Grossly Overstated
Galatians 6.11-18
Introduction
Historical Application
Steinberg needs a job, and has no qualms about inventing the necessary qualifications to get it. He reasons that once he finds work, he will impress the boss so much that everything will be forgiven. After a successful initial interview with the Encyclopedia of American History, he is called back to meet the Sales Manager.
“You say you have experience selling books?” the manager asks.
“Oh yes, lots of it,” replies Steinberg
“And you say you have a master’s in American history from the University of Michigan?” the manager asks.
“That is correct,” replies Steinberg. “American history is my field of study.”
“Well, then,” says the sales manager. “With these qualifications, as soon as I can complete this form, we can get you started in our firm.”
While the sales manager is making a few notations, Steinberg, obviously pleased with himself, begins to look around the room. Steinberg notices pictures of Washington and Lincoln on the wall. Pointing to the portraits, Steinberg turns to the sales manager and says, “Fine-looking men. Your partners?” (You Make Me Laugh [You_Make_Me_Laugh@crosswalkmail.com])
Boasting has its drawbacks.
This is what the Apostle Paul is attempting to communicate.
You can put on a good show, but if there is no substance, what good is it?
Main Body:
It is those who want to make a good showing…that try to compel you to become as they are—only that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ.
Jeff Kemp, former NFL quarterback (Rams, Forty-niner’s, Seahawks, and Eagles) in Rules to Live by on and off the Playing Field writes: (Jeff Kemp, former NFL quarterback (Rams, Forty-niners, Seahawks, and Eagles) in Rules to Live by on and off the Playing Field, Imprimis, July 1998, 2.)
“Sports taught me about the vital importance of honesty. They forced me to ask questions: Am I committed to the truth? Am I willing to let my flaws be revealed so that I can do something about them? In particular, football showed me that talk is cheap. We could boast that we were going to do this or that, but it wasn’t until we were actually out on the playing field that the truth was revealed. We completed passes or we did not. We made it to the end zone or we fell short. We won or we lost. And there was plenty of game footage to provide an objective appraisal of our strengths and weaknesses.”
“There was plenty of game footage to provide an objective appraisal of their performance.
“If you are going to put on a “good show,” you had better have the means to back it up.
“Even though they do not themselves obey the law, but they want you to obey the law so that they may boast about you.
Mark Twain loved to boast of his hunting and fishing exploits.
He was returning home after a three-week fishing trip deep in the heart of Maine long after the state’s fishing season had closed, Twain retired to the lounge car in search of a suitable stranger to whom he might relate his fishing adventures.
Having struck up a friendly conversation with a prospective admirer, Twain soon found to his dismay that his boasts of a great catch elicited a grim reaction. Still Twain pressed on …
“By the way, who are you, sir?” he finally inquired. “I’m the state game warden,” the stranger growled. “Who are you?”
Twain nearly swallowed his cigar. “Well, to be perfectly truthful, warden,” he answered, thinking of his catch, iced down in the baggage car, “I’m the biggest [darn] liar in the whole United States!”
I know of a young person, 15 years old, who is 900 miles from home.
He was a loner and an introvert.
He played some sports, but only in a mediocre way.
You know, he was one of the last one’s to be picked for the sand-lot baseball game.
Now he was the world champion.
This far from home he thought no one knew him.
He could do every sport, and brag about it.
He could break the rules and brag about it.
He also had to prove himself.
When he could not all that was left was shame and self-pity.
He wound up in a dorm room, alone, and with the doorknob in his pocket.
He did the crime and so did the time.
Punishment was swift and exhausting.
Have you ever attempted to dig a ditch on theside of a hill of sand?
That person was me.
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.
The cross is an demonstration of Divine Love
John 3:16-18 (NRSVA) “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
The first verse of Of the Father’s Love Begotton written by Aurelius Clemens Prudentius
Of the Father’s love begotten, ere the worlds began to be,
He is Alpha and Omega, He the source, the ending He,
Of the things that are, that have been,
And that future years shall see, evermore and evermore!
The cross is a demonstration of Divine Righteousness
Righteousness: Romans 5:6-11 (NRSVA) For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
In our human state we were enemies.
Now we are friends, and members of the family of God.
The cross is a demonstration of Divine Power.
Power: Luke 4:1-14 (NRSVA)
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’”
Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.”
Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’”
Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’”
Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.
Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country.
The devil is defeated.
His ultimate defeat will be on resurrection day.
We have access to the greatest power on earth.
There is no reason to fear this roaring lion who goes around seeking whom he may devour.
You are lion-proof.
The cross is a demonstration Divine Wisdom.
Wisdom: 1 Corinthians 1:20-31 (NRSVA) Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.
“Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God. He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31in order that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
Christ Jesus is the source of wisdom.
Wisdom is the practical application of knowledge.
We may have knowledge of many things
There is only one source of divine knowledge.
For…a new creation is everything!
“Look at ME!!” boasted the fit old man, pounding a very flat and firm stomach, having just finished 100 sit-ups before a group of young people. “Fit as a fiddle! And you want to know why? I don’t smoke, I don’t drink, I don’t stay up late, and I don’t chase after loose women!!”
He smiled at them, teeth white, eyes aglitter, “And tomorrow — tomorrow, I’m going to celebrate my 90th birthday!!”
“Oh, really?” drawled one of the young onlookers, “How?”
If the new creation is everything, how do you celebrate it?
With the confidence that your life is on the track to the kingdom.
With the joy of knowing that your life is hidden in Christ.
Conclusion:
As for those who will follow this rule—peace be upon them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.
We are the Israel of God.
It is not the Jews that constitutes Israel, but the faithful children of Abraham.
By faith we are the children of Abraham and heirs according to the promise.
The promise is peace and mercy.
It is hard to contemplate the cross of Christ when the adrenalin is flowing, the pulse throbbing, the blood surging, the ears ringing with the jarring sounds of home and work.
The American Quaker, John Greenleaf Whittier, complained of a similar problem a century ago when he penned a poem, containing the following lines
Drop thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of thy peace.
Peace is the ability to stay calm and collected in the midst of the storm.
We are the recipients of the tender mercies of God.
Ray Beeson in That I May Know Him has observed: (Ray Beeson, That I May Know Him (Old Tappan, New Jersey: Fleming H. Revell, 1990), 37)
Justice is getting what we deserve.
Mercy is not getting what we deserve.
Grace is getting better than we deserve.
In the 19th century there was a whole genre of Wild West stories.
One of them was about an old cattle rancher who discovered that a young cowhand had been caught in the act of rustling a cow. When the thief was dragged before the rancher, he looked down at the frightened youth and said, Hang him. Nothing personal, son. I like you a lot, you understand. But we have rules here in the West. Besides, it will teach you a lesson.
One day, the old rancher died and appeared before the judgment seat of God. As he stood there, he remembered all the mean, horrible things he had done on Earth. He particularly recalled hanging that young cowboy he liked so much — and he trembled in his boots. Whereupon, the Lord God of heaven looked down upon him in mercy and tenderness and said, Forgive him. It will teach him a lesson.
We may boast, but only in the bounties of God that are shared with us through Jesus Christ.
We have an abundance of blessings.
Let the whole world know what Jesus has done for you!