Rev. George Miller
May 25, 2025
Galatians 1:13-17
Sometimes, when discussing Scripture, it
is good to take a pause, a theological break, and discuss the people and places.
What we’re reading are ancient texts
written long before any of us were alive, with people we will never truly know
and places that have changed over the span of time.
But, at one point, these were living,
breathing people who were existing in their own time and space, trying to just
figure it out, as we continue to do 2,000 years later.
It’s easy to dismiss the names of people
and the mention of places because they are not here, they are not now…but
in some ways they are.
Maybe instead of seeing today’s reading as
words from the past, we see it as a foundation of the present, as the “rootbed”
of the sacred garden we’re part of.
For months we’ve embraced our Stewardship
Slogan “Love Grows Here;” visualizing ourselves as a garden being tended to,
with seeds planted, soil tilled, and nutrients.
What if we see this garden that we’re a
part of, growing together, as something that is much bigger, much deeper, and much
more historical?
If we, in 2025 are the current top layer
of the St. Lucas garden, then this letter written around the year 50 plays a role
as being foundational soil, an ancestral compost of memory.
Thinking of it as such, we begin to
wonder- who is this Paul, who are these Galatians, and why should we care?
We care, because not only are the
Galatians part of our sacred rootbed, but they may share the same biological
family roots as you and I.
The Galatians are a community of migrants that
came into existence 300 years before Jesus, in an area we call Turkey.
It’s not a small town, yet not a city. They’re
agricultural, but on a trade route with lots of markets, an area run by the
Romans with citizens who speak Greek. Some
of them are Jews, many are the Gauls.
The Gauls are Druids; Celtic people of
West European descent. They had French,
Belgium, German, British, Scottish, Irish roots.
These Gaul Druids were warriors, clannish,
mystical.
The Greeks called them barbarians; Romans said
they were no threat to their power.
The Gauls were seen as uncivilized, foreigner,
“other.” Yet they had intricate systems of
religious leaders, scholars, and intense loyalty to their tribe.
It is to these citizens of Galatia, made up
of Greeks and Romans, farmers and merchants, Jews and Druids that Paul preaches
the Gospel of Jesus and tills the earth of the church.
Think about that- if you have German, Irish,
French or British Isles blood in you, you could have a far off relative who was
part of this sacred, ancient soil.
It is to this mixed group of people that
Paul says “Guess what? Labels do not
matter. In Christ we are One; flowers in
God’s garden.”
Part of how Paul tends to this Galatian
garden is to tell them his own story.
The story of how he was once one way, and
now he is another; of how he has deep roots to his past, but he is blooming in
unexpected ways.
His is a story about his experience of
grace, and “Oh!- the places he has been.”
Paul shares his story to nourish their
story so they can continue to grow into this new soil called the church.
We share this because today we honor Memorial
Day; in doing so we get to honor our own church’s land of memory.
St. Lucas is a church with many members
who fought for our county; over 400 veterans.
At least a dozen served in the Civil War.
Our members served in every conflict since
our founding- The Spanish-American War, both World Wars, Korean and Vietnam, 1st
and 2nd Gulf War, Operation Enduring Freedom.
Not just members who were affected, but their
loved ones who had to worry about them- spouses, parents, children, even their
dogs.
Thanks to the faithful work of the Heritage
Committee, we know their names, we know their families.
We know that we have lost 6 of our tribe,
our clan.
Just as Paul and the Galatians were real and
lived full stories, so did the men who died.
Let us take time to say their name and
remember who they are-
Andrew Huegel, age 27, who died
October 23, 1918, of pneumonia in France, reminding us that our men served in wet
trenches that affected their health.
Harold Klein, age 26, who died
in action on January 18, 1955, in Germany.
Larry Reynolds, age unknown, who
died in a Jeep accident in Germany on June 3, 1945.
Charles Jacob Rott, age 36 who died
May 10, 1943, while serving in the Navy.
Arthur William Spindler, age 19, who died
in an airplane accident on April 1, 1944, reminding us that we sent young,
young men oversees.
Marshall Weidlich, age 24, who stepped
on a land mine in Normandy one day after D-Day, and died July 19, 1944. Bob is a family member.
Though these 6 individuals are gone, they
are part of our legacy, our soil in which love grows, even when death steps in.
Sometimes, when discussing Scripture, it
is good to take a pause, a theological break, and discuss people and places.
What we read are ancient words, written
long before any of us were alive, with people and places we will never know.
But at one point, these were living, unique,
folk who were just trying to figure it out.
It’s easy to forget or dismiss the names because
they are not here, now…but they are.
Instead of seeing names and stories of
people as words from the past, we see them as a foundation of the present; the “rootbed”
of the sacred garden we are part of.
St. Lucas is a garden that we’re growing
together, and we’re a part of, something that is much bigger, deeper, historical
than you and me.
Paul plays a part.
Those German, British, Irish, Celtic
Druids who Paul shaped and cared about play a part.
Those who established our church played a
part, as do the names of the men we honor today-
This Andrew, this Harold,
This Larry, this Charles,
This Arthur and this Marshall.
They are part of the foundational soil
that makes us who we are.
One day we will be part of that soil as
well.
Legacy never dies, nor does the love of
Jesus Christ, whose grace is given to us all.
Amen.
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