Galatians 5:1-6
Luke 11:37-41
Faith working through love.
There is a phrase that I have found floating around various English-speaking divines throughout history, which describes both the goal and the experience of the Christian faith: “true happiness”, or “true contentment”. It is worth keeping around in our spiritual pocket, to pull out and remind ourselves about regularly.
The Christian’s true contentment comes about in a spiritual manner. It is not when we have lots of things or stuff, or when we are surrounded by people who cheer us up. It is something deeper, or higher – just plain bigger. It is when we consider our standing before God, and how we are loved beyond reckoning because we stand there “in Christ Jesus”.
St Paul is writing to the church in Galatia because there are certain people trying to wreck their true contentment. They are coming in and saying that if you want to be right before God, you must get circumcised, just like Abraham did. Since St Paul is full of love for the Galatians, he writes to them and explains that Abraham was content in his faith, and God loved Abraham for his faith. The circumcision came afterwards (and anyway, it was a sign pointing to Christ, but that is a story for another time).
He writes triumphantly that circumcision – whether you have or not – counts for nothing. In Christ Jesus, only faith working through love counts. And this is our true contentment. Do you place your faith in Christ Jesus to make you right? Do you express that faith through your love? Then that is what counts; that is the source of your true contentment.
In our Gospel reading, we heard Jesus speak along much the same lines, but in a different context. He didn’t go through the big song and dance of the pre-dinner ceremonial washing. In response to his critics, he turns the tables on them. They “clean the outside of the cup” (they do the big ritual) but “inside” they are full of greed and wickedness (their hearts are not right before God). Not only are they condemned as hypocrites, they have no true contentment, for God sees into the heart. Their clean hands count for nothing.
And so let us consider our own true contentment – that we are in Christ Jesus by faith. And let us prove this to ourselves by working that faith through love. Perhaps there is a gap in your love towards God – look to doing something about it, not through fear, but to prove your faith. Whatever it is, you will not experience a loss, but rather a gain, since the joy of working your faith through your love can only add to that sense of “a Christian’s true happiness”.