The First Paul
One of the things I enjoy doing most is teaching. From the great Reformer, Martin Luther’s, perspective, it comes only after preaching as one of the greatest things a person can do. That I get to do both of these is fulfilling and a challenge. And one of the places I have the most fun teaching is right in our own church, in the Foster Room on Sunday mornings.
Last Sunday we began our study of Paul’s letter to the Galatians. My New Oxford Annotated Study Bible refers to Galatians as the “Magna Charter of Christian Liberty.” That is quite a statement. And it is accurate, I think. In this letter you will hear Paul promote gender equality. Those who oppose the ordination of women have a problem with this letter and they have an interpretive problem since it conflicts with other statements attributed to the apostle in later and spurious layers and letters. What we discovered this past Sunday was the emotion and passion of this thirteenth apostle. He began with a standard salutation and then immediately launched off into a screed against those who had turned their backs on the gospel of liberty he preached. So it’s quite exhilarating to be in touch with not only great themes and theological ideas but also the emotion and tension that was apparently boiling over in the Early Church.
As a professor at Howard Divinity teaching the introduction to Church History, I am constantly struck by how we in the so-called modern world end up fighting over things that were fought over and many times resolved centuries ago. It would do us well to learn the lessons of history so that we might apply them to our own congregational and individual lives. This is another reason to join us on Sundays at 9 a.m. That may seem early but my guess is that six days out of seven, you are up long before then. It is actually mid morning—Christ had been risen from the dead at least three hours before then…. why not make the effort to join us in study? We will begin chapter two of Galatians this coming Sunday. I am also reading John Crossan and Marcus Borg’s The First Paul, a book that critically examines the life of the apostle. I recommend it to you.
We have sprung ahead one hour. Spring is around the corner. Easter is fast approaching. We can put the memories of a harsh winter behind us and resolve to get up, get involved and be an active part of what is truly a wonderful fellowship of Christians worshipping at the corner of I and 7th Streets and Maine Avenue in SW DC. I hope to see you soon!
