Y’all, I’m angry.
It is the sort of anger that just gnaws at me. It is the sort of anger that simmers and just looks for a chance to boil over.
When I was studying Galatians to preach on Sunday, I was really thankful to learn that Galatians is Paul’s angry letter. He is so mad that he calls the Galatians fools. But in his anger, Paul manages to write a letter that proclaims the freedom Christ offers and our equality and unity in Christ. Paul’s anger is transformed.
We have a lot that we can be angry about these days, but how can our anger be transformed into something that is loving. Paul keeps turning us towards each other. This week our bishop wrote, “Living as if love is abundant means we’re more likely to remember that regardless of our varied positions, we are all God’s beloved children.”
So however we are feeling these days, we can’t lose sight of each other.
Dear Church—let us be free to love each other.
A sermon for the Church of the Messiah in Heflin, Alabama, on the 3rd Sunday after Pentecost, 06/26/22:
Principal text: Galatians 5:1, 13-25
Coming next
The often-overlooked “second lesson” of the Sunday liturgy is typically a reading from one of the New Testament Epistles. This summer we will take some time to learn more about these letters that shaped early Christian theology.
July 3 - St. Barnabas, Roanoke — Galatians 6:1-16
July 10 - Church of the Messiah, Heflin — Colossians 1:1-14
July 17 - TBD — Colossians 1:15-28
July 24 - Church of the Messiah, Heflin — Colossians 2:6-15, (16-19)
July 31 - St. Andrew’s, Birmingham — Colossians 3:1-11
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