Here is a sermon I recently gave on this passage and on how God wants to be our Abba Father

Download audio file (No Longer Slaves.mp3)

Here are my notes:

Sermon 8-15-2010

No Longer Slaves: Learning to Live as Children of Abba Father

I recently became a father for the first time….twice! (twins)

Only 2 months in, I can say I love being a father. One of my favorite things is to lay down with one of my sons close to my chest and let them fall into a deep peaceful sleep (which can be a rarity at this young age!) – which usually puts me to sleep as well! We call this the “sleeper hold”

I love my sons simply because they are my sons.

They haven’t done anything to earn it – in fact they are completely dependent on me and my wife for everything. They don’t have to work hard at earning our affection.

They simply live and receive the love we give them.

God, our Father, is longing for this type of relationship with us as well.

We see God in many ways:

• as the all-powerful creator God of the universe (true)
• as the perfect, holy, consuming fire (true)

• as a distant and uninterested God (false)
• as a God too busy or concerned with more important things than me (false)

To see God like this is like growing up with an earthly father that never shows affection, never says “I love you”, and it emotionally detached

In this passage, Paul is reminding the Christians in Galatia (and us) that God is our Father – our Abba, Father

Paul mentions this central truth again in Romans 8:15

Let’s take a closer look back at Galatians 4:4-7

“in order to redeem”… “so that”

• This is God’s purpose, his “good pleasure”
• This is Jesus’ purpose in coming to earth – not just to show us a better way to live, but to redeem us and show us a NEW way to live – in a restored relationship with God as our Father
• Salvation does include forgiveness, atonement, cleansing – but at the heart of it is redemption to the Father!

“receive adoption”

• we can only RECEIVE it
• we can’t earn it – it is given to us as a grace of God
• Paul’s letter to the Galatians is largely about them being tempted to turn back to the mentality of trying to earn God’s favor

“Spirit of his Son”

• This is the Spirit of Jesus
• Jesus called God his “Abba, Father” (Mark 14:36)
• Jesus called God “My Father”…and he was killed for it (John 5:18)
• Jesus knew God as his father like no one else knew God
• Having the “Spirit of the Son in our hearts” means that we are now able to see God the way Jesus does!
• not only can we see God this way, but the Spirit is in us so we respond to and relate to God in the Jesus way

“crying, Abba, Father”

• this is not a polite, formal phrase
• it is deep, emotional and heartfelt
• it is the cry of a son to his father
• Jesus cried out to his Abba, Father as he approached the cross – in one of his most vulnerable moments Jesus cried out to his father
• as the Spirit is now in us, this cry comes from our heart to God
• by this cry we are drawn closer and deeper to God our father

“no longer a slave, but a child”

• Slaves fear, Sons love
• the old way is one of fear and law, the new way of Jesus is one of father/child love
• slaves do not inherit, children do

What does this mean for our life now?

We make the choice to live as a slave or live as a child.

We stay in slavery

• fear – afraid to approach God and be in relationship
• law – trying to earn our way to God
• distance from God

or

We receive adoption into God’s family

• freedom – no pressure to earn our way
• grace – in approaching God
• closeness to God as we cry out (pray) with the Spirit of the Son in us
• love – we can live an obedient life that is based in love, not duty or obligation (Paul says in Galatians 5:6 that “the only thing that matters is faith working through love” and in v. 13 to serve one another in love and freedom)

When we choice to accept God’s Spirit of adoption, we then begin to live by the Spirit and walk by the Spirit, which results in the Fruit of the Spirit!

The character traits of God’s adopted children:

• love
• joy
• peace
• patience
• kindness
• goodness
• faithfulness
• gentleness
• self-control

Jesus came to reveal his Father to the world and to redeem us so that we might receive God’s adoption and be brought into a Father/Child relationship with him.

When we live our life (even as a Christian) in the mentality of what Paul calls “slavery”, we miss what God wants to do in our life.

Many Christians today, though they have accepted Jesus, still live in the old way. When this happens we end up

• feeling like we have to perform for God
• feeling rejected by God
• feeling distant from God
• trying to earn our way by doing good deeds
• fighting the battle against sin on our own
• never seeing the fruit of the Spirit grow

But, when we receive God’s adoption by faith, and we live in the reality that we are now children of Abba, we are set free to live by the Spirit in a world desperately needing freedom, redemption and love.

This is the life God desires for his children – if we will receive it.Similar Posts:

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…set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

In the first part of verse 1 we are reminded of the foundation of the spiritual life – that we have been raised with Christ. Now, the Apostle Paul begins to teach us how we are to live in this new way of life (because remember salvation is not just about waiting for heaven one day, it is about living in God’s kingdom here and now!). We begin by “setting” our hearts and minds on different things. Several translations use the phrase “seek the things that are above” as opposed to “set your hearts”. The point that I believe Paul is making is that we must turn our hearts (aspirations, ambitions, desires, affections) and our minds (our thoughts, intellect) to seeking the way of Jesus. In other words, faith isn’t just a mental thing or just an emotional thing – it is a whole life thing!

This reminds me of one of Jesus’ own teachings found in Matthew 6:25-34 in which he tells us how life in God’s kingdom is to be. Jesus says not to worry about the things of this world (material things such as what we wear and what we eat), but to “seek first his kingdom and righteousness”. One way that Life in God’s Kingdom is different than life in this world is that we set our hearts and minds not on things that are temporary and will some day fade away, but on the eternal things that really matter. Now, this does not mean that God does not care about the mundane details of our daily life – in fact it is in the midst of our regular everyday life that we learn to set our heart and mind on different things and begin to see life with a new eternal perspective.

The key in this verse is the “setting” of our hearts and minds. Some people in this world have their “heart set” or their “mind set” on certain goals, dreams, aspirations. Unfortunately, they are usually just earthly things: a nice house, a good career, money, comfort, etc. But, having been raised to a new life, we must now ask our self: “What is my heart set on?” and “What is my mind set on?” And then as the Spirit gently shows us the ways in which we need to be transformed in our hearts and minds, we can begin to do the work of “setting” our hearts and minds on different things!

We do this in several ways:

• we can set our hearts on “Christ-things” by living generously and letting go of our “stuff” – Jesus said, “where your treasure is, your heart will be also”
• we can set our minds on “Christ-things” by studying and meditating – we are wired in a way that we conform to that which we study and concentrate on
• we can set our hearts on “Christ-things” by spending time in God’s presence – there is a time and place for prayer in which we ask for something, but we can also learn to sit in God’s loving presence and allow our hearts to be captured by God’s all consuming love in which all other affections fall by the side
• we can set our minds on “Christ-things” by engaging in activities that promote God’s goodness and beauty – Paul says, “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable�if anything is excellent or praiseworthy�think about such things.”

So, as we learn to live in the new way of life embedded in us by the resurrection, we must learn to submit our hearts and minds to Christ and allow them to be transformed and conformed to his heart and mind.
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This whole section is based on the assumption of our having been “raised with Christ”. If we attempt to follow the teaching of the proceeding verses outside of the resurrection power, we will be doing so out of our own strength and it will all be in vain.

The Apostle Paul teaches in Romans 6:4-6 that…

4We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
5If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. 6For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with,[a] that we should no longer be slaves to sin�

Through the crucifixion of Christ, we are invited into a new life. And we are empowered through the resurrection of Jesus to live this new life that is described in this section. The resurrection is the foundation, the linchpin, the hinge. It is a common temptation to try and live the Christian life out of our own strength, but the Bible teaches us that we are only able to live the new life out of the power of the resurrection of Jesus.

As the Apostle Peter proclaims in 1 Peter 1:3

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead

So, we must ask our self, what is the foundation of our spiritual life? Is it our own effort? Or is it the power of the resurrection and the truth that we have been raised with Christ? And we can be confident in this because Paul writes “YOU HAVE been raised with Christ” – it is a statement of a fact for those who are in Christ. Now, we just learn to live in that truth.Similar Posts:

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��our spiritual enemy is always enticing us to speed. This is the fatallest of fatal things.� Frederick Faber (1814-1863)

I’m personally discovering that there are some days in which there seems to be an extra amount of external pulls – do this, do that, quicker, faster, NOW! Of course, sometimes these are unavoidable and we simply have to do what needs to be done and do it quickly. However, I’m wondering if there are days and moments when these seemingly external influences (and the subsequent pressure we feel to hurry up) are actually pointing to an internal struggles against hurry and the enemy’s attempts to get us to speed up our life so that we ultimately live distracted and disjointed.

I like to think of these as “yellow light” moments.

When I’m driving and the approaching light turns yellow, I have to make the decision to either step on the gas and race against the red light or I can choose to slow down and wait for the next green light. There are times when the pressure of the clock tells me, “Step on it!”. Then there are times when I feel the freedom to slow down and wait.

I wonder if something similar happens in our daily life. Are there moments when we need to recognize that the “light is yellow” and we need to make a choice to either speed up and risk it or slow down and wait? I think so. I don’t think God desires for us to be lazy, but I do believe that God wants us to live a healthy and balanced and unhurried life. Sure, life gets busy sometimes, even Jesus had busy days. But, Jesus did not live a life that was constantly rushed and on the move. He made time to slow down, to pause, to wait. If we follow Jesus, we should learn to do the same.

When we feel the pressure of the “yellow light” – the pressure to hurry up – perhaps we can learn to take a deep breath and ask our self the tough questions such as:

• why do I feel the need to hurry – is it due to procrastination on my part or is it because I feel the need to please someone else?
• what would happen if I paused or slowed down?
• is God inviting me in this moment to pause and look to him?
• if Jesus where with me in this moment (which he is after all) what would he advise me to do?

So, do you ever have “yellow light moments”? How have you responded to them?

thanks to this post by Alan Fadling for inspiration: http://alanfadling.com/2010/05/24/spiritual-formation-health-and-wholeness/Similar Posts:

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Holy Spirit Coming by He Qi

This past Sunday was Pentecost Sunday. On this day, we remember the story told in Acts 2:1-21 which tells the story of the Holy Spirit coming upon the first Christians.

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Jesus had promised that this was going to happen just a few days earlier when he said, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

But, Pentecost Sunday is not just about remembering something that happened a long time ago. It is about “re-living” the experience of Pentecost and “re-encountering” the power of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit was not just given to the first few Christians. The power is available to every person that follows Jesus today. In the Apostle Peter’s Pentecost sermon, he says, “The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off�for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

On Pentecost Sunday we are invited to experience life in the power of the Spirit. We are called to remember that the mission of growing the Kingdom is too big and too important for us to accomplish on our own power. The first Christians were told to wait for the empowerment of the Spirit before they began the work of being witnesses to the world. The work was that important – they needed POWER beyond their own strength. The mission continues and we need the power too!

So, how do you need to encounter the power of the Spirit? What are you giving your life to you desperately need a power beyond yourself?

A Prayer from the Revised Common Lectionary:

Living God,
you have created all that is.
Send forth your Spirit to renew and restore us,
that we may proclaim your good news
in ways and words
that all will understand and believe. Amen.

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/skip/111045024/

Today, in the Christian Year calendar, is Ascension Day. This is the day that we remember when Jesus, risen from the grave, is taken up to be seated at the right hand of God the Father.

Acts 1:9-11 1:9 “When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Luke 24:49-53 “And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God.

After Jesus had been raised from the dead, he spent 40 days with his disciples, teaching them and preparing them for the mission that was to come. Jesus was not only training them about kingdom living, but he was preparing them for the Holy Spirit that was to come upon them and give them power for the work. Ascension Day marks the beginning of the waiting for the Holy Spirit. We are not meant to do the mission on our own strength, we need help!

Jesus has been given all authority and power (Matthew 28:18, Ephesians 1:21-23). And now, Jesus lives in us and we are “clothed with power from on high” for the purpose of continuing the work that Jesus started. Jesus may have physically left this earth, but we has not abandoned us. Ascension Day reminds us that we are here for a purpose and that Jesus has given us a mission.

I think the core messages of Ascension Day are that:

• we have not been left to ourselves – Jesus ascended into heaven, but he is there as our intercessor, constantly praying for us (Hebrews 7:23-25)
• we have not been left alone – Jesus ascended, but he now lives in us by his Spirit. Jesus did not abandon us, he is always with us (Matthew 28:20).
• we have not been left helpless and without direction – Jesus has given us a mission, and has given us his power and presence to accomplish that mission (Acts 1:8-9)

And I think the hope we find in Ascension Day is:

• Jesus is with us. Immanuel – God with us, is still with us. He lives in us as we find our life in him
• Jesus is praying for us. As he is at the right hand of God, he is continually praying for us
• Jesus has promised us power. Part of Ascension Day is preparing for the Holy Spirit to come upon us (The Day of Pentecost in 10 days).
• Jesus will come back.� “This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
  

So, as we remember and reflect on this day, I also encourage you to begin the waiting and anticipation for Pentecost Sunday. Waiting teaches us that we desperately need God’s help to accomplish his work.Similar Posts:

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The Story of Mary and Martha gives us one look of a Christian moralist

notes of the lecture)

Listen here:
Download audio file (Resisting%20the%20Temptation%20of%20Moral%20Formation.mp3)

In this first lecture, John Coe makes the case that true Christian Spiritual Formation is not simply about becoming a “good boy or girl”. Despite this fact, Christian spirituality often becomes just that – moral formation. He calls this the Moral Temptation:

Moral Temptation: the attempt of the hidden heart (not conscious) to try to perfect oneself in the power of the self, the attempt to use formation, the spiritual disciplines, being good etc, to relieve the burden of spiritual failure, lack of love and the guilt and shame that results. To try to relieve that burden that Christ alone can relieve.

When we try to use spirituality or spiritual activities for the purpose of either making us good or making us feel better about our hidden heart of sin, we are returning to the “law of sin and death” (Romans 8:2) – or in today’s terms moralism. It is very easy to slip into this mode of being, mainly because it is part of our nature. But, this is what Christ has set us free from!

Dr. Coe looks at Galatians 3:1-3 in which the Apostle Paul addresses this very problem.

You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?

In this lecture, I think Dr. Coe touches on a foundational element of spiritual formation – the biblical balance (maybe balance isn’t the best word – interplay may be better) between our effort and God’s activity. We very often swing between two extremes of depending on our own effort or God’s when it comes to our formation. However, as Dallas Willard points out, the opposite of grace is not effort it is “works”. By “works” he means the human effort that is done in the mindset of “I can do this myself”.

Perhaps the most poignant thought is that when we become Christian Moralists, Christ becomes of no use to us.

Galatians 5:1-2 – It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.� Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.

I would argue also that when we go the route of moral formation, the Holy Spirit also becomes of little benefit as well. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 3:18 that our spiritual formation into Christ’s likeness is the work of the Spirit. When we try to do it on our own through moralism, we basically push the Holy Spirit aside saying “I’ve got this one”.

So what are your thoughts from the lecture? Do you agree or disagree? How have you seen the temptation to moralism creep up in your own life?Similar Posts:

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If you are interested, go here to download the whole series and stop back (or just subscribe to the site and get all our posts sent to your RSS reader or email) here starting next week.Similar Posts:

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Lent is not just about giving up something for the sake of giving up something. As with all fasting, we say “no” to habits or things in order to say “yes” more deeply to Christ.

One of today’s Scripture readings (Amos 5:6-15) tells us to “seek the Lord and live” to “seek good and not evil”. Now, the things that we choose to fast from may not be inherently “evil”, but if they are preventing us from living the full abudant life that Christ came to give us, then perhaps we should consider saying “no” so that we can say “yes”.

So, I encourage you to enter fully into this season of Lent (even if you never have), and prayerfully ask God to reveal what in your life you should abstain from so that you can more fully enter into the life he wants you to live.

Today’s Scripture readings from the Book of Common Prayer

LENT BONUS:

Lent: Inquiry and Instruction

By Robert E. Webber

Question: What is the meaning of the word Lent?

Answer: It has no religious meaning like Advent or Pentecost. It comes from an Anglo-Saxon word, Lencten, meaning “spring.”

Question: Why do we observe Lent?

Answer: The purpose of Lent is to provide a time for us to enter into the suffering of Jesus and to go with Him to the tomb.

Question: How can we do this?

Answer: The experience of the people of God who have gone before us is that we best identify with Jesus by adopting a discipline of prayer, fasting, almsgiving.

Question: How should we pray?

Answer: Our prayer may be a spiritual meditation on Jesus Christ–His teaching, His suffering, His death on our behalf.

Question: Why should we fast?

Answer: Fasting is an aid to prayer. Years ago Augustine wrote, “When a man imposes on himself the burden of fasting, he shows that he really wants what he is asking for.” Christians fast in order to pray more intently.

Question: What is the purpose of almsgiving?

Answer: We give alms to the poor and needy because it is a specific expression of the brotherly love produced by prayer. The closer we are to Jesus, the more we care for our neighbor.

Source: Robert Webber, The Family Book of Prayer (Hendrickson, 1996).Similar Posts:

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Photo by Jordan Hill

I am currently in a class titled “Christian Spirituality in Everyday Life” and we are currently discussing the topic of discovering the sacred in what may seem like the mundane – experiencing God’s presence in ordinary life. A basic foundation is the truth that God is “omni-present”, everywhere at all times. Consider Psalm 139:7-12. But, how do we learn to “practice the Presence” in ordinary times? It can be “easy” to experience God when we are at worship or participating in communion, but what about when we are at home doing chores or at the office keeping up with work?

I think the Message translation of Romans 12:1-2 offers us some guidance here.

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life�your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life�and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

Perhaps one way we learn to be attentive to God’s presence in everything is to very practically take our normal activities and offer them to God. Sometimes, I know from experience, that we can feel overwhelmed at this proposal as we try to jump in feet first and attempt to transform the way we see everything all at once. While God can surely open our eyes in dramatic ways, most of the time this is probably akin to quickly taking off your sunglasses on a bright day. Our eyes take time to adjust.

Perhaps a more practical approach would be to look at our daily, ordinary life and prayerfully choose just one activity in which we will practice God’s presence on a daily basis – “fixing our attention on God”. What would it look like to begin to practice God’s presence on our daily commute? The daily task of cleaning dishes? The evening dog walk? The morning cup of coffee?

Can we take these “everyday, ordinary life” activities and begin to invite God into them (really he is already there) and “embrace what God is doing” in these simple times? I think it is this type of practical approach that will enable us to awaken to the presence of God and become sensitive to God’s activity in and around us.

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