03/21/10
Living Out The Gospel Together
Summary
When we come together in Jesus’ name, the barriers that have divided cultures and races from one another throughout history fall to the ground in Jesus. Things such as our socio-economic status, heritage, nationality, culture, blue-collar, white-collar, educated or uneducated…those things are nullified in Christ.
Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone – especially to those in the family of faith.
Welcome – Galatians started as a five week journey…we turned it into six. See it as a road trip that you thought would take eleven hours, but actually took twelve. So buckle up, I’m going for an hour today.
Today, we’re going to tie up our experience together in Galatians. We have spent five weeks fleshing out the core message of the Bible, which is described as the Gospel (The Gospel is the Good News that God has come to us through His Son Jesus Christ to do for us what we could not do for ourselves…so that we can live in the way that He designed us to live).
As the Apostle Paul writes Galatians, chapter 6 is his finish line. We’re going to continue to talk about how we might live together, in light of what God has done for us through Jesus.
Galatians 6:1a (Brothers and Sisters)
As you read Galatians, and for that matter, all of Scripture, take notice that the message of the Bible not only has personal implications…it has relational, or corporate implications as well. Paul didn’t intend for his listeners or readers to hear Galatians simply as a message to ‘me.’ Galatians is written to a community of believers…the Gospel is Good News for ‘us.’
3:26-29 (Children of God, One in Christ Jesus, Baptism)
Illustration – St. Patrick’s Day – We just celebrated St. Patty’s day this week…now, for the record, I have never once woken up on St. Patrick’s Day and thought to myself, ‘This is St. Patrick’s Day.’ The day of Corned beef, cabbage, and green beer. Never knew it was a big deal until I moved here. I had a guy ask me this week… ‘Did you get out for St. Patrick’s Day,’ and I’m like… ‘Dang it…that would be fun…no…I forgot.’
Why? As far as I know, I don’t have Irish roots. How many of you do?
When you and I were born into a family…we didn’t simply receive a name…we received an identity and a heritage and in some cases, a community. In many ways, our heritage shapes who we are.
When you came to Christ, God invited you into His family, and He gave you a new name. You are now a child of God. As His child, you have full access to Him as your Father. Scripture says that you are His heir; everything that He has belongs to you.
Paul says that as a result of Christ, there is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female…
For a 1st century Jew, Paul’s words would have been shocking. There existed huge social chasms between Jews and Gentiles, free Jewish citizens and slaves, men and women.
There was actually an ancient Jewish prayer that was repeated each morning by pious Jewish males.
“Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who hast not made me a gentile. Blessed art Thou…who hast not made me a slave. Blessed art Thou…who hast not made me a woman.”
Since the beginning of time, humanity’s relationship with each other has been fractured.
Where God created man to love…man starts to hate. Where we were created to care for one another…we begin to look out for number one, ‘me.’ God created us to draw our significance from being created and loved by Him. Now, we draw our significance from things like power and possessions and prestige. The effects of this in the fabric of God’s creation are devastating.
Sin is responsible for segregation and division, oppression and racism, bigotry, genocide…the loss of human dignity and equality. Every evil that our world has seen stems from man’s choice to move away from God.
The narrative of Scripture says that God has come to us in the person of Jesus Christ. And through Jesus, he is reconciling man back to God, and he is restoring unity and peace among men.
So that: When we come together in Jesus’ name, the barriers that have divided cultures and races from one another throughout history fall to the ground in Jesus. Things such as our socio-economic status, heritage, nationality, culture, blue-collar, white-collar, educated or uneducated…those things are nullified in Christ.
As we stand together in unity, we recognize that our diversity is a reflection of the creativity of the God who designed us…
The Gospel transforms how we see and experience and relate to one another.
6:1-3 (Help, Share, Obey; Serve one another in love)
Paul says in 5:13 – Use your freedom to serve one another in love (text here).
The first three verses of Galatians 6 describe how we can go about doing that in practical ways.
First, Paul says…if you recognize that another believer is overcome or caught up in a sin…go to them, and help them out.
Illustration – Floods in Midwest (ND and Minnesota)
Have you read about the floods in North Dakota and Minnesota? Imagine you lived there. If your neighbor’s house is flooding, is it love to ignore the rising river around their house?
Is it love to criticize them? “The river is flooding and you’re never going to make it, you should have never built your house here. What were you thinking?”
Is it love to go into town and say to others…the river is flooding and their house is going under…fools. How did they get themselves into that situation?
See…if we see another Christ-follower who is tangled up in sin…and if we ignore it, or we criticize or we broadcast their sin for others to see, and we don’t actually help them, we’re in a worse place then they are, because we can see the problem, we can see the rising water, but have chosen not to do anything about it.
Love is getting into your boat, going to their house, telling them that the river is flooding and that they need to get out now. Then, offer to rescue them. That’s love.
Now as we help each other, pay careful attention to what He writes…Paul addresses this to you who are ‘godly.’ If the first thing that comes to your mind is, ‘that’s me…I’m godly…I’ll be the sin police. I’m good at that.’ If that’s your attitude, do a heart-check. It’s possible that you’re more prideful and arrogant that you are godly…the key words here are humility and gentleness.
We’re help one another in humility and with gentleness because we recognize that if it weren’t for Jesus, we would have self-destructed in our sin a long time ago. Jesus calls us to be dispensers of grace, not spiritual referees.
Galatians 6:2-3 – “Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important.”
I think that this is a very difficult verse…
Illustration – Individualism - We live in and are shaped by a society of fierce individualism. What has been a strength for us as a nation has also, at times, become a great weakness. There was a day when the term neighbor indicated that people actually shared life with one another. Today, many of us barely know our neighbors.
Residential architecture since the middle of the 20th century reveals this trend. 50 years ago the front porch was a gathering place for hospitality among neighbors and friends. Today, the front porch has been replaced by two car garages that allow us to come and go from our home without ever having to interact with people around us. The areas in our homes that were once allocated for hosting are now given to things like office-spaces, walk-in closets, and extra bathrooms.
Compared to fifty years ago, less time is spent outside in the neighborhood…more time is spent commuting, driving children back and forth between school and activities, going to the mall, and relaxing in the comfort of our homes. Not that there is anything wrong with these things…but they can lead us toward isolation from any meaningful community (and certainly from the life that God designed for us).
Whether we realize it or not, this trend affects the church. One of our strengths at Harbor also has the potential to be one of our greatest weaknesses. Geographically, we’re spread out from Reading to Burlington to Andover to Marlborough to Westford to Groton to Pepperell to Hudson to Salem and Pelham. Diversity is wonderful in that as we live for Christ together, our relational reach for Jesus can go well beyond Chelmsford.
But we also have to be very careful because it’s possible for us to come together for an hour or two a week to worship, and yet never really know the people that we worship alongside. We can belong to Harbor in name, and never get involved in the life of the local church.
If that’s true, then we have to ask the question… ‘How do we actually go about obeying this text? How do we gently and humbly help one another if it’s possible for us to come here for years and remain anonymous?
How do we share each other’s burdens if it’s possible for us to come here week after week and not really know each other? Is it even possible?
Don’t get me wrong…I’m not saying that everyone here should know everyone else. That would be impossible. I’m talking about every person having people around you that you know…people who know you. I’m talking about people that you serve and care for, who also serve and care for you. I’m talking about people that you’re walking with on the journey of faith in Christ…people you’re encouraging as they encourage you.
I think we really need to wrestle with this text…because I’m just not sure if we’re able to be obedient to Christ…and if we’re able to experience the fullness of the life that God designed us for if we conform to the shape of our culture, rather than allowing Christ to shape us, His church.
Paul says as a word of warning. If we think to ourselves, ‘I’m too important, busy or preoccupied to carry someone else’s burdens (by the way, very few of us would actually say that, ‘I’m too important,’ we just live that way when we ignore the needs of people around us.), if that’s our attitude, watch out as Paul says…we’re not that important.
Jesus paved the way for how we are to relate to each other. Paul says in Philippians that Jesus laid aside all of the privileges of being God and became a servant. He came to do one thing…the will of the Father. And in obedience to the Father, Jesus went to the cross to carry the burden of our sin so that we might know the love of God and the life that He has for us.
The night before Jesus was arrested, Jesus washed his disciples feet as an act of humble service…doing for them what only the house servant was supposed to do.
We read Jesus’ words in John 13… “After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, ‘Do you understand what I was doing? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that is what I am. And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them.” John 13:12-17
As we follow Jesus and serve others…meet one another’s needs,
Our lives become richer, deeper, and more meaningful. We discover the joy of living in the image of the One who created us…who is by nature a Giver.
As we love each other, Jesus’ love becomes more and more real to us…God is glorified; People who look on will see our love, and they will be drawn to Jesus.
Galatians 6:9-10 (Don’t get tired; Do good; Jesus is coming)
I think that Paul’s words are appropriate for us. He says… “So let us not get tired of doing what is good.”
Spiritual fatigue happens…life happens…the burdens of life are exhausting.
The question isn’t whether you’ll get tired. The question is whether you’ll have people around you to keep you going with the help of the Holy Spirit.
The interesting thing about carrying burdens is that the person you carry a burden for today will quite possibly be carrying yours tomorrow. Life works like that.
Paul is saying… Don’t give up. Don’t lose sight of Jesus. Keep your eyes on Jesus…trust Jesus…and know that the presence and the power of His Spirit is in you; He is cultivating His life in you. Paul calls it a harvest of blessing. His promises for you are great. Your future with Him is secure. His power for you is enough.
“Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone – especially to those in the family of faith.” 6:10
How are you doing today at obeying this?
Are you seizing every opportunity to do good to others. To share with people in need; to offer encouragement, to pray for a friend, to meet a financial need. To sit with someone who is sick, hurting, or suffering loss. Are you walking with people through doubts…
Are we moving past the outer layers of our lives…We all have layers.
Paul says… ‘whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to others.’ I think that he means…whenever.
Close – I love you guys. Sometimes I wonder how I got here…doing this. It’s a privilege to be your pastor. You accept me, and I can’t even say car right… The funny thing is…if it weren’t for Christ, most of us wouldn’t be hanging out together…we wouldn’t even know one another. But Jesus brings us together…into God’s family. We belong to God and we’re connected together in Jesus.
Isn’t it a beautiful thing that Jesus is doing here?
(PRAY)
