What Large Letters

Galatians 6:11-16 (RSVUE)

See what large letters I make when I am writing in my own hand! It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who try to compel you to be circumcised—only that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. Even the circumcised do not themselves obey the law, but they want you to be circumcised so that they may boast about your flesh. May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything, but a new creation is everything! As for those who will follow this rule—peace be upon them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.

I don’t know about you, but I have what has been called “terrible penmanship.” When my schools started requiring us to write in cursive letters, it took me much longer to write and many times I couldn’t even read my own writing. So as soon as my schools started making us type everything we submitted, I stopped writing in cursive. So I sympathize with Paul here in being ashamed of writing in his own hand.

In Paul’s time, folks would hire a scribe to transcribe their dictated letters and documents in a more readable hand than most could manage. We are used to reading how Paul would only sign his signature in letters to authenticate that he indeed is the one sending it to various churches. But here, there is a message so important, that he feels he must write it in his own miserable hand.

He wants us to understand the main point of his letter to the Galatians, “neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything”! There were those in many of the congregations that Paul founded who were converted Jews. It seems that many of those Galatian Jews boasted about being circumcised…they thought they were “better” Christians because of it and encouraged or even required it to be a “true” Christian. 

Done when a male child was 8 days old, circumcision, was, for the Jews, an ultimate sign of their faith and identity as a Jew. This was important also because Jews were a protected people under Roman law, safe from persecution. It then seemed prudent that new Christians might also be able to be protected under that law. But it didn’t take long for that to get out of hand in several congregations. Paul never denigrated those who were circumcised, but he did discourage it among new Gentile converts. He saw it as an empty gesture that discounted the Grace of God. He saw those who encouraged it as “trophy hunters” for their own egos. “See how many men I have saved by getting them circumcised!” It came to be seen by some as a price to be paid for salvation.

But Paul strongly believed that there is nothing any of us can do to “earn” our salvation. It is a gift, already paid for in full. But that concept is often difficult for our fragile, human egos to process. We want to have a part in it, even if it’s a small part in our own salvation. Why? Because it makes me feel better. 

But what does that say about who we believe God is? Doesn’t it say that God needs my help to dispense Grace? Really? My actions seal the deal of God’s Grace?

Now it is true that God asks for our participation, but that is in building Christ’s Church, not in the salvation of the world. We help build Christ’s Church through our witness, our worship, our gifts, our service, and our love for one another and the world. Somehow that doesn’t seem as glamorous as our being essential to the Salvation of the World.

The “rule” Paul wishes us to follow is to live the acknowledgement that it is by God’s Grace alone that we are saved. So there is nothing about any of us of which should boast except in Christ’s work and teachings. And in following that rule, Paul wishes us peace and mercy as we work in the building of the “Israel of God” in service to the God of Israel. For Paul, that was another way of referring to the Church…the new ISRAEL of God…and God blesses those who participate in humble knowledge that we are saved by Grace, and Grace alone.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen.

— Galatians 6:18
 

Jim McGrath