Abstract
There is a maxim that religion and politics do not mix. We are told, when embarking upon new social ventures, that if we wish to make friends, then these two subjects are ones to be avoided. Why? Personal preference is that it is important to be able to freely discuss such subjects, in a friendly and equitable manner, to be able to understand a person’s philosophy of life—in other words, to be able to assess their mettle or raison d’être.
However, that religion and politics do not mix may be an urban myth. In truth, religion is a vital part of our social and democratic life. It has been said that the teachings of Christ, and his successors, can be equated to political dynamite. The narrative(s) of the feeding of the 5,000 by Lake Galilee, recorded by the Gospel writers, demonstrate how people can share their natural resources, and still have an abundance remaining. The inferences that can be drawn from that incident about the nature of sharing our basic essential resources, are indeed dynamite to many political systems. There remain areas of the world where the tenets of the Christian faith are not appreciated. Indeed, in parts of China, our new trading partner, the lives of Christians can be made extremely difficult!
Therefore, we have to pay tribute to our forefathers, to those people who, like the apostles, became missionaries and who suffered all manner of deprivation and tribulation to spread the gospel of Christ. We pay tribute to all men and women, throughout the ages, whose convictions regarding the nature of love and the equality of mankind—and ideas about human rights and social justice—have shaped the world in which we reside.
The Gospel reading reminds us that Jesus sent his disciples out, on what could be called a training exercise, to tell people about the imminence of his coming, saying, “The kingdom of God has come near to you.” (Lk. 10:9b). They were sent out with no money, bag, or sandals, and were told to bring peace to each household they entered (Lk. 10:4–5). However, what is of particular interest is that Jesus showed himself to be a pragmatist. His instruction to his followers was to say to people, who did not wish to receive their teaching, “Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off against you…” (Lk. 10:11), suggests that he believed, that if people were not responsive to his message, there was no point in ‘flogging a dead horse’!
Nevertheless, the concluding words of the writer of the Gospel of Matthew are relevant when considering the evangelical aspirations of the great teachers of our religion: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of Father, … Son and … Holy Spirit …” (Mt. 28:19). Thus, we can see that St Paul became the great evangelist and apostle of his generation. He used his Roman citizenship to travel around the world, to visit friends in their young and developing churches, and used his gifts as a scholar and educator to guide their journey in faith. Not only that, he used his communication skills to establish a corporate discipline amongst his friends, and those people to whom he brought the Gospel of his Master.
No man can ever forget or deny the circumstances of his background and upbringing. It is fair to say that the manner of his conversion on the road to Damascus must have been traumatic (Acts 9:1–22). In our attempt to understand his teaching, we must appreciate the circumstances of the event. Here was a highly educated Jew, a Pharisee by religious persuasion, yet one who had dual nationality—he was both a Jew and a citizen of the Roman empire. His Pharisaic views had led to his quest to the persecution of those who belonged to the new sect within Judaism: that is, those who followed the teachings of one called Jesus.
From the time of his conversion, Paul began to live a new life in the service of his master. Our language allows us to describe the situation in the religious terms of, ‘dying to self’ and rising to a ‘new life in Christ Jesus’. However, in Galatia, Paul had to come face to face with his old world: the prevalence of Pharisaic teaching within the new and developing Church. The philosophy held by some was that as Jesus was born a Jew, and the first disciples and apostles were Jews, then those who wished to follow in his way should also embrace the Jewish religion: to first be circumcised before they could be baptised.
This was anathema to Paul, who writes extensively about the Jewish law. He suggests that Jesus calls us to live under a new law. Not a law which requires manifold restrictions, but rather one which is determined by love and humanity, where, “… the whole law is fulfilled in one word, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’” (Gal. 5:14).
Many in this congregation will have suffered bereavement, particularly that of a partner, and will be familiar with the unwelcome utterances of friends who suggest that the time has perhaps come for them to ‘move on’. But this is precisely the advice which Paul was giving to young church in Galatia: you have decided to follow the teaching of Jesus; you have begun a new life with Christ Jesus—and hence the old ways are to be abandoned. This notion is reminiscent of Paul’s advice to the Corinthians when he wrote about the nature of understanding and the ways of love, by contrasting the ways of childhood with those of the adult (1 Cor. 13:11 ff.).
In love, therefore, we should bear one another’s burdens as we attempt to walk in a spirit of gentleness, (Gal. 6:1), so that “ as we have opportunity, let us do good to all men ” (Gal 6:10), following the sentiments of the poet, George Herbert: Teach me, my God and King, In all things Thee to see: And what I do in anything, To do it as for Thee.
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Footnotes
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The Methodist Hymn-Book, No. 597.