Galatians 1:11-24

Pentecost +3 - Year C

Galatians 1:11-24

Good news can come from beyond our currently accepted and approved set of cultural/religious norms. In fact it has to, unless one is foolish enough to claim that we have finally made it to the best of all possible worlds.

A revelation of Jesus Christ to a zealous Pharisee such as Saul shifts accumulated details around so a basic structure can again be seen. In this case a posthumous revelation that a pronounced heretic was actually a prophet whose voice needed to be reanimated.

G*D’s creation covenant and its renewal is for everyone, period. Where once it was with individuals and their descendants who became a people, it now needs to return from a focus on the group to the individual as a prophetic sign. A hyper-chosen-people needs to put down its exclusive claim to remain among the chosen (well, alongside all creatures great and small).

This was not an easy shift to make. Paul makes it sound as if it were a three-year confirmation of revelation. This otherwise undocumented journey follows the arc of Elijah and brings Paul back to a multitude of other’s when he was off playing lone-wolf.

So where are you participating in living out a revelation beyond current communal or religious practice? May it bless you and all.