Galatians 6:1-10
"Let's Not Get Tired of Doing Good"
Recently I read about the time and patience it takes to grow a vineyard.
The first year you plant shoots of vines rather than seeds because these grow the strongest vines.
At the end of the first growing season, you have to cut them back.
And then the second year passes, and you have to cut them back again.
It's only after the third year that you start to see your first viable clusters of grapes.
And even then, you leave those on the vines.
It's not until the 4th year that you will bring in your 1st harvest.
And if you were growing grapes in order to make wine, you'd bottle your harvest, but you wouldn't taste the fruit of your labors until 7 or 8 years down the road!!!
Most vineyards don't reach their breakeven point for their investment until the 15th or 18th year.
As a Church and as Christians, have you ever looked at your own life and wondered, "Why am I not more fruitful? Why does cultivating a healthy crop take so long?"
"I mean, I keep inviting people to come to Christ and to come to church, but I rarely see anyone I ask come."
"I continue to pray for those who don't know the Lord. I pray they will give their lives to Christ; but they still haven't done it."
"I serve others in the name of and for the glory of Jesus Christ, but folks don't seem to care. It seems like all this is for nothing."
"I continue to walk the streets of the neighborhoods surrounding this church building. I knock on doors; I participate in our cantaloupe giveaways, our bottled water giveaways, our free lunch programs, and still...I see little or no growth in the church."
"I know there is a great harvest out there. People need the Lord."
"Folks are lonely, depressed, filled with anguish and despair and I keep inviting them to be a part of God's Church. Many agree that they should or will come, but they rarely show up."
"I'm getting tired!"
"Is all this a waste of time?"
For all of us who have felt this way, had these kinds of thoughts, or do right now...listen to what Paul has to say to us in Galatians 6:9: "Let's not get tired of doing good, because in time we'll have a harvest if we don't give up."
Like a good vineyard owner, God knows how to bring about fruitfulness much better than we ever will.
God is patient with us, and as we fulfill our callings we must recognize that like a vineyard, our fruitfulness will not necessarily come overnight.
The first harvest of our labors may not come for a number of years...
...but if we keep on keeping on...
...that harvest will come!!!
Do you know that Thomas Edison had an amazing 1,093 patents with the U.S. Patent Office, and behind each one of those 1,093 successes were hundreds and sometimes thousands of failures.
Edison mastered the art not allowing failure to deter him.
Near the end of his career, a former employee of Edison wrote the following to his former boss: "Above all you taught me not to be afraid of failure; that scars are sometimes as honorable as medals."
I would add that, especially in the Christian life, scares are just as honorable as medals!!!
After-all, it is not we, you and I, who do the convicting within a person's soul.
It is not we, you and I, who save a person's soul.
Jesus does that.
We are called to sow seed.
We are called to work in the harvest field.
It's between God and the people we touch and meet and invite--whether or not they will ever take God up on God's offer made through us to come to Christ, to be a part of the Church--to allow God to transform their often reckless, dark, lonely and despairing lives into something new and vibrant, and alive by accepting Jesus' free gift of salvation!!!
Our job is to never get tired of sharing the message through both word and deed!!!
We are called to press on.
Be the hands and feet of Christ.
So, you might want to give the evangelism team another go.
This is where we plan events; pray for ideas to bring others to Christ and into the church.
We meet every Wednesday evening at 6 p.m.
The next time we have an event, such as handing out flyers in the neighborhood, giving out free cantaloupes, washing cars for free, handing out homemade bread, having a prayer walk...
...join us, "because in time we will have a harvest if we don't give up."
And, perhaps the next thing we do will have been an idea planted in your mind by God!!!
How exciting is that?
One thing being planned by the evangelism team, and something that a number of you have already signed up for is to begin having free spaghetti dinners for the community and the church on Wednesday nights...
...beginning Wednesday, September 18th at 5:30 p.m.
The plan is to have children's activities following the dinner along with our Wednesday night Bible study for adults.
The offering that is taken every Wednesday night at Bible study will go to pay for these dinners.
We will begin by doing this one Wednesday a month, and hopefully, overtime be able to move it into a weekly activity.
The idea is to bring the church together in regular community, have a weekly evening activity for children, and bring our neighbors into the fold.
"...we'll have a harvest if we don't give up."
I pray you will plan to be active participants!!!
Speaking of community, the theme of Galatians Chapter 6 is "caring and sharing."
In verse 2 Paul instructs us to: "Carry each other's burdens and so you will fulfill the law of Christ," and in verse 10 he says, "let's work for the good of all whenever we have the opportunity..."
Certainly, complacency in serving one another is not a Christian virtue.
Being a believer in Jesus Christ requires community and fellowship.
None of us can live as if we are alone on an island and be a Christian; faith is always communal.
And yet, so many, take it for granted that missing a Sunday is no big deal.
So many figure that since Sunday school begins at 9:45 in the morning, they'll skip it and maybe just come to worship.
So many just come to worship once a month or twice a year.
We need one another.
There is no such thing as a "lone ranger Christian."
How can we accomplish what God has called us to do if we are not participating in the household of faith?
How can we grow in our faith if we are not involved in Sunday school, regular worship, Bible study and small groups?
In his book, The Social Animal, David Brooks explores how human beings are designed for community.
He says that we are "hardwired by God to love and enjoy relationships."
And yet a study conducted by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago reveals that Americans have less people they can confide in than past generations.
For instance, in 1985, the average American had three people in whom to confide in matters that were important to them.
By 2004, that number had dropped to two.
What would it be in 2013?
Perhaps even more striking is the number of Americans with no close friends.
In 1985 this number was 10%.
In 2004 this number rose to 24.6%.
I wonder how many folks are living in 2013, with no close friends?
It's scary, really.
And yet the answer to these problems is right under our nose!!!
The answer is our vital need for Christian community.
It's interesting, during the first 2 Centuries of the Christian Church, Church buildings did not exist.
So, people met in one another's homes.
And in those early "house churches" people met, worshiped, studied and shared their lives together over a meal.
It has often been said that the secret to the Methodist Movement which caused a Great Awakening of Christianity across Europe and America--something we desperately need right now--that the secret to this movement was its small groups!!!
A group of 4 to 6 people would meet together weekly.
They prayed, they sang, they worshiped, they shared their burdens; they had spiritual accountability.
And they grew close to one another, close to the Lord and strong in their love for other human beings.
Through these small groups, they were able experience a whole new level of peace and joy in life.
The depths of our relationships and our commitment to one another are so important to God, and thus, small groups are an integral part of being Christian.
Could this be what Jesus had in mind when He said, "Whenever two or three of you come together in my name, I am there with you"?
Again, in Galatians, Paul instructs us: "Carry each other's burdens and so you will fulfill the law of Christ."
What better place to do this is there than in small groups?
I know we have small groups at East Ridge United Methodist Church; the United Methodist Women are probably the best example of this.
We also have Sunday school and Wednesday evening Bible study.
But there is also something significant about gathering around the table in a small accountability group.
Where we study the Bible together, share our faith journey, "watch out for" each other "so we won't be tempted."
There's a name for this.
It's called 3-D Christianity.
Here's how it works.
The basis for it comes from Acts 2:42-47. This is the earliest account of the Christian Church.
"The believers devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, to the community, to their shared meals, and to their prayers.
A sense of awe came over everybody.
God performed many wonders and signs through the apostles.
All the believers were united and shared everything.
They would sell pieces of property and possessions and distribute the proceeds to everyone who needed them.
Every day, they met together in the temple and ate in their homes.
They shared food with gladness and simplicity.
They praised God and demonstrated God's goodness to everyone.
The Lord added daily to the community those who were being saved." (CEB)
The 3-D's of 3-D Christianity stand for:
1. Dinner
2. Discipleship
3. Dialogue or fellowship.
These are small groups that meet together; size is not the issue.
It could be anywhere from 2 to 8 people.
Then you decide on a place to meet.
This could be a local restaurant or in someone's home.
If you meet in a home, it is really neat to rotate homes and have the host provide the meal.
And then have someone lead or facilitate the prayer, the dialogue and the Bible study.
You can even rotate who leads.
Meet once a week; twice a month or once a month.
If this sounds interesting to you; please come and speak with me.
I will do all I can to help you get started!!!
Imagine how spiritually alive this Church would be if we were all involved in small group Christian development!!!
Imagine the impact this would make on our desire and ability to reach out to this community for Jesus Christ.
We are called to care and share with each other, and care and share with the world.
But if our spiritual lives are dead, how can we expect to be able to "not get tired of doing good," and thus, "have a harvest" by not giving up?
People in our neighborhoods, people in this world are starving for community.
There is a terrible darkness settling in over our land.
Many folks are lost in despair.
They are lonely and don't know where to turn or what to do.
Church attendance is falling in every denomination--everywhere in America.
People need the Lord.
People need the Church.
We are the Church.
We know the Lord.
The folks living around us are God's harvest field.
We are not to "get tired of doing good, because in time we'll have a harvest if we don't give up."
Praise God, praise God, praise God!!!
Amen.
