July 7, 2019   Galatians 6: 7–16   Psalm 30

In the first 4 verses of today’s reading Paul is speaking to the church folk as a community of faith.  Paul cares deeply about how the members of the church relate to one another.  His message is strong and direct, let us hear it once again:   7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

Last week we talked about the fruits of the Spirit and what the attributes or the characteristics of that fruit would look like.   In the afterglow of the service we who stayed to chat, talked about the gifts of the Spirit and it was pointed out by one person that even after listing all the gifts, Paul finally points to one gift that allows all the others gifts to be motivated and mature. Without the gift of love Paul states, I am nothing more than a resounding gong or fan fair.  In other words to get people’s attention focused on me.    The Gift of Love is explained in 1Corhtinthians 13:  13 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.   Now to hear in words the fruit of this most blessed gift, you will need to read at home the rest of the story beginning at verses 4-13.  There you will hear all the attributes, the characteristics or as Paul describes it, the fruit of this gift.   

Too often, it seems, interpersonal dynamics and leadership in the church are simply mirroring those of the world.  Too often our mind is divided by dualistic labels,  there is the good people and the bad people.  The rich folks and the poor.  There is no shortage of finger-pointing for whatever is perceived to be wrong, and no shortage of judgment for those we perceived, to have messed up their lives. Too often those experiencing crisis in their lives avoid the church for fear of judgment or being smothered by condescending care-givers who often turn out to be enablers rather than vacillators for healing and restoration. The person or family in crisis grows more isolated, as many churches have all but lost their place in the community as a place of openness,  healing and restoration.

In stark contrast is Paul's understanding of the responsibility we bear, for one another. This responsibility extends to restoring one who has transgressed, but we must do so in a spirit of love, with the fruits of gentleness, compassion, without judgment, without an air of condescension.  “Bearing one another's burdens," means that we to must recognizing our own vulnerability to sin, sharing in the guilt and pain of transgression only then can we begin to fulfil the responsibility for healing and restoration.  Somehow over the years we have forgot that it is not the job of a minister to make a community of faith fall in love with each other.  The myth is that some minister is going to come along and do all that work. We are family, it is our job collectively to "bear one another's burdens," one to the other.  In doing so we will share in the renewal of both church and faith.    

Would you please take a minute to greet your neighbor with a hand shake or a hug and tell them how wonderful it is to be part of this family of faith.    

Paul has seen the church at its best and at its worst.   A church in which the barriers between us and them still exist, who is a slave and who is free.  Barriers between male and female still divide communities of faith.  Paul must still contend with the worldly view, but he has learned to live in a "crucified" relationship to it.  He recognizes that in the death and resurrection of Christ, a new creation has shattered the old world order for those who are willing to live as Jesus lived.  Paul is firm that man-made religious rules or laws such as to be circumcised, no longer have any bearing on their relationship with Christ, but becoming a new creation in Him is everything!"      So where does that leave us in the church today.  In the same place folks.  We need to put aside any obstacle that keeps us from loving our neighbor as we are called to do.   As we will  say once again during the communion service today: In Christ, God breaks down the walls that make us strangers to ourselves, and divides us from one another.  We need to not lift up any name or group above the name of Jesus and we must admit that there is no elite in the eyes of a true Christian including clergy.   For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,   Romans 3:23. Write that passage on your hearts never again to judge a neighbors sins. 

Bearing one another's burdens in this way is a tall order folks, it is a fine line to walk. The temptations of excessive meddling, self-deception, and judging the neighbor are ever present. Yet we are called to be an alternative community of God's grace, mercy, healing, and restoration in an unforgiving world. This is possible only by the power of the Spirit, through it gifts and by its fruit grounded in God's love, then they will truly know us by our love for we have become a new creation in Christ.  Otherwise we are as Paul says, without love as my foundation, I am nothing.    Paul declares, "May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” As you come to the partake in the sharing of bread and drink this morning, let it remind you just what the Master has personally done for you.  Let us pray.