Get in Step
Notes
Transcript
Get in Step - Galatians 5:16-26
Get in Step - Galatians 5:16-26
Good morning. So last week we talked the election and our responsibilities, Monday we had a new supreme court judge sworn in, and while I was at the Missouri Baptist Convention Monday and Tuesday I am happy to report that the convention voted overwhelmingly in favor of an actual resolution that calls for the complete abolition of elective abortion. I can tell you that I obviously have not been in a Missouri Southern Baptist church in a very long time, but there was a lot of talk about the disunity of years past, but friends I can reassure you that if there was ever disunity in the past, either because of COVID or for reasons before COVID, I saw more unity present this week amongst a group of churches than I have in a long time. While there were moments of some intensity and passion for topics of abortion and the use of fetal tissue derived from abortion, we all left I believe, with the correct wording necessary to promote the right to life. I call that a tremendous victory, one I believe we should take a moment and thank God for right now. Lets pray.
So this week we are going to pick up where Josh left off in Galatians 5:16-26, and we’re going to be discussing walking in the Spirit. Not spirits, the Spirit.
Last week we discussed some of the responsibilities we have as Christians to select godly leaders and hold the ungodly leaders accountable for their actions as well as holding our godly leaders accountable. This week we’re going to be discussing a similar pathway, as we discern what our walk looks like when we fail to walk in the Spirit and what it should look like when we are in the Spirit.
In the military, or marching band – any prior marching band folks here? In the military or marching band or any other activity where marching is a part of the overall function we are always told to stay in step. This presents to those watching a clean and neat appearance where the left leg moves at the same time as those around you, in front, behind, and side to side. It helps to coordinate the straightness of the lines – again, front, back, side to side – but to do so, one must also be able to see without looking the feet of those in front and the position of those beside them. But they also cannot look down or directly at the direction they are needing to see. They have to use their peripheral vision to know if they are in line with those around them and make sure that they are in step with everyone.
But what happens when they get out of step, or fail to watch through their peripheral vision? Number one, you have a gaggle of people walking in the same direction, and it is neither neat nor clean looking. Number two, you can injure someone or be injured.
Now as a Navy guy, I can tell you that we are not the best marchers. Don’t have to be, there’s not really a lot of places to march at sea. But I was in band in high school, and I played the tuba – think scrawny little guy that was more the shape of a beanpole than the stereotypical tuba player – and we danced while not playing to different cadences the drums behind us would be playing. One of those moves was to drop the sousaphone down, spin ourselves around, and come back up. Simple thing we had done countless times before. Except this time our band director was there. And he was the one not paying attention to where he was. And fortunately the sousaphones were fiberglass, not full brass. The bell of my sousaphone, that’s the big part that sticks up, struck him, hard enough to break the bell off of my sousaphone. In the main stretch of town. At the Christmas parade. Yes, I apologized, and all he said to me was to get back in there and keep marching.
And that is exactly what Paul is trying to relay to the church in Galatia in these chapters -
Get in step.
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
What Paul is trying to say here is that as long as we are in step with what God wants, we’re going to avoid sin. Again Paul knows his audience and knows that they are familiar with the Law, so he uses language they are familiar with. To walk in is metaphor for to conduct oneself, and is used multiple times in throughout the Old Testament -
You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him.
The Israelites are being commanded to walk after the Lord.
Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name.
The author(David) was asking God for the ability to walk in His truth.
But Paul is pushing for them to walk in the Spirit rather than in superficially obeying the law. What Paul is saying is essentially that they need to be listening and following the Spirit, staying in step with the Spirit in front of them.