Dear Keystone,
“Let us not grow weary in doing what is right.” (Galatians 6:9) This exhortation, which Paul uses in his closing of the letter to the church communities in Galatia, is easier said than done. At this time when our news feeds are full of pictures of emaciated children, videos of our neighbors being kidnapped and disappeared, and stories of politicians and millionaires breaking the law with impunity, it can be easy to grow weary. Capitalism, the domination system, the consumer culture all thrive on isolation and overwhelm, leading individuals into weariness and feelings of powerlessness.
The antidote to weariness lies in community. We reach out our hands to one another, welcoming one another with extravagance, courage, and unconditional love. We follow in the steps of Jesus, our friend, who showed us the way to create a new humanity beyond the small divisions which can wear us down.
Keystone is a small community, and we find strength and power in our connections with other small communities in a web of care: St. Paul’s and Prospect UCC – our tri-church sisterhood; the communities that share our building, the Seattle Taiwanese Christian Church, Living Water Inclusive Catholic Community, the Seattle Peace Chorus and the Seattle Labor Chorus. We now host Wallingford Indivisible and other resistance groups. We also remain strongly connected to the Faith Action Network, Nueva Trinidad in El Salvador, and of course the Justice Leadership Program. The early Christian communities that Paul established were each unique, but connected by the same web of care. At one point in his letter to the Galatians, Paul mentions that the “O.G.” Christian community in Jerusalem had approved of his preaching the Gospel to other diverse communities, as long as they all “continued to remember the poor” (Galatians 2:10).
Of course, some communities were regarded with suspicion, particularly the Galatians, who were – as I told you a few weeks ago – considered to be barbarians by the Romans. They struggled alongside other gentile and Jewish communities to stay true to the Way of Jesus in the face of the domination and brutality of Rome, which included the requirement to worship the Emperor as a God. In the face of persecution, Paul encouraged them to avoid dissention, bitterness, and dividing into factions - or worst of all, falling back into the cult activities of Rome. In his letter, Paul begs them to live by the Spirit, and to remember the Cross of Christ, which gives them a common identity and true unity in their differences.
In her book, Christianity After Religion, Diana Butler Bass writes that we are in the middle of what she calls a “Fourth Great Awakening,” times in which “old patterns of religious life gave way to new ones and, eventually, spawned new forms of organizations and institutions.” Like Bass, I believe that Christianity can and must evolve from its tribalism and dogmatism into a vibrant community of faith where “all will be one in communion with God, in harmony with the cosmos, loving each other.”
I believe this was Paul’s vision as well, which is why I will be preaching a mini “summer sermon series” on Paul’s letter to the Galatians in August. I hope you will enjoy diving deeper into this short but incredibly influential letter.
Blessings
Pastor Adina