"Vital and Faithful: Shaping Church Community"
Galatians 5:19-26
Rev. Emily Labrecque, Westmoreland UCC
July 12, 2026
[Pray.]
Last week, after worship, I led an informal conversation with some folks about various Bible study methods. We learned about Lectio Divina, Ignatian Gospel Imagination, and Inductive Bible Study. It was a lovely conversation, learning about how those individuals have typically interacted with scripture and how they’d like to interact with it. Our conversation eventually led to bible translations and interpretations. Someone shared how they appreciated The Message interpretation by Eugene Peterson because it has a ‘no nonsense’ approach to the Bible. She reflected that sometimes the scripture in the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) that we typically read can sometimes seem too dense or difficult to follow. Meanwhile, she said, the King James Version comes off as poetic and lovely. We all have our preferences.
For our scripture reading today, I used The Message version of this Galatians text. I shared this information with the group last week as I compared the two of them. In the NRSV, the version we would typically read, the list sounds like this: sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, idolatry, sorcery, quarrels, envy, etc. Then I read the Message version. They found the Message interpretation far more descriptive – and you can see why. The list of the “works of the flesh” outlined in our scripture today helped me, at least, understand just what exactly we’re talking about when we talk about self-absorbed ways of being. In our current context, I thought we might especially connect with cutthroat competition, accumulation of mental and emotional garbage, divided lives, the vicious habit of depersonalizing people into rivals, and ugly parodies of community.
I mean, these descriptions are iconic.
But why was Paul listing these “works of the flesh” to the people of Galatia? Let’s dig into the context.
Paul’s letter to the Galatians was written in approximately 50 CE, roughly two decades after Jesus had been crucified. The letter highlights intra-Christian conflicts over which rituals new converts needed to participate in. As Jews who were embracing following in Jesus’ teachings, there was a bit of confusion and frustration over what to hold onto from their law-abiding Jewish heritage as they entered this new religious landscape. In this case, Paul’s primary aim was to dissuade the Galatians from participating in circumcision. Circumcision had been a way to distinguish oneself as a member of the Jewish community. This question over the continuity of Jewish law was an urgent concern. Paul was trying to explain to them that now that they also have faith in Jesus and his message, that their faith is enough and they don’t need this extra ritual to prove themselves. So what we read in Galatians gives us insight into early stages of the formation of Christianity.
What we hear in our text for today was Paul sketching a vision of a community led by the Spirit. A reminder that there are behaviors, what he calls “works of the flesh” that lead us away from love, unity, and Christ-like community, and there are qualities that help us lean into love, unity, and Christ-like community. Now, we know this is a consistent narrative from Paul because this isn’t the only place Paul sketches this vision. It shows up in 1st Corinthians and Romans as well. He had a clear vision of what our behaviors should and should not look like as we take up Jesus’ way of life in community.
We have all been a part of various communities in our lives. I’ll name for myself that I’ve been involved in academic communities, a country club, an intentional living community, a neighborhood parent group, my kids’ school community, and church communities, just to name a few. You can surely list any number of groups for yourselves. Now the question is, what distinguishes one community from another? Sometimes the location, the people, the purpose, the costs associated, who’s allowed to be a part of the community ... what else?
About ten years ago, I remember describing to my former spouse what she needed to wear to go to my parents' country club. She did not grow up golfing and her family never belonged to a country club, so it took a little explaining. As it is with country clubs, there are strict dress codes. There’s what you can and cannot wear on the golf course and what you can and cannot wear in the clubhouse for dinner. As I started to explain these rules, she kept asking the question, “why?” And my response was, “That’s just the way it is.” I didn’t really know… this is how I had grown up. When you go to the country club, you wear a collared shirt and shorts or a skirt. When you leave the golf cart with the bag room kids, you leave them a tip. When you go in for dinner, you have to be on your best behavior; you don’t cause a ruckus. These were the rules – some written and some unwritten. When you’ve grown up or been enculturated in a particular way, it’s hard to separate yourself from the norms and behaviors of that community. And in some cases, it’s hard to answer why you do anything in particular. “That’s just the way it is.”
Paul, unlike me, had an answer. He could tell the Galatians exactly why the former markers of belonging – circumcision, ritual, law – no longer defined the community. Their faith was enough. And that answer freed him up to describe what belonging should actually look like: not dress codes and unwritten rules, but a Spirit-led way of relating to one another.
Going to the country club was a far different experience than going to my church on Sundays.
There weren’t any rules about what to wear, other than to simply wear clothes. There were rocking chairs in the sanctuary for older folks who needed more cushioning or mothers who needed to rock their baby. We worshiped alongside a house of five men with intellectual disabilities who regularly spoke their opinion into worship. There were kids moving around, helping with the service, causing what some might describe as “a ruckus.” Being UCC there was very little hierarchy within the church so everyone felt a part of everything. It was such a different experience from country club life.
It was clear, in my home church, that we embodied the fruits of the spirit Paul speaks about in the letter to the Galatians – The patience it took to let those men speak, the gentleness of chairs for a tired mother, the kindness of never shushing a child. Paul reminds the people to develop healthy boundaries, indicates how people should relate to one another, encourages them to welcome those who are different, without enmity. This is what our Mark for Vital and Faithful churches reminds us to do as well. “Relate to one another with gentleness, kindness, and compassion, with sympathy, empathy, and healthy, life-affirming behaviors.” “Welcome the stranger into community and” not only that but, “celebrate the transformation they bring to the local church.”
Paul’s list of the “works of the flesh” represents offenses that dismantle Christ-like community; behaviors that increase division, conflict, competition, and hate. But, and I love how Eugene Peterson reframes the fruits of the Spirit here, “But what happens when we live God’s way? [God] brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard – things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.”
There aren’t many other places that intentionally cultivate those kinds of connections.
Being a vital and faithful congregation means seeking the unity of the community in healthy and life-affirming ways. Shaping church community isn’t just about polices and procedures, constitution and by-laws. Shaping Church Community in a way that helps us remain vital and faithful requires us to cultivate compassion for all people, remain convicted that we are each unique gifts of God made in the image of God, and a commitment to uphold one another in love.
As we continue to discern who we are and where we are going as a congregation, may we hold these ways of being in front of us – gentleness over rivalry, welcome over walls, compassion over competition – that we may shape a church community worthy of the Spirit at work in us.
Amen.
