Who, Me?

Galatians 3:23-29

Phrases that spoke to me today:
• we are no longer under a guardian
• you are all sons of God, through faith
• there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female
• heirs according to promise

Applying the Word to My Life:
I never saw myself as someone who'd stand up and talk about faith. I like to keep to myself, work things out on my own, and let my life do whatever talking needs to happen. But years ago I said I'd help with high school classes at our parish, thinking I'd be handing out snacks or keeping attendance. I ended up assigned a room of freshman boys with no curriculum and no idea what I was doing. I remember sitting in the car in the parking lot beforehand, going over what little I'd prepared, absolutely certain I was the wrong guy for this job.

I still don't think teaching comes naturally to me. Every semester I still catch myself wondering if one of the other volunteers, somebody who is comfortable being in front of a room, would do it better. But my guys keep showing up, year after year, so I keep showing up too and do the best I can with what I've got.

Paul tells the Galatians that once faith came, the old guardian's job was finished. Before, the law drew the lines - who counted, who didn't, who had access to the promise and who was locked out of it. Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female, all of it mattered under that old system. Once faith comes, none of those categories decide who belongs to Christ anymore. That's not just true of the categories Paul names. It holds for whatever specific job God hands you inside that belonging, too.

It would be easy to look at somebody else's version of this - someone who's a natural teacher, someone whose ministry looks more obviously important than mine, someone who gets asked to speak at retreats or lead a men's group - and decide mine doesn't measure up. Comparing gifts like that misses the whole point of what Paul's telling the Galatians. Peace doesn't come from measuring your calling against somebody else's - it comes from doing the one in front of you and trusting it's the one you were put there to do.

Paul isn't telling the Galatians their differences don't exist. He's telling them those differences stopped being the thing that decides their worth. Every one of us walks into rooms we didn't necessarily choose, doing work that doesn't always come naturally, wondering if somebody else could be doing it better. His answer isn't that everyone's the same. It's that you're already a son, already an heir, before you've proven anything - so there's nothing left to compare. Whatever room you keep getting handed, that's where He needs you.

My Response for Today:
Today I'll do the thing in front of me without measuring it against anyone else's calling.