rid of a lot of distractions.

Paul articulates the central theme of the letter. You could argue that it is the central them of Christianity. Justification by faith. Just as if I had not sinned. It is the belief whereby we are transformed from sinners without hope to believers who share in God’s righteousness. Paul uses words like “death” and “crucified” to describe the process by which his fleshly, selfish existence has undergone a life-changing metamorphosis. It is every bit as powerful in its effect as that which occurs when an ordinary caterpillar emerges a beautiful butterfly from its cocoon. Kneewalking can get you there.

Paul contrasts grace from law. The law is insufficient. It is man-made, man-interpreted. It is not the Ten Commandments, but rather the 631 regulations that make up the Jewish law.  Grace, on the other hand, is from God. It is John 3:16 faith. Believe in Jesus Christ. Believe what he did and why he did it. That is God’s gift and it is for those who believe. It’s that simple.

Of course, with belief comes acknowledgment. Or maybe it’s the other way’round. I must acknowledge my sin and my inability to come to God on my own. I must accept his invitation. When I, like Paul, hit my knees and put God in charge and thank Jesus for the day I have been given, I can feel the grace.

Paul, like the apostle John, says that Christ lives in us. Think about that. Christ lives in us. If you can accept this, and heaven can’t help you if you can’t, then you can understand that feeling to let go. You can understand why those hairs bristle up the back of your neck or up your forearm when a certain hymn is played or a child gives you a kiss or hug. You can understand that those good things, those good feelings, don’t really belong to you at all. You don’t earn them. God gives them to you. Just as if you had not sinned.

If Christ lives in us, we are the house of God! No work of man can bring about that end. And that is precisely the point Paul makes. Work is done, all right, and the work is God’s. We are God’s handiwork. In fact, we are his masterpiece. Just as if I had not sinned. That is what happens when we believe. We die to the sinful life and are reborn as the adopted children of God. Oh yes, we still sin. We always will. But it is different when you are God’s child. Sin no longer holds the fascination that it once did. Pride and accomplishment no longer hold your attention like they did before.  You find it oddly painless to go kneewalking when looking for the Master.

             Perhaps at the end of the day, it is fitting that Paul got so hot under the collar. What if he had been more concerned with getting along and had compromised his beliefs in justification by faith? What if he had not taken on Peter and the other church fathers? Would we be reading a different Bible today? Would we be reading a Bible at all? Thank God, we don’t have to answer that question. Paul fought that fight for us with the church fathers and with the early church. He was certainly not by himself. Others were to take up that banner. But Galatians is, if nothing else, a primer on the doctrine of justification by faith. Stay tuned for next week.