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(Saint Paul in Athens by Raphael - Royal Collection of the United Kingdom, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1718078)
Anyone would think that the people who put the lectionary together do it on purpose … as the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity draws to a close, our lectionary reading is from Paul’s letter to the Galatians in which Paul deploys all his powers of conviction to tell his readers, the Churches in Galatia, that the other guys’ rites, rules and religious laws are not what is important.
But surprisingly, what he doesn’t do, is say that his rites, rules or religious laws are better. Rather it is God’s grace that matters.
Paul does not say that Orthodox Christians have got it right and the Roman Catholics have got it wrong. He doesn’t even say that the Anglicans have nailed it and the others are misguided – no, he says that it is God who has got it right, and that we mustn’t miss this point with all our fancy rites and rules and canon laws.
The grace of God is God “getting it right”. Paul tells us that this grace comes entirely from God through Jesus Christ, it is not something people earn by obeying the law – my law, your law, any law. This grace is a free and undeserved gift from God, and it is the basis of our salvation – so much so that obliging others to follow the law can be tantamount to turning away from God’s grace: believers are made right with God by faith in Christ alone; adding law-keeping to this offer of salvation is actually a rejection of God’s gift of grace.
As a faithful Jew, Paul knew the value – to him – of keeping the law. But he had learned from Jesus that even perfect execution of the law, designed to maintain the righteousness of God’s covenant people and as a fitting response to His grace, was pointless … if it kept Paul from recognising that gift of grace.
And so it is for us. We are fortunate – extremely so – to be part of a loving and faithful community. We have our habits and our traditions, and I’d like to think they are helpful. But we must always remember to look up and remember that it is all about God’s gift of grace. If we become blinded by following our system, we risk not only to look down on others who are different yet also created in the image of God, but also and most importantly, to miss God’s gift of grace.
Look up!
Chris Potter
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