Tell me: If you were caught for drunken driving, and the headlines in the Lyons News said, “So-and-so Arrested for Drunken Driving,” would you go to church the next Sunday?
Most people would say, “No,” because they’d be too embarrassed to face their Christian friends.
But why not go to church the next Sunday? After all, church is a place to find healing. Fred Smith, who likes to ask this question of people, says it’s stupid not to go to church after you’ve messed up. “It’s sort of like a man who’s hit by an automobile, and he’s got blood all over the place, and his bones are broken, and they try to take him to the hospital, and he says: ‘Wait. I'm a mess. Let me go home and get cleaned up. Let me get these bones set, let me heal, and then I'll go to the hospital.’” (Steven Brown, “A Calvinist Talks About His Friend, John Wesley,” Preaching Today, Issue No. 58; www.PreachingToday.com)
The problem is too many churches, instead of being places of healing for broken people, are places of judgment and condemnation; or worse, they are places where the brokenness is ignored and everybody pretends everything is alright.
The question I want us to ask this morning is: How can we become a place of healing for broken people? How can Faith Bible Church become a restorative place for people who have messed up? How can any Church become a place where people caught in sin get set free? Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Galatians 6, Galatians 6, where we find out how.
Galatians 6:1 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. (ESV)
If we want to become a place of healing for broken people, then 1st of all, we must…
RESTORE THE SINNER, not ignore their sin.
We must care enough to mend a broken life or set a person straight before they completely destroy themselves.
The word for “restore” was used by doctors in Bible times to describe setting a broken bone, making it straight again, restoring it to its former condition. The word was also used by fisherman to describe the mending of nets.
In Matthew 4 and Mark 1, we see fisherman on the shore of the Sea of Galilee mending their nets. It’s the same word used here in Galatians 6. Their nets had torn and become useless, so they took the time to sew their nets back together again. They were restoring their nets, making them useful again.
And that’s exactly what the sinning believer needs! Sin has ripped away at their life and made them useless. They don’t need somebody to tear away at them some more. They need somebody to come along side and mend them. They need somebody to help make them useful again for God’s service.
God calls us to restore the sinner, not blame him. Someone once wrote: Blame never affirms; it assaults. Blame never restores; it wounds. Blame never solves; it complicates. Blame never unites; it separates. Blame never smiles; it frowns. Blame never forgives; it rejects. Blame never forgets; it remembers. Blame never builds; it destroys. So don’t play the blame game, because nobody wins in that game. Restore the sinner; don’t blame him.
And don’t gossip about him either. Don’t talk behind his back. Don’t talk ABOUT him. Instead; talk TO Him. “Restore the sinner,” God says.
That means don’t ignore the sin. Don’t pretend nothing is wrong. That doesn’t help anybody either. Ignoring a broken bone only makes it worse, not better! So it is when we ignore sin in a person’s life. It doesn’t make it better; it makes it worse!
To be certain, we’re not to blame sinners, and we’re not to gossip about them. But we cannot close our eyes to their sin, which is causing them so much pain.
Instead, we must care enough about people to address the sin in their lives, to do it personally and privately, not behind their backs, not talking ABOUT them, but talking TO them. Jesus himself said, in Matthew 18:15, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone.” It’s actually the most loving and right thing to do.
Pastor John Ortberg asks us to imagine picking your car up from the shop after a routine tune-up. The technician tells you, “This car is in great shape. Clearly you have an automotive genius to take great care of your car.” Later that day, your brakes don't work. You find out you were out of brake fluid. You could have died.
You go back to the shop, and you say, “Why didn't you tell me?” The technician replies, “Well, I didn't want you to feel bad. Plus, to be honest, I was afraid you might get upset with me. I want this to be a safe place where you feel loved and accepted.” You'd be furious! You'd say, “I didn't come here for a little fantasy-based ego boost! When it comes to my car, I want the truth.”
Or imagine going to the doctor's office for a check-up. The doctor says to you, “You are a magnificent physical specimen. You have the body of an Olympian. You are to be congratulated.” Later that day while climbing the stairs, your heart gives out. You find out later your arteries were so clogged that you were, like, one jelly doughnut away from the grim reaper.
You go back to the doctor and say, “Why didn't you tell me?” The doctor says, “Well, I knew your body is in worse shape than the Pillsbury doughboy, but if I tell people stuff like that, they get offended. It's bad for business. They don't come back. I want this to be a safe place where you feel loved and accepted.” You'd be furious! You'd say to the doctor, “When it comes to my body, I want the truth!” (John Ortberg, Loving Enough to Speak the Truth, www.PreachingToday.com)
You see, when something is important, you want the truth! And if you’re caught in a sin, you need the truth most of all. So, if we want to become a place of healing for broken people, we must start with the truth. God says restore the sinner, not ignore their sin. Only, when we do that, we must be careful to…
RESTORE THE SINNER SPIRITUALLY.
We must work to mend broken lives in dependence upon the Spirit of God, not in our own strength and ability.
Notice, verse 1 says, “YOU WHO ARE SPIRITUAL should restore” the one “caught in any transgression.” In the context, that means only those who are depending on the Holy Spirit of God (Galatians 5:16-26).
The ministry of restoration is not a job for those who are depending on their own flesh, their own ingenuity, or their own abilities. No. The ministry of restoration is spiritual work that demands spiritual resources way beyond anything we have as human beings.
As we’re dealing with Sandy’s neurological issues, we don’t go to just anybody for advice. We go to specialists in the field: a neurologist, a psychiatrist, and those who know about Traumatic Brain Injuries. Why? Because they have the skill to take care of her issues.
So it is when it comes to spiritual issues and people caught in sin. None of us, no matter how skilled we think we are, can care for the souls of people. Only the Spirit of God has that ability, and we need to let Him oversee the care of spiritually broken and wounded people. We need to depend on the Spirit of God to lead us in the process and to actually bring about the healing.
One day, Big Ed goes to a revival service and listens to the preacher. After a while, the preacher asks anyone with needs to come forward to be prayed over. Big Ed gets in line. When it's his turn, the preacher says, “Big Ed, what do you want me to pray about?”
Big Ed says, “Preacher, I need you to pray for my hearing.”
So the preacher puts one finger in Big Ed's ear and the other hand on top of his head and shouts, hollers, and prays a while.
After a few minutes, he removes his hands and says, “Big Ed, how's your hearing now?”
Big Ed says, “I don't know preacher, it's not until next Wednesday at the Dupage County Courthouse.” (Marshall Shelley, www.PreachingToday.com)
Often, we don’t even know what to pray for. We think we know what a person needs, but we could be way off base. That’s why we need the Holy Spirit to guide us. That’s why we must depend upon God’s Spirit, not our own human wisdom and ingenuity.
Brennan Manning talks about the time when the brilliant ethicist, John Kavanaugh, went to work for three months at “the house of the dying” in Calcutta. He was seeking a clear answer as to how best to spend the rest of his life. On the first morning there, he met Mother Teresa. She asked, “And what can I do for you?”
Kavanaugh asked her to pray for him. “What do you want me to pray for?” she asked.
He voiced the request that he had borne thousands of miles from the United States: “Pray that I have clarity.”
She said firmly, “No, I will not do that.”
When he asked her why, she said, “Clarity is the last thing you are clinging to and must let go of.”
When Kavanaugh commented that she always seemed to have the clarity he longed for, she laughed and said, “I have never had clarity; what I have always had is trust. So I will pray that you trust God.” (Brennan Manning, Ruthless Trust, HarperCollins, 2000; www.PreachingToday.com)
When we’re trying to heal broken and hurting people, we don’t need more clarity; we don’t need more of our own skill and intelligence, no. We need to trust the Spirit of God to work in and through us. If we want to become a place of healing for broken people, then we must restore the sinner spiritually – i.e., in absolute dependence upon the Spirit of God. More than that, we must…
RESTORE THE SINNER GENTLY.
We must mend broken lives with as much tenderness as possible, as friends, not as enemies.
Verse 1 says, “You who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of GENTLENESS.” In everyday Greek, the word translated “gentleness” speaks of a “mild and gentle friendliness” (TDNT). In 1 Corinthians 4, Paul contrasts it with using the whip. He asks the Corinthian believers, who were wrestling with many sins, “Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love in a spirit of gentleness?” (1 Corinthians 4:21).
When we angrily denounce sin in our brothers and sisters, trying to whip them into shape, it usually only drives them away. James makes it very clear: “The anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God” (James 1:20). No. “God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance,” Romans 2:4 says. As we exhibit the gentleness and kindness of Christ, then and only then can we help people turn away from their sins.
Just a few years ago (2012), CBS News ran a story about L. A. Sheriff’s Deputy Elton Simmons. Over a period of 20 years, he made over 25,000 traffic stops and cited thousands of motorists with traffic violations without a single complaint on his record.
Now, by the very nature of the business, traffic cops receive plenty of complaints about their work. After all, most people don’t think they deserve a ticket. And in L.A., as in many places, each complaint gets documented and placed in the officer's personnel file.
Simmons’ file, however, contained no complaints. When his supervisor Captain Pat Maxwell started looking through Simmons' file, he was stunned. Maxwell found plenty of commendations but not a single complaint on Simmons’ record.
It was so stunning that a CBS News crew was assigned to follow Simmons to find out why. First, they noticed Simmons' “pitch-perfect mix of authority and diplomacy” without a trace of arrogance or self-righteousness. Of course, Simmons still hands out plenty of tickets; they just don't come with the standard guilt trip.
Here's how Simmons described his approach: “I'm here with you. I'm not up here” (he motions his arm up towards the sky). One thing I hate is to be looked down on – I can't stand it – so I'm not going to look down at you.”
A driver who got a ticket from Simmons agreed. The driver said, “You know what it is, it's his smile. How could you be mad at that guy?”
“Apparently, you can't,” concluded the CBS News team. “Time after time, ticket after ticket, we saw Officer Simmons melt away a polar ice cap of preconceptions. And his boss [claims] there's a lesson in there for hard-nosed cops everywhere.” (Steve Hartman, “No complaints about this traffic cop,” CBS News, 9-21-12; www.PreachingToday.com)
There’s a lesson in there for us, as well. When we have to do the hard work of restoring a sinning believer, gentleness goes a lot farther than harshness or self-righteousness.
If we’re going to be a place of healing for broken people, then 1st of all, we must restore the sinner spiritually. 2nd, we must restore the sinner gently; and 3rd, we must…
RESTORE THE SINNER HUMBLY.
We must mend broken lives with an under-standing of our own propensity to sin, and we must be careful that we ourselves don’t give into temptation. Verse 1 says, “Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.”
None of us are above falling into sin. None of us are above failure of any kind. And if we think we are, then watch it, because pride goes before a fall every time!
Galatians 6:3 For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
A strong, young man at a construction site was bragging that he could outdo anyone there. He made a special case of making fun of one of the older workmen.
After several minutes, the older worker had had enough.
“Why don't you put your money where your mouth is?” he said. “I'll bet a week's wages that I can haul something in a wheelbarrow over to that building that you won't be able to wheel back.”
“You're on, old man,” the young worker replied.
The old man reached out and grabbed the wheelbarrow by the handles. Then he turned to the young man and said, “All right. Get in.” (John Beukema, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, www.PreachingToday.com)
That young man’s pride blinded him to his own stupidity. And that’s what pride does every time! Pride blinds us to our own faults. It blinds us to potential pitfalls, and if we’re not careful, we will fall into them every time.
That’s why the work of restoration is not for the proud. It’s not for those who think they are better than that poor “schmuck” who has fallen into sin. Instead, God says…
Galatians 6:4-5 But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. For each will have to bear his own load. (ESV)
When we restore a sinning believer, there is no room for comparison. There is only room for humility and self-examination.
There is a story floating around about a statement Bill Gates (of Microsoft) supposedly made at a COMDEX computer expo some time ago. He said, “If GM had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25 cars that got 1,000 miles per gallon.”
General Motors responded to Gates by releasing the statement, “Yes, but would you want your car to crash twice a day?” (www.PreachingToday.com)
That’s what happens when you compare yourself with somebody else. You end up humiliated.
The work of restoration demands that we avoid all comparisons, because all of us are equal before the cross; all of us fail at times; and all of us need a Savior. You see, “Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.” We don’t need a proud man trying to fix a broken man. He’ll do more damage than good. No. Only those who are keenly aware of their own shortcomings are equipped to help others with theirs.
If we’re going to be a place of healing for broken people, then 1st of all, we must restore the sinner spiritually; 2nd, we must restore the sinner gently; 3rd, we must restore the sinner humbly; and finally, we must…)
RESTORE THE SINNER LOVINGLY.
We must mend broken lives with all the love and compassion of our lord Jesus Christ.
Galatians 6:2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. (ESV)
The “law of Christ” is the law of love. Jesus said in John 13, “A new command I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another” (John 13:34).
When He saw sin in our lives, He loved us from an old rugged cross. He did not come to condemn us. He came to save us from our sins by taking them away through His death, burial and resurrection. All we have to do is acknowledge our sin and trust Him save us from our sins.
That’s how Jesus loved us, and that’s how he wants us to love each other – not with condemnation and shame, but with compassion enough to carry one another’s burdens.
You see, those who pride themselves in keeping the rules only add to people’s burdens. They weigh people down with “shoulds” and “shouldn’ts.” They pile on the rules and regulations that only make people feel the weight of their sin even more. Jesus said of such people, “They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger” (Matthew 23:4). Legalists only add to people’s burdens. On the other hand, love lifts and bears the burden.
Professor Robert Wicks tells a story about one of his African students at Loyola University in Maryland, who discovered the healing power of an entire community:
When the student was ten years old, he got trapped in a burning hut that he had accidentally set on fire. The fire had started at the only entrance to the hut, and the flames were too much for him to go through. He thought his life was over and let out a wild scream. Fortunately for him, his father braved the inferno and got him out. He had lost consciousness due to the heat, smoke, and possibly fear.
When he finally regained consciousness, he was lying in a room surrounded by the women of his village, who were nursing his burns and offering him food. He could also hear the voices of the men outside and knew that the whole village had come to the support of him and his family.
Two weeks later, the village elders came to his home to perform a ritual partially intended to prevent similar accidents, but also – and of even more importance to him as he looks back on it – to help him deal normally with fire.
To accomplish this, they built a model hut in the open field and instructed him to go in the hut and set it on fire in the same way as in the accident. They had him reenact the accident three times, and each time one of the villagers would rush in to rescue him. In addition, they had him tell his story again and again to village members who came to see him and his family.
From this he learned as a child that the tragedy of one individual or one family is a tragedy for the whole community. (Robert J. Wicks, Streams of Contentment, Sorin Books, 2011, pp. 60-62; www.PreachingToday.com)
So it is in the church! When one of us is “burned”, especially through our own doing, we need to loving response of the whole church community to bring healing. We need people to rescue us. We need people to nurse our wounds. We need people to hear our story. In a word, we need people who really care.
May we be known as a church where people really care. May we be known as a place of healing for broken people, because we restore them spiritually, gently, humbly, and lovingly.
I like the way William J. Crockett put it some time ago in his poem called “A People Place.”
If this is not a place where my questions can be asked,
Where do I go to seek?
If this is not a place where my feelings can be heard,
Where do I go to speak?
If this is not a place where tears are understood,
Where do I go to cry?
If this is not a place where my spirit can take wing,
Where do I go to fly? (William J Crockett)
