Serve One Another in Love

What is the gospel? If you had one minute to explain the gospel to someone, what would you say? Talk with your neighbour.

In Galatians, the apostle Paul has been showing us what the gospel is. Galatians 2:20… ‘My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.’ The gospel is Jesus came and gave Himself for us, to save us. Mark tells us, ‘For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’

There was some whose gospel was, Jesus plus…circumcision. You add something to the gospel, and it becomes no gospel at all.

The gospel is about Jesus who came to serve us and give His life to save us. It is that gospel that calls us to repent and believe in Jesus. It is the gospel that also calls us to serve one another in love – Galatians 5:13…

Paul has said, that the one who follows Christ, walks by the Spirit. And walking by the Spirit is done in community. That community is the church. In fact, the community, the church, is a family. Galatians 6:10… and verse 1…

What does it look like, living by the Spirit, serving one another in love? Paul grounds it for us with some practical examples in chapter 6.

There are 5 practical ways Paul shares with us…

We serve one another in love by…Restoring (v1)

Galatians 6:1… If a fellow Christian is caught up in sin, then the godly, the spiritual, are to help that person; the spiritual are those walking by the Spirit; those living by the Spirit. They are to restore that person with gentleness and humility.

We shouldn’t be surprised by a Christian being overcome by sin; we are still sinners, we are in a battle as we crucify the flesh, as we saw last time. The image is that of getting caught up in a sin. Like those bushes you find in a field and go through thinking it’s a short cut, but as you start to go through you soon realise that you are caught up in it, you need help to escape.

Christians will sometimes slip into sin. Yes, we are working at crucifying sin in our lives, but we will still fall, and sometimes be overcome by sin.

How is the rest of the church family to respond? When someone is caught up in a sin, that is when our brothers and sisters, come alongside us and help us back onto the right path; in love, with gentleness and humility, seeking to restore that person.

It’s the idea of putting a dislocated bone back into place. I see it all the time in rugby. They dislocate their should and someone has to restore it, put it back in place. It is painful, but it needs to be to bring it back to where it should be.

We serve one another in love by restoring. We must not overlook someone caught up in sin. So often it is, because we don’t want to upset or offend. But we serve one another in love when we do confront sin and seek to help and restore our brother or sister. With love and gentleness and humility, we seek to restoring them. But we must be on our guard. We mustn’t think we are not capable of similar or equal sin. That is why go in humility

Is there a sin you are caught in that you need to gently be restore from? Are you willing to listen to others who in love, are seeking to help and restore you?

WE SERVE ONE ANOTHER IN LOVE BY RESTORING.

We serve one another in love by… Carrying (v2-5)

Galatians 6:2… We are to carry each other’s burdens. It’s the idea of something that is really heavy that needs two people to lift it and carry it. I don’t know if you have ever tried to lift and carry something really heavy. I remember trying to carry a heavy stone by myself – I’m a man, that’s what we do. Someone saw me struggling and offered to help me carry the stone. The stone was made easier to carry because the weight of it was shared.

What are the burdens Paul is speaking about?

- I don’t think it is the burden and weight of sin and guilt? Jesus is the one who bears that on the cross. It was on the cross, that Jesus carried the weight of sin and guilt, Matthew 11:28.

- I think the burdens Paul is referring to, are the struggles of the Christian life – worries, temptation, doubts, sorrow. Yes, we can cast those burdens upon Jesus as well (1 Peter 5:7), but one of the ways in which Jesus bears those burdens is through human relationships.

We are to carry each other’s burdens. We should not keep our burdens to ourselves, rather we should seek a Christian friend who will help to bear them with us. We need to see when someone is struggling and needs a lift with whatever that burden is. We are not to let our brothers and sisters carry their burdens alone.

Application… Are you ready to let someone else help in carrying your burdens?

Are you ready to help carry someone’s burden with them?

It might be the burden of decorating a house, or raising a child, or it may be a temptation, or sorrow or a time of grief. We are to be there ready to help carry that burden.We must be ready and actively looking to see who we can help in carrying their burden.

As we carry each other’s burdens, we ‘obey the law of Christ’. What is that law? It takes us back to Galatians 5:13… It is summed up by Jesus, when He says, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’. We are to love others as Christ love us. And we do that by carrying each other’s burdens.

But we will only be able to carry each other’s burdens with the right attitude – with a right gospel view of ourselves, as people who are saved by Jesus’ work on the cross, and that alone. That is true for all Christians, so to have the attitude of verse 3 is foolish. The warning is not to think of ourselves as to important to have a servant heart. It takes humility to carry each other’s burdens, and that humility comes from knowing who we are in Christ; wretched sinners, saved by God’s grace alone, in Christ Jesus. We’re not to compare ourselves with others, because we all have our identity as Christians, in Jesus.

There is also a load we must carry for ourselves, that no one else can carry. Verse 4-5… We bear the responsibility for our own life, for the way we life, for living a godly life. No one else can take responsibility for that. We bear that load ourselves.

John Stott says, ‘There is one burden that we cannot share… and that is our responsibility to God on the day of judgment. On that day you cannot carry my pack and I cannot carry yours.’ While we are to carry each other’s burdens, we are not to neglect the load we ourselves have to bear: that is our life and conduct, and that is what we will answer to God for.

WE SERVE ONE ANOTHER IN LOVE BY CARRYING EACH OTHER’S BURDENS

We serve one another in love by… Sharing (v6)

In the church family there are those who teach. The role of the teachers are to teach the word of God faithfully to the people. Those who receive are to learn, and reteach, and live out and to share all good things with those who teach. Paul wants us to see that to serve on another in love, is done by being generous, by sharing all good things with those who teach and preach. Good things includes financial support. As we serve in love, we will be generous: with our time, talents and finance. We are not and should not be church going ‘consumers’ – just for what we get out of it. Tim Keller says, ‘Christian teaching is not just one more service to be paid for, but a rich fellowship and mutual sharing of the gifts of God’. By caring for the needs of the teacher, the church says, ‘We want the Word of God taught faithfully and effectively, so we will help support you in that’.

WE SERVE ONE ANOTHER IN LOVE BY SHARING ALL GOOD THINGS, BY CARING FOR THOSE WHO TEACH.

We serve one another in love by… Investing (in holiness) (v7-8)

Have you ever heard the phrase, ‘You reap what you sow’? It’s a universal truth. You sow carrot seeds, you reap carrots. You sow apple seeds, you reap apples. Whatever you sow, you will reap.

The point Paul is making here, is in the area of personal holiness; sowing/investing in the right field. And there are only two fields: the flesh and the Spirit. What is the field that you are sowing in – that is the question Paul is asking. Because you will reap what you sow.

To sow to the sinful nature, is to give in to it, instead of crucifying it – as we looked at last time in chapter 5. We sow with our thoughts and deeds.

Where are we sowing? To the flesh, the sinful nature, or to the Spirit? The books we read, the films we watch, our thoughts and attitudes towards other people, will tell us a lot about where we are sowing. When we are angry or bitter towards someone, we sow to the flesh. When we are filled with pride, so much so it stops us from carrying someone’s burden; we sow to the flesh. Where are you sowing.

We sow to the Spirit by living obedient lives. By living godly lives. By living holy lives, set apart for God. By being Christ-like in all we do. By carrying one another’s burdens in love. By sharing everything that is good. By restoring a fallen brother or sister, with gentleness and humility. By doing good.

It can be hard work. That is why Paul says in verse 9… Those living by the Spirit, and sowing to the Spirit, may never see the fruit in this life, but will eventually see the fruit of that – ‘everlasting life’.

Don’t lose heart! Persevere! Encourage one another to keep doing good, and encourage one another all the more as we see the day of judgment approaching, as Hebrews 10 tells us. And as we do that, we serve one another in love.

WE SERVE ONE ANOTHER IN LOVE BY INVESTING IN THE RIGHT PLACE – INVESTING IN HOLINESS.

We serve one another in love by… Doing (Good) (v10)

Verse 10… What is the doing good that Paul is speaking about? It is serving one another in love. It is walking by the Spirit. Don’t give up doing good. Keep going. Keep serving one another. Keep loving. It may seem fruitless now, but there will be a great harvest – an eternal harvest. So, keep on doing good to everyone, especially the family of faith. Isn’t that good to know and be reminded of; if you are a Christian here this morning you are here with your family of faith. Keep doing good. Take every opportunity to do good.

Where are you tempted to give up doing good? Share that burden.

How can you help and encourage someone not to give up doing good?

How can you do good for someone this week?

WE SERVE ONE ANOTHER IN LOVE BY DOING GOOD.

Closing

There so much in this passage – you could probably do a sermon on each bit. Paul is giving us some practical examples, helping us to ground what he has been saying, about what it looks like, living by the Spirit, keeping in step with the Spirit, to serve one another in love. Just think how this church and this town would be transformed even more, if we were to fully give ourselves to serving one another in love, in – restoring, carrying, sharing, investing, and doing Good.

Let us have a moments quiet to ask God to show us where we need to serve one another in love, is a new way or in a better.