Intro
Why do we as a people want to support public schools, various health programs, water and sewer services, and Social Security? You might be thinking, “Well, it’s because I have to pay taxes.” Or on a day like today, July 4th, you might say that you are doing your patriotic duty as an American citizen.
But there’s more to it than that. We began programs, such as health and public education, to invest in the well-being of our nation. If we Americans are healthy and educated, instead of sickly and ignorant, it’s for our own good and for the good all Americans.
Think about it. If we didn’t invest in our nation, life would be a mess. Many of us would’ve probably already died of some illness. We wouldn’t have developed new drugs and vaccines. If we didn’t invest in our nation, thugs would rule the land, and the weak would be crushed like cockroaches and vermin.
So our investment in society has been worth it--although that investment is not easy or cheap. Even more, sometimes it may even take a couple of generations before we recognize the return on our investment.
Main Body
Life within Christ’s Church works in a similar way. The life of Christian freedom is not a life of laziness or a free-for-all, just like life in a free America is not supposed to be laziness or a free-for-all.
It’s true the Apostle Paul hammers home that we are free from the law: The law that condemns us to death, the law of trying to earn God’s approval by our behavior. But we do have another “law” to guide us: The law of Christ, the law of love. Now this law doesn’t save us, but it does show how our new self--given us in baptism, strengthened and enlivened in the Lord Supper--is to live.
This law of Christ, as Paul puts it, is like paying taxes, but good ones. We need to understand the Apostle’s words, not as something restrictive or constraining, but like “taxes” that act more like an investment in God’s Kingdom.
Paul says, “Brothers, if someone is discovered in some sin, those of you who are spiritual should restore that person in a Spirit of gentleness.” All right, pastor, but what does this have to do with investing in the Kingdom of God?
It goes like this. One way we can invest in God’s Kingdom is to restore a fallen brother when a sin has ensnared him. But we are to restore him gently.
But that’s challenging for us, because many of us find this painful to do. We’d rather say nothing, hoping the sins go away all by themselves. Or, to the other extreme, we may make his sins known to everyone else but to the one ensnared in sin. Both responses are sinful. Both responses demand repentance.
To restore someone gently does take some finesse: you must confront the sin, not to degrade the sinner, but to restore him. Paul even makes a point to say this: “In a Spirit of gentleness.” This means that restoring a fallen brother is the will of the Spirit. (Chrysostom)
This is nothing new. God tells us that He does “not take pleasure in the death of the wicked,” but that He, instead, prefers the wicked “to turn from his way and live” (Ezekiel 18:23).
Jesus went seeking after sinners. He ate with them and talked with them. To the paralyzed man, whom Jesus healed by the pool, He said, “You are now well. Sin no more, or something worse might happen to you” (John 5:14). To the adulterous woman, Jesus said, “Go now, and from now on sin no more” (John 8:11). The Holy Spirit also leads us to do the same: To help restore a fallen Christian.
We do this--striving that God’s saving work may always come to a good end! God loves us and so He sent His Son to save us. Jesus came, and died to give us life. The Holy Spirit brings us to Jesus. Jesus brings us to God the Father. That’s the Triune God acting to save you and keep you in the faith. And faith receives and benefits from God’s saving work.
Yet, if we don’t intervene to stop a brother from plummeting into a sinful way of life, then his heart can become hardened, and he can fall away from the faith. When we let that happen, and do nothing to stop his descent into hell, we have not faithfully lived out God’s life of love. That’s why we work to restore a brother gently--to keep him in the one, true faith.
Paul continues, “Carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he is only fooling himself. Everyone must examine his own actions, and then he can boast about his own accomplishments and not about those of someone else. For everyone must carry his own load.”
It seems, at first, that Paul is contradicting himself. He says, “Carry one another’s burdens.” And then later he says, “Everyone must carry his own load.” What gives?
Luther understood the mind of Paul so well. Here’s what he says:
The Christian takes care of his own body, so through its health and vigor, he can work, earn, and preserve property to help those who are in need. This is how the stronger member serves the weaker member, showing ourselves as children of God, thinking of and working for one another, bearing one another’s burdens, and so fulfilling the law of Christ. (Adapted from “On Christian Liberty”)
So the baby Christian often needs others to help bear his burdens. But as the baby Christian matures and grows stronger in the faith, he can then help the weaker ones. This is the cycle that is to continue until Christ returns, with the one who was once weak becoming strong, and the newly strengthened now helping bear the burdens of the weaker.
Here’s another way you can invest in God’s Kingdom, using real money. The Apostle says, “The one who is taught the Word should share all his goods with the one who teaches.” Those who are spiritually fed by God’s shepherd are to share what they have with him. We do this today by giving of our offerings.
This is nothing but a New-Testament understanding of an Old Testament. If you remember from the Old Testament, when God divided the land of Israel, each of the 12 tribes received a portion of the land--except the Tribe of Levi. The Tribe of Levi did not have its own territory. The Levites were not allowed to work in secular occupations. In Old-Testament times, God set the Tribe of Levi apart to be His priests.
Today, however, everyone is a priest, but Christ did mandate those in the Office of the Holy Ministry (first Apostles, and then pastors) to do His work of preaching, teaching, and giving out His Sacraments. That’s why “the person who is taught the Word should share all his goods with the one who teaches,” so the pastor has the time and abilities to do his duties well.
But the line doesn’t end there so cleanly. In Christian freedom, we choose to do other tasks. We want a fitting place for worship. We want Bibles for Sunday School. We want an organist, so our hymn singing doesn’t sound like a cat in heat. We want a good Choir. We want a secretary, especially since your pastor is a basket-case at administrative tasks.
In the end, it comes down to this: You can invest in one of two ways. You can invest in God’s Kingdom or your own kingdom. One lasts into eternity. The other only lasts as long as you have breath.
We were born bringing nothing into the world. And we will die taking nothing out of the world. Only one investment will follow us into life of the world to come: those who have also been brought and kept in God’s Kingdom. That’s why we want to be faithful as Christians.
Does it now make sense why Paul then says what he says? He goes on to say, “Let us not grow weary of doing what is good, for, at the right time, we will reap a harvest--if we do not give up. So then, whenever we have the chance, let us do what is good for all, especially to those in the family of faith.”
Conclusion
So this is how we live as God’s people. 1.) We help restore those caught in sin. 2.) We help carry one another’s burdens. 3.) We support our pastor and the work of this congregation. 4.) We do what is good, whenever we have the chance, starting with those in the family of faith. And 5,) we don’t give up!
Your investment will reap its reward in God’s good time. Those are encouraging words. God is letting us know that, as His people, our investments in His Kingdom will receive a good return. It’s as the Apostle says: “The one who sows in the Spirit will harvest eternal life from the Spirit.” This is all because we have been brought into Christ’s Church to live the life of faith in this fallen world. Amen.
