I’m Jemima L Yeggs, a.k.a. Stinker. Pink Lady Apple Yeggs, my landlady and my auntie, wants to read about how younger people, especially couples respond to what the Bible says. And she wants to know how God is at work at Lily the Pink.
Dr. Ellie, Mary, Arabella, and I were in our “green room.”
Dr. Ellie was playing with Stormie and Joan. B.B. was feeding Ethan. Things seemed to be back to a steady schedule.
Arabella was fixing my hair, “Aunt Jemima, why don’t you do my hair today?”
I replied, “I don’t know, Belle. I can’t keep my hair straight. What makes you think I can help you with your hair?”
Belle sighed, “I don’t know.” Then Belle dropped a wig in my lap from over my shoulder. I screamed and threw the wig halfway across the room. I turned around and everyone was laughing at me, including my own daughter.
I protested, “Et tu Stormie?”
Stormie laughed, “Belle is funny.”
I nodded, “I will agree with that. Arabella looks funny.”
Arabella replied, “Stormie appreciates a good joke. Looks has nothing to do with it.”
I groaned, “But how am I going to get my heart to quit racing, Fireball?”
Arabella asked, “It was just a wig, and I pulled it out of my purse. What is the problem here?”
Dr. Ellie said, “The problem is that Aunt Jemima wants a slight hint that she might have some control of a small corner of the classroom. I have seen her in action at the university. She is very particular.”
B.B. said, “Dr. Ellie, I thought you said she was peculiar.”
Dr. Ellie hissed, “Hush, Mary, we are trying to build up the confidence in our Sunday school teacher. The truth can wait for another day.”
Then, everybody laughed. Dr, Ellie said, “We love you, Stinker. And we enjoy teasing you, too.”
Belle bowed as she opened the door.
Rev. Joseph led us in prayer.
Emmett and the choir sang The Fruit of the Spirit.
I said, “That was wonderful. Great harmony. And what is that cymbal thing called?”
Mike said, “It’s a hi-hat. It can act like a cymbal. I can use a brush. Then I can use the pedal to get that hi-hat sound. It keeps the beat, but it does not dominate.”
Samuel asked, “As if I need to know, where are we searching for Jesus today, Aunt Jemima?”
I smiled, “We are looking at the book of Galatians. Arabella, do you need Mr. Dictionary?”
Arabella nodded, “Was this book really written to people who frequented galas?”
Easy, Mr. Dictionary huffed, “Belle, there are no galas. Actually, Galatia comes from Gaul. About 20,000 Gaul soldiers came from Europe, went through Greece, and settled in what is now central Turkey, the area around modern day Ankara, their capital. This is around 300 BC. When this area became a Roman province, it included Pisidia. ‘From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem. From Perga they went on to Pisidian Antioch. On the Sabbath they entered the synagogue and sat down.’ (Acts 13:13-14). ‘ Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead. But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe.’ (Acts 14:19-20). This second passage is when he was in Lystra. All these towns were part of Galatia. And Galatia extended north of there.”
Belle smiled as she replied, “Thank you, Mr. Dictionary.”
Hannah (Galatians 3:6, Luther Bibel 1545) “Gleichwie Abraham hat Gott geglaubt und es ist ihm gerechnet zur Gerechtigkeit.”
Hannah said, “And now in English, ‘So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”’ (Galatians 3:6).”
Hannah said, ”This is Paul talking about Abraham’s faith was credited as righteousness. ‘What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness. This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.”’ (Romans 4:3, 9, 22). Paul wrote both of these books. We can go to James to find the same thing. ‘And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend.’ (James 2:23). But we must go to Genesis to find where this idea comes from. ‘Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.’ (Genesis 15:6). But I am confused here. Each reference to righteousness says Abraham was credited as righteous. Rev. Joseph, does that mean that Abraham was righteous? ‘Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins.’ (Ecclesiastes 7:20).”
Rev. Joseph said, “I’m not the Sunday school teacher. Ask Aunt Jemima.”
I laughed, “Great job of passing the buck, Rev. Joseph. That way, if I mess it up, you can correct me. You are correct, Hannah. We are not righteous. We will be in our new bodies in the next life, but while here, we are not righteous, but our faith credits us as righteous. Think about it. In accepting Jesus as your Savior, you are separated from your sins as far as east is from west. So, without our sin, we would be righteous, but we still make mistakes. But we can confess our sins and then add another confession for those sins we were not aware that we did. We are all covered, regardless. So, Paul and James are making the distinction to highlight the fact that we still have a long way to go. That’s why Paul says we are running a race. We should not quit until we cross the finish line, but also, God is not finished with us here on earth until we finish the race.”
Hannah smiled, “Thank you, Aunt Jemima.”
Paddy (Galatians 3:8) “Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: ‘All nations will be blessed through you.’”
Paddy said, “I think Blaise should have this one. Doesn’t he get the long ones? Anyway, this talks about all nations being blessed. ‘I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”’ (Genesis 12:3). Then a few chapters later… ‘and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”’ (Genesis 22:19).’ Then later in Genesis ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed,’ (Genesis 26:4). Then even later in Genesis ‘ Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.’ (Genesis 28:14). With all these verses pointing to them being a blessing, they sure treated foreigners the wrong way. And what Genesis 22 says, they did not obey God.”
I nodded, “Right. The people of Israel should have never been arrogant about being God’s Chosen People. As Hannah said, Abraham was only credited as righteous, not truly righteous, and even then he was credited only by his faith. We trust and have faith in God. Does that give us the right to be proud about that? No, we should be humbled by it. And what does that pride over something that someone else did get you? Disobedience. We think we can do this on our own, and that puts the focus that others see on us. They are not blessed, because they see us rather than seeing Jesus through us.. Hmm. I don’t usually do this, but since Dad Yeggs’ mentor is here, I wonder is she would read the next verse.”
Nelly Jefferson (Galatians 3:10) “For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.””
Nelly Jefferson said, “When I snuck in on these four children and found them reading the Scriptures and talking about what they read, somehow I feared I would get this one. We are cursed under the Law. It related to Deuteronomy 27. ‘“Cursed is anyone who does not uphold the words of this law by carrying them out.” Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”’ (Deuteronomy 27:26). For those that I have not met, I am a retired police detective. I taught Dev Yeggs and Jim Wednesday how to be good detectives. We found out who had not followed the law. We arrested them and sent them to prison. But when it comes to God’s Law, we are all deserving of prison. In the case of God, we deserve Hell. I certainly do. I have not always been truthful. And I spent most of my life pretending that I had loose morals. So, that puts me behind the eight-ball with what Hannah and Paddy have said. I made my share of mistakes, and I did not always shine the Light of God for others to see. But if you have not accepted Jesus, you need to do that. Only He can wash away the sin in your life. This verse in Galatians that quotes the verse in Deuteronomy is about what we deserve. That should make us that much more thankful to God because He sent Jesus to earth to save us.”
I smiled, “Thank you, Nelly. Are you going to come by here more often?”
Nelly laughed, “Only time will tell, Jemima. I interrupted their Bible study and I enjoyed it. But I have football players, baseball, basketball, soccer… All of them come by and sometimes it’s to ask a question from God’s Word. My retirement life is full.”
Katie (Galatians 3:11) ‘Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith.”’
Katie said, “This verse speaks more about living in faith rather than being justified by the Law. ‘For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”’’ (Romans 1:17). And in Hebrews: ‘For, “In just a little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay.” And, “But my righteous one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.”’ (Hebrews 10:37-38). And all of this quotes Habakkuk. ‘See, the enemy is puffed up; his desires are not upright—but the righteous person will live by his faithfulness—’ (Habakkuk 2:4). I cannot remember who said it last week, but having faithfulness is the actions taken when we live by faith. And all this starts with comparing living by faith to justified by the Law. We should obey God. Obedience does not go away, but our focus is on faith. I do not think I saw this in our community, but I am seeing it now. I want to thank all of you who helped in bringing a life of faith to Four Omas.”
I nodded, “Thank you Katie. Our class is richer by having you with us.”
Don Fife (Galatians 3:12) “The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, ‘The person who does these things will live by them.’”
Don said, “The way I see it, if Nelly had kept reading, we might be further along, but this is the third verse in a row that quotes something different. This one quotes Leviticus. ‘Keep my decrees and laws, for the person who obeys them will live by them. I am the Lord.’’ (Leviticus 18:5). To follow the Law, we have to live by the Law. And the Law is impossible to measure up to what God intended. Living by the Law negates faith. We are trying to go on our own.”
Sally Mae (Galatians 3:13) “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.’”
Sally Mae said, “I kind of agree with Don. This is the fourth verse in a row that quotes something different. This time quoting Deuteronomy. ‘you must not leave the body hanging on the pole overnight. Be sure to bury it that same day, because anyone who is hung on a pole is under God’s curse. You must not desecrate the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.’’ (Deuteronomy 21:23). I will have to admit. We read this through three or four times to find the connection. Jesus became the curse by hanging on the cross. All this about taking the body down before dark was done by the Romans because it was Sabbath during the Passover celebration. The Romans did not want to offend. But Deuteronomy is saying that hanging on a pole is under God’s curse. Jesus paid that price. He was the curse so that we could live.”
I nodded, “Excellent! I am so glad you kept digging.”
Darrell (Galatians 4:27) “For it is written: ‘Be glad, barren woman, you who never bore a child; shout for joy and cry aloud, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband.’”
Darrell said, “This is talking about the barren woman who never had labor pains. ‘“Sing, barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband,” says the Lord.’’ (Isaiah 54:1). I will have to admit. We had a hard time with this one too. But we are taking the view of Jerusalem as being the offspring of a free woman, Sarah, or a slave, Hagar. It is better to be a barren woman than a woman who went through child birth if you are all going into captivity. And it is better to be with a free woman, than any person who is a slave. We were slaves to sin. The Law enslaves us. Judging versus the Law, we come up short. But Sarah is a free woman. We can be free by living by faith.”
I smiled, “Thanks.”
Joseline (Galatians 4:30) “But what does Scripture say? ‘Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.’”
Jos said, “Don said it about the verses in chapter 3. Now, Darrell, needed this verse to explain his. “and she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.”” (Genesis 21:10). We have no inheritance with the Law. We only have an inheritance in the precious blood of Jesus.”
Kevin (Galatians 5:14) “For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Kevin said, “Blaise, help me out here.”
Blaise smiled, “It’s a straightforward answer.”
Kevin muttered, “But there are nine Bible references connected to it!”
There were a few snickers around the room.
Kevin said, “Okay, okay. This is all about loving each other as we would love ourselves. ““You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’” (Matthew 5:43). This is in the Sermon on the Mount when Jesus tells us to love our enemy. “honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 19:19). This is when Jesus was testing the rich young ruler, and the rich young ruler said that he did all those. “And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 22:39). And now we are where Jesus says to love our neighbors as ourselves. And then the same statement is in Luke 10:27 where Jesus talks about the Greatest Commandment. “The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”” (Romans 13:9). This is Paul explaining that Jesus did not invent anything new by telling us to love one another. That basically sums up the second half of the Ten Commandments. “If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right.” (James 2:8). Golden Rule, Royal Law, whatever.”
I giggled, “And Blaise should have helped you out. That would be loving your neighbor.”
Blaise countered, “I was loving my neighbor. Kevin needs to assert himself more. Who knows, he may need to go before a congressional committee someday, and he will say more than he just said.”
Easy said, “Blaise, you are all heart.”
I laughed, in all those Bible references, Kevin, you never tied it to the Old Testament. “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.” (Leviticus 19:18).
Kevin said, “Thank you, Aunt Jemima.”
I giggled, “See. I’m not a Stinker all the time.”
Grannie Fannie (Deuteronomy 33:27-28) “The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He will drive out your enemies before you, saying, ‘Destroy them!’ So Israel will live in safety; Jacob will dwell secure in a land of grain and new wine, where the heavens drop dew.”
Then Grannie Fannie added, “And then all God’s children said, ‘Amen.’”
Lauren ran up to Grannie Fannie and hugged her. “It’s bus time, Grannie Fannie! I love you.”
Olympia came over and joined in the hug, “She’s my grandmama.”
Grannie Fannie hugged Olympia back. “Yes, someday soon, Olympia.
Brooke said, “Stormie, church time!”
Stormie said, “Aunt Brooke, we are ready to go to church!” Joan yelled, “Yeah!” And Ellie Rain and Olympia joined in.
Credits
When I am using quoted verses in the New Testament, I got those verses (different translations) from Seeing Jesus – Bible Encounter Study Guide by Marilyn Hickey. The concept of doing this in a Sunday school setting is based on her book. When the youngster gives the other verse, Aunt Jemima had sent the comparison verse from the Hickey book, but occasionally, a verse is added (easily found in the cross references). The rest is from internet searches, a variety of commentaries and study Bibles, and personal knowledge.
Here is Fruit of the Spirit from Christian Songs with Lyrics.
Soli Deo Gloria. Only to God be the Glory.
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