April 27, 2025 • 25 mins
What are you planting with your life today? Paul reminds us that the seeds we sow — into the flesh or into the Spirit — will bear a harvest we cannot escape.
Originally preached to Ekklesia Churches by Dan on April 13, 2025.
This message from Galatians 6:1–10 focuses on living out gospel freedom within a Spirit-led community: restoring others gently, bearing one another’s burdens, investing in eternal things, and persevering in doing good.
Teaching Highlights:
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Restoration, not condemnation, is the goal when addressing sin in the church.
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Bearing burdens and building each other up fulfills the law of Christ.
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Generosity with our lives, resources, and time is a mark of a Spirit-led heart.
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We reap what we sow — so sow to the Spirit, not to the flesh.
The harvest of godly investment may take time to appear, but God’s promises are sure: we will reap eternal life if we do not give up.
Learn more about us at EkklesiaChurches.org.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
[Music]
This message is from Galatians chapter 6 verses 1 through 11.
It is entitled "Sowing in the Spirit" and was delivered to Ecclesia churches on April 13th, 2025.
[Music]
We've been working our way through the book of Galatians, and I like to start every week with a kind of recap of what Paul has said thus far,
(00:24):
because it's a single letter written to the church in Galatia, and they would certainly have taught from its contents the same way that we are,
but they also would have read and re-read it as a letter.
And so I think it's helpful to keep the whole letter in mind,
because the whole letter is really the first part of the always important context.
(00:46):
The purpose of this letter is to argue that salvation is only offered to us by God's grace,
only received through faith, and specifically faith in Christ only.
And he's been arguing against people who would make any point to the contrary,
but particularly those who would argue a salvation that comes through either Jewish bloodline or through religious rules and good works.
(01:12):
That was really the first half of the book.
And now in the second half, Paul has addressed the "so what" portion, right?
If his audience believes his argument, so what?
Why does it matter?
So you pragmatists among us looking for the practical, "so what do we do" moment with this truth are loving these last two chapters of the letter.
(01:36):
The first "so what" is, since we're free in Christ through freely given and received grace,
what do we do with that freedom?
That was last week, right?
If we don't have to work for our salvation, are we free to basically do whatever we want?
And in chapter five, we found out, no, just because we're free doesn't mean we're not engaged in the work of actively opposing those forces and temptations that want to pull us back into slavery.
(02:08):
Old religious norms, old habits, old excuses to go on sinning stand on the sidelines of this narrow path.
And they're trying to pull us back.
So to walk with Christ, we have to continue turning away from those things and turning to Christ.
We have to walk in the Spirit, repenting of sin, turning to Christ and actively resisting our sinful flesh that offers a false satisfaction.
(02:38):
In chapter five, we have this picture of personal responsibility.
But in chapter six, where we're going to be today, Paul reminds us that we don't walk this road alone.
And he reminds us that there are free people battling the flesh, walking alongside other free people who are also battling the flesh.
(02:59):
That's the dynamic.
So walking with Jesus does involve watching over yourself and clinging to Christ, but it also involves serving your brothers and sisters as they do the same.
One of the last acts of Jesus for his disciples was to wash their feet before the meal.
(03:21):
And this happened the night that he was betrayed and taken to be crucified, his ultimate act of service.
Paul is going to close this letter in a strikingly similar way.
He begins by talking about our service to one another.
And next week on Easter Sunday, we'll finish Galatians as Paul turns to the cross of Christ and our response to it.
(03:47):
So let's read through this first section together today.
This is Galatians chapter six, verses one through eleven.
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.
(04:08):
Bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.
For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
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.
(04:29):
Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches.
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.
For the one who sows to his flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the spirit will from the spirit reap eternal life.
(04:53):
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up.
So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
So when it comes to sin, the Pharisees have their go-to approach when trying to help a community live together.
(05:22):
And their approach was always heaping up additional laws and regulations.
Apparently they thought that they could regulate people into dealing with their sin, almost like slapping a warning label in place for every conceivable breaking of the law.
Have you ever looked at the back of a product label to read like the product use warnings?
(05:47):
I think some of my favorite are craft supplies, but just for fun, here's a couple of other ones for real product warnings that exist
because someone somewhere did something they really should not have.
On a hairdryer, quote, "Do not use while sleeping."
I know it's hard to get up in the morning, but you should probably be up before you turn on the hairdryer.
(06:09):
On a Superman costume, quote, "Wearing this garment does not enable you to fly."
On a clothes iron, quote, "Do not iron clothes while wearing them."
And last one, on a child's scooter, quote, "This product moves when used."
So the Pharisees' response to this problem of sinners living among sinners was essentially to add product warning labels to people.
(06:41):
And for example, when the law says keep the Sabbath holy, they would add an additional label.
Like, well, only take so many steps on the Sabbath.
If the law says give 10% to the temple of your income, so they would add additional labels like,
"Well, make sure you also give 10% of your spice cabinet too."
(07:03):
Paul takes a different approach, right?
He's telling them you're free, but he's also recognizing that freedom comes with the need for correction, particularly in a community.
So his previous instruction was to individuals, to not gratify the flesh, right?
To repent and turn to Christ.
(07:24):
Now he's telling them that they're also bearing some responsibility for each other.
So when you see someone caught in sin, you don't do like the Pharisees do and lay the weight of additional rules on them.
You call them to repentance.
And you do it with gentleness, not self-righteousness.
(07:48):
Biblical correction is loving, right?
Letting someone continue in their sin and continue walking on their way to destruction,
particularly someone who has professed faith in Christ is not loving.
In a family, when you see your sibling doing something they're not supposed to,
it is, I'll admit, tempting to say, "Oh, they're gonna get in so much trouble with a little bit of glee," right?
(08:13):
But the loving thing to do is to call them back from that.
So in Psalm 141 verse 5, the psalmist invites a righteous man to strike him or to discipline him.
If I'm in the wrong and someone sees me in that, I want them to respond by correcting me in love.
(08:33):
The tone also matters, right?
That's that in love part.
Proverbs 27.6 says that, "Faithful are the wounds of a friend."
What we really want is someone with our best interests at heart having the courage to correct us in love.
So those who are walking in the Spirit, which is what Paul means by spiritual,
(08:57):
he just means Christians following Jesus,
those should be seeking the restoration of those in sin.
The restoration of those people to Christ.
Restoration is the goal, not calling them out to get them in trouble, but restoring them to Christ.
However, there's a warning for those who would reach out to do that work, right?
(09:21):
He says, "Be careful in the process that you remain aware of yourself."
In Matthew 7, 3 and 4, Jesus is talking to people about making sure they don't have a plank in their eye
before they go help a brother or sister with a splinter in theirs.
He actually said, "One purpose of dealing with the plank in your eye, the big problem in yourself,
(09:44):
is so that you can see clearly to help the person with the splinter."
So here are at least two categories that could come into play here.
When it comes to sin that you have to be careful of when you're trying to help somebody else.
The first is self-righteousness.
This is a very different kind of help than the help of the Pharisees, right?
(10:07):
This is about restoration.
It's not about subordination, keeping them down, or about looking like a better person.
Make sure that when it comes to correction, your heart is in the right place in that process.
That's probably going to mean coming to the Lord in prayer before you ever go to try to correct somebody.
(10:31):
The second category, or potential problem, would be falling into the very same sin yourself.
For example, if you are a recovering alcoholic, you don't step into saving your alcoholic friend
by going to the bar with them.
We have to be aware of ourselves and our own temptations and make sure that we are keeping our eyes on Jesus
(10:57):
through this process, no matter how much we love this other person.
We have to keep our eyes on Jesus if we're going to help them.
In both of these cases, Jesus is the solution.
We're calling people to repent, which means turning back to Jesus, just as we need to continue turning to Jesus.
When we keep our eyes on Jesus as the solution to both their problems and our problems,
(11:21):
it's a huge dose of humility for us and also a loving invitation to them.
That's verse 1. In verses 2-5, Paul begins to make the point that living in community as a Christian
goes beyond just correction and goes into living alongside one another and bearing the weight of life with one another.
(11:50):
It's not just a walking alongside. It's an arms linking, shoulder sharing, lean on one another kind of community.
They also had an understanding of the lack of control that they really had over making crops grow.
This is a farming community, and they knew that they could plant and they could weed and harvest,
(12:18):
but they really couldn't make it rain or make the seed grow or make it produce a bounty.
Being a farmer requires equal measures of seed, community, and faith.
It's an investment, and you have to trust God an awful lot with the things that are out of your hands.
It's into this context that Paul talks about bearing one another's burdens.
(12:42):
He's not actually talking about farming.
He's talking about supporting each other in a community of people who are seeking to follow Jesus and resist the temptations of the flesh.
What seems like a contradictory little passage here is actually about giving us a well-rounded picture of how it is supposed to work.
This is the benefit of reading something in context as we get the whole picture and not just a tiny portion of it,
(13:09):
because ultimately we're not able to bear the weight of someone else's sin.
We're not able to deal with the weight of their particular temptation,
and if we can't do that, how are we expected to bear one another's burdens?
He says, "Bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ."
(13:31):
In a farming community, I think you do have a better understanding of living in community that other places really don't get.
In a farming community, you labor alongside one another and you rise and fall as a community.
At planting time, you work together to get the seed in the ground, and at harvest time,
(13:53):
you would move from field to field, getting everyone's crops in, much like today.
Letting someone fail wasn't an option because they were supporting you as well.
So, what is the law of Christ that we're supposed to be fulfilling?
A nice summary of it, Jesus gives us in John 13-34, "Love one another as I have loved you."
(14:18):
We fulfill the law of Christ when we love one another enough to get involved in their struggle,
to reach out to them, to call them to repent, but also to stand with them in difficult times,
to be a shoulder to cry on, to be available to them.
(14:38):
Love them enough to bring them to Christ.
We can't bear the weight, but Jesus can.
We can't bear the entire weight of their struggle because it is their struggle,
but we can hold them up in that process.
If we do a little bit of word work here, which is what I would call looking at the passage and the actual words that are used,
(15:04):
we also get some more clarity between verses 2 and 5 because those are our two verses here in this section
that seem opposed to each other.
At first glance, it looks like verse 2 is saying to bear the burdens of others
and verse 5 is saying to bear your own.
So, which is it?
(15:24):
Go ahead and, if you have your Bible out, underline two words in each of those verses that are going to help us.
In verse 2, underline bear and burdens.
I'm using the ESV.
In verse 5, underline the word bear and load.
Now, the word bear is the same in both.
(15:47):
It's bastaso.
And the word is paired with words that change the meaning of that command.
So, it's actually the second word that's going to clarify for us what he means for us to bear.
In verse 2, the word is baros, which means a heaviness or troubles.
(16:10):
But in verse 5, we have the word load, which is fortian, which is used for the load on a ship.
But it's also used sometimes to talk about the weight of conscience.
And so, knowing that the meaning in verse 2 is to uphold and support someone with the heaviness of their troubles,
(16:35):
but verse 5 is clarifying that we are responsible for the burden of our own conscience of bringing our own sin to Jesus.
You see the difference between the two.
In farming, there's this expectation that everyone participated.
And you couldn't plant everyone else's field but neglect your own.
(17:00):
There wasn't crop insurance.
There wasn't welfare in the way we understand it.
And if you wanted to live, you had to participate in the work.
The work was often communal, but you were responsible for your own field.
So, what are some practical takeaways here for us that find the balance of holding up your brothers and sisters,
(17:23):
but also bringing the struggle in our own souls to Jesus?
First, we have to love struggling people by not letting them struggle alone.
We are in this with them.
We point them back to Jesus as the source of strength and salvation.
(17:44):
We carry them to Jesus in prayer.
We welcome them into a community of people who will be Jesus to them.
But in that process, we are also testing our own heart to see if we are trusting Jesus.
Your relationship to Jesus is your number one priority because without clinging to Christ,
(18:07):
you have no ability to help anyone.
Don't get so busy fixing everyone else that you forget to bring your own struggle and burdens to the feet of Jesus.
Finally, remember your identity as a servant to the servant king Jesus.
(18:29):
Jesus was the one who set the example for what it looks like to be great.
He did this by serving.
This isn't about saving ourselves because we can't do that.
It's not actually about saving each other because Jesus does that.
It's about coming to Jesus and lifting others up as they come to Jesus as well.
(18:53):
It looks a lot less like the Pharisees who saw themselves as very good religious people,
but failed to help the crippled beggar because they were too busy debating what sin had caused his paralysis.
It looks a lot more like the friends who carried that man to Jesus and lowered him through the roof.
(19:14):
That's the kind of loving correction and burden-bearing struggle that Jesus is calling us to.
So Paul closes things out in verses 6 through 10 by calling the people to a life of generosity
because a heart that is responding to Jesus and is coming to him in faith will respond
(19:39):
with this impossible to avoid kind of generosity in the way that you use your time and your resources and your talents.
We're coming out of this discussion on burdens and bearing burdens.
And Paul says what it really looks like is this open life of generosity where you are willingly and joyfully investing in others.
(20:04):
Verse 6 in particular is talking about living generously toward those who are investing in you.
And I'm sure that this verse was less awkward for Paul to write and send in a letter than it was for the pastors who were reading it and teaching the congregation.
But what he's saying is don't be someone who comes to the table eats and leaves because the community of the church is so much more than that.
(20:30):
It's so much more than just a gas station stop to get filled up on the way to the rest of your week.
This is helpful in the midst of a culture that's learned to see the church as a place for consumers.
Consumer churches are largely the norm.
So if you go around and visit different places, you'll find that this is kind of the standard.
(20:52):
That all that's really expected of you or of people is that they show up and they sit for a service and maybe toss some leftover cash in the offering plate or the offering box.
And then they walk away convinced that they've participated in the life of the church.
And what the church wants you to do is to come back next week.
That kind of consumer mindset is heartbreaking because it's such a poor substitute for the full life that we are called into through Christ.
(21:23):
The kind of giving that Paul calls us into is a life lived with open generosity of your life and every aspect of it for the sake of the kingdom.
And this includes toward those who are leading the church.
Now I will add, it certainly helps when the structure of the church is simple.
When your financial generosity goes directly toward supporting the preaching of the gospel and the making of disciples.
(21:50):
When your time can be invested in the work of making disciples and not volunteering for yet another program or event.
Good things, though they may be.
Simplicity in our structure and practice leaves margin or space for investing in things that really matter like discipleship.
(22:13):
To that end, we always want to be a church of disciple makers and shepherds and not one of directors and executives and interns and any other of the variety of titles that you give to an organization.
That has outgrown its original mission.
(22:34):
Paul also talks about generosity as a type of investment.
He uses that language of reaping and sowing to describe a posture of living and that takes patience and persistence.
Again, farming community, they get, they put the seed in the ground and then they wait on God to work.
(22:55):
Essentially, if we invest our lives in gratifying the flesh which we've been warned against, Paul says we will reap the destruction and trouble that comes from that.
Old Testament passages that certainly would have rung in the ears of these folks are places like Hosea 8-7 that says sow the wind and you will reap the whirlwind.
(23:18):
And Job 4-8 that says plow to iniquity or sin and sow trouble and reap the same.
If you think that you can fool people by acting one way in public but sowing to sin in private, you might be right.
You might fool people, but you will not fool God and you will certainly reap the destruction that comes from those things.
(23:47):
Sowing to the spirit, investing in people, investing in the kingdom does come at a cost and will certainly require you to endure some discomfort, some discomfort relationally,
some discomfort in your life or on preferences, the things that you would rather be doing, the things that are easier,
(24:09):
but the result of investing in the kingdom of sowing in the spirit is worth it.
So I want to close by saying this.
Have patience and trust God as you are working alongside one another, doing your best to call them to Christ.
(24:30):
Have patience because God is working in ways that you can't see and in ways that you cannot believe.
Be patient with one another and deal with one another in love.
Have patience with yourself and continue doing the work of bringing yourself and your burdens to Jesus.
(24:51):
God is working in you in ways again that are hard to see, but he is working.
Keep pursuing Christ and trust him to bring the growth in you.
And finally, keep sowing in the spirit.
Keep investing in the kingdom.
Keep your life and your time and your resources and your gifts open to the work of God so that you can do what Paul says as we have opportunity.
(25:21):
Do good to everyone, especially those in the household of faith.
[Music]
Ecclesia is a church of house churches gathering weekly in Council Bluffs, Iowa and in homes throughout the week.
We are a Bible-centered church focused on preaching from Scripture and making disciples of Jesus.
You can learn more about our statement of faith and contact a pastor by visiting ecclaseachurches.org.
(25:48):
[BLANK_AUDIO]
[Music]
This message is from Galatians chapter 6 verses 1 through 11.
It is entitled "Sowing in the Spirit" and was delivered to Ecclesia churches on April 13th, 2025.
[Music]
We've been working our way through the book of Galatians, and I like to start every week with a kind of recap of what Paul has said thus far,
(00:24):
because it's a single letter written to the church in Galatia, and they would certainly have taught from its contents the same way that we are,
but they also would have read and re-read it as a letter.
And so I think it's helpful to keep the whole letter in mind,
because the whole letter is really the first part of the always important context.
(00:46):
The purpose of this letter is to argue that salvation is only offered to us by God's grace,
only received through faith, and specifically faith in Christ only.
And he's been arguing against people who would make any point to the contrary,
but particularly those who would argue a salvation that comes through either Jewish bloodline or through religious rules and good works.
(01:12):
That was really the first half of the book.
And now in the second half, Paul has addressed the "so what" portion, right?
If his audience believes his argument, so what?
Why does it matter?
So you pragmatists among us looking for the practical, "so what do we do" moment with this truth are loving these last two chapters of the letter.
(01:36):
The first "so what" is, since we're free in Christ through freely given and received grace,
what do we do with that freedom?
That was last week, right?
If we don't have to work for our salvation, are we free to basically do whatever we want?
And in chapter five, we found out, no, just because we're free doesn't mean we're not engaged in the work of actively opposing those forces and temptations that want to pull us back into slavery.
(02:08):
Old religious norms, old habits, old excuses to go on sinning stand on the sidelines of this narrow path.
And they're trying to pull us back.
So to walk with Christ, we have to continue turning away from those things and turning to Christ.
We have to walk in the Spirit, repenting of sin, turning to Christ and actively resisting our sinful flesh that offers a false satisfaction.
(02:38):
In chapter five, we have this picture of personal responsibility.
But in chapter six, where we're going to be today, Paul reminds us that we don't walk this road alone.
And he reminds us that there are free people battling the flesh, walking alongside other free people who are also battling the flesh.
(02:59):
That's the dynamic.
So walking with Jesus does involve watching over yourself and clinging to Christ, but it also involves serving your brothers and sisters as they do the same.
One of the last acts of Jesus for his disciples was to wash their feet before the meal.
(03:21):
And this happened the night that he was betrayed and taken to be crucified, his ultimate act of service.
Paul is going to close this letter in a strikingly similar way.
He begins by talking about our service to one another.
And next week on Easter Sunday, we'll finish Galatians as Paul turns to the cross of Christ and our response to it.
(03:47):
So let's read through this first section together today.
This is Galatians chapter six, verses one through eleven.
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.
(04:08):
Bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.
For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
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.
(04:29):
Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches.
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.
For the one who sows to his flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the spirit will from the spirit reap eternal life.
(04:53):
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up.
So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
So when it comes to sin, the Pharisees have their go-to approach when trying to help a community live together.
(05:22):
And their approach was always heaping up additional laws and regulations.
Apparently they thought that they could regulate people into dealing with their sin, almost like slapping a warning label in place for every conceivable breaking of the law.
Have you ever looked at the back of a product label to read like the product use warnings?
(05:47):
I think some of my favorite are craft supplies, but just for fun, here's a couple of other ones for real product warnings that exist
because someone somewhere did something they really should not have.
On a hairdryer, quote, "Do not use while sleeping."
I know it's hard to get up in the morning, but you should probably be up before you turn on the hairdryer.
(06:09):
On a Superman costume, quote, "Wearing this garment does not enable you to fly."
On a clothes iron, quote, "Do not iron clothes while wearing them."
And last one, on a child's scooter, quote, "This product moves when used."
So the Pharisees' response to this problem of sinners living among sinners was essentially to add product warning labels to people.
(06:41):
And for example, when the law says keep the Sabbath holy, they would add an additional label.
Like, well, only take so many steps on the Sabbath.
If the law says give 10% to the temple of your income, so they would add additional labels like,
"Well, make sure you also give 10% of your spice cabinet too."
(07:03):
Paul takes a different approach, right?
He's telling them you're free, but he's also recognizing that freedom comes with the need for correction, particularly in a community.
So his previous instruction was to individuals, to not gratify the flesh, right?
To repent and turn to Christ.
(07:24):
Now he's telling them that they're also bearing some responsibility for each other.
So when you see someone caught in sin, you don't do like the Pharisees do and lay the weight of additional rules on them.
You call them to repentance.
And you do it with gentleness, not self-righteousness.
(07:48):
Biblical correction is loving, right?
Letting someone continue in their sin and continue walking on their way to destruction,
particularly someone who has professed faith in Christ is not loving.
In a family, when you see your sibling doing something they're not supposed to,
it is, I'll admit, tempting to say, "Oh, they're gonna get in so much trouble with a little bit of glee," right?
(08:13):
But the loving thing to do is to call them back from that.
So in Psalm 141 verse 5, the psalmist invites a righteous man to strike him or to discipline him.
If I'm in the wrong and someone sees me in that, I want them to respond by correcting me in love.
(08:33):
The tone also matters, right?
That's that in love part.
Proverbs 27.6 says that, "Faithful are the wounds of a friend."
What we really want is someone with our best interests at heart having the courage to correct us in love.
So those who are walking in the Spirit, which is what Paul means by spiritual,
(08:57):
he just means Christians following Jesus,
those should be seeking the restoration of those in sin.
The restoration of those people to Christ.
Restoration is the goal, not calling them out to get them in trouble, but restoring them to Christ.
However, there's a warning for those who would reach out to do that work, right?
(09:21):
He says, "Be careful in the process that you remain aware of yourself."
In Matthew 7, 3 and 4, Jesus is talking to people about making sure they don't have a plank in their eye
before they go help a brother or sister with a splinter in theirs.
He actually said, "One purpose of dealing with the plank in your eye, the big problem in yourself,
(09:44):
is so that you can see clearly to help the person with the splinter."
So here are at least two categories that could come into play here.
When it comes to sin that you have to be careful of when you're trying to help somebody else.
The first is self-righteousness.
This is a very different kind of help than the help of the Pharisees, right?
(10:07):
This is about restoration.
It's not about subordination, keeping them down, or about looking like a better person.
Make sure that when it comes to correction, your heart is in the right place in that process.
That's probably going to mean coming to the Lord in prayer before you ever go to try to correct somebody.
(10:31):
The second category, or potential problem, would be falling into the very same sin yourself.
For example, if you are a recovering alcoholic, you don't step into saving your alcoholic friend
by going to the bar with them.
We have to be aware of ourselves and our own temptations and make sure that we are keeping our eyes on Jesus
(10:57):
through this process, no matter how much we love this other person.
We have to keep our eyes on Jesus if we're going to help them.
In both of these cases, Jesus is the solution.
We're calling people to repent, which means turning back to Jesus, just as we need to continue turning to Jesus.
When we keep our eyes on Jesus as the solution to both their problems and our problems,
(11:21):
it's a huge dose of humility for us and also a loving invitation to them.
That's verse 1. In verses 2-5, Paul begins to make the point that living in community as a Christian
goes beyond just correction and goes into living alongside one another and bearing the weight of life with one another.
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It's not just a walking alongside. It's an arms linking, shoulder sharing, lean on one another kind of community.
They also had an understanding of the lack of control that they really had over making crops grow.
This is a farming community, and they knew that they could plant and they could weed and harvest,
(12:18):
but they really couldn't make it rain or make the seed grow or make it produce a bounty.
Being a farmer requires equal measures of seed, community, and faith.
It's an investment, and you have to trust God an awful lot with the things that are out of your hands.
It's into this context that Paul talks about bearing one another's burdens.
(12:42):
He's not actually talking about farming.
He's talking about supporting each other in a community of people who are seeking to follow Jesus and resist the temptations of the flesh.
What seems like a contradictory little passage here is actually about giving us a well-rounded picture of how it is supposed to work.
This is the benefit of reading something in context as we get the whole picture and not just a tiny portion of it,
(13:09):
because ultimately we're not able to bear the weight of someone else's sin.
We're not able to deal with the weight of their particular temptation,
and if we can't do that, how are we expected to bear one another's burdens?
He says, "Bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ."
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In a farming community, I think you do have a better understanding of living in community that other places really don't get.
In a farming community, you labor alongside one another and you rise and fall as a community.
At planting time, you work together to get the seed in the ground, and at harvest time,
(13:53):
you would move from field to field, getting everyone's crops in, much like today.
Letting someone fail wasn't an option because they were supporting you as well.
So, what is the law of Christ that we're supposed to be fulfilling?
A nice summary of it, Jesus gives us in John 13-34, "Love one another as I have loved you."
(14:18):
We fulfill the law of Christ when we love one another enough to get involved in their struggle,
to reach out to them, to call them to repent, but also to stand with them in difficult times,
to be a shoulder to cry on, to be available to them.
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Love them enough to bring them to Christ.
We can't bear the weight, but Jesus can.
We can't bear the entire weight of their struggle because it is their struggle,
but we can hold them up in that process.
If we do a little bit of word work here, which is what I would call looking at the passage and the actual words that are used,
(15:04):
we also get some more clarity between verses 2 and 5 because those are our two verses here in this section
that seem opposed to each other.
At first glance, it looks like verse 2 is saying to bear the burdens of others
and verse 5 is saying to bear your own.
So, which is it?
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Go ahead and, if you have your Bible out, underline two words in each of those verses that are going to help us.
In verse 2, underline bear and burdens.
I'm using the ESV.
In verse 5, underline the word bear and load.
Now, the word bear is the same in both.
(15:47):
It's bastaso.
And the word is paired with words that change the meaning of that command.
So, it's actually the second word that's going to clarify for us what he means for us to bear.
In verse 2, the word is baros, which means a heaviness or troubles.
(16:10):
But in verse 5, we have the word load, which is fortian, which is used for the load on a ship.
But it's also used sometimes to talk about the weight of conscience.
And so, knowing that the meaning in verse 2 is to uphold and support someone with the heaviness of their troubles,
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but verse 5 is clarifying that we are responsible for the burden of our own conscience of bringing our own sin to Jesus.
You see the difference between the two.
In farming, there's this expectation that everyone participated.
And you couldn't plant everyone else's field but neglect your own.
(17:00):
There wasn't crop insurance.
There wasn't welfare in the way we understand it.
And if you wanted to live, you had to participate in the work.
The work was often communal, but you were responsible for your own field.
So, what are some practical takeaways here for us that find the balance of holding up your brothers and sisters,
(17:23):
but also bringing the struggle in our own souls to Jesus?
First, we have to love struggling people by not letting them struggle alone.
We are in this with them.
We point them back to Jesus as the source of strength and salvation.
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We carry them to Jesus in prayer.
We welcome them into a community of people who will be Jesus to them.
But in that process, we are also testing our own heart to see if we are trusting Jesus.
Your relationship to Jesus is your number one priority because without clinging to Christ,
(18:07):
you have no ability to help anyone.
Don't get so busy fixing everyone else that you forget to bring your own struggle and burdens to the feet of Jesus.
Finally, remember your identity as a servant to the servant king Jesus.
(18:29):
Jesus was the one who set the example for what it looks like to be great.
He did this by serving.
This isn't about saving ourselves because we can't do that.
It's not actually about saving each other because Jesus does that.
It's about coming to Jesus and lifting others up as they come to Jesus as well.
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It looks a lot less like the Pharisees who saw themselves as very good religious people,
but failed to help the crippled beggar because they were too busy debating what sin had caused his paralysis.
It looks a lot more like the friends who carried that man to Jesus and lowered him through the roof.
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That's the kind of loving correction and burden-bearing struggle that Jesus is calling us to.
So Paul closes things out in verses 6 through 10 by calling the people to a life of generosity
because a heart that is responding to Jesus and is coming to him in faith will respond
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with this impossible to avoid kind of generosity in the way that you use your time and your resources and your talents.
We're coming out of this discussion on burdens and bearing burdens.
And Paul says what it really looks like is this open life of generosity where you are willingly and joyfully investing in others.
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Verse 6 in particular is talking about living generously toward those who are investing in you.
And I'm sure that this verse was less awkward for Paul to write and send in a letter than it was for the pastors who were reading it and teaching the congregation.
But what he's saying is don't be someone who comes to the table eats and leaves because the community of the church is so much more than that.
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It's so much more than just a gas station stop to get filled up on the way to the rest of your week.
This is helpful in the midst of a culture that's learned to see the church as a place for consumers.
Consumer churches are largely the norm.
So if you go around and visit different places, you'll find that this is kind of the standard.
(20:52):
That all that's really expected of you or of people is that they show up and they sit for a service and maybe toss some leftover cash in the offering plate or the offering box.
And then they walk away convinced that they've participated in the life of the church.
And what the church wants you to do is to come back next week.
That kind of consumer mindset is heartbreaking because it's such a poor substitute for the full life that we are called into through Christ.
(21:23):
The kind of giving that Paul calls us into is a life lived with open generosity of your life and every aspect of it for the sake of the kingdom.
And this includes toward those who are leading the church.
Now I will add, it certainly helps when the structure of the church is simple.
When your financial generosity goes directly toward supporting the preaching of the gospel and the making of disciples.
(21:50):
When your time can be invested in the work of making disciples and not volunteering for yet another program or event.
Good things, though they may be.
Simplicity in our structure and practice leaves margin or space for investing in things that really matter like discipleship.
(22:13):
To that end, we always want to be a church of disciple makers and shepherds and not one of directors and executives and interns and any other of the variety of titles that you give to an organization.
That has outgrown its original mission.
(22:34):
Paul also talks about generosity as a type of investment.
He uses that language of reaping and sowing to describe a posture of living and that takes patience and persistence.
Again, farming community, they get, they put the seed in the ground and then they wait on God to work.
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Essentially, if we invest our lives in gratifying the flesh which we've been warned against, Paul says we will reap the destruction and trouble that comes from that.
Old Testament passages that certainly would have rung in the ears of these folks are places like Hosea 8-7 that says sow the wind and you will reap the whirlwind.
(23:18):
And Job 4-8 that says plow to iniquity or sin and sow trouble and reap the same.
If you think that you can fool people by acting one way in public but sowing to sin in private, you might be right.
You might fool people, but you will not fool God and you will certainly reap the destruction that comes from those things.
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Sowing to the spirit, investing in people, investing in the kingdom does come at a cost and will certainly require you to endure some discomfort, some discomfort relationally,
some discomfort in your life or on preferences, the things that you would rather be doing, the things that are easier,
(24:09):
but the result of investing in the kingdom of sowing in the spirit is worth it.
So I want to close by saying this.
Have patience and trust God as you are working alongside one another, doing your best to call them to Christ.
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Have patience because God is working in ways that you can't see and in ways that you cannot believe.
Be patient with one another and deal with one another in love.
Have patience with yourself and continue doing the work of bringing yourself and your burdens to Jesus.
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God is working in you in ways again that are hard to see, but he is working.
Keep pursuing Christ and trust him to bring the growth in you.
And finally, keep sowing in the spirit.
Keep investing in the kingdom.
Keep your life and your time and your resources and your gifts open to the work of God so that you can do what Paul says as we have opportunity.
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Do good to everyone, especially those in the household of faith.
[Music]
Ecclesia is a church of house churches gathering weekly in Council Bluffs, Iowa and in homes throughout the week.
We are a Bible-centered church focused on preaching from Scripture and making disciples of Jesus.
You can learn more about our statement of faith and contact a pastor by visiting ecclaseachurches.org.
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