Pataskala Church of the Nazarene
January 17, 2010
Loving God and loving others
Stewardship month 2010
Caring for One Another
“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2
Today’s Focus: God’s people care for one another.
SHOW VIDEO
My Decision: I will relax and rely on God.
PowerPoint Slide: REACH acrostic
Introduction
When John Lennon wrote the words of his hit song “Imagine,” he had a completely different world in mind than the one he saw.
He imagined peace and harmony among all people.
He imagined a world with no more war, no more murder and no more poverty.
The sad part of the song, though, is that the key to Lennon’s utopia was a world without God.
Lennon imagined a world without God to be a more peaceful and loving place.
This morning I want us to use our imagination to envision a world that is not unlike Lennon’s
utopia.
But, of course, the key to our new world will not be the absence of God, but rather the fullness of God and His Spirit.
We know that God exists.
We see His hand at work in the world, throughout history, and even in our own lives.
We have experienced His love and grace.
We have been changed into new creatures by His very hands.
But imagine with me, if you can, a world where a unified body of Christ carries the burdens of one another.
Imagine with me this church unified in the Spirit, working together for one purpose, every person who claims this church as their church.
Imagine with me PCN caring so much for others that we would begin to reach our community our friends because we CARE and to show the Love of Jesus.
Imagine the peace, the Shalom Peace of God that would fill the earth if every one of us shared the heavy load of others in this life.
Pictures of poverty would not fill our televisions.
Food pantries would spill over in abundance.
The homeless would find shelter, and the fatherless would find protection.
This week the unimaginable happened in the nation of Haiti. Our denomination has already responded and are present in Haiti helping.
Can you imagine 50 thousand possibly plus people killed in an earthquake?
Again I remind you the Word of God tells us that in the Last Days there would be earthquakes as a sign of Jesus’ coming again.
Matthew 24 and verse 7 reads, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against king-dom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.”
Can you imagine?
Let’s take a look at the world of insects to gain some insight on the subject.
Solomon wrote recorded in Proverbs 6:6, “Go to the ant, you sluggard, consider its ways and be wise!”
The book of Proverbs boasts of the wisdom of some of the smallest creatures on earth: ants.
When it comes to community and caring for one another’s needs, ants get it.
All summer, with no one giving orders,
no boss handing out time cards,
ants ALL WORKING TOGETHER, GATHERING enough food that will last them all winter.
And it’s not every ant for himself.
They gather as a team.
They keep the food in common and share with everyone equally.
As a team they are able to carry pieces of food hundreds of times bigger than they could by themselves.
Think of it this way: insects go hand in hand with terms like swarms, hives, and nests.
Insects come in packs.
They live together, work together, and if Walt Disney has taught us anything, they even play together.
Some of you will remember the movie Antz.
Most insect’s entire existence hinges upon community.
These communities provide the basic needs of life for everyone involved: food, shelter and water.
Paul shares great wisdom with us in his epistle to the Galatians.
Paul isn’t revealing any mind-blowing theology.
He is stating the obvious.
People who have been touched by the love of God should share that love and look after the needs of those around them.
In one sentence, the Apostle Paul gives us the blueprint for true Christian community.
As we explore this concept this morning, we are going to be looking at what carrying each other’s burdens actually does for the body of Christ.
I pray that God will soften your heart to receive this simple yet profound message and empower us to take action.
I. FIRST - CARING FOR EACH OTHER LIGHTENS THE LOAD FOR EVERYONE: Jas 2:8
“If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right.”
You’ve seen them walk into church, heads held low.
The heavy laden and the weary.
Their dark and hollow eyes rest in dark circles of unrest and worry.
In fact, maybe you are one of the downtrodden.
Paul wants you to know that you are not alone.
He wants you to know that God’s idea of Christian community meets your needs and alleviates some of the weight of your burden.
Burdens come in various sizes and shapes.
Unemployment.
Stacks of unpaid bills.
Empty pantry.
The death of a loved one.
Loneliness.
Raising small children as a single parent.
Loneliness in leadership
The list could go on and on.
We have all carried burdens such as these, and at times we know the extreme force with which they push us down.
Dr. John Piper defines a burden as “anything that threatens to crush the joy of our faith.”
Some of you here this morning are being crushed.
But praise the Lord that He has designed His body/the church to be a community of burden bearers.
The need for authentic relationships is woven deep into the DNA of mankind.
The ability to share the task of carrying a burden is woven deep into the DNA of the Church.
The Church, the body of our Lord Jesus Christ, is called by God to care for anyone in need.
Imagine if we took this calling so serious and did it on such a wide scale that the world or our community was changed forever.
You see - It is our responsibility to act on this calling.
In our text the Apostle Paul told the Church at Galatia, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”
Imagine if every member of this church gave 100 percent to this command.
Think about this - this church is under a financial burden. Imagine with me, if every believer, without excuses would gladly and joyfully give their tithe and offerings each Sabbath.
Right now, PCN is under a heavy burden to minister to special areas in this community. The only way we will do this is to have a solid foundation financially and well as spiritually.
We desperately need believers to be obedient to God’s command to offer their tithe and offerings to minister to the children of our church.
We need a Specialized Children’s pastor who has training to effectively minister to our kids, therefore, bringing in new young families to our church.
We are carrying to burden to getting our Youth Pastor back on full time to more effectively minister to the Junior and Senior High kids of our communities.
Some of our other staff is sadly under paid because of a lack of finances to support them.
If every believer in this church would be 100 per cent with us in giving joyfully, it would not take very long for us to be back as strong as we once were as a church.
Not just a few, Not just 25%, No single person would carry the weight of the entire body.
As your pastor, I simply cannot carry all of your burdens. I can’t do it! The rest of the staff can’t do it alone. If it were possible, if I could multiply myself, then I possibly could do it.
Let me just stop here for a moment and give you the reason why we have decided as a staff to present the Discipleship Track – called Christian Life Development on Sunday nights in the Dome.
Every believer in this church needs to revisit again the basics of our faith.
Every believer needs to learn again what this church is all about.
That’s why I am making this open to the entire the church.
This is not just for new members.
Believe me when I tell you this – If you will come to these times together, you will learn together with others and you will get excited about your church once again.
It’s what we all need to get a new vision and a new purpose – that will excite us and motivate us.
We have been placed together, as one body, so we can care for each other, so we can learn together how to do it. This is God’s design for His Church!
1st. Care of the poor. James 2:5
“Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?”
I shared this story with our Wednesday evening group. It was so good I decided to bring it to you
Brennan Manning, in his book The Ragamuffin Gospel, tells the story of Fiorello LaGuardia,
the mayor of New York City during the Great Depression and World War II.
Fiorello was a well loved and respected mayor of the Big Apple.
He was known for his cheerful disposition and
enthusiasm.
The story goes that one cold night in January; Mr. LaGuardia visited a night court in the poorest section of the city and relieved the judge from his bench to preside over the night’s cases.
One of the first case was against an elderly lady who had stolen a loaf of bread.
She pleaded with LaGuardia that her husband had left her, and her daughter and grandchildren were
starving.
The mayor took pity on her situation, but the shopkeeper was insistent and would not drop the charges, wanting to prove a point to other hungry thieves.
The Major sighed and said to the pitiful grandmother, “The law makes no exceptions—ten dollars or ten days in jail."
But even as he pronounced sentence, the mayor was already reaching into his pocket. He took a ten dollar bill and tossed it into his famous sombrero saying:
"Here is the ten dollar fine which I now remit; and furthermore I am going to fine everyone in this courtroom fifty cents for living in a town where a person has to steal bread so that her grandchildren can eat. ’Mr. Baliff, collect the fines and give them to the defendant.’"
So the following day the New York City newspapers reported that $47.50 was turned over to a bewildered old lady who had stolen a loaf of bread to feed her starving grandchildren, fifty cents of that amount being contributed by the red-faced grocery store owner, while some seventy petty criminals, and New York City policemen chipped in the rest. (Brennan Manning, The Ragmuffin Gospel, Multnomah, 1990, pp. 91-2)
And just like that lady we have each been caught red-handed, with nothing to say for ourselves.
A just God knew that the penalty had to be paid, and He gave His most precious treasure, His beloved son, Jesus Christ to pay the penalty of our sins.
But He didn’t just redeem us from the curse, He also showered us with blessing, giving us life more abundantly, life in the Spirit, which beats $47.50 any day.
This morning we probably should all be fined for living in a world where children go to bed hungry, and our neighbors’ needs go unmet.
And will we stand before God some day and God will point an accusing finger at us and say, “You were selfish, you were disobedient to My cause and Purpose, you stand condemned because you would not give freely to help bring in the lost, you would not tithe so that my children could be spiritually helped!”
There is a major theme running through the Bible,
starting in the book of Leviticus, through
Deuteronomy, past Jeremiah, all the way to the book of James.
In Leviticus 19:10, the Lord commanded the Israelites to not go over there fields twice so
that the fallen grain would be left for the poor and the hungry.
Story:
When Dru and I and our children lived in Yazoo City, Mississippi while I was in Seminary, we were told the story that this actually was the practice.
Cotton Plantation farmers would harvest the cotton fields with the black people of their community.
After the harvest, out of the generosity of the Cotton Plantation farmers, the black population could go in and glean whatever was left and it belonged to them, until the government said they could no longer do it.
Before that law, the black population of the city of Yazoo City, Miss did fairly well.
Numerous times in the book of Deuteronomy, God commanded the children of Israel to fight for the cause of the fatherless and the widows.
2nd. Care of the widow. Ezekiel 22:7
In you (referring to the sins of Jerusalem) they (the sinful people of Jerusalem) have treated father and mother with contempt; in you they have oppressed the alien (referring to the Caananites) and mistreated the fatherless and the widow.
3rd. Care of the orphan. Jeremiah 22:3
This is what the LORD says:
Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of his oppressor the one who has been robbed.
Do no wrong or violence to the alien, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place.
I hope you are getting the picture by now.
As we look at the words widow, orphan, poor,
alien, let us keep in mind what these verses are saying to us now, in today’s cultural context.
God is calling us to care for those in need.
The widow and the orphan have no one to look after them, no one to meet their needs.
The poor and the oppressed have no one to help except for the church.
You might be saying to yourself, well if I take care of everyone else’s needs who is going to take care of my own needs. “I can’t do it all.”
That’s exactly the point.
You can’t do it all.
If everyone of us pitch in, do our part and start being the church God designed, the needs will be met and the heavy load with become lighter.
Joy will not be crushed.
Joy will thrive and grow in the hearts of the weary.
I am convinced today that the reason for burnout is there are too few trying to carry the load in the Body of Christ.
II. My Second Point - CARING FOR EACH OTHER PLEASES GOD: James 1:27
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans
and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
Carrying one another’s burdens not only lightens the load for everyone, but as Paul said, “it
fulfills the law of Christ.”
Do you see it? The law of Christ is an interesting phrase.
I bet you all are looking for the catch here.
You thought I was talking about lightening the load and giving rest to the weary, but really that was just a trick to lure you into the bondage of the law.
That may have been case for the Law of Moses, and many Pharisees used that law to heap more burdens on people, but the law of Christ is much different.
On Wednesday nights we are studying this very subject. I wish more of you would come and be a part of this study. See with me now -
1. The church is called to confront spiritual poverty. Matthew 23:4
“They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.”
When you read the whole context of what Paul is saying in the 6th chapter in Galatians (6:2-
10), you see that he is also referring to spiritual burdens.
The church is not only called to meet the needs of the physically needy, but we are also called to confront spiritual poverty.
Listen people, the churches biggest problem today is Spiritual poverty!
We use every excuse in this world to give the reason why we can’t give any more time to the church then Sunday morning, and some people give all kinds of excuses why they can’t be their every Sunday morning.
It says, “… to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
I gave you Dr. Piper’s definition earlier on what a
burden is, but I purposefully abridged that definition. His full definition of a burden is this, “anything that threatens to crush the joy of our faith—whether a tragedy that threatens to make us doubt God’s goodness or a sin that threatens to drag us into guilt and the judgment of God.”
It is easy to focus solely on the physical needs of those around you, and—believe me—we
need to care for the physical needs of our lost neighbors.
But the weight of a spiritual burden is far worse than a physical one.
We must be delicate here when dealing with spiritual burdens, though. There are some people who won’t stand for the pastor/preacher to put his finger on their spiritual state of poverty.
Paul spends most of his time in this Galatians 6 speaking to the confronter, warning them against
spiritual pride when confronting another’s sin.
You see – now understand this - The law of Christ allows us to confront the spiritual needs of those around us without crushing them even more by the weight of unrealistic, religious rules.
In other words, when you feel the need to confront, you do it in the Spirit of Meekness and the Fruit of Kindness.
We can’t condemn each other.
Even Jesus said, “We want to take speck out of our brothers eye and yet you need to take the 2 by 4 out of yours.”
2. The church must never ignore love and grace.
Paul said in 2 Thessalonians 2:16
“May our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who loved us and by His grace
gave us eternal encouragement and good hope”
The burden of the law of Christ is light because it is a law of love and grace.
Jesus said as recorded in Matthew 11:28-29, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. 29 Take my Yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my Yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
Jesus Christ begins by entering our hearts and changing us completely, empowering us to follow His laws and to care for the needs of others.
We have done nothing to merit this life-change, this easy yoke.
We are indebted forever to the grace of Christ. Would you agree with me?
And grace is exactly the missing ingredient in our own relationships.
God’s Grace enables us to carry the burdens of strangers, of family, of enemies.
People confuse the idea of grace all of the time.
They say things like
“I can’t love them because of what they did.”
“Why should I help them when they don’t help themselves?”
“Why should I care about them?”
You shouldn’t care about them—
You shouldn’t help them—were it not for grace.
Grace is giving with the knowledge that nothing will be returned.
Grace is loving without needing to be loved back.
Grace is carrying a burden without requiring payment for the hauled goods.
Grace unifies unlovely people into a strong, merciful Body, which is the Body of Christ, His Church.
Why are we so cautious with grace?
Why do we tiptoe around the subject of charity?
I understand that people will try to take advantage of you, and you have to be wise in this world we live in.
But don’t let that restrict the freedom of grace.
Live recklessly with your generosity.
Give grace even when it hurts.
For you see – now understand this - The hurt will only be temporary, but the joy that you unleash into the world will stand as a testimony forever.
But many times we withhold our love. We selfish with our time and our money.
We carry our own burdens with no thought of helping others.
Our selfishness keeps us from lending a helping hand, but there is a remedy.
III. Third and My last point: CARING FOR EACH OTHER UNLEASHES THE SPIRIT OF GOD: Romans 8:11
“And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised
Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives
in you.”
The reason the church is a fragmented body and constantly fails at carrying the burdens of its
Members is simple and pervasive—the pride of the human heart.
Pride stands in the way of the church coming together as one and fulfilling the law of Christ.
But when we carry each other’s burdens, pride is strangled though the Sanctifying Grace of God.
You see when we are sanctified through His Holy Spirit, selfishness disappears and generosity appears.
The church must follow the example of Christ
Himself who sacrificed His own rights to carry the burden of the sin of the world and nailed it to the
cross.
But pride often wins and the needs of those around us go unmet.
Conclusions:
Why is this?
1. It begins with intercessory prayer. 2 Timothy 1:3-4
“I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and
day I constantly remember you in my prayers. 4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so
that I may be filled with joy.”
If you want to know where to start in carrying the needs of others, start by carrying them
before the throne of God in prayer.
Spend more time praying for others than praying for yourself.
The Lord knows your needs.
He will take care of you.
Squelch out the spirit of pride and selfishness and watch as the loving Spirit of God fills this church with compassion and grace.
And when you unleash the Holy Spirit of God, watch out!
That’s when things really start to happen here at PCN.
Those in need will have their needs met.
Jobs will be found. Tithes will increase.
The lonely will be blessed. Friendship will abound
with companionship.
The fatherless will be blanketed with love and protection.
The hungry will go to bed with full stomachs.
The body of Christ will be a unified and an unstoppable force!
2. It continues with faithfulness & servant hood. Philippians 2:14-17
“Do everything without complaining or arguing, 15 so that you may become blameless and
pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you
shine like stars in the universe 16 as you hold out the word of life--in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing. 17 But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you.”
So what’s holding us back?
What keeps Our church from caring for each other’s needs and seeing Kingdom building?
We have been called to carry these burdens.
To be the church means to be a community of believers that carry one another’s burdens, both physically and spiritually.
Imagine what the Church would look like if each of its members would share the weight of the load.
The world would only be able to stand in wonder.
Opponents of the Church would be silenced by the overwhelming display of charity.
Think of the great humanitarian figure Mother
Teresa.
She dedicated her life to carrying the burdens of the poor and sick and fatherless of Calcutta.
She sacrificed luxury and comfort.
Have you ever heard anyone say a bad word about
her?
She lived a life of love, and her life was a witness to the whole world.
Her life was a witness to a world that openly hates God.
Not even the world can speak ill against love
in action.
We have to start being the church that God designed.
This week I want each of us to become experts at spotting people’s needs and meeting them.
I see a room full of burdens this morning, burdens that are being carried by a very few. Would you like to bring these burdens to Jesus this morning?
It’s time for all of us to share the load.
It’s time to fulfill the law of Christ, the law of love and grace. We can do this.
And we can do this together, unified and strong.
This Week:
Spend an hour with someone in this fellowship and discover what you can do to serve them.
