Thicker Than Blood
Sermon
Sermons on the Second Readings
Series III, Cycle C
In the classic movie, Mary Poppins, Julie Andrews plays a no-nonsense, yet delightful, nanny to two young children. As a nanny to a wealthy family, she is part teacher, part parent, and part disciplinarian. She gets the children up in the morning, puts them to bed at night, supervises their many adventures, and guides them in many ways. While they are in her care, she is responsible for their overall safety and well-being.
In the ancient world, wealthy Greek and Roman families would assign this kind of responsibility to a slave called a paidagogos. He was usually an older male slave, charged with the responsibility of caring for a young boy through childhood into adulthood. At times, he might need to be a disciplinarian; at other times more of a teacher; at other times more of a supervisor. It was an important role, but also a temporary one that ended once his young charge reached adulthood.
In Galatians 3:24, the apostle Paul calls the law a paidagogos. In some English translations, this word appears as "disciplinarian"; in others, it's translated more broadly as "schoolmaster" or "guardian." But like the paidagogos of a wealthy family, the law was really more than any of those things. It provided discipline, teaching, supervision, and overall caretaking -- but only for a time.
With the revelation of Jesus Christ, the people were no longer subject to the law. Like a child who had outgrown his paidagogos, the people had been set free from the law through faith in Christ. It was not a license to do whatever they pleased whenever they pleased -- it was not lawlessness. After all, the grown-up child minus his paidagogos was still meant to live as a responsible adult. So, too, those who had been set free from the law through faith in Christ would now live according to their new identity in Christ. Once they had been under the law, but now they were baptized into Christ, clothed with Christ, belonged to Christ, and they were meant to live that way. From now on, the law would no longer separate Jew and Gentile, slave and free, male and female. From now on, they were all joined together in Christ.
Whatever physical, social, ethnic, cultural, historical, and other differences there might be, these were no longer the defining and dividing qualities they once were. Instead, all those who were baptized into Christ and clothed with Christ had received a new identity and a new way of life that brought them together in Christ Jesus. That ringing affirmation remains true for us also today: "There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28).
In our contemporary experience, we might well add: There is no longer first world or third world, urbanite or country dweller, black or white, young or old, rich or poor, healthy or unwell, able-bodied or disabled, immigrant or citizen -- not that all of these very real differences would disappear, but that they would make no difference to our identity and unity in Christ Jesus.
Cast in those terms, this affirmation is also clearly a challenge. Can we really bridge these divisions in the church today? Can we live out such a transcendent vision of unity in Christ Jesus?
If we think of this as a new "law," it becomes clear how much we have failed! Our world is full of examples of racial hatred, ethnic cleansing, the wealthy oppression of the poor, and other situations of hostility and conflict. Even in the church, there is division, quarreling, one-upmanship, and other behaviors contrary to our unity.
If being one in Christ Jesus were a new law, clearly we have failed -- and the law is unable to save us. Instead, if we are to live out this vision of unity, we need to turn to Jesus himself.
In Romans 7, the apostle Paul describes his personal struggle to do what is right -- the good that he wanted to do, he could not do; and the wrong he wanted to avoid, he ended up doing in spite of himself. "Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?" he asks in Romans 7:24. Instead of answering this directly, in the very next verse Romans 7:25, he immediately turns to God with a word of praise: "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!"
In the same way, as we struggle and fail to live out the unity in Christ that we know to be good and true, we might also ask, "Broken church that we are! Who will rescue us from our all-too-human failings?" And our answer is the same: "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!"
If we are to become more unified, to live as a more unified people, we need to look beyond ourselves and beyond our differences to focus on our common Savior and Lord. We have been baptized into the same Christ Jesus. We belong to him, and so we belong to one another.
An old proverb says, "blood is thicker than water" -- meaning that the ties between family members are stronger than the ties between people who are not related to one another. But here in Galatians, the apostle Paul argues just the opposite -- that through faith in Jesus Christ, the water of baptism forms a closer bond than anything else. By God's grace, the water of baptism is thicker than blood -- for we are joined to one another with a spiritual bond that is stronger even than the ties of family and biology.
In Ephesians 5:32, the oneness of Christ and the church is described as "a great mystery." It's beyond all human understanding. It cannot be fully explained in any book let alone a single sermon. There is no scientific formula or set of how-to instructions to manufacture unity in Christ Jesus. Yet within that mystery, there are also some practical things that we can do to acknowledge and live out a greater unity with one another.
Look To Jesus
On Sunday mornings, people see me dressed for worship. During the week, when I clean the house, work in the garden, or wash the car, I might wear jeans and a T-shirt. If you play any kind of organized sport, you might wear a team uniform. Or if you work in a hospital or fast-food restaurant, you might wear a different kind of uniform when you're on the job.
What we wear can change our behavior and also change the way that other people respond to us. I don't wear my Sunday best to wash my car. The fast-food cashier out of uniform on her day off doesn't step behind the counter to open the cash drawer. If you're wearing the uniform of my favorite sports team, I'll cheer you on. If you're wearing the uniform of our arch rivals, I'll groan when your side scores.
As Christians baptized into Christ, we have clothed ourselves with Christ. We have a new uniform! We have a whole new wardrobe! If we have put on Christ, then we need to act as he did -- with love for God, with love for neighbors and even enemies, in humility, with respect for the needs and interests of others. If we have put on Christ, then we need to see Christ in one another and treat each other as we would treat Christ himself.
Our unity with one another is reinforced and demonstrated as we put on Christ and have the same mind as he did, when we can look beyond our differences to see Christ in others.
Live As If
A child playing make-believe might act as if he were a dinosaur or as if she were an airplane. At other times, their make-believe might be more realistic as they pretend to be shopkeepers or doctors or teachers or take care of their own baby doll children. Some of this make-believe is pure fantasy -- the child will never really be a dinosaur or an airplane. But some of this pretend play is actually rehearsal for their future lives as adults. It's a kind of practice for when they really will have children of their own or become a teacher one day.
In a similar way, we can also "live as if" we are one in Christ Jesus even if we sometimes don't feel that way or it may seem awkward at times. It's not pure make-believe, and it's not a false hypocrisy, either. Instead, we can think of it as a kind of practice as we continue to grow into the kind of people that God has called us to be. It's our dress rehearsal for the future. It's not pure fantasy, and it's not fake -- it's faith!
By faith, we can choose to think well of one another. By faith, we can cooperate and work together. By faith, we can offer one another mutual respect. By faith, we can live as if we are one in Christ Jesus -- because we are!
Pray
In John chapter 17, Jesus prays to God that his followers might be "completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me" (John 17:23). When he taught his disciples to pray, he said, "Our Father ... Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one" (Matthew 6:9-13, emphasis mine). There is a sense of unity in this prayer, that we are all in this together as we pray for ourselves and for one another to our Father.
In keeping with Jesus' example, we also may demonstrate our unity in prayer. We also may pray for unity -- in our own congregation, in our denomination, and beyond to the wider Christian community around the world.
The vision in our text -- "for all of you are one in Christ Jesus" -- was not only for the churches in Galatia. It's not only for our own local congregation in our own community or even for our own denomination. It's not only for those Christians who believe and worship and live in the world in exactly the same way as we do. There is a larger unity in Christ that is greater than the old law, greater than any of our differences.
So as we look to Jesus who has set us free from the law, as we live out our unity in Christ, let us also join together in prayer.
Let us pray: Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! Through faith we have a new identity and a new unity, so we pray for our own congregation and for the church around the world; beyond our own denomination to churches of other denominations or no denomination; for the large megachurch and the two or three believers that meet together at home or in a coffee shop. We acknowledge this great mystery of oneness with Christ and with one another, and we ask that we might grow into this mystery and live it out in a new and deeper way. Amen.
In the ancient world, wealthy Greek and Roman families would assign this kind of responsibility to a slave called a paidagogos. He was usually an older male slave, charged with the responsibility of caring for a young boy through childhood into adulthood. At times, he might need to be a disciplinarian; at other times more of a teacher; at other times more of a supervisor. It was an important role, but also a temporary one that ended once his young charge reached adulthood.
In Galatians 3:24, the apostle Paul calls the law a paidagogos. In some English translations, this word appears as "disciplinarian"; in others, it's translated more broadly as "schoolmaster" or "guardian." But like the paidagogos of a wealthy family, the law was really more than any of those things. It provided discipline, teaching, supervision, and overall caretaking -- but only for a time.
With the revelation of Jesus Christ, the people were no longer subject to the law. Like a child who had outgrown his paidagogos, the people had been set free from the law through faith in Christ. It was not a license to do whatever they pleased whenever they pleased -- it was not lawlessness. After all, the grown-up child minus his paidagogos was still meant to live as a responsible adult. So, too, those who had been set free from the law through faith in Christ would now live according to their new identity in Christ. Once they had been under the law, but now they were baptized into Christ, clothed with Christ, belonged to Christ, and they were meant to live that way. From now on, the law would no longer separate Jew and Gentile, slave and free, male and female. From now on, they were all joined together in Christ.
Whatever physical, social, ethnic, cultural, historical, and other differences there might be, these were no longer the defining and dividing qualities they once were. Instead, all those who were baptized into Christ and clothed with Christ had received a new identity and a new way of life that brought them together in Christ Jesus. That ringing affirmation remains true for us also today: "There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28).
In our contemporary experience, we might well add: There is no longer first world or third world, urbanite or country dweller, black or white, young or old, rich or poor, healthy or unwell, able-bodied or disabled, immigrant or citizen -- not that all of these very real differences would disappear, but that they would make no difference to our identity and unity in Christ Jesus.
Cast in those terms, this affirmation is also clearly a challenge. Can we really bridge these divisions in the church today? Can we live out such a transcendent vision of unity in Christ Jesus?
If we think of this as a new "law," it becomes clear how much we have failed! Our world is full of examples of racial hatred, ethnic cleansing, the wealthy oppression of the poor, and other situations of hostility and conflict. Even in the church, there is division, quarreling, one-upmanship, and other behaviors contrary to our unity.
If being one in Christ Jesus were a new law, clearly we have failed -- and the law is unable to save us. Instead, if we are to live out this vision of unity, we need to turn to Jesus himself.
In Romans 7, the apostle Paul describes his personal struggle to do what is right -- the good that he wanted to do, he could not do; and the wrong he wanted to avoid, he ended up doing in spite of himself. "Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?" he asks in Romans 7:24. Instead of answering this directly, in the very next verse Romans 7:25, he immediately turns to God with a word of praise: "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!"
In the same way, as we struggle and fail to live out the unity in Christ that we know to be good and true, we might also ask, "Broken church that we are! Who will rescue us from our all-too-human failings?" And our answer is the same: "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!"
If we are to become more unified, to live as a more unified people, we need to look beyond ourselves and beyond our differences to focus on our common Savior and Lord. We have been baptized into the same Christ Jesus. We belong to him, and so we belong to one another.
An old proverb says, "blood is thicker than water" -- meaning that the ties between family members are stronger than the ties between people who are not related to one another. But here in Galatians, the apostle Paul argues just the opposite -- that through faith in Jesus Christ, the water of baptism forms a closer bond than anything else. By God's grace, the water of baptism is thicker than blood -- for we are joined to one another with a spiritual bond that is stronger even than the ties of family and biology.
In Ephesians 5:32, the oneness of Christ and the church is described as "a great mystery." It's beyond all human understanding. It cannot be fully explained in any book let alone a single sermon. There is no scientific formula or set of how-to instructions to manufacture unity in Christ Jesus. Yet within that mystery, there are also some practical things that we can do to acknowledge and live out a greater unity with one another.
Look To Jesus
On Sunday mornings, people see me dressed for worship. During the week, when I clean the house, work in the garden, or wash the car, I might wear jeans and a T-shirt. If you play any kind of organized sport, you might wear a team uniform. Or if you work in a hospital or fast-food restaurant, you might wear a different kind of uniform when you're on the job.
What we wear can change our behavior and also change the way that other people respond to us. I don't wear my Sunday best to wash my car. The fast-food cashier out of uniform on her day off doesn't step behind the counter to open the cash drawer. If you're wearing the uniform of my favorite sports team, I'll cheer you on. If you're wearing the uniform of our arch rivals, I'll groan when your side scores.
As Christians baptized into Christ, we have clothed ourselves with Christ. We have a new uniform! We have a whole new wardrobe! If we have put on Christ, then we need to act as he did -- with love for God, with love for neighbors and even enemies, in humility, with respect for the needs and interests of others. If we have put on Christ, then we need to see Christ in one another and treat each other as we would treat Christ himself.
Our unity with one another is reinforced and demonstrated as we put on Christ and have the same mind as he did, when we can look beyond our differences to see Christ in others.
Live As If
A child playing make-believe might act as if he were a dinosaur or as if she were an airplane. At other times, their make-believe might be more realistic as they pretend to be shopkeepers or doctors or teachers or take care of their own baby doll children. Some of this make-believe is pure fantasy -- the child will never really be a dinosaur or an airplane. But some of this pretend play is actually rehearsal for their future lives as adults. It's a kind of practice for when they really will have children of their own or become a teacher one day.
In a similar way, we can also "live as if" we are one in Christ Jesus even if we sometimes don't feel that way or it may seem awkward at times. It's not pure make-believe, and it's not a false hypocrisy, either. Instead, we can think of it as a kind of practice as we continue to grow into the kind of people that God has called us to be. It's our dress rehearsal for the future. It's not pure fantasy, and it's not fake -- it's faith!
By faith, we can choose to think well of one another. By faith, we can cooperate and work together. By faith, we can offer one another mutual respect. By faith, we can live as if we are one in Christ Jesus -- because we are!
Pray
In John chapter 17, Jesus prays to God that his followers might be "completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me" (John 17:23). When he taught his disciples to pray, he said, "Our Father ... Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one" (Matthew 6:9-13, emphasis mine). There is a sense of unity in this prayer, that we are all in this together as we pray for ourselves and for one another to our Father.
In keeping with Jesus' example, we also may demonstrate our unity in prayer. We also may pray for unity -- in our own congregation, in our denomination, and beyond to the wider Christian community around the world.
The vision in our text -- "for all of you are one in Christ Jesus" -- was not only for the churches in Galatia. It's not only for our own local congregation in our own community or even for our own denomination. It's not only for those Christians who believe and worship and live in the world in exactly the same way as we do. There is a larger unity in Christ that is greater than the old law, greater than any of our differences.
So as we look to Jesus who has set us free from the law, as we live out our unity in Christ, let us also join together in prayer.
Let us pray: Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! Through faith we have a new identity and a new unity, so we pray for our own congregation and for the church around the world; beyond our own denomination to churches of other denominations or no denomination; for the large megachurch and the two or three believers that meet together at home or in a coffee shop. We acknowledge this great mystery of oneness with Christ and with one another, and we ask that we might grow into this mystery and live it out in a new and deeper way. Amen.
