Caring for Oneanother
Gal 6:1-5
Peanuts- Lucy asks Charlie Brown “Why are we here on earth?” Charlie Brown, “To make others happy.”
Lucy -“Then why are others here?”
Most Americans would answer, “To make me happy!” You don’t think so? So why are so many upset with others when they don’t make them happy.
Rick Warren coined the phrase in the Purpose Driven Life, “It’s not about You” The quicker we accept that the happier we will be. Americans are all about me and the independent spirit, but the Bible reveals God is all about creating a caring community of believers. The phrase one another is used over 16 times in the NT including here. In the Old Testament God gave specific instructions on how to care for the helpless. The widow, orphan, the poor, the alien, the blind, etc. In other words we are to focus on others needs, and not just our own. Philippians 2:4 echo the same, Look not only on your own interests, but also on the interests of others. We by nature are selfish and we don’t have to be told often to take care of yourself, but it takes being born again with a new nature to think of others first.
I What Kind of Burdens ?
A. Two kinds listed here- one a backpack, one overwhelming burden
-This is not meaning you take all their burdens and they have none -they dump them on you
-We all have our own burdens to bear, some we really need help with.
-It is not meant for some to carry all, and others have none.
-But a loving sharing of heavy burdens.
It is not a Disney world -Prince on a white horse come and take Cinderella away from all her work, and he does everything for her with servants. She does worry, work, pay bills etc. She just sets around having others cater to her every whim. Sadly that is the dream of millions of Americans. Men and women. I’ll win the lottery and play the rest of my life.
B. Types carrying burdens (widow, orphan, poor, alien, etc)
-Loneliness
Does Anybody Ask About My Arthritis?
Mamie made frequent trips to the branch post office. One day she confronted a long line of people who were waiting for service from the postal clerks. Mamie only needed stamps, so a helpful observer asked, “Why don’t you use the stamp machine? You can get all the stamps you need and you won’t have to stand in line.” Mamie said, “I know, but the machine can’t ask me about my arthritis.” People still need human contact.
-Depression
-Grief
-Illness
-Poverty -hungry -homeless
-Oppressed
-Broken spirit
II Caring is to be reciprocal
A. Jesus told of giving to those you couldn’t get anything back from.
B. In Close relationships like the home and the church one-way relationships should not be.
-There are givers and takers
-Alfred Ellis wrote the book “ONE WAY RELATIONSHIPS” which describes how dysfunctional relationships are in which one does all the giving, and the other one does all the taking.
Today however, we see many relationship where both are takers, and there are no givers. It is like two ticks and no Dog. They are both sucking blood, and there is no donor.
Inflexibility has ruined more marriages than adultery . This is a statement I heard on the Radio recently, and I think it is very accurate.
C. Here the caring is to go both ways.
-If one does all the giving and the other all the taking. The relationship won’t last long.
Steve Shogren, in his servant evangelism book, says it is hardest to serve in the home. We all want to go home to be served.
Mom always got up and served breakfast to all of us before going to work or school. How many do that today?
God’s plan is that we try to out serve one another- If so our Love Bank never empty. (Dr Harley, His needs, Her Needs.)
What would it look like?
Tony Dungy tried to offer encouragement to former Bucs quarterback Trent Dilfer three years ago after his 5-year-old son, Trevin, died of heart disease. Still, Dungy, though he’s one to practice what he preaches, admittedly had his doubts about whether he’d even be able to handle the loss of a child.
"I said, ’Trent, we’ve been through a lot, been through ups and downs, tough times, and I think I could go through just about everything you’ve gone through, but I couldn’t go through that,’" Dungy said.
So when Tony lost his son last season guess who contacted him. Trent Dilfer with a message, "Our God is bigger than our pain," Dilfer says.
III Jesus Example -.
A. Mark 10:45 "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."
B. Acts 10:38
how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.
C. John 13
4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" 7 Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand." 8 "No," said Peter, "you shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me." 9 "Then, Lord," Simon Peter replied, "not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!" 10 Jesus answered, "A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you." 11 For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean. 12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. 13 "You call me ’Teacher’ and ’Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.
God wants us to serve the needs of others in the church
How would it look in a local church?
IV The Early Church Example (Acts 2)
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
I read of a man who said "..A friend of mine attended an Assembly of God church in the Paducah, KY, area for a period of time. He has since moved. At one of their services an old man went forward to their altar, apparently to pray. He had the appearance of a street person; shabby clothes, etc. While kneeling at the altar, a whiskey bottle fell out of his coat pocket. THE NEWS OF THAT HAPPENING SPREAD THROUGHOUT THE CHURCH THE NEXT WEEK. Everybody was talking about what had happened at church.
The next Sunday, the minister stood and told the congregation that he’d heard all the talk about the man who came forward the last week and his whiskey bottle.
The elderly minister then said, "I don’t want to hear anymore about this. God didn’t put us here to criticize people. HE PUT US HERE TO LOVE PEOPLE!" Amen?!
V How Do We Bear Burdens of Others
(examples from our church fellowship)
In January, Tony Dungy managed to pen an encouraging letter to Rhonda Brown, wife of former NFL defensive back Dave Brown, after her husband died at age 52 of a heart attack while playing basketball. "I [wrote], ’I don’t know exactly what you’re feeling but I know that the Lord can get you through it.’ That’s the encouraging thing, that I can say to people now, that you’ll make it," Dungy says.
Phone- Dr Harry Wood - Out of blue -called our answering machine with encouraging message.
Our Presence -
Last season, when first-year Colts defensive tackle Corey Simon and his wife experienced a personal tragedy, Simon and Dungy had a talk in the head coach’s office. Dungy has an open-door policy; his players feel like they’re talking to their father rather than their coach. Dungy reminded Simon that God’s will is perfect.
When Colts middle linebacker Gary Brackett lost his father, mother and brother over a 16-month period ending in February 2005, Dungy told Brackett that he was in a position to inspire others by holding his head high in the face of his adversity.
Dungy put his arm around running back Warrick Dunn when they were together in Tampa Bay and Dunn was trying to cope with the death of his mother while also balancing a career and raising five siblings. Lauren Dungy often would accompany Dunn on parent-teacher conferences -- that’s how extended the Dungy family is. We could go on for days with stories like this.
Spiritual Peer Pressure for Spiritual Burdens
Defensive back Dexter Reid said the consistent witness of Dungy and various players has affected everyone on the squad.
“I grew up in New Jersey attending a Baptist church [Bethany Baptist in Farmingdale] and my faith was strong, but then I went to high school and college and it slipped some.
“Once I got around solid Christian guys like Hunter Smith and Jeff Saturday and Coach Dungy, they challenged me in getting my faith back to where it was. They challenged me to study God’s Word like I study our playbook for the Colts.”
Conclusion: Who does God want you to help carry their burdens this week?
