VOLUME X • Number 11 • June 2009

Galatians 4:1-11 My point is this: heirs, as long as they are minors, are no better than slaves, though they are the owners of all the property; ²but they remain under guardians and trustees until the date set by the father. ³So with us; while we were minors, we were enslaved to the elemental spirits of the world. ⁴But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, ⁵in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. ⁶And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" ⁷So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God. ⁸Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to beings that by nature are not gods. ⁹Now, however, that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and beggarly elemental spirits? How can you want to be enslaved to them again? ¹⁰You are observing special days, and months, and seasons, and years. ¹¹I am afraid that my work for you may have been wasted.

Grow up! We say that to each other when someone does something that we consider juvenile. Maybe it is a violent outburst. Maybe it is leaving a mess. Maybe it is forgetting to pay bills or to say thank you. Parents and teachers (and pastors) do much more than impart information. We all need formation as well, as we are growing up.

Paul reminds the Galatians that God gave the Law to guide and form his people. He gave it to keep them from wandering away into trouble, while growing up. Terrible sadness comes at the funeral of a child who wanders away and is hit by a car as well as at the hospital when visiting a child who has been injured due to negligence. Our God does not want us hurt either.

But there comes a time when one no longer needs to be lectured about every little thing. We become aware internally of what needs to be done. God has done the same thing for us. IN CHRIST, we have become grown-ups. In our being, by baptism, God has installed the desire and ability to love and serve him without pressure.

We do not need to be motivated by fear or threat (or reward). As sons and daughters THROUGH CHRIST, who died in the tragic collision with God's own wrath after humans wandered away, we are now children of a loving Father, our Abba, and heirs of all he promises. We are reminded not to turn back to being independent of God, to yearn instead to hear of our Father's love, a grown-up thing to do. May that Good News touch your heart and move you to worship and serve him with joy! Not pressure, but invitation!

In Christ our Lord and Savior,
Pastor Thomas Trapp

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