ガラテヤの信徒への手紙4:8-11 Galatians 4:8-11,
ところで、あなたがたはかつて、神を知らずに、もともと神でない神々に奴隷として仕えていました。しかし、今は神を知っている、いや、むしろ神から知られているのに、なぜ、あの無力で頼りにならない支配する諸霊の下に逆戻りし、もう一度改めて奴隷として仕えようとしているのですか。 （ガラテヤ4:8-9）
パウロが「今は神を知っている」だけではなく、「いや、むしろ神から知られている」と記したのは、まことの神様がガラテヤ地方の信徒たち一人一人をこの世から選んで召し出してクリスチャンとしてくださったからです。ところが、ガラテヤ地方の信徒たちは召し出してくださった神様に背を向けて「あの無力で頼りにならない支配する諸霊の下に逆戻りし、もう一度改めて奴隷として仕えようとして」いたのでした。これはどういうことでしょか？ギリシア神話やローマ神話の神々やローマの皇帝を礼拝することに逆戻りしようとしていたということでしょうか？そうではありません。先ほどもお話しいたしましたように、「諸霊」とは「世の基本的な諸原則」のことです。そして、それはギリシア人やローマ人を支配していた固定観念だけでなく、ユダヤ人を支配していた旧約聖書の律法のことでもあるのです。
パウロが去った後にガラテヤ地方の諸教会にやって来た伝道者たちは、「キリストを信じるだけでなく、旧約聖書の律法で定められた割礼の儀式を受けなければ完全な救いは得られない」と教えました。その教えに惑わされて、異邦人のクリスチャンたちは自分たちも割礼の儀式を受けなければならないと考えるようになりました。旧約聖書の律法、特に儀式的な律法を守らなければ、完全な救いは得られないと考えるようになってしまったのです。このことは、洗礼を受ける前に異邦人のクリスチャンたちを支配していた、ギリシア神話やローマ神話の神々やローマの皇帝を礼拝するという固定観念とは違います。しかし、ユダヤ人を支配していた旧約聖書の律法も「世の基本的な諸原則」なのですから、「世の基本的な諸原則」に縛られるという点では同じです。そこで、パウロはガラテヤの諸教会の信徒たちに、なぜあなたがたは「世の基本的な諸原則」の下に逆戻りし、もう一度改めて奴隷として仕えようとしているのですか？と問いかけているのです。 （1月21日の説教より）
In Japan, there is a custom called “Hatsumoude,” where people go to visit shrines and temples at the beginning of the year. (“Hatsu” means “first” and “moude” means “visit.”) According to researchers, this custom spread from the middle of the Meiji era. In other words, the opening of the railways made it possible to visit famous shrines and temples located far from home. NHK’s programme “Yukutoshi Kurutoshi” shows people praying for happiness in the new year. I also remember going to “Hatsumoude” with my family before I was baptised as a Christian at the age of 19.
Some people who do “Hatsumoude” may be devout members of a Shinto shrine or devout followers of a Buddhist temple. However, the majority of people do not have a particular faith, but rather do “Hatsumoude” with the thought that if they pray in front of a shrine or temple for a good year, it might actually be a good year. There seem to be several stereotypes in the minds of people who do “Hatsumoude.” The first is the stereotype that it is natural for Japanese people to go to shrines and temples for “Hatsumoude.” As I mentioned earlier, “Hatsumoude” became widespread in the middle of the Meiji era (1868-1912), but many people may assume that it is a traditional custom that has existed in Japan for a long time. Secondly, there is the stereotype that by doing “Hatsumoude,” one gains but does not lose. Many people think that the cost is only the cost of transportation and small money-offering, and that the benefits they will receive will probably be more than that. Thirdly, there is the stereotype that “a good year” is a year of health and prosperity. I suspect that not many people who do “Hatsumoude,” have the idea that human beings receive God’s grace and guidance through hardship.
Starting today, we would like to listen again to the teachings of Paul’s letter to the Galatians. This letter teaches us about “what true freedom is.” And that means, in other words, “freedom from slavery.” In this case, freedom means “freedom from spiritual slavery” by faith and the Holy Spirit. In 4:3 of this letter, Paul teaches that man was in a state of slavery until he was saved by Christ. 4:3 says: “So it was with us: during our minority we were slaves, subject to the elemental spirits of the universe” (REB). “During our minority” does not literally mean under 18 or under any age. It refers to a time when mankind could not directly receive the inheritance of being “justified by God and receiving eternal life” through faith in Christ. In other words, it refers to the time before Christ was born into the world.
The Greek word stoikeia, translated “spirits” in the Japanese Bible, is the plural of the word stoikeion (στοιχεῖον). If you look up the word in a Greek lexicon, it does indeed mean “transcendent powers that are in control over events in this world.” But that is the second meaning; the first meaning is “basic components of something,” “elements.” From there, the meaning of components of the universe emerges. Celestial bodies, the components of the universe, were thought to have spiritual powers that governed the world, as seen in the practice of astrology. This is where the meanings such as “spirits” or “spiritual forces” come from.
But not only that, from the meaning of “the basic components of something” comes the meaning of “fundamental principles.” Therefore, a recent English Bible translate the word as “elementary principles” (ESV). It is easier to understand the meaning of the passage when translated in this way. In other words, verse 3 means: “In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world.”
So what exactly does it mean to be “enslaved to the elementary principles of the world”? First, for the Jews, the Old Testament law was “the elementary principles of the world.” As 3:10 says, the Jews lived as slaves to the law, being taught that “cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” Then what was it like for the non-Jewish peoples – the Greeks, Romans and other Gentiles – who were not directly given the Old Testament law? For the Gentiles, the stereotypes of their time were “the elementary principles of the world.” In New Testament times, there were stereotypes of the world, such as “Greeks should live this way” or “Romans should live this way.” These were “the elementary principles of the world” for the Gentiles, and they lived bound by them.
Christ, the Son of God, came into the world to free the people of the world from slavery to such “elementary principles of the world.” Verses 4 and 5 of chapter 4 explain this, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” This means that Christ took the curse and died on the cross on behalf of us, the human race, who cannot keep God’s law and must suffer the curse. Through this redemption of the cross, Christ paid in full on our behalf the debt that we, human beings, owe to God. In other words, he paid the precious price of the sacrifice of the cross to set us free from the slavery of the law.
In addition to this metaphor of “freedom from slavery,” Paul uses another metaphor to describe salvation by Christ. It is the metaphor of a child who becomes a child by being adopted. In other words, by believing in Christ, the Son of God, we are united to Christ and become children of God the Father in heaven. That is what is meant in verse 5: “so that we might receive adoption as sons.” Where is the evidence that those who believe in Christ become children of God? The important evidence is that there is a longing for God the Heavenly Father in the heart of the person who has believed in Christ, just as a child longs for its parents. This is shown in verse 6: “And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’” “Abba” is the term “father” used by young children when they call their father with sincere trust. Christ trusted God the Father by calling him “Abba, Father.” The fact that we have the same feeling of trust in God the Father as Christ is evidence that we have become children of God. And in verse 7, “So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.” “No longer a slave” means that you are no longer a slave bound by the Old Testament law or the stereotypes of your time. “But a son” means that you are a child of God who, like Christ, can call out “Abba, Father.” And “an heir through God” means that you are heirs to the heavenly estate of “being justified and receiving eternal life.”
In this way, Christians are freed from slavery to the stereotypes of the world, made children of God and heirs to the heavenly estate. However, the believers of the churches in Galatia were returning to the slavery of the stereotypes from which they had been liberated. This was because the evangelists who came to the churches in Galatia after Paul’s departure took Paul’s authority lightly, and taught that “not only must one believe in Christ, but one must also undergo the ritual of circumcision as prescribed by the Old Testament law to attain full salvation.” This teaching was very misleading to Gentile believers, i.e., non-Jewish believers who had come to the Christian faith. In verses 8 and 9 of today’s passage, Paul writes as follows.
Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?
The churches in Galatia are those in Antioch in Pisidia, Iconium and Lystra, which Paul and Barnabas had evangelised and established. In the region where these churches were located, there was a faith that believed in and worshipped the gods of Greek and Roman mythology. And not only that, the Roman emperors were worshipped as gods. In Antioch, a leading city in the Galatian region, there was a temple in which the Emperor Augustus was worshipped as a god. As Emperor Augustus’ birthday was 23 September, on the 23rd of each month, a ritual of offering wreaths and bull sacrifices was held in this temple to express gratitude and loyalty to Augustus and to pray to Jupiter, the supreme god of Roman mythology, for the emperor’s health and happiness. The Galatian believers would have taken part in that ritual as a matter of course before they became Christians. This is what Paul is referring to when he writes: “Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods.”
By believing in Christ, the Son of God, the Galatian believers were freed from such stereotyped worship rituals. They came to know and worship the true God. This is what Paul wrote: “But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God.” The reason he did not just say “you have come to know God” but “rather to be known by God” is that the true God has chosen and called the Galatian believers out of the world and made them Christians.
However, the Galatian believers had turned their backs on the God who had called them, and had turned back again “to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves they want to be once more.” What does this mean? Does it mean that they were trying to revert to worshipping the gods of Greek and Roman mythology and the Roman emperors? No, it does not. As I mentioned earlier, “the elementary principles of the world” are not only the stereotypes that dominated the Greeks and Romans, but also the Old Testament law that governed the Jews. The evangelists who came to the churches in Galatia after Paul’s departure taught that “not only must you believe in Christ, but you must also undergo the ritual of circumcision as prescribed by the Old Testament law to attain full salvation.” Misled by this teaching, Gentile Christians came to believe that they too had to undergo the ritual of circumcision. They came to believe that they could not attain full salvation without keeping the Old Testament law, especially the ceremonial law. This is different from the stereotypes of worshipping Greek and Roman mythological gods and Roman emperors that dominated Gentile Christians before their baptism. However, it is the same in that they are bound by “the elementary principles of the world,” since the Old Testament laws that governed the Jews are also “the elementary principles of the world.” So Paul asks the Galatian believers, “how can you turn back again” to “the elementary principles of the world” and serving them as slaves once more?
In the following verses 10 and 11, Paul says: “You observe days and months and seasons and years! I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.” “Days and months and seasons and years” may refer to the Sabbath, various festivals and years of rest, etc. as set out in the Old Testament law. These are recorded in chapters 23 and 25 of the book of Leviticus. This means that the Galatian believers were misled by the evangelists who came Paul’s departure into thinking that in order to attain full salvation, they not only had to undergo the ritual of circumcision, but also keep the Sabbath, the various festivals, the year of rest, etc. Thus, if the Galatian believers thought that they had to keep the Old Testament law in order to attain full salvation, then Paul’s efforts to painstakingly teach that “human beings are saved by faith in Christ” may have been in vain. So Paul writes frankly in verse 11: “I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.”
At the beginning of today’s sermon, I spoke about the custom of “Hatsumoude.” I said that there are several stereotypes in the minds of people who make “Hatsumoude.” I am sure that the people who do “Hatsumoude” do not think that they are slaves to stereotypes. They probably think that they go to “Hatsumoude” of their own free will. However, what they think of as their free will is in fact bound by stereotypes without realising it. The frightening thing about stereotypes is that they bind you without you realising it.
Now, then, what about Sunday services in Christian churches? Do we gather at church on Sundays with the stereotype that Christians are supposed to go to church on Sundays? Certainly, in order to create a steady rhythm in our weekly life, the idea that “Christians are supposed to go to church on Sundays” is necessary in some respects. However, we do not gather at church on Sundays simply because of stereotypes. It is in order to hear God’s word and to give repentance and thanks to God that we gather at church on Sundays. In order to commune with God, the source of life, and to receive new life. In order to return to God the Father as free children of God, to receive forgiveness of sins and to be sent out by God the Father into a new week. As those who have been set free by Christ, let us begin each week anew by offering worship to the true God on the first day of the week.