Galatians 4:11-20

Galatians 4:7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.

That is the conclusion of Paul’s argument.  He has logically worked through a series of arguments in Chapter 3 and 4.
-He has explained to the Galatians that because of Christ/faith – both Christ’s faithfulness in going to the cross and their own faith in his atoning death – that they are Abraham’s descendants!  When they have the same faith Abraham had, they are his kids! 
-Paul explained to them that the Law of Moses did not change the promise God made to bless all the nations.  The Law was the paidagogos the Super-Nanny which preserved them as a people until the time came for Jesus.  By faith in Christ we can all be sons of God!
-There is no gender, race or social status in Christ.  All who have been baptized into Christ have clothed themselves with Christ and have become a son of God! 
-Because they are sons then they are heirs.  They are no longer children kept under the nanny or slaves working for someone else.  Now they are mature sons who have received the inheritance… which is? Not the big, big house, not the rose garden, not the lack of tough choices but The Holy Spirit in their hearts!  Through whom we can say… Abba, Father! 

Paul has laid out the logical progression of thought attempting to convince these Gentiles that they are really, really, really full-fledge members of the family of God.  Through chapter 3 and into chapter 4 the arguments are amazing and this is some of the best stuff in all Scriptures.  I don’t know about you, listening; but I have enjoyed preaching these two chapters! 

Galatians 4:7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.

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Then the orderly account of logic stops.  Paul puts on the brakes and comes to a screeching halt. His entire tone of voice changes. You can hear tone of voice in Scripture if you listen carefully enough.   In the next two paragraphs Paul suddenly quits with the logic, the reason, the attempting to make sense, this realm of preaching in the stratosphere… and instead reveals his heart. 

Sometimes logic is not the answer.  Sometimes, reason can only go so far.  Sometimes rational stuff just doesn’t change a person’s mind. It doesn’t matter.  Do you know what I am saying? Sometimes there needs to be a heart to heart.  I call Galatians 4:11-20, Paul’s heart to heart.  He interrupts his flow of eloquent arguments; he interrupts his loquacious lecture; he quits preaching and reaches out with his heart and touches the heart of these people who are precious to him.  I suspect there were tear drops on the parchment all around these two sections.  Listen to the tone of voice.

Galatians 4:11-20 I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you. I plead with you, brothers, become like me, for I became like you. You have done me no wrong. As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you. Even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus himself. What has happened to all your joy? I can testify that, if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?

Those people are zealous to win you over, but for no good. What they want is to alienate you from us, so that you may be zealous for them. It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good, and to be so always and not just when I am with you. My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you, how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you!

These words are not words of logic, but words of emotion.  Paul is doing his best to connect his heart to their heart.  Evidently, when Paul first got to Galatia he was either really sick with some sort of disease or he had been beaten or his was mostly blind.  He mentioned they would have given him their eyes.  This leads some to believe his problem was with his eyesight.  Other scholars say, “No, this is just a common expression for being willing to do anything for you.”  Whatever it was that was wrong with Paul, he was touched because they had received him as an angel or even as Christ himself.  They meant so much to Paul because they had loved him when he was hurting. 

The bottom-line point Paul is making is, “Hey, this is still me!  You loved me before and accepted me even when I was in bad shape.  You did all you could do to help me, now do you think I somehow have stopped loving you?” Paul says I still love you and want you to do the right thing!   Can’t you just feel the heart strings Paul is pulling as he wrote these words?  Can you see the tear drops all over these paragraphs? 

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This morning I want to dig a little deeper into these verses. I want to do a little reading between the lines.  I am going to look into Paul’s heart and see what we can learn that could help us today.  From time to time we have crisis in our families.  Sometimes these are conflicts between individuals.  Sometimes our biological families get cross-wise.  Sometimes within the family of our congregation we get upset with each other.  In some sort of odd way this is reassuring.  We love each other enough get upset with each other, in a family sort of way.  Do you know what I mean?  Isn’t that weird? 

This morning, I want to go practical.  I want to explore this heart to heart section looking for lessons about what happens to families in crisis.  You can apply it to your Aunt Ercel if you need to.  You can apply to some strained relationship you need to work. Hey, you can even apply it to me, if you need to.  I am applying it to some of you!  If you don’t need this sermon today, I suspect you may need in the future, maybe sooner than you think.

Without taking this sermon too seriously, let’s look at…

Tim’s Top 10 Lessons for Frustrating Family Problems
from Paul’s Letter to the Galatians Chapter Four Verses 11-20

10) Start by attempting to make sense of it. 
Paul has just spent a lot of ink laying out the arguments of what is right and what is wrong.  Theology does make a difference.  Doctrine is very important.  We need to make sure when we are in crisis to first take a deep breath and step back and look at the situation from Scripture with a logical perspective. Let’s lay out the logic first. It might not help.  Attempt to get a handle on what is going on, before jumping to conclusion. 

It is easy to jump in with both feet before we get any information.  Let’s be careful to get a handle on the stats, before making any judgments.  Paul had learned what was going on.  He knew the Jewish agitators were agitating.  He had worked out the facts and then wrote out the theology before he gets to heart to heart part. Theology and Friendship are connected. Head and heart both are important.  Let’s get the head part figured out, before we do the heart part. 

9) Sometimes you feel you are wasting your time.

Galatians 4:11 I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.

Sometimes you feel that relationships are not worth the effort.  Sometimes, in the midst of the crisis, it feels that it is not worth the effort.  “Let’s just quit.  This is too hard.  I don’t like the pain.  Let’s just walk away from it and forget it.”  Paul expressed that he felt this way, but the letter doesn’t stop there. He didn’t quit.  He wrote this amazing letter.  He stayed with them.  He continued through the process.  I sort of think that as soon as he penned these honest words in verse 11, he stopped himself and then opened his heart.  It is like he really didn’t mean these words, but he just felt them!

I wish I knew the outcome in Galatia in 49 AD.  I wish I could say, “Everyone lived happily ever after.  But we don’t know what the Galatians did in 49 AD and we don’t know how a crisis is going to turn out.  But we stay with it.  Relationships are really all we have. Relationship can be eternal.  Wow.  Name something else that is eternal? Who you are and relationships are eternal!   Relationships are too precious to give up on, easily, even when they hurt.  

8) Put yourself in the other’s place. 

Galatians 4:12 I plead with you, brothers, become like me, for I became like you. You have done me no wrong.

When Paul went to Galatia he lived with the Gentiles and like the Gentiles in order to show them Jesus.  He was willing to walk in their shoes to help them to know Christ.  Now he is asking them to walk in his shoes. This is amazingly helpful.  Instead of viewing the situation from only your perspective, take a time out and attempt to view it from the other person’s perspective.  This will help to not do the other wrong.    

7) Remember your history together.

Galatians 4:13-15 As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you. Even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus himself. What has happened to all your joy? I can testify that, if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me.

It is easy to forget your common history in the pain of a disagreement.  It is a good exercise to go back and remember the joy and the challenges and the sacrifices that have been made for each other.  Take a moment to recount your shared memories. Often the people we get most irritated with we have long histories together.  Take a moment to look at what has been done to help and care for each other over the years.   It will help keep things in the proper context.

6) Don’t confuse who loves you.

Galatians 4:16 Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?

Paul was writing an angry letter to them.  From the get go, it had to be a source of pain to hear the words of Paul:
-“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting…”
-“If anyone is preaching another Gospel let him be eternally condemned!”
-“You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?”

But what was underneath these tough words?  It was his love for them.  We are often most irritated by those we love the most.  Emotional words reveal the compassion underneath.  Paul, even though he was rough on them, had not become their enemy, but still loved them deeply.  Telling the truth does not make a person an enemy!

5) Don’t be naïve; There are people who are out to hurt us

Galatians 4:17 Those people are zealous to win you over, but for no good. What they want is to alienate you from us, so that you may be zealous for them.

Let’s not be naïve.  There are people in the world who are out to divide us.  There are people who want to pressure our families to cave in.  We live in a scary world.  There are people who are out for only their own gain.  That is why our family is so precious.  We need to be there for each other.  Let’s not allow those of the world to divide us and destroy our relationships.   

4) Be careful of your zeal.

Galatians 4:18 It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good, and to be so always and not just when I am with you.

We need to be careful of our passion.  Sometimes our zeal for justice or our zeal for revenge, or our zeal for making things right, can be hurtful and harmful.  Our zeal is basically a great thing.  Without zeal we do nothing and are nothing.  We need passion to accomplish anything.  We need to ask ourselves what is the point of our zeal?  What do I really want to have happen?  What am I accomplishing with me zeal?  Let’s use our zeal for God and be careful about using our zeal on each other! 

3) There is joy after childbirth.

Galatians 4:19 My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you,

What a great analogy for me this morning.  Owen David Harmon will be one week old tonight.  Tera was in childbirth. It was painful, but the result was joyous.  Through our pain there can be more solid relationships on the other side.  Allow the pain to bring you closer together and be patient through the pain.

2) Attempt to get together.

Galatians 4:20 How I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you!

I want to divert a bit.  But make the same point Paul is making here.  In Paul’s world he only had two choices; letter or in person.  We have a lot more choices.  We have: In person, telephone, email, text messaging, video skyping, and on and on.  Here is the point.  We need to deal with our problems face to face as much as we can.  There are no facial expression or body language on the phone.  There is no tone of voice on an email or text message.  The biblical model of problem-solving is face-to-face. 

1) The Goal is for Christ to be formed.

Number one is number one because it is number one. 

Galatians 4:19 ..until Christ is formed in you,

We need to keep the goal of our families before us.  The goal of the Stidham family is for Tanya and I to nurture the formation of Christ in our kids and 10 grandkids and each other. I am part of our family to help Christ be formed in Tanya and Tracy and Julie and Tony and Zee and Tera and David Todd and Tiffany and Christopher and Tyler, Hanna, Zack the Hank Dog, and Griffin and Bray and Lyla and Karina and Brazos and Owen.  I am here to nurture the formation of Christ in my family. It is not about me.

I am here to help nurture the formation of Christ in each of you… It is not about me it is about the formation of Christ in you.  You bear the same responsibility toward me and toward each other.  We must continually ask, “How can I help Christ be formed in you.”  That is the power we have as a family!  We can help each other! 

Tim’s Top 10 Lessons for Frustrating Family Problems
from Paul’s Letter to the Galatians Chapter Four Verses 11-20

That is Paul’s heart to heart.  Perhaps it can be useful with your Aunt Ercel. 

Los Alamos Church of Christ
May 31, 2009