02-02-24

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
February 2, 2024
This Sunday, I will be drawing upon some language from the Apostle Paul, specifically the language of “a new creation.” Though I will be referencing Paul’s Second Letter to the Church in Corinth, it is language that he used on multiple occasions, including in Galatians 6, where we read, “Being circumcised or not being circumcised doesn’t mean anything. What matters is a new creation.” This comes toward the end of this letter, shortly after he encourages his readers to “…let us not grow weary in doing what is right.” Circumcision was (and remains) an important symbol within the Jewish tradition, a physical reminder of the covenant God made with Abraham. Yet Paul, who had been circumcised as a baby because he was born a Jew, was very outspoken against circumcision, in part because there were those who believed a Gentile convert to Christianity had to first be circumcised. Paul couldn’t have disagreed more. Though as adamant as he might have appeared, at the end of the day, he wanted to make sure that whether someone was circumcised or not (or might choose to be circumcised or not), the practice should not skew what was really important. When it comes to the life of faith, we are to be different people, not simply (for males) because a portion of the foreskin has been removed. The change should not be cosmetic or superficial but deeply rooted in a person’s identity, priorities, and way of viewing the world. When we join Paul in saying, “We are a new creation,” does the world look at us and see a life that looks radically different from someone who is not following the ways of Jesus?

Through faith, Lord God, I pray for my life to look dramatically different from how it might have looked had I chosen not to follow Jesus. I know there are plenty of token and perfunctory actions I can choose as a way of giving an appearance of a great reverence, but at the end of the day, I desire for my life to represent the life of the one whose love embraced all, Jesus Christ. Amen.