The Gospel Is Worth Fighting For!

14th Sunday after Pentecost, 9/3/23 Galatians 2:11-16 The Gospel Is Worth Fighting For! I. Because it’s the only message that saves sinners II. As a congregation of Christians committed to each other It was an ad that was wildly successful in the 1960s and 1970s, but by law it can’t be used today. It was the ad for Tarryton cigarettes that appeared first in magazines and then on television commercials. The ad would feature an actor or actress with a Tarryton cigarette in hand and a black eye created with make-up. And, if you’re 60 or older, you might be able to recall the ad’s slogan. “Us Tarryton smokers would rather fight than switch.” In a market that was intensely competitive, brand loyalty was critical to brand success. I’m serious when I state that I hope that ad isn’t appealing to any of us today, but I’d like to know…what are you willing to fight for? I’m hoping you’d fight for your children’s health and welfare. I hope you would give up your life for your spouse and your children. Perhaps even your dear friends. Animal lovers would likely fight for their dear pet. But is there anything—something inanimate—that you’d be willing to fight for today? We have so many quality choices in our lives, that being willing literally to fight to make sure we have the option of choosing one particular thing we enjoy might not seem worth it to you. I would never state that the event in our text from Galatians 2 this morning is a description of a physical fight. No punches were exchanged. But there was a point of serious contention between two pillars of the early Christian church—the Apostle Peter and the Apostle Paul. And it was a contention over the most serious and most important issue in the history of the sinful world—the gospel of Jesus Christ. In a nutshell, it was a contention over the answers to the questions, “How are sinners saved from punishment in hell? How do sinners get to heaven?” There is no more important truth than the gospel—the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ. If you lost everything in your life except the gospel, you would still have everything your God wants for you, everything you truly need. So, don’t give it up! Don’t let go of it! Don’t compromise it in any way! The Gospel is worth fighting for! Let’s see why and how as we dig into this event described by Paul in Galatians 2, which might not be all that familiar to you. Part I. When I read these words of Galatians 2 a little earlier, you might have been startled. Paul confronted Peter to his face? Why? What was the problem? What was going on? Paul established Christian congregations in Galatia—modern central Turkey—on his first missionary journey. Shortly after he returned to the Holy Land, a meeting called the Jerusalem Council was held. The Jewish Christians were aware that Gentiles were converting to Christianity in huge numbers, and the question was raised, “Do the Gentile Christians need to believe in Jesus as their Savior and follow certain Jewish laws and customs in order to be saved? There was a powerful and popular segment of Jewish Christians whom theologians call “Judaizers” who insisted that they must. The Jerusalem Council studied the matter and issued an official statement which declared that Gentile Christians do not need to obey such Jewish laws to be saved. That decision was circulated throughout Christianity. But the Judaizers didn’t give up so easily. They infiltrated the congregations that Paul established in Galatia and spread their doctrinal poison. In effect, they were stating that you were saved by faith and works, not just by faith in Jesus alone. In order to make his point with the Galatian Christians, Paul referred to an incident that had recently occurred in the city of Antioch, one of the two early centers of Christianity. Peter had come from Jerusalem to visit the Antioch congregation which included Jews and Gentiles, and, in keeping with the decision of the Jerusalem Council, he freely ate meals with Gentiles, which were not kosher. But, when some other Jewish Christians from Jerusalem visited, Peter drew back from associating with Gentile Christians, and only ate kosher meals with his fellow Jewish Christians. You and I might look at this situation and agree that Peter was playing favorites and wasn’t very kind, and that’s all. But Paul realized what was at stake. By his actions, Peter was making the statement that you must believe in Jesus and follow Jewish laws and customs in order to be saved. And Paul called him out on it publicly. Paul called Peter’s actions hypocrisy—a stinging charge for any Christian to make about another Christian. And, thanks be to God, Peter realized his sin and repented. The matter was over, at least right then and there. But this false teaching didn’t die. Satan knows how enticing it is. If he can’t get Christians to deny that Jesus is their Savior, then he dupes them into thinking there is something they can and must do to be saved. And that’s diametrically opposed to the gospel. Paul wrote, “We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.” Permit me to repeat Paul’s first sentence, “We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ.” Paul is saying that salvation by faith alone is not something new. It’s what God shared with the Jews from day one. He never meant for the Jews to obey Jewish laws to be saved. That’s preposterous! It can’t be done! We are saved only by faith in Jesus. That’s the gospel and the gospel is worth fighting for because it’s the only message which saves sinners. Praise God that we know and believe that very truth! In a godly way, we confessional Lutherans are proud of that truth. But that doesn’t mean we don’t struggle with it. Again, if Satan can’t get us to deny that Jesus is our Savior, then he will tempt us to think that we’re worth something on our own and so are the things we do. It’s so easy to look at the mass of humanity and feel superior. It’s so easy to feel good about ourselves for rejecting the sinful ways of our world. It’s so easy to feel secure about our relationship with Jesus because of who we are and what we do for the Lord. Look how often we even look down on other Christians for what they do or don’t do. That’s not the gospel! That’s adulterating the gospel with hellish lies. Fight against that thinking! Fight against that self-opinion! Fight for the gospel! It’s worth it, eternally worth it. Begin that fight with a confession. “Lord, there’s not a single day of my life when I haven’t trashed your holy law, especially with my thoughts and attitudes. Forgive me in Christ, in Christ alone.” And he does! Because that’s the gospel! He forgives us for the sake of Jesus. That’s a truth worth fighting for! Part II. In a breakout group at a WELS conference last January, I heard a laymen ask a penetrating question. The discussion revolved around coming out of COVID and getting church members active again. He shared this advice, “Ask people what membership in your congregation means.” What does membership mean? I suppose there are many answers to that question. And one of them is that we watch out for each other. We care for each other spiritually. It’s what the Lord described in his words through Ezekiel which we heard earlier. We are to be watchmen for our sisters and brothers in the faith. We are responsible to help them, calling them to repentance when they sin. And in today’s Gospel reading from Mattew 18, Jesus shared with us the approach we’re to use. We lovingly, patiently, repeatedly approach them and point out their sin and call them to repent. The goal is to win our sister and brother over, to help them realize that their sin is separating them from Jesus and from eternal life. As we do so, we pray for the Lord’s help and guidance and blessing. But that’s not a popular path for Christians to take. In fact, sad to say, in far too many Christian congregations, that approach is avoided at all costs. Their members don’t want to get involved in the lives of others and don’t want others to get involved in theirs. What the Bible clearly calls sins is avoided. And in doing so, the gospel is lost. If there is no sin, then there is no need for the gospel. If anything goes, then I don’t need Jesus to forgive me. And then that congregation is no longer the church God wants it to be, but simply a social club. People of God, answer your Lord’s call to serve each other in love! All of us have the serious responsibility to point out sin in the lives of one another when we see and hear it. I realize that’s completely counter-cultural. But that’s what the church is. It’s counter-cultural. The gospel is counter-cultural. But lose the gospel and you lose the church. The gospel is worth fighting for as a congregation of Christians committed to each other. I realize there are times in your Christian life when you want to be an island. Your life at that time is so overwhelmingly difficult, that you have nothing left to help others. You just want to hear the good news about Jesus to be comforted and strengthened to get through the crisis you’re facing. And then there are times when you feel like an island and you wish you didn’t. It happens when you get the feeling that you’re all alone with the difficulties of your life and no one seems to understand or care. The solution to both of those situations is the good news about a Savior who loves you so much that he insisted on sacrificing himself for your sins. He’s a Savior who wants to be connected with you now through his gospel so that he can be connected to you eternally in the bliss of heaven. As a congregation of Christians committed to each other, we’re all about sharing that gospel, even fighting for it if we need to. It’s so worth it! What’s your role in that fight personally? What can you do to help others with the gospel? Pray about it and may the Lord guide and bless you and others through you! Amen.