For Freedom Christ Has Set You Free

This meditation is based on a passage for February 3, 2011 in the Daily Lectionary Year 1 from the Book of Common Worship for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (1993).

Text: Galatians 5:1-15

Reflection and Question: As far as I can see, circumcision is completely non-controversial in the church. My husband and I had our sons circumcised for hygienic reasons, not theological ones. But Paul is beside himself over the prevalence in Galatia of Christian teachers who were insisting that believers be circumcised. Since circumcision is not controversial today, how can we apply to our lives the lesson Paul is trying to teach here? We can apply Paul’s conclusion to what is controversial in the church now: the imposition of Levitical law upon lesbian, gay bisexual, transgender Christians by some. Given our freedom, how do we become slaves through love?

Prayer: Holy Spirit, we are ashamed of how prone we are to bite and devour one another in the church despite Paul’s warning that we are in danger of consuming one another. Blessed by our freedom, may we love others by protecting theirs. Amen.