Galatians 3.10-14

You may have heard someone refer to a specific aspect of life as being “both a blessing and a curse.”

Something can be both a blessing and a curse when it offers positive outcomes but also carries negative consequences or challenges. 

Some examples of this are,

Intelligence: Intelligence can be a blessing for learning and understanding, but a curse if it leads to boredom or frustration.

Money:  Money can be a blessing for buying things that you need to survive, but a curse if it leads to worry, theft or envy.

Sensitivity: Being sensitive allows for strong empathy and a deep appreciation for life, but it can also make it difficult to cope with negativity and criticism.

Creativity: Creative individuals can produce amazing art and ideas, but they may also struggle with perfectionism and difficulty following rigid rules.

Love: Loving someone deeply is a great blessing, but it can also be a source of pain and anxiety, particularly if the relationship is challenging.

Many of our passions, talents, character traits, and possessions can be dichotomous by releasing both joyous highs and soul-wrenching lows into our human experience. 

In our text this morning, we are going to hear about something, more specifically, a someone, that is both a curse and a blessing.  From the next pericope, or next section, of Galatians that we are up to, the Apostle Paul talks about Jesus being both a curse and a blessing.  

Let’s get right into the Bible text now.

In Galatians 3:10–14, the Apostle Paul says this:

[10] For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” [11] Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” [12] But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” [13] Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—[14] so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. (ESV)

I am sure that when we hear about being cursed, many non-Biblical ideas and images flash through our minds.  

Maybe we think about the Evil Queen who feeds Snow White a cursed poison apple that puts puts Snow White into a indefinite period of sleep.

Maybe we think about the Golden Idol in Indiana Jones, that when removed from it’s pillar, begins a series of death traps culminating in Indiana Jones nearly escaping the crushing weight of a giant boulder.

And, if you are as old, or even older than me, maybe you think about the cursed Hawaiian Tiki statue that Peter Brady finds in a construction pit and then wears around his neck, only to be met with a string of bad luck, including a tarantula crawling on him in his hotel room bed.

Well, these ideas and images of curses and cursed items bringing danger and bad luck have nothing to do with the curse that the Apostle Paul is talking about in this section of his letter to the churches in the region of Galatia.  But these ideas and images are what pop-culture presents to us and they often taint and misinform our understanding of the Bible.

So, let’s ask a series of questions about this morning’s Biblical text and get the answers to those questions so that we can better understand the Good News of Jesus that the Apostle Paul is proclaiming to us.

Let’s begin:

What does it mean to be cursed in Biblical language?

To be cursed in Biblical language is the opposite of being blessed.

To be blessed is to have God’s love and favor on you and in your life.  To be blessed means that God makes you perfectly fulfilled in every way, forgiving your sin and giving you the righteousness you need to enter His Kingdom of Heaven.

Therefore, the opposite of that—to be cursed—is to not have God’s love and favor on you and in your life.  Instead, those that are cursed by God have God’s anger and wrath poured out upon them, punishing them for their unbelief and sin.

Next:

How does one become cursed by God?

The text tells us that a person is cursed, meaning that they are in danger of being punished by God’s wrath for their sin, when they attempt to be forgiven of sin and made right with God through giving him a list of His laws that they followed and the good deeds that they did.

And:

Why does attempting to make God love you with your behavior put you in a place where you are deserving of God’s punishment?

Well, the text also answers this question.  In order to be worthy of God’s love by doing good deeds and Godly works, you would have to obey every command of God perfectly from birth to death.  You have to live every second of every day doing ALL things written in the Bible without ever getting any of it wrong.

Because of original sin, the sin which you inherit from Adam and Eve at the very moment you are conceived in the womb, it is impossible to live and love in the way God commands.  

And, thinking that your record reflects more good stuff than bad stuff doesn’t do you any good because as Jesus’ brother James tells us in his Biblical letter found in the New Testament:

[10] For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. [11] For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. (James 2:10–1, ESV)

However, there is always hope for you to have a fresh start as faith in Christ enables you to be born again.  With the help of the God’s Holy Spirit, that makes its home in you the very moment that you find yourself with faith in Jesus Christ as your Redeemer, you are strengthened and empowered by God Himself to choose the good part of every hour.

Many rejoiced on Palm Sunday during Jesus’ parade into Jerusalem because they knew God’s grace had sent Jesus to be their Savor and Redeemer.

However, even though we are given the picture of a celebratory parade on Palm Sunday, this event is, in actuality, the beginning of a week long funeral march.  

Jesus rides into Jerusalem as the people’s champ—“Do you smell what God’s Rock is cooking?” Jesus, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, came not to sit on the throne in the earthly temple or palace, but to sit on the throne in God’s Kingdom of Heaven.  

Jesus enters the city to the praise of his followers, but leaves the city 5 days later to the weeping of his friends and family.

Palm Sunday culminates in Jesus’ death on the cross on Good Friday, but also Jesus’ resurrection from the grave on Easter Sunday.  

Holy Week, beginning today, has both joyous highs and soul-wrenching lows for those that are known by God the Father in Heaven and in turn know God the Father in Heaven in the person and work of Jesus Christ for them.

The path that Jesus rides and then walks during Holy Week was willingly chosen by Him to ensure your eternal blessing.  Innocent Jesus became cursed by God and was hung on the tree of the cross to be fully and completely punished by God’s anger and wrath in your place.  

In another letter that the Apostle Paul wrote, also contained in the Bible’s New Testament, he explains the Good News of Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday for you when he writes this, in Ephesians 2:1–10:

[1] And you were dead in the trespasses and sins [2] in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—[3] among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. [4] But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, [5] even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—[6] and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, [7] so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. [8] For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, [9] not a result of works, so that no one may boast. [10] For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (ESV)

In Galatians 3.11, the Apostle Paul quotes the Old Testament book of Habakkuk which says, “But the righteous one will live by faith.”

Martin Luther, the 16th Century church reformer, first read Habakkuk 2:4 when he was a monk living in a monastery, but he didn’t understand it at the time. Later he went through a period of illness and depression as he imagined himself under the wrath of God. Lying in a bed in Italy, fearing he was about to die, Luther found himself repeating over and over again, “The righteous will live by faith.” He recovered and went to Rome, where he visited one of the famous churches there. The pope in that day had promised an indulgence forgiving the sins of any pilgrim who mounted the tall staircase in front of the church. Pay your money, climb the staircase, and you can have your sins or someone else’s forgiven. People flocked to climb the staircase on their knees, pausing to pray and kiss the stairs along the way. Luther’s son later wrote the following of that experience for his father: “As he (Luther) repeated his prayers on the Lateran staircase, the words of the Prophet Habakkuk came suddenly to his mind: ‘The just shall live by faith.’ Thereupon he ceased his prayers, returned to Wittenberg, and took this as the chief foundation of all his doctrine.” Luther later said, “Before those words broke upon my mind I hated God and was angry with him. . . . But when, by the Spirit of God, I understood those words—‘The just shall live by faith!’ ‘The just shall live by faith!’—then I felt born again like a new man; I entered through the open doors into the very Paradise of God.” 

This morning, our readers shared the story of Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem from the Gospel of John.  These texts were chosen by the lectionary for this morning.

In the Gospels of Luke and Matthew, we get other accounts of what happened on Palm Sunday.  These other accounts of that day tell us some of the things that the crowd was shouting and singing as Jesus passed by.

Luke 19:37–38 tell us this:

[37] As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, [38] saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” (ESV)

And, Matthew 21:9 tells us this:

[9] And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” (ESV)

Palm Sunday is the beginning of the full and complete public declaration that Jesus is the One that takes you who were dead to God because of sin and makes you abundantly alive in the eternal love and freedom of God.

Without Jesus, you remain cursed, condemned, and dead to God.

With Jesus, you have been set free from the curse of sin and have become blessed, and are brought back to life by God at the price of His One and Only Son in your place.

The people rejoiced on Palm Sunday because God’s promised Redeemer and Savior had come to them.

I invite you also to repent of your sin and rejoice that God’s promised Redeemer and Savior has come to you.

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

April 13, 2025 / Palm Sunday

Prayer:

King of heaven, 

We long to worship you today with hearts full of joy, but we have sinned countless times and we have no crown of glory or obedience to wear before you. Our dancing is turned to mourning when we think of our sin. We understand that we are like the mockers who scoffed at Jesus as he died, the rebels who pressed the crown of thorns deeply onto his sinless head. We are undone and wonder how you could ever love us and welcome us as cherished sons and daughters. Father, forgive us for hearts that doubt you and turn away from you many times each day. Forgive us for worshiping other gods, and then running away in cycles of shame and guilt because we are disappointed in ourselves. Forgive us for believing that our sin is so much stronger than your love and grace. 

Lord, 

thank you for your perfect Son, who never sinned, yet became sin for us. Thank you for allowing his head to be bloodied by that thorny crown, so that you could lift up our heads and crown us with your steadfast love and mercy. Thank you for your deep and infinite love that willingly crushed your only Son so that his wounds could pay our ransom. Dear Father, thank you that our sin is dealt with, fully paid for, and that we have become the righteous through faith in the work of your Son. 

Father, 

we are desperately weak people who constantly need your help. Please turn our eyes toward your radiant Son to see his head now crowned with glory and honor, always pleading in our defense. Help us remember all the benefits that flow toward us because of our redemption in Christ. Give us such great love for your Son and gratitude to you, that we are transformed into people who want to obey you with all our hearts. Make us children who love with the same kind of love that we have received from you. Cause us to point one another to Christ as our only hope for surviving this fallen world and our own sinful hearts. Thank you that nothing can keep us from reaching our heavenly home, where we will see your Lamb seated on his throne, crowned with radiant glory, where we will fall at his feet and worship for all eternity. Amen.

Luke 13.31-35 & Galatians 2.15-21

Every town and city has something that is it famous for.

Huntington has Walt Whitman’s birth place. New York has the Empire State Building, Freedom Tower, Times Square, Broadway, and Central Park.  San Francisco has its cable cars. Seattle has its Space Needle.

And Longview, WA has its squirrel bridge called The Nutty Narrows Bridge. Spanning Olympia Way, is a local landmark.

The Nutty Narrows Bridge was built in 1963 by a local builder, the late Amos Peters, to give squirrels a way to cross the busy thoroughfare without getting flattened by cars. Before the bridge was built, squirrels had to dodge traffic to and from the Park Plaza building where office staff put out a nutty feast for the squirrels. Many times, workers near Park Plaza witnessed squirrels being run over. It didn’t take long before squirrels started using the bridge. They even escort their young across, teaching them the ropes. In addition to the Nutty Narrows Bridge, four additional bridges have since been built, the most recent bridge was installed in May of 2015. The sixth bridge is in the works.

In the busyness of every day life, there are dangers that threaten to stop us in our tracks and prevent us from making it back into our bed at night.  We have to become wise in order to know what paths to walk and which paths to avoid in order to stay safe not only today, but for tomorrow and the future.

In this morning’s two Biblical texts, we will hear about the ultimate danger we face while living life.  We will also hear about how to avoid and escape that danger that will leave us flattened and dead if we don’t take the safety bridge put in place for us.

Let’s get into our first Biblical text now.

Luke 13:31–35 says this:

[31] At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” [32] And he said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course. [33] Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.’ [34] O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! [35] Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’” (ESV)

The Gospel message is both serious and soft (gentle).

The message of the Gospel is serious because it tells you of our dire condition.  The message of the Gospel is serious because it tell you that Sin separates you from God.  The message of the Gospel is serious because it speaks the truth that you are lost in Sin from the moment of conception due to the inheritance of Sin from your first parents Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.  The message of the Gospel is serious because it informs you that your aren’t only lost in Sin but that you are actually dead in Sin meaning you are lifeless and unable to do anything to help yourself get back to God.  The message of the Gospel is serious because it tells you that because of Sin you are scattered away from God and running around without protection from the danger of being punished by God’s wrath.

In this morning’s Biblical text, we hear that the Gospel is not only serious, but it is also soft, meaning, gentle.  Jesus says that He came to gather you to Himself in order to cover you and protect you from the danger that you are in because of Sin.

The Gospel, ultimately meaning, “Good News” from the Greek evangelion, tells you the Good News that while you were still a sinner sinning, God poured out his love for you and chased after you in the person and work of Jesus Christ.  

Using the illustration of a mother hen gathering her babies under her wings to protect them from ultimate harm—death—she gives them shelter even if it means she has to die in the act of protecting them.

Let’s explore the mother hen for a moment.

When a hen senses danger, her parental instincts kick in and she brings all of her little ones under her wings so that predators, such as foxes, cannot see her babies and therefore cannot steal them, harm them, or kill them.  The mother’s love is so great that she is willing to take all of the hurt, suffering, pain, and even die, from enemy attacks, if necessary, by making herself a shelter to protect her offspring.  

One commentator shares this information:

“Fire is a terrifying thing to trapped animals as to people, if not more so. When a farmyard catches fire, the animals try to escape; but, if they cannot, some species have developed ways of protecting their young. The picture we have [in Luke 13.31-35] is of a hen, gathering her chicks under her wings to protect them. There are stories of exactly this: after a farmyard fire, those cleaning up have found a dead hen, scorched and blackened – with live chicks sheltering under her wings. She has quite literally given her life to save them.” (Wright, 171)

The way the hen brings her brood close so that she can protect them is an incredible demonstration of true love because there is the willingness present in the mother to sacrifice her well-being and even her life to save the children she loves.

This morning’s Biblical text tell you that Jesus has come to you and for you because Jesus desires to gather you under the protection of his cross where you are fully protected from the wrath of God that will you destroy you because of your Sin.

In Jesus, the grace of God gathers you in.  It doesn’t scatter you out and away.

So, that leads us to ask the question, “How, exactly are we gathered to God and not scattered away from Him?”

Well, the Apostle Paul addresses and answers that question Galatians 2:15–21 when he writes these words:

[15] We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; [16] yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

[17] But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! [18] For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. [19] For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. [20] I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. [21] I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose. (ESV)

As an aside, there are two verses here that you should have highlighted in your Bible and committed to memory. Those verses are 16 and 20.

Now, in order to fully grasp most of Paul’s letter to the Galatians we have to learn to properly distinguish the place of God’s Law and God’s Gospel in every piece of Scripture that we read.

So, let’s begin by answering the question, “What is the Law of God?”

In a paragraph written by one of my seminary professors, that summarizes pieces of The (Lutheran) Book of Concord, and that I make every one of my Confirmation students memorize, we are told that God’s Law has three uses in our life. Here is that paragraph:

The Law is that part of God’s Word which tells us what we must do and what we must not do.  It has [three] uses: 1) to curb our natural tendencies by telling us what we must do under penalty of punishment or failure; 2) to convict of sin by describing where we have failed to keep the law, thus showing us our need for a Savior; and 3) to coach the believer regarding what Christ has given the believer to do.

What we have to notice is that there is no place in God’s Law that says, “Following God’s Law is possible and it will save you from your sin.”

That’s where we have to ask, “How then can I be forgiven and saved for God’s Kingdom of Heaven?”  Or, in a more specific question, “What is the Gospel?”

In another paragraph written by one of my seminary professors, that summarizes pieces of The (Lutheran) Book of Concord, and that I make every one of my Confirmation students memorize, we are told what God’s Gospel (or, Good News) provides for us and accomplishes in our life. Here is that second paragraph:

The Gospel is that part of God’s Word which tells us what God has promised to us and has done for us in Christ Jesus.  It is good news (Gospel) which is the power of God for salvation (Romans 1.17) which when preached causes one to be born again (1 Peter 1.23-25) as faith comes through hearing this word (Romans 10.17).

After hearing these two paragraphs describing the Law and the Gospel, we can better understand why Paul tells the Galatian Christians that “we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified” (Galatians 2.16).

Jesus doesn’t want forgiveness to be impossibly hard.  

Jesus doesn’t want to lose you.  

Jesus wants to rescue you. 

After all, as 1 Timothy 2.4 tells us, it is God’s will that all men and women are saved.”  This is all shown in Jesus’ preaching.  Jesus’ message was “Repent [of your sin] and Believe!”  Jesus’ message was not, “Work hard, do the right things, struggle, worry, doubt, and then maybe God will think you are good enough.”

Jesus gathers us under the protection of arms spread out on the cross by faith alone.  We are not welcomed under the cross of Christ by obedience to God’s Law because God’s Law is impossible for a human to fully complete.  You are welcome under the protection of Jesus’ cross and death by simple fish in Him and His work there for you.

On December 26, 2004, the third-largest earthquake ever recorded by seismograph occurred deep beneath the Indian Ocean. It registered 9.1-magnitude on the Richter scale, and the shock waves produced tsunami waves more than one hundred feet in height, traveling five hundred miles per hour and reaching a radius of three thousand miles. This deadliest tsunami in history claimed 227,898 lives, but one people group living right in its path miraculously survived without a single casualty.

The Moken are an Austronesian ethnic group that live on the open seas from birth to death. Their handcrafted wooden boats, called kabang, function as houseboats for these sea gypsies. Moken children learn to swim before they learn to walk. They can see twice as clearly underwater as landlubbers. And if there were an underwater breath-holding contest, it would be no contest. But it wasn’t any of these skills that saved them from the tsunami. What saved them was their intimacy with the ocean. 

The Moken know its moods and messages better than any oceanographer, reading ocean waves the way we read street signs.

On the day of the earthquake, an amateur photographer from Bangkok was taking pictures of the Moken when she became concerned by what she saw. As the sea started to recede, many of the Moken were crying. They knew what was about to happen. They recognized that the birds had stopped chirping, the cicadas had gone silent, the elephants were headed toward higher ground, and the dolphins were swimming farther out to sea.

Fishermen in the same vicinity as the Moken were blindsided by the tsunami and had no survivors. “They were collecting squid,” said one Moken survivor. “They don’t know how to look.” The waves and birds and cicadas and elephants and dolphins were speaking to those Burmese fishermen, but sadly they didn’t know how to listen.

A local anthropologist who speaks Moken said, “The water receded very fast and one wave, one small wave, came so they recognized that this is not ordinary.”

The Word of God is speaking to about your Sin and your Savior,Jesus.  The Word of God tells you what the dangers of Sin are and what the dangerous sins are.  The to Word of God tells you to look out for Sin and it’s sins and to repent of those sins before the wave of His wrath makes it to your boat or shore.  The Word of God is giving you the signs you need to know in order to not be one of the casualties of God’s wrath that punishes those stuck in unrepentant Sin.

Don’t be like King Herod and the Pharisees who looked at Jesus and did not recognize God’s saving grace in their life.

Instead, Look and recognize that Jesus gently gathers you to God, under the protection of His arms that are spread out on the cross to shield you from the destruction that comes because of God’s deadly storm on Sin.  In the process of the crucifixion, because of His love for you, Jesus willingly takes the full brunt of the storm that so that you can escape alive and live in ultimate safety today, and forever, in the arms of your Creator and Redeemer—God the Father in Heaven.

I encourage you to wake up everyday preaching The Gospel to yourself while being readied to walk through life doing the good deeds that God has prepared for you to do.  According to one of today’s Biblical texts, you can find help every morning by repeating Galatians 2.20 along with the Apostle Paul which says, 

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

March 16, 2025

Prayer:

Glorious God, 

We praise you for the privilege of knowing you. We have lived in this world, yet often have been ignorant of its Creator; we have enjoyed your tender care without knowing you as the provider. In blindness we have enjoyed sunlight, and we have listened to voices all around us while profoundly deaf to spiritual truth. We have understood many things without knowledge of your ways, and have seen the world yet failed to see Jesus. We live each day as sovereigns of our own kingdoms, carrying out our desires and bending others to our wills. Instead of submitting humbly to those you have called us to obey, our souls rise up with prideful indignation, inflamed with desires for self-determination. We fear that if we love others sacrificially, we will lose the world, and so we fight for our kingdom to come and our will be done. Father, forgive us for our sin, and for the great damage we do to others as we sin. 

Lord Jesus, 

you have entered into the darkness of our world in order to possess us and save us. You submitted to the will of your Father, loving us sacrificially as you carried our cross up the hill of execution and died in our place. With your perfect obedience and death, you have crushed the head of the serpent forever and wrapped us in the silken robes of your righteous submission and sacrificial love. In losing yourself, you gained the treasure for which you longed: our salvation. Jesus, thank you. 

Holy Spirit, 

grant that we may weep in praise of the mercy that we have found. May we tell others as long as we live that you are a pardoning God who pursues proud and selfish sinners and transforms them into grateful, humble, loving, and sacrificial saints. Though we are weak in this life and only make small beginnings in obedience, may our hearts expand with joy to think of the great treasure that is ours in Christ. His perfect love casts out our fear, for though we continue to sin, there is no condemnation left for us, and an eternity of joy has been purchased by his blood. Give us boundless gratitude and increasing grace to live in submission to your perfect and loving will, and to sacrifice ourselves as he laid down his precious life for us. In Christ’s name, amen.

Benediction:

God in peace today.  Jesus gently gathers you to God through his life, death, and resurrection of you. 

Galatians 2.11-14

Do you practice what you preach?

Can the beliefs and morals you speak about and teach your children about be clearly known by the way you live day to day?

Do the words that come out of your mouth match the actions of your daily life?

Now, here is the BIG QUESTION with a BIG SCARY WORD that may make you tense up:

Are you a straight-up hypocrite who says one thing but does the exact opposite?

There are many ways that hypocrisy rears its ugly head. Here are a few ways to spot hypocrisy:

Do you treat those in power differently than you treat the common man or woman?

Do you give advice but fail to follow your own guidance?

Do you promote tolerance but judge others who don’t conform to your way of thinking?

Do you volunteer others but rarely raise your own hand to offer help?

Do you live one way in public but another in private?

Do you say one thing to someone’s face but another thing behind their back?

Well, I have some bad news for you.  I know the truth that you are a straight up hypocrite from time to time and can answer with a confident, “Yes!,” to many, if not all, of the above questions.

You may ask, “How does Pastor Fred know I am a hypocrite?”

Well, I know you are a hypocrite because I, a less than perfect, broken human born into Sin, am also a straight up hypocrite from time to time.  And, because we are human, we are the same.

This morning’s Biblical text, from the next part of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the churches in Galatia during the first century following Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, shows us that the original disciples of Jesus also struggled with hypocrisy because they too were simply human.

Galatians 2:11–14 tells us this:

[11] But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. [12] For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. [13] And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. [14] But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?” (ESV)

Since this text focuses on an interaction between the Apostle Paul and the Apostle Peter, let’s first ask, “Who was Peter?”

Peter was, as we heard a few weeks ago in this sermon series, one of Jesus’ original 12 disciples.  He was an OGG (original Gospel Gansta). 

In this moment, Paul confronts Peter because Peter is a classic case of believing the right things but behaving the wrong way.  Or, as we began this morning, this is a classic case of being a hypocrite.

Peter (a Jewish man) believes and teaches that the age-old Jewish laws have nothing to do with receiving God’s love in your life.  God doesn’t just love one people group.  God loves all people in all groups around the world.

But, here, Peter gets up from a table with fellow believers and stands to the side because they are not Jewish in background like him.

How do we know that Peter knew and believed the right things but was behaving in the wrong way?

We know that Peter knew what he was doing was wrong because we have the encounter between God and Peter recorded for us in the Bible in which God directly tells Peter that separation of people based on rules and laws and dietary restrictions is wrong and ungodly.

In the Biblical book of Acts, the book that tells of the beginnings of the Christian church immediately following Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension, we are told that an Italian centurion (that is, a non-Jewish man) invited Peter to his house.  Now, in the mid-first century, that invitation would have clearly meant that they would share a meal together.

Upon receiving the invitation, Peter gets nervous because, as a man with a Jewish background, he was used to having dietary restrictions in his life that were put in place by God for his people generations earlier.  This invitation, if he were to accept it, meant that he would be served food he wasn’t allowed to eat.

Knowing this struggle within Peter’s heart and mind, God graciously intervenes to let Peter know the Good News that in Jesus Christ all rules and regulations for attempting to be Holy have been cast away as they were impossible to completely fulfill, leaving one separated from God the Father in Heaven forever.

Let’s hear about the intervention of God and the new life that God was creating for Peter, for you, and for me.

Acts 10:9–48

[9] The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. [10] And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance [11] and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. [12] In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. [13] And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” [14] But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” [15] And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.” [16] This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven.

[17] Now while Peter was inwardly perplexed as to what the vision that he had seen might mean, behold, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon’s house, stood at the gate [18] and called out to ask whether Simon who was called Peter was lodging there. [19] And while Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you. [20] Rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation, for I have sent them.” [21] And Peter went down to the men and said, “I am the one you are looking for. What is the reason for your coming?” [22] And they said, “Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say.” [23] So he invited them in to be his guests.

The next day he rose and went away with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him. [24] And on the following day they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. [25] When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. [26] But Peter lifted him up, saying, “Stand up; I too am a man.” [27] And as he talked with him, he went in and found many persons gathered. [28] And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean…

[34] So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, [35] but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. [36] As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), [37] you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: [38] how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. [39] And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, [40] but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, [41] not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. [42] And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. [43] To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

[44] While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. [45] And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. [46] For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, [47] “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” [48] And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days. (ESV)

Why did God make a point of miraculously telling Peter that age-old dietary restrictions no longer have a place in his life?  

Well, God needed Peter to understand that dietary laws that were used to keep people groups separated had been abolished, by God, so that all men and women could sit around the same table and enjoy life together.

By uniting and allowing all of humanity to sit together at the same table and eat the same foods, God was teaching that the time had come in which all of humanity, regardless of age, ethnicity, race, gender, and socio-economic status, were welcomed into God’s Kingdom.  And, they weren’t welcomed and accepted through following rules and laws like dietary restrictions. They were welcomed and accepted only through a common faith in their Savior, Jesus.

This uniting of people from all walks of life through a simple faith in God’s promised Savior, Jesus, gives Peter, Paul, and us, a picture and foretaste of Heaven.

The Old Testament Prophet, Isaiah, speaks of the world-uniting eternal table at God’s feast in Heaven when he says: 

[6] On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples

a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,

of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.

[7] And he will swallow up on this mountain

the covering that is cast over all peoples,

the veil that is spread over all nations.

[8] He will swallow up death forever;

and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces,

and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,

for the LORD has spoken. (Isaiah 25:6–8, ESV)

In verses from Psalm 23 that have brought many of us comfort throughout our lives, King David, the song writer says of Jesus:

[5] You prepare a table before me

in the presence of my enemies…(Psalm 23.5, ESV)

And, in the last book of the Bible that speaks of the end of history and the in-breaking of eternity, we are told that an angel says to the Apostle John:

[9] …“Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.” (Revelation 19:9, ESV)

If Peter believed the right thing—that reconciliation with God only comes through faith in Jesus our Savior—why did Peter change his behavior to reflect the wrong belief—that reconciliation with God comes through obedience to Laws and Commands and Good Deeds?

Peter became a hypocrite and changed his behavior so that it didn’t match his beliefs because of fear.  

Peter feared being rejected by his old friends.  

Peter feared the negative and critical opinions of others about him that would be spread. 

And, Peter feared confrontation from those that believed differently than him.    

So, instead of standing strong in the truth with God on his side, Peter caved and chose the path of hypocrisy which in turn led many away from the comfort and truth of the Gospel and placed them back under the burden of trying to act the right way in order to make God happy.

Commenting on this section of Paul’s letter to the churches in Galatia, the 16th Century Church Reformer, Martin Luther said:

“[Peter] knew the doctrine of justification better than we do.  And yet how easily he could have been responsible for such a terrible ruin by his deed and example if Paul had not opposed him!  All the Gentiles would have fallen away from the preaching of Paul and would thus have lost the Gospel and Christ Himself.  And this all would have happened with the appearance of holiness.”

“For to avoid foods this way is to deny Christ, to tread His blood underfoot, to blaspheme against the Holy Spirit, against God, and against everything holy.  Therefore if one has to lose one or the other, it is better to lose a friend and a brother than to lose God the Father.”

“I am making such a point of all of this to keep anyone from supposing that the doctrine of faith is an easy matter.  It is indeed easy to talk about, but it is hard to grasp; and it is easily obscured and lost.  Therefore let us with all diligence and humility devote ourselves to the study of Sacred Scripture and to serious prayer, lets we lose the truth of the Gospel.”

How did Peter know what was right and what was wrong?  Through God’s Word speaking to him.  For Peter, God chose to speak to him in a dream.

How do you know what is right and what is wrong?  Through God’s Word speaking to you.  God chooses to speak to you through His written and preserved Word known as the Holy Bible.

Peter was told by God Word in his dream that salvation—the forgiveness of sin, including the sin of hypocrisy and leading others away from the grace and mercy of God in Jesus Christ, and eternal life—comes to you only through faith in the innocent life of Jesus sacrificed over to death on the cross and risen from the grave on Easter morning.  Good deeds and following commandments will never get you to God.  

And, you are told through God’s Word in the Bible that salvation—the forgiveness of sin, including the sin of hypocrisy and leading others away from the grace and mercy of God in Jesus Christ, and eternal life—comes to you only through faith in the innocent life of Jesus sacrificed over to death on the cross and risen from the grave on Easter morning.  Good deeds and following commandments will never get you to God.  

I give you comfort, encouragement and exhortation for today and the week ahead of you from another Biblical letter, this time to the churches in Colossae.

In Colossians 2:8–23, God says to you, through the Apostle Paul’s words,

[8] See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. [9] For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, [10] and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. [11] In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, [12] having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. [13] And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, [14] by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. [15] He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

[16] Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. [17] These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. [18] Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, [19] and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

[20] If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations—[21] “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” [22] (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? [23] These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. (ESV)

As the Apostle Paul demonstrated in his confrontation with the Apostle Peter, our struggle with hypocrisy doesn’t leave us hopeless.

Hypocrisy is just one sin, among countless others, that breaks God’s command to always be truthful in our words and actions.  

The sin of hypocrisy is forgivable, just like every other sin is forgivable, through confession to God the Father in Heaven, repentance, and belief in His Sin forgiving Son, Jesus Christ.

Today is a happy day because Jesus washed your sin away.  You’ll never be the same again, forever you are changed.

I invite you to sing it out, Jesus is alive;

The empty cross, the empty grave;

Life eternal, Jesus has won the day.

This morning, repent of your sin, believe the Gospel, and take a seat at God’s table, where a place has been prepared for you by Jesus.

This is the Word of God for you today.

This is the Grace of God for you today.

Amen.

Reverend Fred Scragg V.

March 2, 2025

Prayer:

God of all grace, 

We are weak and forgetful people, easily distracted by the joys and sorrows of our lives. We are capable of great thoughts concerning you one moment, yet we forget your kindness and live as though we had no hope the next. Forgive us, Father, for the unbelief that clings to our sinful flesh and clouds our minds with doubt and fear. 

Jesus, 

thank you for clinging to us, even though we let go of you repeatedly. You held fast to the gospel in your living, dying, and rising again, always obeying your Father and setting your face toward the hill of sacrifice. You never forgot your mission or resisted your calling, but faithfully lived and died in our place. You endured mocking, beatings, and crucifixion for the joy set before you. Thank you that we are that joy; now fill us with your joy and cause us to find great delight in you. Though we may be quick to forget you and need reminding often, you never forget us. Instead you intercede for us daily before your Father, and you are preparing for the day when we will feast with you in heaven. Come quickly, Lord Jesus! 

Holy Spirit, 

produce in us growing faith that we may live in Christ. May all our desires rest in him constantly. Make Jesus our greatest hope and all our glory. May we enter him as our refuge, build on him as our foundation, walk in him, follow him, conform to him, rely on him, and obey him. Let us never be ashamed of him or his words. May his death comfort us, for we have been loved with unfathomable love. May his resurrection assure us that his obedience was perfect, his sacrifice accepted, and his work finished. Help us to hold fast to the gospel we have believed: to cherish it in our weakness and to profess its power when we stand strong. Deepen our faith and guard our hearts and minds with the helmet of Christ’s salvation, the breastplate of his righteousness, the shield of his faith, the sandals of his peace, and the sword of his truth. In his strong name we pray, amen.

Benediction:

Go in peace today, you have a seat at God’s table in Heaven.  Invite others to join you by living in such a way that your behavior matches your belief.