OPEN: There’s a true story of a preacher trying to reach out to his community. His idea was to get a group from the church to go and work for free at local grocery stores and laundromats. He phoned several of these stores and for permission to do what he’d planned. But on one call, the employee who answered the phone hesitated… then said, “I’ll need to ask the manager. But first, let me make sure I understand: You want to clean up the parking lot, retrieve shopping carts, hold umbrellas for customers and you don’t want anything in return.” “Yes, that’s right,” the preacher replied. The employee set the phone down and went to talk to the manager. When he came back to the phone he said: “I’m sorry. We can’t let you do that. If we let you do it, we’d have to let everyone else do it, too!” (Ann Jeffries, Kansas City, KS Christian Reader, “Lite Fare.”)
APPLY: Really? Why wouldn’t that store let them help? Well, I can think of several possible reasons, but my suspicion is that… they were suspicious. What caught my attention about this story was the comment by the employee: “let me make sure I understand: You want to clean up the parking lot, retrieve shopping carts, hold umbrellas for customers and you don’t want anything in return.”
I think the store turned the church down because they suspected an ulterior motive
You see, we live in a world where there’s a lot of people out there who tend to have ulterior motives. A lot of folks seem to live their lives based on their own self-interest.
ILLUS: Just as an example, let’s play a little mind-game. Let’s say you just inherited $1 million. What would you do with that kind of money? Think about it for a few moments. (Pause) Now, some folks would pay off bills, maybe or buy new a house or a new car, invest in a business, or an IRA (money market account), or maybe even give some of the money to their relatives. Now remember… this is just a game. The money doesn’t exist. It’s all pretend.
Now DON’T RAISE YOUR HAND - but how many of you thought about giving a percentage of the money to the church (the first 10% off the top), or a portion of the inheritance to the poor or to a mission? Some of you may have thought about giving some of the money away, but there’s a lot of people who wouldn’t have. Or, if they had thought about giving some of the money away, it probably was… an afterthought.
My point is NOT to make anyone feel bad about how they’d spend inheritance. My point is, that it’s almost natural to think about ourselves first. WE learn it as kids (that’s why it’s so hard for children to share), but it comes almost natural to most people to think that way. That’s why Jesus said “If anyone would come after me, he must DENY HIMSELF and take up his cross daily and follow me.” Luke 9:23
That’s why Paul wrote: “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” Philippians 2:3-4
And that brings us to our text today where Paul tells us “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2) What that means is – once we become Christians – part of being a Grown-Up believer is learning to put others before ourselves. To bear their burdens.
Now, the hard part of putting others ahead of ourselves, is that folks often don’t deserve that treatment. There’s lots of folks who tend to annoy us; who disappoint us; who fall short of our expectations; who might even have treated one of us badly.
There was a German philosopher (Schopenhauer) that compared the human race to a bunch of porcupines huddled together on a cold winter’s night. He said, “The colder it gets outside, the more we huddle together for warmth; but the closer we get to one another, the more we hurt one another with our sharp quills. And in the lonely night of earth’s winter, eventually we begin to drift apart and wander out on our own and freeze to death in our loneliness.”
Now isn’t that a cozy thought?
Apparently, that was the kind of atmosphere that existed in the Galatian churches. In Galatians
5:15 Paul warned them “if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.” And in 5:26 Paul writes: “Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.”
Then in the next verse he says: “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 also be tempted.” Galatians 6:1
It’s important to remember that the church is a society of sinners. We all have our own little sharp quills that can hurt others. And that means that – when conflicts arise - some of us have got to be the grownups and restore others to closer fellowship… in a spirit of gentleness. But, if we don’t, it prove we don’t understand what it means to be spiritual.
ILLUS: Years ago I heard a man tell about a revival he did in a certain church. A few members wanted to talk to him privately afterward, so they met in a classroom. When they got there, the revivalist found that they wanted to unload on him about the shortcomings of their preacher. They wanted him to confirm that they had every right to run that preacher off. The revivalist paused… and then asked, “who is the leader of this group.” A man toward the back replied, “I am”. Then the Revivalist observed, “I expect that you have gathered because you are a group of spiritual people who are concerned about your preacher’s many faults?” In response the group again began to list a series of rather small complaints, which taken together mounted up to an almost insurmountable challenge. The revivalist paused again and said “Well… since you are spiritual people, then the scripture from Galatians 6 should be your guide “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 also be tempted.” The leader practically sprang out of his chair “I’m not about to restore that preacher!” and he stormed out of the room.
Now does that shock you a little bit? It should! And that’s just what some of members of THAT church did to their preacher. But it can also happen between church members. It’s a mentality of – that person (whoever it is) - isn’t worthy of my time or my love. And when that happens folks can end up writing THOSE people off; shunning them and have nothing to do with them; even talking about them behind their back.
You (and I) have got to be careful about that. Because IF we get to the point where we write people off, shun them or talk about them behind their backs… then we’re NOT FOLLOWING Jesus.
Now, how do I know that we’re not following Jesus? Well, do you remember the story about the night when Jesus was betrayed? Jesus gathered His disciples in an upper room for the Last Supper, and Jesus left the room and came back in carrying a bowl of water and a towel wrapped around his waist. Do you remember what Jesus did next? Well, He washed His disciples’ feet didn’t He. (PAUSE) He washed ALL His disciples’ feet. Did you realize - Judas hadn’t left the room yet! If Jesus could wash the feet of Judas, that means that we need to learn to wash the feet of the folks in church who may not deserve it, who annoy us, who frustrate us.
Now, for the most part, I’m probably preaching to the choir here. You’re the nicest church I’ve ever known. But every once in a while… we all need to be reminded of this truth.
But let’s switch gears and talk about HOW we can bear another’s burdens. Paul puts it this way “as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” Galatians 6:10
Now, this could apply to a number of “good things” we can do. Prayer for people’s needs; Encouraging folks who are struggling; Giving people rides; Talking to them about God and His love. But oftentimes, we think of this passage as applying to people’s financial needs.
For example, this church tries very hard to put this principle into practice. We have a part of our budge that we dedicate to benevolence. It’s money we set aside to help people in the community with their bills. If someone calls and asks for help with utility bill, or a room at a hotel we try to help as we can. But many times their request is far more than we can help with. It doesn’t fit in our budget.
As I talk with these folks, I’ll ask if they belong to a church somewhere (usually they don’t). I’ll then explain that a lot of churches won’t help because they can’t afford to, but in our case, we might help (if we have the funds). But we won’t help as much as we might if they were part of the church. Why? We don’t know them, and they haven’t invested themselves in our church. And that’s the way it is with many congregations. They’ll help outsiders… but those of the household of faith will receive more help because they belong to the church. Then, I’ll explain that this problem may arise again, and when it does they’d be wise to have found a church where they can fit in… and I strongly suggest they try us out.
In this church we’ve helped several members with their electric bills, their rent, their house payments. We have even had one man live in one of the classrooms for a few weeks during the Covid crisis a few months back. A few years back (before we built this sanctuary) we put Building Fund on hold so that we’d have money to help people in distress. When the leadership shared this decision at our Annual Meeting, the congregation responded by applauding. I’ve never been so proud to serve in any church.
So, that’s how we as a church try to follow the advice to help others, but especially for the household of faith.
Now lastly – why should we help others, and help those of the household of faith? Is it because we’re nice people? Well, there are folks who help others because it makes THEM feel good. They get the warm fuzzies by doing nice things. And there’s not a thing wrong with that. But when they give to others – they often give because it benefits them. People like this don’t often do what they do for God. They do it for themselves.
Now there’s others who think government ought to take our money to help others. It’s called socialism… and I understand the appeal of this concept. There’s all kinds of people who are hungry and needy and socialists often promise that they can cure all that if they can just raise enough taxes to offset the cost.
But there’s a couple of problems with that.
1. Socialists rarely use their own money to fix problems, they want to use other people’s money to do that.
So they’re saying they’re doing good, but it doesn’t cost THEM anything. Their benevolence is based on the people they take money from.
2. Socialists rarely do a good job of fixing the world’s problems. In fact, they often make people’s lives worse because their decisions are based on using other’s people’s money rather than their own.
3. Jesus told us “you always have the poor with you…” (Matthew 26:11) so, no matter how hard you try, you’re never really going to fix the problem. The poor will always be there… no matter what you do.
There have been some people who’ve tried to compare socialism with Jesus and early church. In fact, I recently became annoyed with a graphic that I saw on FB that said this: “Why, when Jesus talks about feeding the poor, it’s Christianity, but when a politician does it, its’s socialism?”
Now, that annoyed me for two reasons: 1st, it tried to use Jesus and the church to justify a political viewpoint. That’s usually NOT a good idea. 2ndly - Jesus didn’t take people’s money away from them to give to poor. Jesus (and the early church) taught that giving to the poor should be voluntary.
ILLUS: For example, Acts 4 and 5 (where Christians sold their property so they could give to the poor) has often been used as a justification for socialism. But that wasn’t socialism. Acts 4:34-35 tells us “There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.”
So why wasn’t that socialism? Well, because it was entirely voluntary (by it’s very nature, socialism is mandatory). There was a couple in the church named Ananias and Sapphira, and they saw how admired people were who gave to the poor - and they wanted that attention for themselves. So they sold a piece of property and “kept back some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet.” And then they lied about how much they’d given.
Peter rebuked them with these words: “Wasn’t it YOURS while you possessed it? And after it was sold, wasn’t it at YOUR disposal? Why is it that you planned this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God!” (Acts 5:4) In other words, they didn’t have to give the money to the church. It wasn’t required that they sell it, or that they give the any part of the purchase price for benevolence.
CLOSE: You see, God wants us love others, and He wants us to do that because we LOVE Him. And it’s because this love is voluntary that Christians (as a whole) the most generous people in the world.
ILLUS: There was a Christian man named Bob Pierce who had advanced leukemia. Before he died, he went to visit a friend in Indonesia, and as they were walking through a small village, he and his friend came upon a young girl lying on a bamboo mat next to a river. She was dying of cancer. And she only had a short time to live.
Bob was upset. He said, “Why isn’t she in a clinic? Why isn’t someone taking care of her?” His friend explained that she was from the jungle. And she wished to spend her last days next to the river, where it was cool and familiar. As Bob gazed at her, he felt such compassion he got down on his knees in mud, took her hand, and began stroking it. And although she didn’t understand him, he prayed for her. Afterward she looked up and said something. Bob asked his friend “What did she say?” His friend replied, “She said, ‘If I could only sleep again, if I could only sleep again.’” Bob began to weep. Then he reached into his pocket and took out his own sleeping pills, the ones his doctor had given him because the pain from his leukemia was too great for him to sleep. He handed the bottle to his friend. “You make sure this young lady gets a good night’s sleep, as long as these pills last.” Bob was ten days away from where he could get his prescription refilled. That meant ten painful and restless nights.
Now, why did this man do that? Why would he give his pain pills to that young girl. It wasn’t because the government forced him to. And it wasn’t because it “made him feel good” – for the next 10 nights he suffered terribly. He did it because He loved God. And his love for God caused him to “do good” for a girl he’d never met.
INVITATION
