Turning to a Different Gospel - January 25
Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 41, 52; PM Psalm 44; Isa. 48:1-11; Gal. 1:1-17; Mark 5:21-43
I’m still a little bitter about falling out with a person I was friends with in middle school. His name was Jay, and he lived around the corner and two streets over. At our small Episcopal school, our birthdays were close together and neither of us was overly athletic. This meant we were relegated to the latter half of being picked in war ball or the other PE games and so we naturally found ourselves in similar circles.
I can remember him ringing the doorbell one afternoon. He was wearing his Atlanta Braves ball cap and had the newspaper in his hand. “John, John! The Grateful Dead are coming to Memphis and I’m going to get 4 tickets and can take my best friends! One of those tickets has your name on it. We are going to see the Dead!”
Well, it was several weeks before the Dead concert and I guess Jay’s parents were in an overly generous frame of mind, and the number of tickets was growing each week. The next week, Jay had eight tickets. At the same time, there was a growing push for Jay’s tickets. His stock in PE was rising as mine was falling and all of a sudden the jocks were now Deadheads and my relationship with Jay was fading. By the time the concert finally rolled around, there were ten tickets on the table and I was not on the list. A bunch of people that I didn’t realize were friends with Jay had paid homage to one of the greatest bands of all times on their last or second to last tour.
It’s amazing how quickly our attention changes. I am guessing this is pretty human. I mean, Adam and Eve are in paradise (the Garden of Eden) and they turn their attention to the one thing they are told is not for them. How quickly we can become focused on the next best thing. Paul must have forgotten this, because he acts surprised when he says, “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel.” Really, Paul? They are human. Why are you surprised? They think they have found the next best thing!
We too have received the grace of God. It should be the greatest message of love and hope that we have ever received. I am betting there have been moments when you have felt that you have felt the grace of God in such a profound way that it has left you utterly changed. And yet, part of being human is be tempted to replace that Gospel with something else. Maybe our love of our political ideology, or status, or prestige, or our career, our ego, or football team begins to become our most important identity. Don’t worry, it’s a human thing to do. But Paul offers us a reminder not to replace the Gospel of Christ with something else. In Paul’s words, we have become conditioned to seek ‘human approval’ but Paul reminds us it is God in Christ that has set us apart, not those other things that we too easily fall in love with. May we trust in Paul’s word, and in God’s grace and love for each of us.
John+
Questions for Self-Reflection: Have you ever felt replaced by someone? How did that make you feel? Have you done the same to others?
Daily Challenge: When you think of your identity, what are things that you love or believe that make you who you are? Spend some time considering how God’s love for you is more important and how that might change your identity.