Burdens to Carry
Notes
Transcript
Now we continue our series on the Foundations of the church. We are looking at what makes our church a foundational community, a place that works together and does God’s work. Last week, on Founders Day, we looked at how important unity is, and that what’s important is not who is in charge, or who gets credit; its that we work together for the glory of God. This includes people who have been here for years and years, as well as people who are brand new to this place. Everyone gets to be a part of this work to make the world a better place. We just have to keep our focus on being a team, doing this incredible work together.
Now we transition from unity to carrying each other’s burdens. This is putting some hands and feet on what it looks like to be in unity, working together. We work for the benefit of one another. We are going to hear our scripture from Joe and it comes from the Book of Galatians. This is a letter written by the Apostle Paul about what it takes to be a Christian. At the time the Jewish Christians in Galatia said you have to obey the cultural rules of being Jewish in order to really, truly be a Christian. Paul has a thing or two to say about that, though, so let’s listen for what it really takes to be a Christian. This is from Galatians 6:1-10. Hear now the word of the Lord.
My friends, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Take care that you yourselves are not tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. For if those who are nothing think they are something, they deceive themselves. All must test their own work; then that work, rather than their neighbor’s work, will become a cause for pride. For all must carry their own loads.
Those who are taught the word must share in all good things with their teacher.
Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit. So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.
And from Luke 12:33
Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.
The word of the Lord for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Let’s join together in pray: Lord, may we be an inclusive community passionately following Jesus Christ. Work in us your will as we seek to carry one another’s burdens the right way. In Christ’s name we pray, Amen.
“Carrying one another’s burdens” may sound like a simple command on its surface, but it is a deceptively sneaky concept. Even the Apostle Paul says both “bear one another’s burdens” and “all must carry their own load.” What does it mean to carry another person’s burdens?
Last week I had shared how my wife Emily and I had new foster children in our home. We didn’t know how long we would have them. It could have been as long as six months, but it ended up be far shorter. By Tuesday of this week, just 6 days after they entered our lives, they were gone, off to a relative’s home. We will continue to hold these children in our hearts and pray for them, but I’m still reflecting on this incredibly chaotic week we’ve had, where I had no time to get anything done. Yet, despite this I felt more productive in a couple of days than I had in several weeks. I have to admit that I also felt that if one thing went wrong, if someone got sick or a vehicle broke down, we would be in a world of trouble. We also saw dozens of people give so generously to support us. We had some meals delivered to our home; some folks dropped off clothing, which was wonderful, so that these children, who had only the clothes on their back when they arrived, left with bags and bags of clothing and toys and school supplies. Transitions can be tough for children, but hopefully those items will make it just a little easier. So many people were quick to respond to the needs of our family, and I am truly grateful for it, but what I noticed the most was how challenging it can be to raise children.
Emily and I have always said two kids is enough for us. One parent for one child. If there’s more children than parents what are you going to do when they literally run in opposite directions. I’ve heard some parents say you have to change up your protection. You can’t play man-to-man coverage anymore; you have to switch to zone defense! I know that works in football, but that is really, really hard to do in the family. How do you keep everybody in line when everybody wants something different? Then I think about how their are so many single-parent homes and I am just in awe. We have two extra kids for six days and I am exhausted. Emily was literally sleeping in the hallway of our home to keep our two-year-old in his crib and out of the playroom in the middle of the night. Kudos to all the parents out there who are making it happen for their children.
I know there was a point for me this last week where I said, I have been away from parenting little ones for too long. What are the rules, again? What are the principles I have to keep in mind to parent children well? I remembered redirection for toddlers; they are easily distracted and forget what they were crying about two seconds ago. I used that one to great effect! But for children in other stages what are those rules? So I just happened to see a free parenting class on facebook (which, mind you, never happens because I don’t go on facebook), and I took the bait. I signed up and watched the session in the tiny bit of free time I had last week. And in it they mentioned all the things that can frustrate parents. We hate nagging, we hate punishing our children to get them to act. I know kids don’t like it much either, so it might seem like there is no way out of these destructive patterns, but, incredibly, there is!
Now I know this isn’t a parenting class; we are in church. You didn’t come here to fix your kids, but if there are any parents that want to learn the secrets I now know from a free facebook webinar, I’d be happy to share it with you after church for a one time fee of only 19.95.
I’m kidding of course, the key point was that you need to be fair and you need to empower your children. How completely unfair it is to promise something and then take it away because of an unrelated situation. How unfair is it to not lay any ground rules and then tell them after the fact they broke the rules. Also, children like choices. Let them know the consequence of an action, and how a particular behavior benefits them. As I listened to all this advice, it was clicking for me. Wait, this isn’t just about children. This is about everybody. This is true for all human interactions! A community, even a church community, needs these kinds of rules so that it can function well, so people feel happy and fulfilled. These rules seem to me to be part of what it means to carry the burdens of others. Let’s walk through this scripture together and see if we can make the connection.
The Apostle Paul encourages us to carry each other’s burdens in Galatians six. He was a part of this community in Galatia; he had helped form this community in modern day ‘Turkey.’ After continuing his missionary travels he is writing a few years later to these people to try and help guide them. The big debate happening in this community was around circumcision and how it is that someone could become a follower of Jesus Christ. Paul had people get baptized and join the small churches that were meeting in people’s homes. And the audience is a mix of people. Some of them are Jewish who decide to follow Christ, while others had a different religious background. The Jewish Christians are saying ‘you have to be like us to be real Christians,’ so they want them to follow all their rules and customs. Paul’s main argument through the rest of this book, though, is that becoming culturally Jewish does not make us any more righteous. His detractors are even pointing to the Bible - “look, it says right there that you have to be circumcised to be the people of God.” But Paul says no, that’s wrong. He says this requirement that you have for cultural Judaism, not only is it not meant for these other people, its also driving people away from converting. How is that a part of the community God envisions for us? Instead, he says be open, and welcoming and inclusive.
So that’s how we get to today’s scripture in Galatians six. Verse one “if anyone is detected in a transgression...” if you sin, if you are imposing the wrong thing on others, then Christians who have the Spirit of God alive and at work in them are the ones who should gently correct them, bringing them back to the right way. Then he says, “bear one another’s burdens.” The main image here could actually be that of a slave, or servant and all that they would do to serve their masters. But it could also the image from a soldier who could press someone into service. If a Roman soldier needed someone to carry a message for them, they could demand assistance from citizens. A soldiers basic equipment already weighed about 66 pounds, so they had a heavy burden already. Now imagine you’ve a soldier who just marched into town, but you have to hand deliver a letter to someone in the town. You don’t know quite where you are going, and you are already exhausted from the journey. The law was that the soldier could force anyone he found to go up to one mile and deliver that letter for him. It would relieve him of the burden not only of the distance he had to travel, but also of all that weight from his equipment.
Most people hated this. They’d have to drop everything they were doing, and not only go the whole mile out of their way; they also had to travel the extra mile back to where they started to continue on with their business. Now if this isn’t bad enough, Jesus actually comments on this whole principle in Matthew 5. He says “if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile.” So if you have to carry that letter two miles now, doubling the destination, you are also doubling the distance back. You aren’t going just two miles, you are going four. This is even more inconvenient! But that’s what it means to bear one another’s burdens. And Paul tells us this is what it means to fulfill the law of Christ. In chapter 5 he said the law is summed up with this, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Help those that are in need. Take on that inconvenience to do good for others, to help, to love, to bless them and let them know God loves them and has not forgotten them. It also includes the burden of helping to correct someone who has sinned. That’s a tough thing to do well and that’s part of what God’s love looks like.
Now as Paul continues to make his argument, you might think he’s backing off this idea because he says “For all must carry their own loads.” That sounds way more American, doesn’t it? Pull yourself up by your boot straps. Your problems are your own, so work hard and fix it! The Greeks, who culturally dominated this period of time, had a similar saying, “each one shall bear his own load;” Paul is probably quoting it here. And it means just what you think it does; be self-sufficient. But that’s not really what’s going on here. The Apostle has written a couple of verses that are really confusing to us today, because what he’s doing is flipping this cultural phrase on its head. He’s not reversing course and denying the assistance we give to others. In emphasizing humility while dealing with others he is saying that the load each of us must carry for ourselves is the responsibility of answering to God for what we do. Its a clever twist. Its a little clearer in verse 7 where Paul says, “you reap whatever you sow.” Those are farming terms for planting and harvesting. Sow in the flesh, reap in the flesh, but if you sow (or plant) in the Spirit you reap (or harvest) in the Spirit.
So the burden each of us carries individually is having to answer before God about what we did with this life. Harvesting spiritually means we helped others; we blessed them; we loved them, we made this world a better place with how we used our time and talent. So each of us, when we go before God, have to answer with what we did with our lives. Were you living by the spirit, seeking a better way, building up the community? Or, did you live for yourself; were you angry? were you fighting? were you taking sides? That breaks the community, that destroys the very thing God calls us to. And the Apostle rounds out the way we ought to live by coming back to his main point, “whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.”
There are so many things we could do to work for good, to make the world better. The possibilities are endless, and I think part of the beauty of the Christian life is that there’s no specific formula for it. We are all free to do whatever kind of good we want to do! We just have to make sure our commitment is actually for the good, not just pretending to stand for good when all we are really doing is fulfilling our own agenda. Just do good things! Be that blessing! That’s why we don’t act like our church has it all together and everybody else is wrong. No, we know lots of people are doing good, and we just want to join in with the rest of God’s kingdom making good things happen. Imagine what the world would look like if more and more people made that commitment. We aren’t competing, we aren’t putting others down or taking sides; we are just working to make more good things happen.
I remember a season in my life, when our children were very young. They were not good sleepers, with multiple wakings every night for literally years. And in our exhaustion just getting through the day felt like it was nearly impossible. We had a phrase we kept repeating to ourselves that I think helped us. We just kept saying “more good things.” We wanted more good things in our life and we wanted to be a source of more good things for others. We had to make sure that was our focus even as things around us were so tough to deal with! I think that’s the Apostle’s message here, and we saw it last week with the clothing and food people brought to our house. Bless those children in any way you can.
But don’t miss this either; the very last word is that we work for the good of all, but especially the family of faith. When people in our own faith community are hurting, we need to drop everything to assist. This is a message for me, too, since I’m often the first person to hear about when people are sick or in the hospital. Yes, that needs to be balanced with raising a family and other considerations, but we’ve got to prioritize taking care of our own. When you join this church family, you become our top priority. We will be there when you are hurting. We will keep working for the good of the whole church.
Some of you have heard about one of our Sunday School teachers, Sarah Shurtz, and how she was given a cancer diagnosis a few weeks ago. The doctors, even before they got the full results of her tests, immediately put her on chemotherapy. When I spoke with her she was upbeat. She was even cheerful that, whatever may come, she would face it with God at her side. She may have been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, but there’s a new drug and the doctors are hopeful. She carries this burden with hope, and I want to urge you to do the same.
I want to encourage our church to put aside the other concerns you may have, and do some good for our own people that are hurting. At the end of your pew are some blank index cards. I want to take a minute here to invite you to write down something of how you can be a blessing to those that are hurting in our own church. Some folks have already told me they are donating some money to Sarah. Some of you may want to volunteer some time to help, or a meal for a family. I know more than one of you will commit yourself to pray every day for the next month for those in our church who need a touch from God. Others will send a card or give a call to offer support and ask how you might be able to help carry this burden. You only have to go one mile for a person who suffers…but Jesus says go two. What will your second mile look like today? I invite you to write it down a name of someone hurting, maybe its Sarah, or another person from our church who you know is in need. The ushers will collect it in just a moment. If you need a little extra time feel free to give the card to an usher at the end of the service. As the music plays let’s write how we will carry the burden’s of one another.
Let’s pray.
Lord, we pray that we would be a faith community that supports one another. This is a foundational element of being a church. We care for each other, we support each other and reach out when someone is hurting. Its easy to forget about another’s pain, or to tell someone to carry their own burdens, but that’s not what you call us to. You call us to do good, especially when it involves our own church family. Help us to be a light, and to make good come out of an awful situation.
We also pray for...
Lord’s prayer