Burden Bearers

Introduction

About 38 years ago, I left home, which, as you know, was North Alabama. Y’all are gonna sigh every time I talk about Alabama after a while. But I left North Alabama and started my college career not too far from here in the Tampa area at Florida College. And while Florida College, being a small private school, wasn’t as diverse as many state universities and other campuses are, we did have people from different backgrounds, people for whom English was not their first language. People who spoke English, but because they spoke English in some foreign country spoke with a very thick foreign accent. And among all those people, you would think that the kid from North Alabama wouldn’t stand out. But I was one of the crowd for whom my accent and way of speaking drew attention.

Not everybody had a car on campus. And so if you had a car on campus, you were going to be asked for favors. Can you take me somewhere? Can you take me to the laundromat? Can you take me to Kmart? Can you take me somewhere? And so that was just kind of your duty, your task, and all of that. And I would often say to somebody, you want me to carry you to the store. And they would just laugh and say, Oh, are you going to pick me up and carry me to the store? But in Alabama, when somebody got in your car and went with you, you carried them somewhere. But you know, I got to thinking about that. We use the word carry in a lot of different ways.

The bank may carry alone or carry a charge for you. You might literally pick up something and carry it somewhere. Some important player on a team may be spoken of as carrying the whole team. You ever done a school project when you were in school and you were paired together with some of your classmates, there was always that one egghead smart kid that would carry the whole project. So this morning I’d like for us to talk about that word carry or bearing burdens. We understand the New Testament principle, and so I’m going to ask you to turn to Galatians chapter 6, and we’re going to talk about the idea of really carrying one another or bearing one another’s burdens. This will fit within our annual theme.

You know, if you’re a member here, that our 2023 congregational theme is we are family. And so we put up frequently our photo album here of those who are a part of our family here. And we’ve talked about the obligations and the duties of being in a family. The first quarter of this year, we talked about our father, the father of our family, and how we honor and reverence and worship our Father. And in this second quarter, we are emphasizing the responsibility of a family to love one another. And we’ve said repeatedly over and over again that whether you came from a good family where love was the norm, support was always there, or whether you came from the most dysfunctional family that ever existed, that in Christ Jesus we can have the ideal or the closest to the ideal that we can come to on this planet.

And that is a family that truly loves as we ought to love and truly supports and helps one another. And so we’ve been examining that theme from time to time here in the second quarter of this year, that our family loves one another. And a part of that focus on that theme and this sub-theme is what does that look like? What does it mean to love? It’s one thing to say you love one another, but what does it really look like when it’s done properly? And that’s what today’s lesson hopefully is going to hit on as we turn to Galatians chapter 6, where the apostle, or more properly, the Holy Spirit, through the pen of the Apostle Paul, is going to encourage us to be burden-bearers.

Another way of saying that is to help each other carry our load. And at times that’s going to look like me helping you carry something. At other times it’s going to look more like me carrying that thing for you. And even at extreme times, it may look like me carrying you and that burden together. Would you read with me our text in Galatians chapter 6, where the apostle says, Brethren, brethren, if any man is overtaken in a trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself, lest you also be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks that himself to be something, when he’s nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one examine his own work, and he’ll have rejoicing in himself alone, and not another, for each one should bear his own load.

Do not be deceived, my brethren. God, for each one shall bear his own load. Let him who is taught the word, share in all things with him who teaches, do not be deceived. God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption. But he who sows to the spirit will of the spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have the opportunity, let us do good to all, especially of those who are the household of faith. See what large letters I’ve written to you with my own hand. As many as desire to make a good showing in the flesh, these would compel you to be circumcised, only that they may not suffer persecution for the cross of Christ.

For not even those who are circumcised keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. But God forbid, God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. For in Christ neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything but a new creation. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them and upon the Israel of God. Let’s talk about what it means, truly means to be a family, what it truly looks like to love as a family, and it’s going to look a whole lot like Galatians 6. It’s going to look a whole lot like us bearing one another’s burdens.

1. We Have Serious Obligations to One Another

The concept of bearing one another’s burdens and the concept of truly being a Christian in this family aspect means that we’re going to have each other’s burdens. And we’re going to have each other’s backs. He says, you brethren who are spiritual, you go to a brother who’s been overtaken in a trespass. One of the burdens we have to bear is the burden of sin. And we’re going to have, we’re going to bear that burden, that responsibility. We have these serious obligations to one another. I need to get firmly in my mind that this, this is not just some casual gathering. It is not just a coming together on Sundays and Wednesday nights and other special occasions so that we can do some things together. Oh, it involves that.

And they are serious obligations. Again, the first obligation in verse 1 is if you’re overtaken in a trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. I have the responsibility, if I’m a part of this family, to care enough about you that I will go to you when you’re overtaken in a trespass. I don’t know what the heaviest thing you’ve ever picked up. And how difficult you’ve worked, maybe in moving or helping somebody else move some heavy object. But I’m going to tell you, there’s not many burdens heavier than that one. It’s not easy to go to somebody who’s been overtaken by sin. And here’s a little hint. If it is easy and you do enjoy it, maybe you shouldn’t be the one doing it.

It’s not easy. It’s a heavy burden to bear to go to someone. And that’s why he says we do that in the spirit of gentleness and meekness. And we do that mindful of our own self, lest we also be tempted. Now, what does that mean, lest we also be tempted? Does that mean that I might be guilty of that same sin? Well, yeah, that’s a possibility. But I don’t think he’s simply saying that if a brother in Christ robs a bank and I go to him and try to show him the error of his ways to win him back to Christ, that I need to do so because you know one of these days I might rob a bank. And so I need to be kind.

Well, that might be the case, but it might be other sins that are in mindful. That I might never rob a bank, I might never be tempted to rob a bank, but I need to be mindful that I’m going to be tempted in my own way to sin and need that correction. And so to me, it’s the golden rule principle. I’m going to go to that bank robber in the same mindset that I would want him one day to come to me in whatever sin that I commit. But it also might be consider myself lest I also be tempted. I might be tempted to sin in regard to how I go to him. And so there is one of those burdens and responsibilities that I bear.

Look at verse 6. Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches. There’s a burden that we have to bear. We support those who help us and guide us and teach us spiritually. We have a responsibility there. Verse 10, therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are the household of God. There is that family aspect. We’re to do good to everybody, but especially I make no apologies that I put my family first.

2. We All Have Burdens

But I always will put you first because you are family. Verse 15, for in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision but nor uncircumcision avails much, but you are a new creation. I am a new creature in Christ Jesus. I no longer live according to the flesh and my own selfish desires, but one of the responsibilities and obligations that I have is to be better, to be spiritually minded and focused. We have some serious obligations to one another. We are to help, as he said in verse 2. We are to help bear each other’s burdens. And we all have burdens. I think about Peter. Peter had burdens. Peter bore the burdens of the shame and frustration and anger at himself for betraying his Lord. I know most of the time we say Judas betrayed Jesus and Peter denied him.

But I think if you asked Peter, Peter would say, I betrayed him too. And he had to deal with that. Peter had the burden of dealing with and trying to eradicate his mind of those old racial prejudices that he had.

Peter carried the burden of a sick mother in law. I didn’t say he carried the burden of a mother-in-law. He carried the burden of a sick mother-in-law, of someone under his care who needed a caregiver and had poor health. Peter cared about the responsibility of being apostle, of being one of just twelve men on the planet who had been entrusted with the job of spreading the gospel to the whole world. You take the whole world and divide it by twelve. And that was Peter’s burden to bear. I think about the apostle Paul and the burdens that he bore. He bore much more guilt than Peter did. He bore the burdens of being the chiefest of sinners. He bore the burdens of nightmares of those Christian men and women that he drug off to prison and put to death.

And a former Christian men and women who, rather than being dragged off to prison or to their death, renounced their faith and blaspheme the name of Christ. And Paul carried that burden.

He carried the burden of physical persecution and the constant threat of that. Every town that he came into, he knew that he was probably going to get beaten, stoned, imprisoned, and thrown out of town. And he bore that burden.

And he bore the burden of the betrayal and the abandonment of his own brethren. Who wouldn’t defend him? And who gossiped about him and failed to support him. And he carried those burdens. And then there’s you and me. And the burdens that we bear. And your brethren. Who bear unseeable burdens. You know, we all get dressed up on Sunday in our Sunday best. Our shirt is iron and our tie is picked out to match our jacket and our pants, and our pants are pressed, and our jacket’s been dry cleaned, and our shoes are shined, and we’re ready for Sunday, and we look our best, and you look at what somebody dressed in that apparel, and you think they don’t have a trouble in the world. But sometimes our Sunday best can hide the pain and the anguish and the burdens that we bear.

Everybody in this building is bearing a burden. It might be a financial burden of not knowing how they’re going to pay their bills and get out of debt or the burden of the thought that they’re about to or have recently been laid off from their job and they’re going to have to enter back into the job market, maybe at an advanced age, and they bear that burden. Maybe they’re bearing the burden of some physical ailment and the pain and the fear of what this is going to do. Maybe they bear the burden of a loved one who is facing a physical crisis. And the constant care that is needed to take care of that sick family member.

Struggling to impart their faith into their children and making that faith their own, or seeing their adult children abandoning the faith that they once had. Or someone struggling with temptation or sin. Who’s come to a service like this bearing the burden of guilt of a sin that is dominating their life, and they just can’t seem to shake it. But we have a family. And a part of that family means that we’re going to bear those burdens. And we’re going to have each other’s backs and support one another. As we talked about in our Bible class this morning, Peter enjoined upon us to love one another fervently, for love covers a multitude of sins. And that’s what a family does. But if I’m going to bear burdens, if I’m going to have your burdens and have your back and get involved in your messy, dirty life, then that means that I’m going to have to get my hands dirty.

That I’m going to have to get involved.

3. A Command That Demands We Get Involved

Just like the command to assemble, just like the command to partake of the Lord’s Supper, just like the command, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shall have no other God before me. This is a command that we bear one another’s burdens. Look in verse 2 again of chapter 6. Bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.

I cannot call myself honestly, correctly, genuinely call myself a Christian if I’m not a burden bearer. Skip down to verse 16. As many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them and upon the Israel of God. The rule that we’ve put off the old fleshly man and are now walking in the Spirit and bearing the fruit of the Spirit that we read about one chapter previous. This is a command that we do this, and obeying these commands means and demands that we get involved. Don’t misunderstand the point I’m about to make. There are times when we are called upon to help someone financially. There are times when bearing somebody else’s burden means we write a check. But that is not to say that bearing one another’s burdens and fulfilling the law of Christ simply involves writing a check, donating to some cause.

What it means truly means that we get involved in people’s lives. And because we all have burdens, people’s lives are messy and dirty. And that means we’re going to have to get our hands dirty. This demands us being willing to listen, to care, to support, and to truly be compassionate. Isn’t that the point of verse 1? That we go to this person who’s been overtaken. Their life is a dirty mess. And we go to them and we get involved, but we do so in gentleness and meekness. But it also requires that we be willing to talk and to share and to confess and to be honest. Hold your fingers in Galatians 6 and go to the book of James. What James tells us to do in this regard.

Let’s start in verse 14. Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he’s committed sins, he’ll be forgiven. Confess your trespasses to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. James is telling us in a nutshell, get involved. Get your hands dirty, get mixed up in people’s lives in a positive, giving, caring way. And that starts, James says, that starts with you telling people, talking, sharing. If you’re sick, say I’m sick and call for the elders.

If you’re suffering, if you’re sinning, he says, confess your trespasses to one another. Why do I need to trespass or confess my trespasses to you? You have absolutely no power to forgive me of my sins that I’ve committed against God. You’re not some priest that I have to go to to get confession and forgiveness from. So why do I confess my sins to you? He says, so that we might pray for one another, that we might help and support one another. And so it involves being willing to listen and to care, to support and being compassionate, but it also demands that we be willing to share and to confess. And to say, I know in this suit and tie I look pretty, but my life is ugly.

4. This Is What Walking in the Spirit Looks Like

And I need help. And it means a compassionate ear to hear that and say, Me too. But we’ll get through this. And Paul in Galatians 6 would have us to know that this is what Christian living is all about. The unfortunate chapter break at chapter 6, verse 1 in the book of Galatians, can play mind tricks with us and separate us from that immediate context that Wally read for us this morning that this is what it looks like to walk in the Spirit. That this is what the fruit of the Spirit really looks like. My fleshly inclinations are this, the last verse of chapter 5 of Galatians, let us not become conceited, provoking one another and envying one another. That’s what the world would do, and that’s maybe what my first inclination of the flesh would be.

But he says, no, brethren. You are spiritual, chapter 6, verse 1. That means you’re walking in the spirit. You are bearing the fruit of the spirit. You’re not in the flesh anymore. And so what does someone who bears the fruit of the spirit, who walks in the spirit, who is spiritual does? Helps his brother.

In which we lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven. Look at verses 7 and 8. Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. For what a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh, that is, if you are conceited, provoking one another, envying one another, then you’re going to reap corruption. But he who sows to the spirit, what is that? That’s the fruit of the spirit. That’s bearing one another’s burdens. He who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. I don’t know what the day of judgment’s exactly going to look like. But almost every account of it in Scripture has a dialogue between the holy judge and the person being judged. And God’s not simply going to ask us what we didn’t do.

Did you refuse to steal and kill?

But He’s going to ask us what we did do. Did you love?

Conclusion

But it’s not easy. Verse 9 tells us, let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. It’s dirty work, it’s hard work. But it’s what being a Christian is all about. It’s what being a part of a family looks like. Bearing one another’s burdens. And so I have a challenge as I often do each week. And this week’s challenge is, will you be frank and honest and open? Will you share your burdens? Will you confess your weaknesses and your sins, your troubles? And then will you be willing to listen to someone else’s in gentleness and meekness and be willing to bear each other’s burdens? We extend the gospel invitation at this time if you need to become a Christian.

Why not believe in Jesus Christ? Confess your faith as well as your sins before God and your fellow man and repent of those sins and to be baptized this very day to become his child. And in so doing, gain a family who will help you bear your burdens. But the wonderful and most gracious promise of all is that Christ has promised to bear the greatest burden of all, the burden of your sin. He bore your sins on that cross. Would you come to him in obedience this morning? Let us help you bear your burdens as together we stand and as we sing.