It all starts with Christ

Rhona Cathcart September 01, 2024 0 0

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Galatians 1:1 (NIV)

1 Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by a man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead—

If you were to leaf through your Bible, looking for Galatians, you would find it pretty close to the end. In the volume sitting beside me just now, for example, Galatians begins on page 1,898 of a 2,035 page Bible. Even if you just read the New Testament, you’d be almost three quarters of the way through before you got to Galatians.

And yet, Galatians is, quite probably, the oldest of our New Testament books. It may have been written around the same time as Romans, in the late 50s AD, but there is enough evidence for many scholars to date it from the late 40s. If we accept this argument, then this letter is the one in which we are first introduced to Paul.

Some of his original Galatian listeners, those who hadn’t met him in person when he visited, might also have been hearing his voice, as read out to them, for the first time.

Hearing Paul introduce himself to me this week I was struck by the idea that Paul and the Church of Scotland Guild have something fundamental in common.

It’s not that I picture Paul serving tea and what in Aberdeenshire we call ‘fine pieces’ on his best china.

But Paul begins his introduction by telling his listeners the most important thing about himself, namely who sent him. This reminds me of the Guild’s motto “whose we are and whom we serve”.

Like the Guild, Paul vocally and publicly sets his whole identity and purpose in the one to whom he belongs.

The Guild does an astonishing amount of good work — fundraising and awareness raising for a wide range of national and international projects. But that’s not who they are, any more than tea and china are. Who they are is whose they are. Paul couldn’t agree more.

Pray:

God,

You do not belong to us,

A power or name we can call on to promote or protect our own identity.

We belong to you.

Wholly ourselves

yet wholly yours

through Jesus’ holy name.

Amen