Belonging
Galatians 3:23-29
The pursuit of righteousness in the eyes of God is one of the primary aspects of the teachings of faith found in the Jewish tradition that makes up our Old Testament. Those who are “righteous” are in, they are considered clean and a part of society. Those who aren’t “righteous” are not, they are unclean. They are unsafe to be around and associate with and not right with God. A lot of ink has been spilled in scripture working out the specifics of what constitutes righteousness. From what we eat, to what we wear, to how we dispense justice and manage our own bodily functions, there is surprising detail to be found in scripture about all of it.
And when Jesus arrived, he upset much of the conventional wisdom about what was a common understanding of righteousness. Was it more righteous to honor the sabbath commanded by God, or heal someone who was sick, even if it was on a sabbath day? Was it more righteous to stay apart from people considered “unclean” or to engage in hospitality with people by sitting down to eat with them no matter their background or cleanliness?
These kinds of questions weren’t done being fought over after Jesus’ death. Much of the New Testament is the story through narrative, epistle, and revelation of the early Christians figuring out what it meant to be followers of Jesus. Much time was spent discussing or discussing the discussion around who was in and who was out. It seemed like much had to be discerned about who belonged, and who didn’t in the early Christian movement.
In Galatians, Paul was wrestling mostly with the question about whether or not followers of Jesus, the messiah, had to become circumsized to be considered righteous in the eyes of God and fully a part of Christian community (since Christianity is a scion of Judaism). Paul wasn’t the only evangelist for Chrisitanity writing letters and preaching to the early Christian communities about how to be Christian. Our scriptures as we know them today consist of choices made throughout our history of what was authoritative and what was not.
Paul based his words in an argument we might recognize as a fundamental doctrine of our faith: “in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.” In other words, we are made righteous by our faith in God, and not solely by works. Paul then goes further with a beautiful statement of inclusion, which would have sounded completely radical at the time he made it: “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. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.”
Being righteous isn’t about your upbringing, your parents, or how good of a rule follower you are. We belong to Jesus, the one who over and over commanded us to love one another; and that is the main thing.
I think this passage of Galations could be rewritten today to meet us where we are: “There is no longer Catholic or Protestant; there is no longer gay or straight; there is no longer cis or trans; there is no longer conservative or progressive, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” That hits a bit different, doesn’t it? I find it personally challenging.
Can we get past our litmus tests and curated social media feeds to see one another as fellow beloved Children of God? Because today, that just might be one of the most radical things we could ever do as people of faith in this fractured world where we live.
