cosmic timetable - The fullness of time suggests Paul’s understanding that God has a cosmic timetable and a specific day was appointed for the incarnation to break into and to alter human history. That is the theological framework for what we celebrate during Advent. That the notion of a divine timetable was valued in apocalyptic writings, see for example, Daniel 8:19; 11:35; QpHab 7:2 [1]; Mark 1:15; Luke 21:24; Acts 1:7; 3:21; Ephesians 1:10, et al.

the salvific act - As in other places in pauline thought (Romans 8:3-4, for example), this lesson focuses on a salvation that comes to rescue people who are powerless to change their status, condition, or experience. In part, the Son redeems and changes humanity’s situation before God, but the then the Spirit is sent to make such a saving act receivable and livable.

a strange togetherness - As nib points out, the phrase "to redeem those under the law" (verse 5) was a critical piece of the early Church’s understanding of Christ’s mission: "to seek and to save that which was lost." But it is the second clause that writes non-Jewish persons into the script: "that we might receive adoption to sonship." Such a redemptive death by Jesus now opens the door to new possibilities for everyone. Gentiles too are adopted into God’s family that Christ’s self-giving makes possible. [2]

What are some of the social, cultural, and theological barriers to Christian / church unity in our day? How can we help to tear such barriers down?

If someone-your best friend who happened to be a person of another religion-asked you, "What is required in order to be considered a Christian?", how would you respond?

How has God intervened to alter human history and adopt us as full heirs?

homiletical possibility: enslavement as the human condition

Enslavement as the fundamental human condition . . . Those who suffer from addiction to drugs, alcohol, or compulsive behaviors often confess that they are in the clutches of a destructive force that overpowers them. Those who live in poverty or under political oppression know all too well that they are pawns of a system that is too powerful to fight. For all who live in such circumstances, Paul’s proclamation comes as joyous good news: God has sent Jesus to share our plight and to loose our chains. Likewise, many who have lived under the grip of empty secular philosophies have found in the gospel a release from the enslaving power of empty secular philosophies have found in the gospel a release from the enslaving power of materialism and hedonism-the usual forms that paganism takes in our time. For those who have experienced a transformation from darkness to light, Paul’s metaphor of being redeemed from slavery will seem apt . . .

. . . [However] even the most religiously devout-indeed, perhaps especially they-are entangled in subtle forms of bondage. One sees this only in retrospect, online the light of the cross. This is a sweeping proclamation that levels all the distinctions we love to make between ourselves and others.

. . . Thus the single message that we were all slaves and that all are now equally redeemed through Christ’s death will come to different hearers with quite different impacts. For those who know their need, it is a word of hope and comfort; for those who fancy themselves free and autonomous, it is an offense and a challenge to reevaluate their true condition. [3]

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[1] Pesher on Habakkuk (Qumran Cave 1) cited in New Interpreter’s Bible XI (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2002), page 283.
[2] Ibid, page 284.
[3] New Interpreter’s Bible XI (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2002), page 289.