Galatians 2:1-10: ¹Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. ²I went up in response to a revelation. Then I laid before them (though only in a private meeting with the acknowledged leaders) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure that I was not running, or had not run, in vain. ³But even Titus, who was with me, was not compelled to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. ⁴But because of false believers secretly brought in, who slipped in to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might enslave us- ⁵we did not submit to them even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might always remain with you. ⁶And from those who were supposed to be acknowledged leaders (what they actually were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality) -those leaders contributed nothing to me. ⁷On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel for the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel for the circumcised ⁸(for he who worked through Peter making him an apostle to the circumcised also worked through me in sending me to the Gentiles), ⁹and when James and Cephas and John, who were acknowledged pillars, recognized the grace that had been given to me, they gave to Barnabas and me the right hand of fellowship, agreeing that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. ¹⁰They asked only one thing, that we remember the poor, which was actually what I was eager to do.

We all like to consider ourselves important. What would life for others be like if we had never been born? If we had been born elsewhere? If we had been born into a different kind of family?

Paul gets defensive in Galatians. People in these congregations did not want to listen to him. To them he was a nobody. He had not been a disciple. He had a private vision of Jesus that none of them had seen or could confirm. Galatians 1-2 are Paul's presentation of his Christian credentials. He did not go to those who were carping against him. He went to those who were of repute.

I experienced pain when I began my parish ministry. I was not as forceful and "pulpit pounding" as some of my predecessors. I believed that the Scriptures said that the power is in the Word, not the voice. One elder and his family were so harsh and critical that he brought me to tears at times in elders' meetings. The issue never did resolve with some of them. I went to my district president and laid out what I was teaching and preaching. Had he told me that he had the same concerns I would probably have been out of the ministry. Instead, he said that he had had the same experience as a young pastor and affirmed my ministry. Others in the congregation were much more supportive.

Paul was Jewish but he was saying that Judaism could not resolve the problems of eternal salvation. Only Christ could do that. He had opponents who said that converts were to be circumcised and become "Jewish" as well as Christian. He taught that Christ's death and resurrection changed the old ways forever. We are free in Christ and bound to Christ, not to Abraham. But we do not perform our way into the relationship. We need to keep hearing about it and never grow tired of the Gospel. Jesus, AND ... NOTHING ELSE! Those who tried to play Peter and Paul off against each other would be outside the faith!

James, Peter, and John, the reputed pillars, gave the right hand of fellowship to Paul and Barnabas. May we seek to listen and tell the Gospel in its fullness. May we grow in discerning the wheat from the chaff. Let us share what we tell and confidently boast of the hope that fills us in Christ as Lord and Savior. Remember, the seed must be planted. May it be fruitful as you live in Christ. May we love with his forgiving love.

In Christ our Lord and Savior,
Pastor Thomas Trapp