The Great Atonishment

Galatians 1:6-10

Introduction

One of the most popular online activities for many people these days is watching short videos, whether they are TikToks or Instagram reels or YouTube shorts. The actual content of these short videos can vary but some of the most popular videos are of people doing very stupid things. You can watch hours and hours of people doings that they really should have known better. Why do people do this? It is hard to say but perhaps people feel better about themselves by watching the foolish actions of others. “At least I’m not as bad as that guy.” There is actually an online response that people have to this and that is smh. It is short for “shaking my head.” Most likely, even if you never watch online videos or have zero interest in the internet, you have seen someone do something and you want to shake your head. You are astonished that someone would do something like that. What were they thinking? Perhaps you can think of actions you have done in the past and you wonder what you were thinking. I know I have.

Astonishment. Why am I taking so much time to talk about this?

Last week, I mentioned that Paul follows a certain pattern when writing his letters, one he has slightly altered for his own theological purposes. Each letter begins with a greeting and then moves on to a thanksgiving. This is a paragraph or two were Paul outlines all of the things he is thankful for when it comes to that church. He does that in each of his letters and they are interesting insights into his relationships with these churches. In every letter but Galatians.

This would have been a glaring omission that the Galatians would have noticed immediately. Paul does this because he really is disappointed in the Galatians and because he wants to get their attention. Instead of talking about why he is thankful, Paul talks about why he is astonished by them. You can astonish someone in either a good way or a bad way. This was the bad way. You could call this the smh section of the letter. Paul is shaking his head over what he has heard about the Galatians. 

We will get into why in a moment but I want you to imagine if we received a letter by a Christian we greatly respected who told us that they were astonished about some failing in our congregation. It would hit hard. This letter, which would have been read out loud to groups of people, must have caused some awkward moments. Let’s take a look why.

Astonished Paul

So what was Paul so astonished at regarding the Galatians? Paul had earlier gone to Galatia and preached a gospel of grace. Paul taught them that they needed to put their faith in Jesus and based upon that, they were adopted as God’s children. The Galatians readily accepted that message. This gospel seemed to literally be good news.

However, there were others who came afterwards, sharing a different message. They did not deny the importance of Jesus but they saw the Galatians as having missed a step. Jesus, the Apostles, and all of the earliest Christians were Jewish. They embraced the Jewish Torah and lived out the Jewish traditions. The Galatians were Gentiles or non-Jews and so this was not part of their experience. According to these teachers, the Galatians would have to adopt the Jewish law and become like those other early Christians. This was be accompanied by the sign of circumcision. What were the Galatians supposed to do? They really wanted to be faithful to God and to follow Jesus in the proper way. It would not have been difficult to find Bible verses to support the importance of following the law. Plus, is not a stricter faith not a better faith?

So, while the Galatians had not formerly acted on this new information, they were seriously considering it. This is what Paul was astonished at.

Paul had some other thoughts about these teachers and we will get into it. Let’s just say that Paul was not happy. But Paul was astonished that these Galatians who had embraced the true gospel were now considering embracing this different gospel. Paul does not even want to call it a gospel because it is not good news, which is what gospel means.

Think of it in these terms. A family in your neighbourhood adopts a five year old child. When the parents are not looking, you walk up to the child and tell them: “I know your new parents said that they love you the way you are but that is not quite true. Here is a list of chores that you better stay on top of. Your relationship with your parents depends on it.” If you heard someone do that, you would be angry.

Now, none of this is meant to be a critique of Judaism. There is nothing wrong with Jews following the law or even Jews who believe in Jesus continuing their traditions. What is wrong is demanding that non-Jews have to follow the law in order to be in right standing with God. The gospel is about trusting in Jesus and adding something to that takes the good news out of the gospel. That the Galatians would give up a free gift and take on, what would be to them, a burden was frankly astonishing. Paul was shaking his head.

Astonishing Church

This is not the debate that we struggle with today as a church.While there are Christians intrigued by Jewish traditions, few would make them a requirement for salvation. But is there anything about the modern church that Paul, if he was alive today, would be astonished by? If God allowed Paul in heaven to have a glimpse of the worldwide church today, would any of us be getting a letter?

I am no Apostle Paul, and I know I am astonished by some of the things that I see in the church. I realize that I tend to encounter a wide range of Christians and you might wonder if these people even exist. Having encountered many in different ways, I can assure you that there are such people.

One of the things that I think Paul might be astonished at is how some Christians view marginalized people. When we read through the Gospels and Acts, we see that there is a tremendous emphasis on caring for the marginalized. In fact, Jesus was heavily criticized by the religious leaders for spending time with the “wrong kind of people.” The early church grew within the demographics of people who were otherwise rejected by society. But eventually the church became respectable and adopted the stance of the religious leaders that there were indeed the “wrong kind of people.” They can dress it up in churchy language but it is a commitment to exclusion rather than inclusion.

Related to this is the church’s stance on love. If one thing is clear in the Bible it is that Christians are supposed to be known for their love, love toward God and love toward people. They will know that we are Christians by our love. How do we show love? Believe it or not, there are Christians who see traditional demonstrations of love, such as compassion and respect, as error. They believe that the most loving thing a Christian can do is to treat someone who is different in such a way that will make their lives miserable so they will feel the pressure to change. Many people outside the church who see the church as anything but loving. This is astonishing.

Do I believe the church is a terrible thing with no redeeming characteristics? Not at all. I actually think that Paul would also be astonished by the countless acts of compassion and generosity performed by Christians every day. I believe that the church is filled with people who really want to follow Jesus and do their best to do that. 

Conclusion

Were the Galatian Christians good or bad? Like all churches in all places and all times, they were a mixed bag. But Paul was concerned enough about them to send them a letter and for that letter to omit the usual thanksgiving section and replace it with a statement of astonishment. In the language of young people online, he was smh. This was because they were seriously considering replacing a gospel of grace with something that was not really good news for them.

I would say that the Galatians were not that worse than the average church in the west. Not that we are necessarily giving up on the gospel, but that churches do things that would astonish anyone who focused on what we find in the Gospels and Acts.

Not that God has given up on the church or that the church is a failure. But Christians today need just as much of a reminder about the things that really matter. It is so easy to get caught up in the flow of what people say is important without holding onto what Jesus said was important. We want people to be astonished at our church and we want them to be astonished that we live out the teachings of Jesus.