In May, 1953, two men became the first in history to climb to the top of Mt. Everest; Edmund Hillary, a New Zealand beekeeper and explorer, and his Sherpa guide from Nepal, Tenzing Norgay. They reached the summit together and attained instant international fame.
On the way down from the 29,000-foot peak, Hillary slipped and started to fall. He would almost certainly have fallen to his death, but Tenzing Norgay immediately dug in his ice-axe and braced the rope linking them together, saving Hillary’s life.
At the bottom the international press made a huge fuss over the Sherpa guide’s heroic action. Through it all Tenzing Norgay remained very calm, very professional, very unmoved by it all. To all the shouted questions he had one simple answer: “Mountain climbers always help each other.”
Just as mountain climbers help each other, we in the body of Christ must help each other.
(Advance)
“The Lord’s Church is identified by how its members love and assist one another.”
Discussion:
If that is true – If God’s church is identified by how we love and assist each other – when someone looks at us what do they see? Do they identify First Christian Church as a place of love and assistance? The apostle Paul is going to do us a favor this morning. Paul has given us three ways that we can reach out and not only grow in number – but grow spiritually. We can’t grow outwardly, until we have grown inside.
Turn with me to Galatians 6:1-6 (read) (Advance)
The first way our text this morning says that we can reach out to those outside this body of Christ – is to: (Advance)
I. Lift Each Other Up (1-2)
a. Inward attitude toward sin
i. “When someone is caught”
There is a biblical principle that our feet are walking a path that God has laid out before us. And as God calls us to walk the Christian will walk – Sin used in this understanding is when a person takes their feet off the path God has laid out and goes into forbidden territory.
Paul says in – (Advance)
Romans 4:25 – He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
Jesus wasn’t being punished for something he did. He was wounded for our transgressions. Isaiah 53:5 — But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
It wasn’t his sin that required the cross – it was our sin. (Advance)
Ephesians 1:7 – In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace
When someone is caught in sin
ii. Our reaction
1. Easy way
Maybe when someone sins they should not come to church. That’s the easy way to deal with it. Why don’t we wait till they get their lives cleaned up and the mess cleared up before we ask them back to church. They are caught in sin – they’ve stepped of the path that God has laid before them. They need to get their act straight – then and only then should they come back to church. After all we wouldn’t want them to walk in the doors and have the whole building fall on them –I don’t believe it’s covered in the insurance policy. If you believe the what I just said you have one and only one thing you can do –
Ready? (Advance) REPENT!
2. Best way
The best way for the church to react towards those “caught in sin” towards those who have trespassed onto ground they weren’t intended for – is restoration.
a. The Spiritual –
i. People grounded in God’s word
ii. Those who are living the life God has laid out for them
Our job – Our Calling is to seek out people and put the pieces back together. The idea is not to punish, purge or retaliate; our goal is to rescue the erring sheep and return them safely back here.
b. We must restore
i. Gently
Towards the beginning of Matthew’s gospel two future disciples, James and John are sitting in the fishing boat with their father they are mending their nets – This is the same word – When we bring those who have the stains of sin freshly on their hands and we offer them the love of Christ – we do the same, we are net menders. We must work at putting the pieces back together again.
iii. Paul gives a warning
Watch yourself or you also may be tempted
1. We have to keep our feet on the path
2. We have to keep our direction moving forward
3. We must also understand the destructiveness of sin
No matter how good it looks from the outside, sin, does nothing but destroy. It does not make your life better – no matter how you justify it.
Paul tells us that we are to
iv. Carry each other’s burdens (Advance) –
The idea is that the burden has become to heavy for a person to bear alone. Sometimes life hands the weary traveler such a heavy burden that he staggers beneath the load.
Fellow Christians are not to stand around and rebuke his weakness, but to pitch in and help. This also implies that those who are weak and those who are strong may often switch places. We will all struggle with something from time to time.
We must lift each other up – we are commanded to. The second way to reach out to others is for us to do a:
(Advance)
II. Self-Examination (3-4)
a. Think correctly about self
i. Not too high
ii. Not too low
iii. Something right in the middle
Probably something that is key is knowing where you are going – and knowing where you have come from, not to boast about the past or even worry about the failures, but to grow.
b. Test your own actions
i. Do they line up with scripture?
God calls us to test our actions. The idea is that you test them to check for purity. You test them to make sure you have the right motives, make sure you stay on the path that God has called you to. I had the privilege of having one young man in our church follow me around this week. People have come to him asking him why he hangs out with the preacher. His response – “Because he’s the preacher.” Jesus would spend his time spending time with those who needed a role model.
(Advance)
Luke 7:34 – The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ’Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners." ’
ii. Are your actions something Jesus would be proud of?
1. If they aren’t change them
iii. Would he agree with your understanding of his word?
1. If you aren’t sure – ask for wisdom
2. Pray before you read the Bible
iv. Would he be happy with the number of times you’ve talked to him in the last week?
1. If not – why not?
The only way to keep yourself on that path God has laid out for your life is to talk to him and allow him to speak through his word, not just the word that is read but the word planted in your heart.
The Psalmist says – your word I hide in my heart that I might not sin against you.
If we don’t test our own actions, if we don’t carry the burdens of others – we will do something.
c. We’ll begin to compare ourselves
You might look at others and say the follow:
i. “Hey my actions aren’t as bad as yours”
ii. “His name is in the paper again – thank God I am not like him”
iii. “Guess he got himself into some trouble – He should clean up before he comes back to church.”
iv. “Hey, did you hear what he did?” – We had real hopes for him.
You do accomplish something – You puff yourself up The only person you should compare yourself to is Jesus, and that’s no fun because he was perfect and the truth is we are not perfect. It’s so much easier to look for faults in other people than our own. The times when we lose control, the times when we lack patience, the times when we step out of that path that God has laid out for us.
I’ll quote someone in this church – (Advance) “When someone keeps you from coming to church – shame on them – and shame on you.”
The last way for us to reach out is for you to:
(Advance)
III. Carry your load (5-6)
This word carry means a burden you are expected to do something with.
i. it’s a ministry inside the church
1. Something that meets your skills
2. Something that helps you grow
3. Something that demonstrates your love for Christ.
A team has to work together. It’s amazing the things a person remembers from childhood. I remember playing basketball and I would always get teamed up with this kid – Terry Floyd. He was fast, he was light on his feet and a pretty good basketball player. We kept running into each other – Terry was so quick that he had his man guarded and wanted to help me guard mine. In a way he was making my presence on the basketball court unneeded. We watched tape of the games and we determined that if we all just did what our positions required we would be a better team – if we had a good understanding of our function on the team it would not only make us better players – it would make the team better – and it did.
We also are a team – called to fit into this community and function as a unit. When someone doesn’t do what God is calling them to do – someone else has to pick up the slack. When someone is doing too much – someone else is getting lazy. We must all carry our own load, but to each of us that load is something we can bare.
In 1st Corinthians Paul defends paid ministry. Those who make their living studying God’s word and teaching others. Paul says in our text this morning – verse 6 –
(Advance)
Galatians 6:6 – Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor.
How does that fit in with lifting each other up and self-examination? Have you ever gone to a restaurant and come away with the idea that you’ve paid too much for the meal? For the service and the amount of food – the bill was way to high. The idea is in the church the things we do, the lessons that are taught, the sermons preached, the ministries that are supported are worth the effort, and therefore you should support them. Giving back to those who lead is at the heart of this verse, not just giving back the left overs or the extra things that you have – but giving all good things. I received a valentines card from a young person in the church – she has a heart of gold – that’s an example of giving all good things. Jesus said in Matt. 10:10 that the worker is worth his keep. Paul’s response to the support that he received was praise and thanksgiving. I am thankful to you for the blessing you’ve given – you follow this verse well.
Conclusion:
We’ve discussed burdens and loads and doing our jobs. Paul gives us clear instructions to help each other out. The point of this sermon is that we need to be there for each other, not just on Sunday mornings or Wednesday nights, but each and every day. Life is tough but our God is good. There is someone else who has the ability to carry those burdens we bear. The loads that weight us down – some of you carry loads that your backs were never meant to handle. Jesus said that we could come to him, that we could lay our burdens on him. Jesus says that no matter what you are going through, no matter the struggles you face, the problems you encounter, the sin you are in – he can carry the load.
In fact – he wants to carry the load. And the amazing thing is – he offers rest. Carrying around loads of sin, and burdens and different things that life throws at you will make you exhausted. I don’t know where you are this morning – but I’ve been spiritually exhausted. I have been there, crying out – “God, Look at the mess I’ve gotten myself into” – Look how I’ve strayed away from the path that you’ve laid before me. It’s not when we understand our mess that God acts – it’s not even when we understand the difference in paths – it’s when we say 3 little words – PLEASE HELP ME. It’s in that moment – spiritually we stand up straight and he does what every loving father would do – take our hands and he walks beside us. He renews the path that we’ve gotten off of and sets us back on course. (Advance) (don’t read)
Matthew 11:28-30 – "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
If you haven’t accepted Jesus Christ as lord and savior of your life – we offer an invitation not of judgment, not of persecution but an invitation of love, it’s personal between you and God.
Some of us have gotten to be pretty good actors. We pretend that everything is alright, we act as though we understand God, his word and his will for our lives – but the truth is we don’t. Our God is a God of restoration – he’s a God of renewal and a God of second chances he wants nothing but you as you are completely his.
If you have a decision to make this morning come and stand as we sing 75
