The War of Dependence – July 4

“May i never boast except in the cross of  our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Gal 6:14)

Sometimes I think the church believes that Paul being a mighty man of God, never had a bad day.  Many believe he was so spiritual that he would not allow himself to peel the plastic smile off his face during the difficult times.  I don’t think that’s true.  I think there were many times he felt like packing it in.  There had to be the temptation to go back to Tarsus, make tents and wait for Jesus to come back.

In today’s reading from Galatians, he says WE (himself included) should not become weary in doing good.  If anyone had the right to be weary, it was Paul.  He suffered greatly for the Gospel.  He lost financial security, status in the religious community, and was physically beaten numerous times for his allegiance to Jesus.  Who in the west can say with Paul ” I bear in my body the marks of Jesus” (Gal 6:17)?

How could he persevere and not give up?  I believe it is because he so identified with the sufferings of Christ, that he never sweat the small stuff, and to him even physical suffering for the cross of Christ is small stuff.  He knew how much Jesus suffered so he could be set free from the bondage of religion and eternally accepted in Him, that nothing the world could throw at him could deter him for long.

Paul internalized and lived out the most powerful verse in all of Galatians.  Paul was crucified with Christ.  These were not spiritual words; he counted himself dead to the things of the world.  He himself lived no longer by the wisdom of the world.  The life he lived was Christ living in and through him.  Every moment of every day he walked by faith in Jesus.  Why?  because he constantly held before himself the fact that Jesus loved him enough to die for him.

I believe our Bishop has apprehended this wisdom from Paul when he said that he was finally free upon learning  that he could not live the Christian life for even a minute, but that he had to allow Jesus to live his life through his very body.  So like Paul, let us crucify the world to ourselves, and we to the world and not grow weary in taking our stand for the Gospel, for the Word promises we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

YTAT
Peace and Love
Fr. Mike