April 22,
2018 NOTES NOT EDITED
Spirit Walkers: Pt12—The Beauty of Magnanimity
Spirit Walkers: Pt12—The Beauty of Magnanimity
Galatians
4:12-20
My new
favorite word is, “magnanimous.” It is an adjective which means, “very generous,
lofty, noble, and grand.” Some synonymns
in English are: generous, charitable,
benevolent, beneficent, big-hearted, princely, altruistic, philanthropic, unselfish,
chivalrous, noble. It comes from two
Latin words: magnus, meaning, great
and animus, meaning mind, soul, or spirit. A magnanimous person has a big-hearted person with a great spirit. Using the word in a sentence might go
like this, “Barbara Bush was a lady with
a magnanimous character.”
This past week one such person departed Starship Earth for the Heavenly Space Station. Barbara Bush, wife of the 41st president and mother of the 43rd, passed peacefully into the Presence of Almighty God. By her own words she declared that she was a strong believer in Jesus Christ, and trusted that God would be waiting for her when that time came. She once said in an interview, “I’m a huge believer in a loving God, and I have no fear of death, which is a huge comfort because we’re getting darned close.”
I’ve known
many magnanimous people in my
life. Today is the birthday of one of
them. My little brother turned an
ageless 60 years old today in heaven. He
died in 2004 at the age of 46 eight months after he had finally defeated the
demon of alcohol—but, too late to reverse the damages 30 years of heavy
drinking had done. My little brother Tim
was a “magnanimous” person. He would literally give someone the shirt of
his back—or at least his coat. I
remember one chilly day we got home after school. Mom asked my little brother, “Where’s the new
coat we just bought you?” Timmy, as we
called him, responded quickly and naturally, “a boy at church didn’t have a
coat, so I gave him mine.” That’s what
it means to be magnanimous. It means to have a grand, giving, gracious spirit.
As I opened our text this week, I was struck by how beautiful it is to walk through this life as a magnanimous person locked heart to heart with other magnanimous people—people with grand, giving, gracious spirits. As I read the text I realized that mutual magnanimity makes life a beautiful life. Nothing is more beautiful or meaningful than walking in the Spirit with a family of fellow believers. Let’s read that text together: Galatians 4:12-20.
As I opened our text this week, I was struck by how beautiful it is to walk through this life as a magnanimous person locked heart to heart with other magnanimous people—people with grand, giving, gracious spirits. As I read the text I realized that mutual magnanimity makes life a beautiful life. Nothing is more beautiful or meaningful than walking in the Spirit with a family of fellow believers. Let’s read that text together: Galatians 4:12-20.
Our text
gives us six ways a person demonstrates a magnanimous manner. In forgiveness, empathy, hospitality,
sacrifice, zeal, and perseverance.
(1)
Magnanimous Forgiveness (12)
12 I beg you, brothers: Become like me, for I also became like you. You have not wronged me.
These words are a bit obscure. Exactly what Paul was referring to is not spelled out. It obviously had to do with the concern Paul had over the Galatians, backsliding into legalism and licentiousness, and rebelling against Paul’s message of grace. Whatever else it might refer to, what is evident is Paul had a magnanimous forgiveness for others. Whatever the seed “personal” offense might have been, Paul did not allow it to take root and bear a tree of bitterness. Instead, he had a deep, personal concern for the Galatians because they were rejecting the eternal blessings and goodness of God. Paul was willing to let any “personal offense” go so that he might be an instrument to reunite the Galatians with the God of grace. Magnanimous forgiveness is a beautiful thing.
(2) Magnanimous Empathy (13-14a)
12 I beg you, brothers: Become like me, for I also became like you. You have not wronged me.
These words are a bit obscure. Exactly what Paul was referring to is not spelled out. It obviously had to do with the concern Paul had over the Galatians, backsliding into legalism and licentiousness, and rebelling against Paul’s message of grace. Whatever else it might refer to, what is evident is Paul had a magnanimous forgiveness for others. Whatever the seed “personal” offense might have been, Paul did not allow it to take root and bear a tree of bitterness. Instead, he had a deep, personal concern for the Galatians because they were rejecting the eternal blessings and goodness of God. Paul was willing to let any “personal offense” go so that he might be an instrument to reunite the Galatians with the God of grace. Magnanimous forgiveness is a beautiful thing.
(2) Magnanimous Empathy (13-14a)
13you know that previously
I preached the gospel to you because of a physical illness. 14 You did not
despise or reject me though my physical condition was a trial for you.
Paul mentions the reason he ended up staying in Galatians. Some significant medical challenge fell upon him. Scholars have not conclusively ascertained what this condition might have been. Whatever it was, Paul described it as a “trial” for those who met him. The word means that it “put their character” to the test. What usually happens when people are faced with a “test, a challenge, or an obstacle” in life? We don’t usually embrace it, which means, “receive it gladly.” We usually “despise it or reject it,” especially if it is someone else’s affliction or problem, not ours. I must confess, when I was a little boy and I’d see someone in a wheel chair with something like cerebral palsy, perhaps with slobber running from the corner of a mouth that did not work quite right, I’d want to look away—and get away at the first chance. I thank God that He helped me develop empathy in my life—especially for others who have to struggle in ways I cannot imagine. Paul’s affliction was so disturbing that the natural response would have been to “despise him or reject him.” It might have been some form “opthamalia” which caused his eyes to use with a oozing discharge. This would account for the reference in verse 15, “you would have given me your eyes.” It could be, Paul suffered from a form of “epilepsy” which caused oviolent tremors. The words, “did not despise or reject me,” can literally read, “did not despise or spit on me” (ekptuoō). People of that day commonly believed that an evil demon caused epilepsy “exorcised or contained by spitting at the one afflicted” (NAC).
What makes Spirit Walking a beautiful thing is a mutually magnanimous empathy to embrace, not reject, those who find themselves in great difficulty—physically, emotionally, or spiritually.
Paul mentions the reason he ended up staying in Galatians. Some significant medical challenge fell upon him. Scholars have not conclusively ascertained what this condition might have been. Whatever it was, Paul described it as a “trial” for those who met him. The word means that it “put their character” to the test. What usually happens when people are faced with a “test, a challenge, or an obstacle” in life? We don’t usually embrace it, which means, “receive it gladly.” We usually “despise it or reject it,” especially if it is someone else’s affliction or problem, not ours. I must confess, when I was a little boy and I’d see someone in a wheel chair with something like cerebral palsy, perhaps with slobber running from the corner of a mouth that did not work quite right, I’d want to look away—and get away at the first chance. I thank God that He helped me develop empathy in my life—especially for others who have to struggle in ways I cannot imagine. Paul’s affliction was so disturbing that the natural response would have been to “despise him or reject him.” It might have been some form “opthamalia” which caused his eyes to use with a oozing discharge. This would account for the reference in verse 15, “you would have given me your eyes.” It could be, Paul suffered from a form of “epilepsy” which caused oviolent tremors. The words, “did not despise or reject me,” can literally read, “did not despise or spit on me” (ekptuoō). People of that day commonly believed that an evil demon caused epilepsy “exorcised or contained by spitting at the one afflicted” (NAC).
What makes Spirit Walking a beautiful thing is a mutually magnanimous empathy to embrace, not reject, those who find themselves in great difficulty—physically, emotionally, or spiritually.
(3) Magnanimous Hospitality (14b)
“. . . You received me as an angel of God, as Jesus Christ himself.”
“. . . You received me as an angel of God, as Jesus Christ himself.”
This verse
could easily be worthy of a sermon by itself.
Hospitality is a hugely important virtue in the Bible. It was an ingrained in the Bedouin
(tent-dwellers in the desert) culture of the O.T. The Patriarchs were immersed in this
culture. Hospitality was not just a
pleasant notion, but it was an absolute necessity in the desert. One person described it like this: The
environment of the desert and arid land in most of the Middle East is harsh.
For a traveler, access to water and food was a matter of life and death. Most
settlements were built near available water or wells. The traveler needed to
have access to the water. Yet, it was also important for the settled community
to have protection. As a result, strict codes of conduct developed to govern
such encounters. These conventions of hospitality also applied equally to the
desert dwellers who lived in tents as they followed the grazing herds (today
called Bedouins) They were obligated to
provide for travelers that stopped at their tents, and under these customs
could expect some protection from hostile actions from the
"stranger." (www.crivoice.org/travelers)
We too often associate “hospitality” with entertaining one another in our homes. That certainly is one aspect, but Biblical hospitality is a matter of magnanimous service to others. A magnanimous attitude of grand and gracious service to others is a beautiful thing. Hospitality is a major theme from Genesis to Revelations. In fact, Paul will describe it later in chapter 6:2 as: Carrying one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
Spirit Walkers are not joined at the hip, nor melded at the mind, but we are intertwined by the heart. Magnanimous Service is a beautiful thing. This naturally leads us to examine
(4) Magnanimous Sacrifice (v15)
Nothing identifies a magnanimous person more than a spirit of generosity. Let’s examine a verse I mentioned above.
15What happened to this sense of being blessed you had? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me.
What could be more magnanimous than sacrificing one’s very eyes for someone else. We can extend this metaphor by letting “eyes” stand for “lives.” Listen to what Jesus said (Jn. 15:13),
13No one has greater love than this, that someone would lay down his life for his friends.
I spent my military career locked into a 400 foot steel tube submerged up to 1000 feet in the ocean, in ocean depths exceeding 6 miles to the bottom. A submarine that sank in the Marianas Trench would implode with such force that everyone on board would be incinerated in a matter of seconds. All it would have taken to sink our submarine was one person making a simple mistake of turning a wrong valve. We were absolutely dependent upon one another.
Paul says that the magnananimous attitude of sacrifice on the part of the Galatians was “so great” that they would have donated body parts to assist Paul and his work in the Kingdom.
How magnanimous is the attitude of sacrifice in a typical church? In a typical church, 80 percent of the regular members and attenders do not even give ten percent of their money so that others can hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and be saved. Do you really think people who won’t give their money will donate “body parts,” or give their lives. A magnanimous attitude of sacrifice makes Spirit Walking a beautiful journey. Before we leave this verse let me point out, that a lack of magnanimity (big-heartedness) affects a person negatively. The Galatians had been magnanimous givers but apathy and outright rebellion caused them to shrink from this virtue. This resulted in them losing “the sense of blessedness.” Verse 15 begins with Paul asking, “What happened to this sense of being blessed you had?”
Magnanimous sacrifice is a beautiful thing.
Let me close this portion of our exposition by look at a
(5) Magnanimous Zeal (17-18) Paul mentions both the positive and negative aspects of zeal in a person’s life. First, he mentions the “zeal” of evil people. Verses 16-17 describe the Devil in action.
16 Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth? 17 They are enthusiastic about you, but not for any good. Instead, they want to isolate you so you will be enthusiastic about them.
People, especially in the Western world, and even more so in the U.S., want to dismiss, discount, or simply disregard that the Devil is passionate about his plan to destroy people and disable the plan of God. The Devil set forth this plan long before man entered the game.
Three significant passages in the Bible describe the beginning of the Devil’s zealous plan to spread death, despair, and disruption in an attempt to stop God’s plan of redemption for mankind (Is. 42:12; Ezk. 28:16; Rev. 12:7-9). Revelation describes the Devil’s origin well,
7 Then war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels also fought, 8 but he could not prevail, and there was no place for them in heaven any longer. 9 So the great dragon was thrown out—the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the one who deceives the whole world. He was thrown to earth, and his angels with him.
Paul explains that the Galatians are being mislead and deceived by the Judaizers who are, in fact, minions of the Devil. Anywhere in our world we see seeds of discord, violence, and chaos being sown, the Devil is directly or indirectly involved. How many times after a mass murder, like the seventeen people gunned down last February in Parkland, Florida, do you hear people say, “how could someone do something like this?” Pundits and police investigators search for some motive in a misdirected childhood or misbehaving fellow students who were bullies, or a hundred other psychological reasons to make sense of such chaos. The answer, at the core, is simple: the passionate plan of the Devil to sow seeds of discord, death and destruction. The Devil is nothing, if he is not persistent and passionate in his plan to promote chaos.
The Devil is a formidable foe precisely because of his zeal. The Devil guides far more hearts and minds than does the Holy Spirit. The Devil does it by deception and coercion, not love as the Holy Spirit does.
Notice how the Devil’s minions zealous sow discord between the Galatians and the Apostle Paul. Paul asks, “Have I now become your enemy?” (v16) Notice that the false teachers use deceit to gain control of the hearts and minds of the Galatians. Verse 16 says, “They have become enthusiastic (zealous) about you, BUT NOT FOR ANY GOOD!” False teachers passionately promote your welfare, but only to the inevitable end of your destruction.
Never, ever lose sight of the Devil’s zeal to destroy your life given any opportunity to do so!
Paul goes on to show, however, that just as zeal can have an evil intent and result, it is also equally a power for good. Verse 18 says, “Now it is always good to be enthusiastic (zealous) about good—” and then Paul adds a sort of disclaimer, “and not just when I am with you.”
Paul is promoting magnanimous zeal—genuine, noble, of the Spirit. Paul is NOT promoting a shallow “emotionalism.” He’s saying, “Be emotional in church as a religious show.” True zeal is founded in knowledge revealed in the Scripture. Paul warns against, “having a zeal for God but not according to knowledge” (Rom. 10:2).
You know I am zealous in worship. But is a zeal according to knowledge. I raise my hands in worship because the Bible says, “I wish that men everywhere would pray lifting up holy hands” (1Tim. 2:8). I clap my hands and sometimes just shout out, “Hallelujah!” because the Word of God says, “Clap your hands, all you peoples; shout to God with a voice of triumph” (Psa. 47:1). I cry out to God in zealous praise because Bible warns me that if I don’t praise God, “the rocks will cry out! (Lk. 19:40)
The only faith that makes any difference in this life or in eternity is a faith driven by magnanimous zeal for God. Paul concludes his analysis and survey of a Magnanimous Manner by adding the quality of
6. Magnanimous Perseverence (v20)
19 My children, I am again
suffering labor pains for you until Christ is formed in you. 20 I
would like to be with you right now and change my tone of voice, because I
don’t know what to do about you.
What really makes the Church a beautiful place is the magnanimous perseverance displayed by the people. It is a noble, honorable, big-minded, number 10 can of “JUST WON’T QUIT!” You know what a number 10 can is don’t you? That’s the big ones. The ones that advertise that some “serious eating is about to take place and we ain’t stoppin’ ‘til were stuffed!!!
Nothing says “perseverance” and displays a “Won’t Quit Attitude” like giving birth! Just ask any woman. I just viewed the event as a spectator and I nearly passed out. Labor can go on and on and on and on . . . and on and on and on and on . . . . . . and on—well, you get the picture.
Paul was not giving up on the Galatians even thought they had, for a time turned their back on him. They were his spiritual children and Paul was a man of magnanimous perseverance and a big-hearted spirit.
Paul was noble enough and bold enough to use a “harsh rebuking tone” when necessary. But Paul’s magnanimity extended beyond nobleness and boldness to a heavenly, eternal love that drove him to seek a time when he could, according to verse 20, “change my tone to one of love and tenderness, instead of rebuke.” Paul loved the Galatians enough to rebuke the error that was stealing their blessing.
As we said earlier, this passage turns away a bit from Paul’s technical arguments in support of the doctrine of justification by grace alone. It is a pastoral section appealing to the Galatians to seek the Beauty of Magnanimity, that is, to walk in the Spirit displaying a noble, big-hearted, generous attitude to the Lord above us and the fellow vagabonds among us.
Spirit Walkers are magnanimous in forgiveness; magnanimous in empathy; magnanimous in hospitality; magnanimous in sacrifice; magnanimous in zeal; and magnanimous perseverance.
In short, Spirit Walkers—Spirit-filled followers of Christ—are big-hearted, big-minded people.
What really makes the Church a beautiful place is the magnanimous perseverance displayed by the people. It is a noble, honorable, big-minded, number 10 can of “JUST WON’T QUIT!” You know what a number 10 can is don’t you? That’s the big ones. The ones that advertise that some “serious eating is about to take place and we ain’t stoppin’ ‘til were stuffed!!!
Nothing says “perseverance” and displays a “Won’t Quit Attitude” like giving birth! Just ask any woman. I just viewed the event as a spectator and I nearly passed out. Labor can go on and on and on and on . . . and on and on and on and on . . . . . . and on—well, you get the picture.
Paul was not giving up on the Galatians even thought they had, for a time turned their back on him. They were his spiritual children and Paul was a man of magnanimous perseverance and a big-hearted spirit.
Paul was noble enough and bold enough to use a “harsh rebuking tone” when necessary. But Paul’s magnanimity extended beyond nobleness and boldness to a heavenly, eternal love that drove him to seek a time when he could, according to verse 20, “change my tone to one of love and tenderness, instead of rebuke.” Paul loved the Galatians enough to rebuke the error that was stealing their blessing.
As we said earlier, this passage turns away a bit from Paul’s technical arguments in support of the doctrine of justification by grace alone. It is a pastoral section appealing to the Galatians to seek the Beauty of Magnanimity, that is, to walk in the Spirit displaying a noble, big-hearted, generous attitude to the Lord above us and the fellow vagabonds among us.
Spirit Walkers are magnanimous in forgiveness; magnanimous in empathy; magnanimous in hospitality; magnanimous in sacrifice; magnanimous in zeal; and magnanimous perseverance.
In short, Spirit Walkers—Spirit-filled followers of Christ—are big-hearted, big-minded people.
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