2025.09.28 | Children of Faith, One in Christ
“Children of Faith, United in Christ”
A sermon preached at Eden United Church of Christ
in Hayward, California,
on Sunday, September 28, 2025,
by the Rev. Ashley Wai’olu Moore.
Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Scripture: Galatians 3:23–29
Good morning, Beloveds.
Over the last few months, we have explored how God’s abundance is supposed to be available to all, that God’s Shalom is intended to be over all creation. We celebrated Pentecost, the day in which the Spirit of God was poured out over all flesh - language barriers fell, as did cultural divides and the Christian church was born. We talked about the freedom to heal, to sing, to follow, to move forward, to rise, to open and to love. We explored the transformation that the Spirit brings, whereby the love that opens in us through Jesus also motivates us to serve one another because of that love, giving birth to the Fruits of the Spirit that subsequently pour forth from us. And over the last six weeks we’ve considered how our creator continues calling on our unique gifts, weaving us together into a community of faith within the tapestry of communities of faith around the world.
We ARE Children of Faith, United in Christ! Though we are many, we are one body. United through Christ’s love. Amen?
The passage that Kern read a moment ago was from Paul’s letter to the churches in Galatia, advising them that “God is no respecter of persons,” meaning that God does not show partiality or favoritism based on race, social status, or any other human distinctions. What’s more, he emphasized that everyone is now united in Christ Jesus.
But he is not denigrating difference or diversity, but rather is saying that God loves all of us. We know that God loves diversity, just look at the beautiful complex multiplicity of creation, like the abundant varieties of flowers blossoming uniquely, beautifully, brilliantly across the world, illustrating the multitudinous varieties of God’s artistic expressions. While we readily accept the diverse forms of creatures, plants, trees, species, and even the diverse expressions within those categories, humans routinely seek to limit the definitions of what is acceptable human diversity. Paul’s metaphor about “the body of Christ” recognizes diversity and unity, saying all are necessary and play a role in the body of Christ.
These were radical statements from someone who had been a prominent Pharisee. Not only do such statements contradict Mosaic teachings, they undermine the entire Roman kyriarchy – which was dangerous. But who was Paul and how did he come to this moment? Why was he writing this letter and espousing such a profound new theology?
The letter to the Galatians was written by the Apostle Paul in the middle of the first century AD. Before we can truly appreciate the significance of these passages and why it matters that Paul was their author, we need to talk about who Paul was and understand his background.
Paul
Saul was born around 5 AD in Tarsus of Cilicia which today is in southern Turkey.
His Hebrew name was Shaul (or Saul) but was also known as Paulo, depending on the context.
He came from a wealthy Jewish family but was a Roman citizen by birthright. His father was a Pharisee.
Since Tarsus was a major trade center and a Roman territory, Saul’s family would have been exposed to a cosmopolitan mix of people and traditions.
He received a classical Hellenistic education and was fluent in Greek, Koina & Hebrew.
But Saul self-identified as a Jew and remained a Jew all his life.
Being both a Jew and a Roman citizen may have resulted in a complicated, intersectional identity for Saul. A need to prove his ‘Jewishness’ may have been a factor in fueling his subsequent religious zealotry.
Around the age of 10, Saul went to Jerusalem and studied with the Sanhedrin Rabbi Gamaliel the Elder who was highly esteemed as a Pharisee doctor of Jewish law.
Saul then became a learned Pharisee himself.
What is a Pharisee? The Pharisees were Jewish sect during the Second Temple period and were distinguished by a strict observance of traditional and written Mosaic Law and commonly held to have pretensions to superior sanctity. They were the separatists of their day and the principal Jewish sect in the time of Jesus. One of the things that is said to have characterized the Pharisees is that they were quick to point out other people’s sins or lack of holiness. They desired that such sinners be dealt with harshly. As a Pharisee and Jewish male, Saul would have been required to keep his distance from, and not be defiled by, those considered to be “other” in order to keep his soul divine and pure. This included Gentiles, women, and slaves.
As a Pharisee, Saul would also have been trained in the tradition of midrash. Midrash is biblical exegesis by ancient Judaic authorities, using a mode of interpretation prominent in the Talmud. Reverend and Hebrew scholar Wilda C. Gafney explains that Midrash and rabbinic readings "discern value in texts, words, and letters, as potential revelatory spaces…They reimagine dominant narrative readings while crafting new ones to stand alongside—not replace—former readings. Midrash also asks questions of the text; sometimes it provides answers, sometimes it leaves the reader to find answers.
So Saul became a Pharisee, a Rabbi with deep knowledge and strictest observance of Mosaic law. At the time we first encounter him in the Bible, Saul is a zealous, competitive 25-year old Pharisee who has already earned a reputation as a “Pharisee’s Pharisee.”
He considered himself a defender of the faith, particularly against the fledgling Jesus followers.
After approving of the killing of Stephen, he became the chief persecutor of the followers of Jesus. In Acts 8, he is depicted breaking into houses and dragging the followers of Jesus off to prison, binding them to the point of death. With the backing of the high priest, he set out to wage a terror campaign against them.
Early in his letter to the Galatians, (1) he says, “you have heard about my former way of life in Judaism: I persecuted God’s church to an extreme degree and tried to destroy it. I advanced in Judaism beyond many contemporaries among my people, because I was extremely zealous for the traditions of my ancestors.”
And in Acts 26 says, “I was convinced that I ought to do many things against the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And that is what I did in Jerusalem; with authority received from the chief priests, I not only locked up many of the saints in prison, but I also cast my vote against them when they were being condemned to death. By punishing them often in all the synagogues I tried to force them to blaspheme; and since I was so furiously enraged at them, I pursued them even to foreign cities.” (2)
So Saul was a highly educated, religious zealot turned domestic terrorist who was determined to destroy the Jesus movement. But then he famously encountered the resurrected Jesus on the road to Damascus. Now, we all know this part of the story, right? How Saul had a mystical encounter, a theophany with Jesus?
There are three different accounts of this story in the Bible. These are found in Acts 9, Acts 22 and Acts 26. Not all the details are the same, but we all know the pertinent details:
While travelling on the road, a bright light shone around Saul
Then he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” to which he asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”
Then he is told to get up and go into Damascus, where he will be given instruction about what Jesus wants him to do.
Inflection point
We know from the scriptures and historical accounts that Saul’s life and trajectory was forever changed by his encounter. After receiving instructions about what Jesus wanted him to do, he abandoned his former plans, his former life, picked up and headed off to Arabia for three years to teach and testify about Jesus. He ceased persecuting the followers of Jesus and instead became the most influential proponent of the faith in his day.
He did not, however, stop being Jewish nor did he believe his new understanding to be at odds with his Pharisaic understanding of Mosaic law. Indeed, he believed that the eschatological writings of the prophets were being fulfilled! But throughout his writings, you can see Paul wrestling with these aspects of himself, trying to use his Pharisaic training to understand his new mission and guide his teaching. He often employs the exegetical technique of the Midrash along-side his training in the use of rhetoric to do so.
Paul reported that Jesus appointed him to go to the Gentiles, serve and testify to the things he had seen, to open their eyes so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Jesus.
Galatians
Paul wrote this letter to the fledgling Christian church in Galatia because he had heard that they had been influenced by the theology of a competing group of Jesus followers. In particular, he is concerned with the controversy that surrounded Gentile Christians and Mosaic Law. The other group of Jesus followers believed that Gentiles needed to convert to Judaism and follow Mosaic custom in order to be welcomed into the fold. Paul, the Pharisee’s Pharisee, strongly disagreed and argued that “if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.” He’s upset that the Galatians might be coerced into converting to Judaism and become, in his words, “enslaved” to Mosaic law.
In the text you can see him employing his training to reason out how Gentiles have been grafted into Israel and been sanctified (or saved) by faith alone. Paul employs Midrash to work-out the theology and make his point. He is engaging with the readings of the Torah and crafting new language to stand alongside—not replace—former readings.
He points out that the promise and the blessing that God gave to Abraham in Genesis 17:7 preceded the giving of the 10 Commandments (Decalogue) and the establishment of Mosaic law by more than 400 years. Moreover, he reasons that God’s blessing and promise were given because of Abraham’s faith and faithfulness. In Galatians 3 he says “Just as Abraham believed, then understand that those who believe God are the descendants of Abraham and heirs according to the promise. The scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, declared this gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “All the Gentiles shall be blessed in you.” For this reason, those who believe are blessed with Abraham who believed.”
Paul is setting this understanding alongside the Torah text. He is proclaiming that the blessing of Abraham extends to all believers through faith in Christ.
You see, Paul believed the new creation he’d been expecting to be ushered in with the messiah, the one foretold by his favorite prophet Isaiah, was now unfolding. In this new creation, the kinds of division which the Pharisee’s believed were sacrosanct and the Romans enforced in their hierarchical house codes had all been rendered meaningless.
So, in his letter to the Galatians, Paul is calling on the new believers in Galatia, as well as Peter, James, Barnabas and all other Jesus followers to live according to the new creation. This is why he tells them “Now that faith has come, we are no longer imprisoned under the law, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith…There is no longer Jew nor Greek, there is no longer slave nor free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.” (3)
This means that we do not have to earn God’s love or justification. God loves you and there is nothing you can do about it. As Paul goes on to say “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ has set you free from the law of sin and of death.” (4) “Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” (5) “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (6)
Through his teachings and testimonials, we can see that Paul experienced a profound transformation. The theophany he experienced on the road to Damascus utterly changed his life. And the resulting theological epiphany changed the world. He ceased persecuting the Jesus movement and instead became its great champion.
As a Pharisee’s Pharisee, he had been obsessed with enforcing Mosaic Law and lashed out to destroy those who did not conform. This is why his writings to Galatia are so profound.
In 2025, we are living in an age where there are zealots who are convinced of the supremacy of their own ideologies and increasingly feel empowered to try to control others and emboldened to use aggression, violence and even murder to enact that control. Some of them are using the Bible to justify their actions. This is not just authoritarianism, not just fascism, not just terrorism, but spiritual warfare. But “Stand firm…and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” (7) To break free of this oppression, we need to protect ourselves with the full armor that God has provided for us in the leading of the Spirit. We need places like this place, Eden Church, where we can find sanctuary among God’s loving community, and where we can receive the spiritual sustenance and edification not only to survive, but to partner in building God’s Kin-dom. Amen?
As Children of Faith, United in Christ, we have been set free. Nothing now can separate us from the love of God. In these challenging times, we must learn to trust in the Holy Spirit’s guidance, allowing the love that opens in us through Jesus to help us care for one another and combat the fear we face.
If we are listening and responding as a community, then we can collectively be working and co-creating with God, rebuilding SHALOM and being agents of goodness and healing against the evil powers of our time. As the Body of Christ, we must endeavor to challenge, repair or dismantle the kyriarchal systems of structural evil and violence, and bear witness with “a love that calls for justice and joy.” Let the Fruit of the Spirit guide us to live as John Wesley encouraged us:
“(To) do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.”
Amen.
Galatians 1:13-14
Acts 26:9-11
Galatians 3:25-29
Romans 8:1-2
Galatians 5:1
Romans 8:38-39
Galatians 5:1