IN HIS SERVICE, LOVE BEARS BURDENS FREELY
“In His Service” is how some of us in Christian ministry sign letters and communications intended for church members and non-members alike . . . how we who are called by His Name are expected by Him to live our lives . . . if freely given is a sure sign that true love reigns in the life of a professing Christian.
Where true love reigns: countless sacrifices are made without complaint . . . encouragement abounds with ease . . . forgiving others “their trespasses against us” occurs naturally, is not coerced . . . opportunities to serve others in Jesus’ Name are seized due to the probability that time may be of the essence.
For Paul, whose remaining years for finishing his course were fading fast, time was of the essence for: continuing to teach the basics to new converts . . . correcting false notions which were being fed to new converts by Judaizers . . . completing the task of seeking to reduce Christian theology to its lowest common denominator – for the sake of practical application.
Dr. L. D. Johnson, one of my mentors of highest caliber, once said, “The test of a good theologian is, can he write a tract?” That is to say: After he has expounded at great lengths about tremendous theological truths, can he reduce it to something that the ordinary person can understand and put into practice?
Under attack from a sect of Jewish Christians – “Judaizers” - who insisted that Christians not only be baptized but Judaized . . . demanded a summit conference in Jerusalem to “set Paul straight” . . . lost their argument at that meeting of church leaders, yet kept on dogging Paul wherever he went, seeking to undermine his teaching of salvation by grace not by works . . . showed up in Galatia after Paul left there to go elsewhere - Paul desperately, with time running out, sent “a letter of understanding” to the church at Galatia. Set the record straight!
In the first section of his letter Paul expounded exhaustively and eloquently on the subject of law vs grace, and he expanded his argument to say that a believer is not only delivered from the curse of the law but resides in the spiritual realm of freedom to serve the Lord - not out of compulsion or threat of punishment, but out of a heart of love and gratitude for so great a salvation.
Based on Paul’s exhortation, it would be a contradiction for a person saved by grace to serve the Lord because the law demands it, rather than the more excellent motivation of love. Love produces acts of service - in much the same way that a branch, sprouting from a vine, produces fruit as a result of its connection to the source of life - the vine -the love of Christ who likened himself to “the vine”, and we the believers to “the branches”.
The life connected to Christ is free to produce spiritual fruit, against which there is no law! “Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage” (Galatians 5:1).
Caution! When you a professing Christian hear that word “liberty” - which is often spoken of in terms of “set free” - be careful to rightly divide the word of truth so as to avoid misinterpreting, then misapplying, Paul’s teaching on freedom that is ours in Christ. Remember this: Liberty is not license! Galatians 5:13-15 . . .
As surely as we are saved by grace, just as surely our salvation is manifested by works - motivated by love not by law. Love does not ask how little I can do to get by but how much more I can do to show why Jesus means all the world to me!
There is therefore no desire on my part or in my heart to say or do anything or go anywhere that, in so doing or going, might bring reproach upon His name.
“Christ in you” gives you: (1) the right reason and added strength to say “no” to pressures that at times seem insurmountable - academic . . . group . . . going along to get along . . . political . . . social . . . (2) the right motivation to say “yes” to opportunities that contribute to the well-being of society and of specific causes that do good . . . (3) the right direction for your life inasmuch as the Holy Spirit of God becomes your guide . . . your protector from potential harm from any evil associated with assaults on Christianity . . . your comforter in tough times.
Real Christianity consists of believers who, due to the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, are so purged of self and so urged within oneself that it can be said of such folks, “By the grace of God you are indeed Christians who love your neighbor as yourself.” Living up to this “commandment of love” is the solution to the challenge of living together in peace under the same roof or anywhere else.
When two or three or more of us come together for whatever reason, in our midst there will always be those who need someone to love, care, and feel free to help carry their burdens. So it was then, so it is now – Galatians 6:1-5 . . .
Here Paul reduced the complexity of “law versus grace” to its lowest common denominator (“where the water hits the wheel”) - referencing a fellow member of the Body of Christ “caught in a slip-up”. Paul did this to make a very practical point: The difference between a legalist and a true believer – one who is a person of grace - is evidenced by the rule with which his erring fellow believer is judged.
The practical application is obvious: The legalist measures a person by law and finds him or her to fall short of perfection, and so resorts to biting criticism and caustic condemnation. The believer who knows the grace of God is gracious, kind, merciful, longsuffering and forgiving. Oftentimes the most caustic of criticizers are church members whose legalistic biases have to do mostly with trivial matters.
What would your response have been to the following incident?
An automobile slammed into a telephone pole located on a grassy area between s street curb and a church parking lot. The young driver was instantly killed. After the memorial service, his mother placed a wreath at the spot where her son had died.
A church official contacted the mother and informed her she could not do that; the wreath had to be removed, and there could be no further placing of flowers there – not even a fake carnation on a stick. It would have to be placed in the church cemetery. The pastor and board of deacons backed the church official. The building superintendent removed the wreath as instructed.
Word of removal of the wreath spread throughout the church and the community like wildfire; a concerned Christian counselor heard about the incident, wasted no time in meeting with the heartbroken mother, comforted her, empathized with her, and told the mother that she herself (the counselor) would meet her at the site and that, together, they would place a floral memorial (smaller than a wreath) at the spot where her son died, replace it as often as necessary for as long as the mother wanted it there. It’s been years since all that occurred; the floral memorial is still there. Which of the two of these became a Burden-Bearer . . . ?
If you have trouble deciding what to do in a situation like that, or any other situation that calls for a Christian love response, you might want to say to yourself what Dwight L. Moody once said when he observed a drunk stumbling down a sidewalk on a Saturday night in Chicago: “There but for the grace of God go I.” Have a Heart People! “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ!”
From a personal application perspective comes a clear understanding of why our Lord reduced all the commandments to two . . . the one that comes into play in our lesson today is: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” And as that old saying goes, “Before you judge a person, walk a mile in his or her shoes.”
Do this (put yourself in another person’s place), vicariously if that’s what it takes to persuade yourself to serve Jesus by loving fellow believers as yourself (as if their situation was yours). Furthermore, true love seizes opportunities to love the unlovely and the unlovable as well as the “easy to love” among us – Galatians 6:10 . . .
In 1989, Mother Teresa visited Phoenix, Arizona to help open a home for the destitute. During her visit, she was interviewed by a radio station in town. In a private conversation, the interviewer asked Mother Teresa if there was anything he could do for her. Expecting her to request a contribution or that his radio station could help in raising money for a new home for the poor, what he heard was: “Yes, there is. Find somebody nobody else loves and love them.”
Mother Teresa’s admonition when carried out illustrates what it means to “bear one another’s burdens” - the doing of which suggests that one’s heart is right . . . in tune with the “law of Christ” (greatest commandment) . . . filled with Christian love against which there is no law, only opportunities to freely perform simple acts of service that have the marvelous grace of our loving Lord written all over them! So mode it be with you and me! Amen.
