Series: Connect the Dots Text: Galatians 6:1-5 Topic: Carrying Burdens
Last week we began a series titled “Connect the Dots”, where we are discovering the beauty of authentic community. Today, I want to talk specifically about how authentic church community helps us when our problems become too heavy to carry on our own.
Now before you even begin to think that you don’t have problems or more specifically that this church doesn’t haven’t problems, have you ever tried to imagine the perfect church? The fact is, a lot of people move from church to church, looking for that perfect church. They only stick around long enough to see a problem, and then they’re off to the next place on their never-ending journey while the rest of us smile a sad but understanding smile because we know that there’s no such thing.
If you really wanted to be sarcastic about it, you could those people that if they ever do find the perfect church, they better leave quickly because their presence would certainly contaminate it. Now I know some of you may think that’s mean, but it’s the truth. There’s no such thing as a perfect church and there’s no such thing as perfect people.
When someone thinks of the perfect church, they might picture a nice, clean building full of pleasant people who have it all together. They come on Sunday morning in their stylish dresses and pressed suits to sit in softly cushioned pews and listen to softly cushioned sermons.
But I got news for you, that wasn’t the kind of church that Jesus envisioned! He didn’t leave His throne in Heaven for those who had it all together. He came to help the down and out. He came to help those who were contaminated with the pollution of sin and not afraid to admit it.
The RESTORATION carrying burdens brings (Gal. 6:1)
Paul starts us off by suggesting a hypothetical situation…one that’s introduced with a conditional clause - “IF”, which indicates that Paul doesn’t have a specific type of trespass in mind.
He’s been encouraging his readers to walk in the Spirit so that they might bear the fruit of the Spirit. That’s the standard for the Christian life. But if for some reason this doesn’t take place, then there’s something else that SHOULD take place - restoration.
1. The Need for Restoration: “if a man is overtaken in any trespass” (6:1).
Paul never says that it’s a normal fact of life for Christians to sin. We’re held to a higher standard. We’ve been called to walk in the Spirit and abstain from our former works of the flesh. And yet, it’s a normal fact of life that Christians do indeed sin.
I once read about a man who had convinced himself that this wasn’t the case. He believed that it was possible to arrive at a point as a Christian where you no longer sin. In fact, he himself claimed that he didn’t sin for 20 years. When asked how he did it he said that he never stepped foot outside his own home.
Now you and I know that this man’s claim is false. Not because we are judging, but because we are inspecting fruit. Sin is defined as "any want or transgression against the law of God," So because this man cut himself off from regular fellowship in the church, which is a direct transgression of God’s command not to forsake the assembling together of the saints, he was a sinner.
And so the passage we’re looking at this morning describes someone who is caught in a sinful situation. In other words, it’s talking about someone who’s demonstrated the fruit of the Spirit in the past, but who has now been overcome by temptation.
2. The People of Restoration: “you who are spiritual, restore such a one” (6:1).
The qualification for having a ministry of restoration is that you first be spiritual. What does it mean to be spiritual? The context of the previous chapter has already told us what it means. In means that you...
Are walking by the Spirit (5:16).
Are not practicing the works of the flesh (5:19-21).
Are demonstrating the fruit of the Spirit (5:22-23).
Here’s the point. You can’t restore someone to a Spiritual walk if you yourself are not walking by that same Spirit. You can’t give what you don’t have. And if you try, it will be like the blind leading the blind. You’re both going to end up taking a nasty fall. If your spirituality isn’t working in your own life, don't try to dump it’s ineffectiveness on someone else.
3. The Spirit of Restoration: “restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness” (6:1).
If we’re harsh when we’re attempting to restore someone, we’re going to drive them away instead of bringing them back to Jesus. We need to follow the example of Jesus. Yes, Jesus called sinners to repent, but He didn’t beat them over the head with their sin. He loved them.
Take the story of Jesus and Peter for example. Here was a follower of Christ who had denied Him, not once, but three times. And on the third time he even threw in some profanity just for safe measure.
After the resurrection, Jesus and Peter met once again. And what did Jesus say? Did He say, "Well, Peter, you’ve really done it this time! Because of your actions you can no longer be an apostle until you’ve demonstrated an adequate time of repentance and remorse and then we will put you on probation to see whether or not we will restore you." That’s not what happened.
Instead we see Jesus asking Peter, "Do you love Me?" And when Peter answered in the affirmative, Jesus said, "Feed My sheep." Jesus restored Peter in a spirit of gentleness.
4. The Danger of Restoration: “considering yourself lest you also be tempted” (6:1).
We’re putting ourselves in a dangerous situation if ever try to restore someone else thinking that we’re immune to the temptations which caused them to fall.
Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall (1 Cor. 10:12).
When Paul said that those who are spiritual should do the work of restoration, he’s referring to those who are spiritual at that particular time. But that same person who is spiritual then might be the one who needs restoration later.
5. The Fact of Restoration: “restore such a one…" (6:1).
It’s so obvious that it almost doesn't need to be said at all, except that far too many churches have ignored the fact that they’re supposed to be in the restoration business. Take pastors for example: As Christians, we believe in the total depravity of mankind. That is, no one is exempt from corruption. But the second a pastor slips up and has a moral downfall, then we kick them out of the church.
Now this teaching of restoration shouldn't be taken as being contrary to church discipline. The Bible clearly teaches that one of the responsibilities of the church is to discipline its members. But church discipline should be GRACIOUS. Titus 2:11-13 tells us that it’s the grace of God that teaches us how to live in a disciplined manner, and that means that the discipline of the church should be carried out with that same grace.
Fulfilling God’s REQUIREMENT while carrying burdens (Gal. 6:2)
Here we find Paul talking about “the law of Christ”. But to understand it properly I need to take you back to the previous chapter:
“For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Gal. 5:14).
This was the same thing that Jesus told the Pharisees, He pointed to love as the fulfillment of the Law. The Law says to have no other gods and not to take the name of the Lord in vain and to have no carved images. Well, if you really love God, you won’t have any other gods before Him or take His name in vain or worship some silly statue instead of Him. The Law says not to murder or to steal or to commit adultery or to bear false witness. Well, if you really love your neighbor, then you won’t kill him or steal from him or commit adultery with his wife or bear false witness against him. Love is the fulfillment of the Law. And if you really love someone, you will be ready to bear their burden.
So how do we do that? One way has already been mentioned in the previous verse. We bear one another's burden when we restore them after they’ve fallen into a trespass. But that’s not all. We also bear each other's burdens when we encourage each other not to fall into a trespass in the first place.
How to REACT while carrying burdens (Gal. 6:3)
The attitude we should have when bearing each others burdens is the realization that our needs aren’t any more important than someone else’s. There’s going to be a day when we will all stand before the Lord to be judged. The ultimate standard of that judgment will be how we treated one another.
To some He will say, "You visited Me when I was sick and imprisoned, you fed me when I was hungry, and you clothed me when I was naked. Come into My kingdom and enjoy what has been prepared for you." And when they ask, "Lord, I don't remember doing any of that," He will reply, "When you did it for one another, you were doing it for Me."
Then He will turn to others and say, "You didn't bother to visit Me when I was sick and imprisoned or to feed me when I was hungry or to clothe me when I was naked. And so, I’m casting you into outer darkness." And they will protest, "Lord, if we had known it was you, we would’ve baked you cookies."
Remember to serve one another and to bear one another's burdens as though you were serving Christ Himself. Because you ARE.
Our RESPONSIBILITY for carrying burdens (Gal. 6:4-5)
These two verses set in motion a dual examination. The first one takes place so that we will be ready for the second.
There are some people that will use these verses as an excuse to justify their desire for you to stop everything you’re doing so you can sit there and hold their hand through life. But that’s not what burden-bearing is about, and that’s what Paul means when he says that “each one shall bear his own load”. On the day of judgement, no one will be able to say, "It's not my fault, Lord. I just didn't have enough people helping me to bear my burdens.”
But the fact still remains, some burdens are too heavy to carry alone; there are some burdens that weren’t made to be carried alone. In the family of God we need each other.
If we’re going to reach our world for Christ, we need to realize that it’s made up of men and women who are hurting and broken. We’re the ones who are called to take the initiative in restoration.
There’s a bigger picture I want you to see here. There was a time when you were the one who was overtaken in a trespass. What did God do for you? Did He wait for you to come crawling back in shame and guilt so He could say, “I told you so?” No, He said, “I came to seek and to save those who are lost”. We are called to do the same.
