Sabbath Community: Finding Rest Together

Galatians 6:2–9 (ESV)

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor.

For each will have to bear his own load.

Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches.

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.

For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

Have you ever seen it in a movie (usually a war film or an adventure movie)

They’re out on a mission or out on the adventure

The characters are in a jungle or wilderness and night begins to set in.

As the sun begins to tuck away behind some far away mountain, one of the characters inevitably says, “this looks like a good place to camp for the night”

So they build a fire and they roast some vermin for dinner…they tell some stories and maybe even sing a little song (if its Lord of the Rings and one of them has a fiddle)

And before they lay down to sleep, they set up a watch…one guy takes the first watch of the night and somebody else volunteers for the second.

They do this because they find themselves in a strange land.

They do not know what predators may be on the prowl.

They do not know what enemies may be lurking near.

So it is not safe for everyone to sleep at the same time.

Somebody has to be on the watch.

Beloved, as we continue to consider God’s gift of sabbath, I am reminded that we too find ourselves journeying through a strange land.

This earth, Christian, is not our home.

There are enemies lurking and predators on the prowl.

In his letter to the Galatians, Paul has devoted his rhetorical energies to convince the Galatians are free from bondage to the law of Moses…

But as he ends the letter, Paul makes a turn in the argument and says to say to the church in verse 13 of Galatians 5, “Do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh”

You are free from the law, but you are still in the world.

You are free from the law, but you are still on the battlefield.

You are free from the legal responsibilities of the letter of the law, but you are now called to high moral planes of the Spirit of the law which is the Holy Spirit of God.

You are free from the law, but you are still in a battle with the flesh.

We must be vigilant against the flesh because if we give it a chance, our own flesh and the fleshly desires of the world around us will consume us.

And if we must be so vigilant while in this world, how then can we ever rest?

In the text before us we have a series of exhortations that provided an answer to this important question.

And the upshot of the answer is this: WE CAN FIND REST IN A DANGEROUS WORLD, IF WE FIND IT TOGETHER.

And so I want to preach a sermon today called, “Sabbath Community: Finding Rest Together”

The first exhortation is this: Help your brother

CALL FOR VOLUNTEER

Most of the heavy burdens of life are the outcome of the flesh

Your own flesh.

Financial mismanagement has your credit messed up.

Marriage trouble

The fleshly desires of others.

Corporate greed driving up the price of food.

Your child’s flesh has them out their making a mess of their life.

Some are just the outcome of the brokenness of our world because of sin.

Car accident

Bad weather has damaged your home or business

When the burdens get too heavy, it is not for us to judge or investigate to find out how this brother came to be under such a heavy burden. Our job is to help him carry this.

When we bear one another’s burdens, the text says that we are fulfilling the law of Christ

Paul is referring to the teaching of Jesus that the whole law and all of the prophets hand on two core ideas:

Love God with all your heart

Love your neighbor as yourself

The implication is that you have to recognize that one day it will be you carrying the heavy burdens of life; and you will need somebody to help you. So you help them just like you will want somebody to help you.

The second exhortation is: Handle Your Responsibilities

Immediately following the strong exhortation to bear one another’s burdens, Paul says that every person should examine their own work and carry their own load.

Is Paul being contradictory here?

Not at all.

In these two statements we have two related, but very different words. Both of them refer to weight or something that has to be carried.

When he says “bear one another’s burdens”, he uses the Greek word that refers to a heavy, overwhelming weight

When Paul says “carry your own load”, he uses the Greek word that suggests a relatively small, ordinary, or manageable weight

We want to cultivate a community where if anyone has a burden, the community is obliged to help them carry it…So the members of the community must commit never to abuse the benevolence in the community by demanding help with things you should be able to handle on your own.

Every life has its load.

Going to the job everyday

Doing your homework

Taking care of household chores

Managing household finances

Making dinner for the kids

(If your spouse is solely responsible for four of the five I just mentioned, and you only the one, it may be that what should be a shared load has unnecessarily become a personal burden)

If you see me lugging this burden, it is a sacred Christian work to come alongside and help me.

But, I have to understand that you are not going to help me carry my backpack.

(Have backpack ready)

The community will share my burden, but I cannot ask the community to shoulder my load. That I have to do for myself.

Understand that this truth is not here to shame people who need the community's help.

The trials of life could overwhelm any of us.

And even when our own bad decisions get us into a position that we can’t get ourselves out of, the community fulfills the law of Christ when we help.

The force of the scripture is not to bring shame in hardship, but to make sacred the ordinary things of life.

It is a sacred, Christian virtue to help a brother or a sister in need.

But, it is equally sacred

…to go to work everyday

…to apply yourself in your studies

…to do the laundry and wash the dishes

…to pay your bills when the money is there

And to recognize that God is in all of it.

The final exhortation is to Value the teacher.

Galatia was a largely rural and agrarian Roman province in Asia Minor

Agriculture formed the backbone of the economy.

Many people were farmers, laborers, or engaged in trades to support rural life.

And there was significant social tension between the working class and the elite landowning class throughout the Roman Empire, including in Galatia.

The landowning elite controlled large estates, while small farmers often worked under precarious conditions; dependent on these landowners.

To fund the lavish lifestyles of the landowning elite, Heavy rents and taxation often forced working-class families into debt, and some lost their freedom as “debt bondage” was common for those who could not pay what they owed.

Against this social backdrop, Paul has spoken of this burden sharing and load carrying.

And there comes to his mind this guy or group of guys who would spend their days praying, and counseling, and coaching…studying ancient texts and swapping letters with the apostles.

Paul recognizes that this kind of arrangement might smack of the very social and economic elitism that his readers so disdained.

Paying the preacher to preach might make somebody feel some kind of way.

So Paul seeks to remind the church that the overarching goal here is to walk in the spirit, have victory over the flesh, and not wear ourselves out as we do it.

And if you are going to live in victory over the flesh, it will be because your spirit is constantly being fed.

And this is the role of the teacher…to feed the faith of the community.

You see, the spiritual gift of teaching is not the gift of knowing…I don’t have the capacity to know anything more about the scriptures than anyone else here.

The spiritual gift of teaching is the gift of noticing.

It is the gift of discerning the times.

It is the gift of discerning hearts.

It is the gift of drawing out from the mass deposits of biblical truth, tangible meaning.

The role of the teaching gift is to notice the things of God that others might miss in the regular cadences of life and call our attention back to sacred truth.

The role of the teacher is to faithfully remind us of all that God has said, and all that God has promised, and all that God has done, and all that God is doing…and what it all means for our lives.

WHILE THIS WORK LOOKS DIFFERENT, IT IS A THING THAT TAKES TIME AND TAKES EFFORT AND TAKES SKILL AND BENEFITS THE COMMUNITY.

And since the unrighteous society is not going to compensate anyone for doing this part, it is up to the church to care for the material needs of those who teach.

Paul closes the section with a metaphor about sowing and reaping.

If we invest in this kind of spiritual community…if we put these seeds in the ground.

Then we can expect the community that we produce will constantly yield the fruit of life and blessing.

AND ONE OF THE PRIMARY SHAPES THAT THIS FRUIT OF LIFE WILL TAKE IS THE SHAPE OF REST.

You see this agrarian community would have understood something about Paul’s reference to the rhythms of sowing and reaping.

The only way you can engage in the work of sowing and the work of reaping and not get tired is if there is something sacred happening in the spaces between the work.

That something is a sacred gift called rest.

When we sow seeds of love, we bring rest into the rhythms.

But, if sow seed of backbiting and disunity, then we can expect to produce a Christian community that leaves individual believers susceptible to the ravages of the flesh. And we can expect that none of us will remain unscathed by the destruction.

In sum, what we have is an exhortation to Invest in sabbath community or perish from selfish ambition.

The culture is pushing a subtle lie, that we need to spend more time “focusing on ourselves”.

But beloved, When you are “paying attention to yourself”, you are playing a dangerous game.

The human heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.

You will most likely end up sowing, not to your own spirit, but to the flesh.

If we desire to be like Christ, we must live as He did:

to serve, not to be served.

When we invest in the wellbeing of others, we cultivate the life of the spirit in ourselves.

But no one here is the eternal source of life.

We all need sabbath.

We all need to be poured into.

We all need help from time to time.

And so we must cultivate a community that understands the principle of sabbath.

Where somebody will watch your back while you rest.

You don’t have to focus all your energy on yourself because somebody else is focusing their attention on you.

Either we will Invest in sabbath community or we will perish from selfish ambition.

I say to you that even reciprocity - that one-to-one commitment that you will scratch my back and I will scratch yours - is very risky business

The chances are just too high that you will step up for me in my time of need and then the storm rolls in over your life before I have made it back to my place of strength.

And then we are both in trouble.

But, when there stands a community of faithful and committed people

People who have thrown in together on life

People who have joined hands together to declare, by the power of mutual love:

Devil you can’t have my brother

Devil you can’t have my sister

No one here is going to be overtaken by sin

No one here is going to be overcome by adversity

No one here will fall prey to the oppression and injustice that is in our world.

We are going to help one another.

We are going to support one another.

We are going to pray for one another.

We are going to fight for one another.

Ambassador Church, I tell you by the Spirit of God, this is the kind of church we must be.

I hear the words of that old Negro Spiritual

Walk together, children and don’t you get tired.

Pray together, children and don’t you get tired.

Fight together, children and don’t you get tired.

And together, we’re going to make it to that great camp meeting in the promised land.

This is not just preaching.

I hear a great call in the Spirit.

We must commit to being this kind of community.

God has called us to be the church for people who love people.

But when you don’t have sabbath community, there is weariness to loving people…

You end up always pouring out and never being poured into…and eventually to find that you are completely empty.

WE MUST BE A PLACE WHERE IT IS SAFE TO DO GOOD.

Whatever that means for our rhythms and our structures…WE MUST RESPOND TO THIS CALL.

It’s time to invest in sabbath community, stand up with me.

A few ways to respond today to this call.

#1: If you don’t know Jesus. I want you to know that creating this life-giving, sabbath community is the heartbeat of the gospel that we preach:

Come unto me.

The church can’t save you. But, Jesus can.

I’d love to make the connection.

#2: You’re not a big joiner, but you see the purpose and benefit of sabbath community and you want to make Ambassador Church your church.

#3: If you’re ready to make the investment, stand together with me.

#4: Pray for those who need a refreshing