Day 3

Lisa Scheffler, author

One thing my dear friend Shelley has encouraged me to pray in good times and bad is, “Father, what is your invitation to me in this moment?” In essence, how does he want me to learn, grow, and experience his presence in everyday life?

Well, this week, I’ve had the opportunity to pray that over and over, because I’m physically sick. As I’ve tried to power through and “get stuff done,” my body has said “nope.” So, I’ve been supremely frustrated with my mortal body. I’ve resented the pain and weakness. But I’m trying to remember to ask God what his invitation is to me is in this moment.

In addition to being reminded that we (as Shelley always phrases it) are finite human beings with limited capacity relying completely on God’s goodness and grace, I’ve also been encouraged in a fresh way by our passage from Galatians.

You see, in some ways, Galatians has been about bodies. Though it’s uncomfortable to talk about, circumcision alters the body. The Jewish Sabbath and dietary restrictions dictate to the body — what it consumes, how and when it should rest. In this passage, Paul even mentions the marks he has on his own body. Paul is not doing abstract philosophy here in this letter. His instructions will affect real, human bodies. Which is why, as I’ve struggled with illness, I’ve been encouraged by his words.

See if you can figure out why:

Read

Galatians 6:14-17

¹⁴May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. ¹⁵Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation. ¹⁶Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule—to the Israel of God.

¹⁷From now on, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.

Compare Galatians 5:6, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love” to 5:15. What do you notice?

Reflect

Notice the fascinating contrast to which commentator NT Wright draws our attention: “The ‘agitators’ have been keen to mark the bodies of the Galatians with the sign that says they belong to the ethnic family of Abraham. Paul declares that the only marks that matter on his body are the wounds he has suffered as a result of his allegiance to Jesus (verse 17). If it’s bodily marks you want, it is the signs of the cross, not of the circumciser’s knife, that matter; and the signs of the cross are the marks of persecution, the ‘wounds of Jesus’.”^[1]

Paul reminds us that our physical bodies’ condition should be understood in the context of our lives being marked by the cross. No matter whether we’re healthy or sick, physically vibrant or dealing with physical limitations,our attention can be directed toward living in a Christlike, cross-shaped way that shows sacrificial love.

Our “boast,” the focus of our lives, should be in Jesus Christ. And one way to do that is by remembering that “the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” NT Wright goes on to explain what this means: “Not only has the Messiah been crucified. Not only have Christians been crucified with him (2:19–20; 5:24). The world itself has been crucified. Calvary was the turning-point of history. The cosmos has had sentence of death passed on it—so that God’s new world, God’s new creation, can be born out of the old. This new creation began with Jesus himself at his resurrection, continues with the spirit-given new life which wells up in all those who belong to the Messiah.”^[2]

When we realize that we are part of a new creation, a new order of things, we are free to love God and love others. That’s how faith expresses itself (5:6). Christ sets us free to serve one another humble in love (5:13).

We are part of Christ’s new creation that begins in part now. Paul opens our eyes to see that following Christ is never just an individual pursuit. We must broaden our view to see the new creation as something we experience together. Scot McKnight gives this insight: “What Paul is doing here is contrasting two systems, the circumcision system of Moses and the uncircumcision system of the Gentile world. He insists it does not matter whether you are Jew or Gentile; what matters now is that there is no national circle into which one must enter to join the people of God. What matters is that you are part of God’s new people, God’s new creation, God’s new humanity.”^[3]

Rather than grouping up into rival camps such as “circumcision team” and the
“uncircumcision team,” God opens our eyes to see our unity in his new creation. No matter who we are humanly, we all come to the same cross. We are saved by the same body and blood of the one Jesus Christ, who came for all of us.

Respond

N.T. Wright sums up the message of Paul’s conclusion with a provocative question:

“How then can anyone who has glimpsed Jesus as the crucified Messiah want to cling to the values, the identity-markers, the way of life of the world that has already been pronounced dead on the cross? What matters is neither circumcision nor uncircumcision—neither the marks in the flesh of the Jew nor the absence of such marks in the Gentile. What matters is that God has unleashed upon the world his own new creation, and through the gospel of Jesus invites all to share equally in its blessings, its new life, its promises for the future.”^[4]

How can you more and more share Paul’s perspective and find encouragement in your daily life because of the new creation to come.

Have you given too much attention to the condition of our physical body compared to the attention you give to living in a Christlike way? If so, how?

How does being part of the new creation impact how you see other Christians who are different from you?

What might it look like for you to only “boast” in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ?

^[1] Tom Wright, Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 2004), 81.

^[2] Wright, 82.

^[3] Scot McKnight, Galatians, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995), 301–302.

^[4] Tom Wright, Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 2004), 82.