Date: 22 Dec 2002
Time: 22:25:11
help, please help
Date: 23 Dec 2002
Time: 13:51:01
Ill try to help. My initial thoughts are a sermon entitled "Go crying to your Daddy." Outline might look something like this...
1) He calls us to be His children through our Big Brother Jesus (keep it lighthearted)
2) His Strength is in our weakness
3) Our inheritance was His purpose
....or something like that. Still very early.
RevIsrael
Date: 24 Dec 2002
Time: 06:36:25
Maybe some more help here. I changed my mind about my direction with this one. Instead I am going to go with the title "What Did You Get For Christmas." The Resulting answer will be:
1)Redemption 2)Relationship 3)Release (as in emancipation)
Still thinking though, and it's only Tuesday...Holy Cow, what I am going to preach tonight at Christmas Eve services?????? AAAARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH.
RevIsrael
Date: 26 Dec 2002
Time: 08:13:15
Friends-I am just starting to mull this over, but two things seem to jump out at me. First, and what I will probably focus on is the primacy of God in the pericope. As a minister friend says, God is the subject of the active verbs.
The second item that strikes me involves time; the fullness of time. I am struck by this because I look at my own life and see how ordered it is by time: be here and be there for this meeting and that appointment. I quickly forget that it is God, God's will and God's time running things. the hubris born of forgetfulness always gets me in trouble.
Anyway, these are some of my thoughts and I welcome input from everyone else.
shalom, Pastor D in WV
Date: 26 Dec 2002
Time: 10:27:50
There is a true story about a person who eventually became the governor of the state of Tennessee who began life in the shame of being an illegitimate child. The title to this story is "Who's Your Daddy?" I believe Fred Craddock has told this story as something that was told him by the governor himself. It truly fits this scripture. I cannot find it at present, but the bottom line is this person's life was changed when he was unexpectedly confronted by a new minister who asked him the question, "Who's your Daddy?" in front of the congregation who held their breath not knowing what the child would say. Before the child could speak, the minister said, "I know who's your daddy." You are the child of the King, a child of God. TN Mack
Date: 27 Dec 2002
Time: 09:01:59
To access story, "Who's Your Daddy?" Search Google Search under that title. It is the first entry on page 13. TN Mack
Date: 27 Dec 2002
Time: 19:16:08
Romans 8:12-17 is a very close parallel to this passage, and I just happened to have finished an exegetical paper on this passage. Here are some pertinent parts regarding adoption which are also valid for Galations 4:4-7. Maybe it will start you thinking about how complete the adoption by God is when we turn our life over, and how through that adoption we can call God "Abba, Father" and how we become co-heirs with Christ. The description of the difficulty of the Roman adoption really brought these points home to me.
Please note that my concept of these terms for God both indicate respect and familiarity. They aren't long and flowery (like how the pagans of that time attempted to flatter their "gods"), but in particular the term "Abba" conveyed a familiarity, possibly like the way in which a child crys out "Daddy!" when she sees him. They are specifically terms of honor, otherwise Christ would not have used them to refer to God the Father.
Henry in (mostly) Sunny Mesa, AZ
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> This adoption (Romans/Galations) does not have a precedent in Old Testament practice; adoption was not part of the Mosaic Law. In the Old Testament only three cases of adoption are mentioned, Moses in Exodus 2:10, Genubath in 1 Kings 11:20 and Esther in Esther 2:7. All of these occur outside of Israel or Judea, and there is no mention of a legally binding adoption in any of the canonical works. However, God declared his Fatherhood over Israel in Exodus 4:22 "Israel is my firstborn son," or Psalm 2:7, "I will tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to me, 'You are my son; today I have begotten you.'" God claimed the nation of Israel in Hosea 11:1, "When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son." From Deuteronomy 14:1-2, "You are children of the LORD your God. 2 For you are a people holy to the LORD your God; it is you the LORD has chosen out of all the peoples on earth to be his people, his treasured possession." The Greeks and Romans had formalized legal procedures for adoption. In Greece a man could adopt any male citizen with the condition that the adopted son assume the legal and religious duties of a natural born son. The civic law of Gortyn in Crete, defined adoption as an action taking place in the market square and in front of the tribunal. In many cases this adoption was a way of maintaining family continuity and providing a means of support in old age through the adopted son. However, the family name of the adopted son did not change, so it was not a complete break with the adopted son's past. In Rome the doctrine of patria potestas gave the father almost complete "ownership" of his son. To be adopted, the natural father had to "sell" the son to the adoptive father. Mancipatio was the first step, with a symbolic sale of the son. The natural father bought back the son two times, but the third time he sold the son to the adoptive father. Then a ceremony called vindicatio was performed. The adoptive father went to a Roman praetor and presented a legal case for transfer of the patria potestas to the adoptive son. At that point the natural father lost all rights, and the adopted son became a legal son with all rights and responsibilities, including the right to inherit the adoptive father's estate. In the eyes of the Roman law the new son had no vestige of his old life and was totally a new son. For example, the Emperor Claudius adopted Nero, who was unrelated to him, so Nero could succeed him on the throne. Claudius already had a daughter Octavia. Nero desired to marry her to improve his political standing, but he could not until the Roman Senate passed special legislation allowing a marriage between "brother" and "sister" since he became her brother upon the completion of the adoption. Paul would have undoubtedly been familiar with these types of adoptions and known how familiar his audience would be with each concept. The way he discusses adoption indicates he expects the Romans (and Galatians) to understand his adoption metaphors.
Date: 27 Dec 2002
Time: 21:32:40
As I read the Old Testament reading for this week -- the Gospel reading and now Galatians, I find myself enthralled with the concept of time and the fact that we're still "waiting."
Advent found us waiting in anticipation for the coming of the Christ. Now, even in the shadow of Christ's birth there is still the hint of things not being what they ultimately should be. Born in a manger. Humble beginnings. His earthly ministry still not to begin for 30 years. The air is pregnant with the promise of redemption and change, but full restoration of creation is still "in the works."
Judah has either returned from captivity in Babylon or soon to realize that promise. But, even in the midst of joyful praise and "being clothed in salvation" others lay in wait -- pestering God until Jerusalem will be restored.
I'm not quite sure yet what I will do with this but it seems to be that all of this speaks of an ongoing process in which we play a major role. I remember various times when I've thought, " I cannot wait until...." Until what? Until I graduate college or seminary. Until I get married. Until I get promoted. Until I retire. Always the implicit assumption being that once that one things has occurred then things will be as they should be.
But, of course, they never are. There is always more to do -- to look forward to. I feel a bit like those standing watch at the gates of Jerusalem or like the writer of Habakkuk who cries out, "how long O Lord shall I cry out and You not hear..."
Simeon and Anna. They're advanced in age and probably won't see the culimination of God's redemptive act, but they've labored in faithfulness all these years and will depart this life with a reassurance of what they've hoped for as they've "seen" the Christ.
What's our lesson? While we revel in the celebration of the Christ child's birth, awaiting in the wings is still much to do.
We enter a New Year with the same hope many of us have had since hearing or reading that the great World Wars were "wars to end all wars." Still, there is no peace. Korea of 50 yrs ago is a harsh reminder of what could yet happen again. A period of naive braggadocio ended with Vietnam and still the fighting did not.
Panama's "Just Cause," Lebanon, Grenada, the first Gulf War and now, quite likely, a second Gulf War. All of this was suppose to end when the Cold War came to its climactic conclusion with the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Instead of peace there are now those who before had no voice and make themselves heard with undiscriminating violence. There is always something to do.
Christ is my hope. Christ is our hope. And we are the instruments by which God will bring about peace -- like Simeon and Anna, it may not be in our generation -- but there will be peace.
Just my thoughts.
Bob - Chaplain in Okinawa
Date: 29 Dec 2002
Time: 06:16:37
Thanks to TN Mack for the suggestion about the "Who's Your Daddy" story. The story appears in Fred Craddock's own words in the book "Craddock Stories", edited by Mike Graves and Richard F. Ward. It is published by Chalice Press as part of a collection of 200 of Craddock's original stories. Well worth the money. Picky Preacher in GA.