Bearing with each other

Bear each others burdens

How are we to react to each other? Do you know what the person in the seat next to you is going through? Did you know that someone in here is struggling with drug addiction? How about the person behind you dealing with the loss of a loved one? How does the church react to this? In my last sermon in Galatians we dealt with how God has given us the Gospel as the key to the church. Today we will see how we are to have relationships with each other in relation to the gospel. Galatians 6:1-10 explains to us the expected relationship of Christians in the church.

Addressing Each Other

I answered a call on my phone a few weeks ago and the guy on the other end of the phone said hey its Bryan. I said good to hear from you man I have to go over a few things with you. I went on to let the guy know first how my family was then how work was going and that while I was learning the new position it was a little more of a struggle than I expected it to be. I told him that I was having some stomach issues lately and getting pretty into some details that I would have only shared with my friend Bryan who I believed I was speaking too. Guess what? That’s right. In the middle of my last sentence he goes hey who do you think I am? I said Bryan Moore and he said no, I'm Bryan the road move contractor that you are working with in Hawthorne, I'm sorry to hear about your stomach issues though and he began to laugh. As I recovered the conversation the embarrassment set in and I realized what it is like to address the wrong person. Galatians 6:1-2 explains to us how we should address sin.

Galatians 6:1–2 ESV

1 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Notice how the scripture starts with Brothers. This indicates that Paul is speaking to the church to address the church. Paul did not state for Brothers to address the world, but rather to address each others sins. You see we begin by addressing the Sin with the correct audience. We must address each other in the church. The scripture then moves on to address how we do this. It says in gentleness we restore each other. Often times we believe that we must come across as firm and demanding when the Scripture is clear that we must be gentle. We are gentle because we understand that God is in the heart business and only He can change the heart and remove the sin. We are also to do this in Humbleness as we understand that we too could fall victim to sins desires over us. We are no better than the next person. So we address Christians stuck in sin even being willing to have someone address us because the image of the church is the image of the gospel. We do this in gentleness and understanding of our position in this matter. But it goes ones step further and this is where the hang up in the church often happens. The Scripture says to Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. What was the law of Christ?

Mark 12:28–31 ESV

28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

In carrying the burdens of our brothers and sisters in Christ we are fulfilling both parts of Jesus answer to the Pharisees. We are not called to simply tell others about their sins we are called to address their sin with them in humbleness and gentleness and we are also to carry with them the burdens of that sin. That’s right in the church there is no well he made his bed he can lay in it. We care for our wounded, we carry the broken and we see them to complete healing. We too often are good with addressing sin and why we should not sin, we are less productive when it comes to helping others deal with the burdens of their sins. Why? Because it is dirty, it is painful, it is a long and sometimes unrewarding road. If we focus on all of the worldly measures of what shows success we feel that carrying someones burdens with them we will certainly not want to do this. But as Christians we follow the Scripture for success and what does it say?

Matthew 6:19–21 ESV

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Paul makes it clear that we are to address Sin in the church for the church to reach the world.

Addressing Ourselves

Galatians 6:3–5 ESV

3 For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. 5 For each will have to bear his own load.

Have you ever notices Of all the amazing features of the medieval cathedrals, one feature stands out as very strange to the modern mind: We have no idea who designed and built them. The architects and builders did not bother to sign their names to them? Why is that? Is it because they understood that their name was not the important name? That the Cathedral and the God that they were used to serve. Paul gives clear instructions to the church that we are to examine ourselves and to ensure that we are not prideful in ourselves. The one who thinks he is important deceives himself. We are to test our own work against Gods standards and not judge ourselves against what others are doing. Why is this? Its because if we test ourselves against others we will always find the person that is worse than us and we will believe that we are good and that nothing about us needs to change. We are told to ensure this does not happen but why cant we simply make ourselves feel important? Paul continues in verse 5 to tell us why.

Galatians 6:5 ESV

5 For each will have to bear his own load.

This seems to contradict verse 2 but it is making a pretty important point. We cannot carry anyone else burden if we aren’t able to carry our own burden. We must ensure that we are addressing sin in our own lives and allowing God to remove it. When our sin is too much for us to carry on our own we should understand that in love the church we attend will be there to help us carry the burden. We must understand that we must first walk in righteousness. WE cannot spend our time picking out other peoples faults.

Luke 6:42 ESV

42 How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.

The largest part about being a Christian is being able to be truthful with yourself. We spend so much time being honest with other people and so much time lying to ourselves. I hear people tell me that I should be easier on myself because I am very clear on the fact that I am a sinner saved by grace and that you should not be surprised were I to make a mistake. I would hope that in light of today's sermon that you would be willing in love to come to me and address that sin with me. But I am very truthful with myself and have been so with you from the pulpit. It is important that we do not become important in our own estimation of ourselves.

Proverbs 29:23 ESV

23 One’s pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor.

In order to deal with Sin in the church we must all maintain a humble posture. You see it is how we deal with each other and ourselves that makes the church carry the Gospel. We fulfil the gospel in how we deal with one another and how we bear each others burdens. We are call to strengthen our hearts and souls through dependence on christ and to carry the weak until Christ gives them strength.

Addressing the World

Galatians 6:9–10 ESV

9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. 10 So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

John 13:35 ESV

35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

How do we reach the world with the Gospel? Is it the outreach events? Is it the visitations? Is it the free meals? Those are all great events but they will not change the world. How we treat each other is how we reach the world. People should look at how we deal and speak to each other, how we carry each others burdens and they should say, I want to be a part of that. The church grows from our love towards one another and the world sees that love. You see loving the world and not taking care of our own does no good. When churches are better at taking care of the world than they are at taking care of each other no one wants to become a member because they wont be part of the cared for anymore. We must ensure that they know us by our love for one another. A love that overrides any political view, personal view, or any other dividing opinions the world uses. The church should stay pure to its heart and fulfill the Gospel. I’m glad to be a part of a church that maintains this belief and loves one another.