“Freedom to Serve” – Galatians 6:1-10

I’ve told this story before, but it’s a good one. I heard it back in seminary days. One of my classmates told me that the Atlanta Baptists had invited an English pastor to lead in an area-wide revival service.

During lunch one day, the evangelist and several pastors were seated. When the waitress came up, she asked what everyone would like to drink. The evangelist asked, “Are there any weak brethren at the table?” Around a table filled with Baptist preachers, no one was going to admit to being a weak brother. Receiving assurance that everyone around the table was a strong Christian, the British evangelist told the waitress, “I’ll have a beer.”

Part of the responsibility of those who are strong in their faith is that we have a responsibility to encourage our weaker brothers and sisters. It is also our responsibility to make sure we do or say nothing to harm a weak member of the body. As we talked about last week, we subject our rights and take on the role of slave for righteousness, a slave of God. In this way, we submit to God’s leadership and serve Him and others with an attitude of thanksgiving and humility.

As we continue what it really means to be free in Christ, we realize that Christ frees us to serve others in His name.

Background

Paul has written to the Galatians to refute the false teachings of those who insisted that true salvation in Christ includes obedience to the laws given to Moses. If you recall from last week, the council at Jerusalem heard the testimony of believers from the Pharisees insisting that, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the law of Moses.”

To be sure, the Pharisees spoke from sincere hearts. They had been raised in the belief that Israel had been sent into exile because of their disregard for God’s laws. They determined in their teachings to be true to the law, to the point they had developed their own laws to protect God’s law. Their understanding of Christ and what it means to walk in grace was filtered through this extensive commitment to obedience to God through the law.

Paul understood the error of their ways, and was diligent to speak out against their mistakes. The council had declared that obedience to the law was not necessary, and Paul stressed the grace and the salvation that came solely as a free gift from God to all who come to Him in faith.

As we come to the final chapter of his letter, Paul is moving away from doctrine and is now into the practice of our faith and the doctrine he has stressed. As he wrote to the Romans and the Corinthians, Paul makes it clear that service surrenders our rights because we are free to live according to the Holy Spirit’s leadership. As we come to today’s passage, I want us to keep in mind this truth:

Central Truth: Freedom in Christ is a life of service.

We serve by:

1. watching out for one another (1-2)

“Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

The story of the English evangelist and the southern preachers reminds me of what happens more often than not in every church across the nation. We come together, most of us struggling with life and our walk with Christ. Yet, as soon as we enter the church house, we are all smiles and serenity. We may be hurting inside, but we won’t let others know.

Lest we think it’s a new thing, Paul seems to understand the matter when he wrote these verses. He knows there are brothers and sisters in Christ who are dealing with sin in their own lives. Sometimes, the sin is a result of our usual way of living. We get into a habit of dealing with things and we either don’t think or can’t think of a way to get around it. The person who exaggerates his accomplishments; the woman who hides her feelings behind a determination to be the best. Sometimes, the sin is a sense of pride that grows out of our spiritual condition—the deacon who lords it over others because of his place (an issue that doesn’t exist at Mosheim), or the woman who sees herself as the final authority in all things spiritual because she’s been to more Christian women’s retreats than anyone else alive.

Sin comes in a wide range of issues, but they all have one thing in common: Sin is disobedience to God. Paul knows this can hinder our ministry as a church body, and so he instructs those who are spiritual to restore the one who has gone astray. Consistent with everything the Bible teaches about dealing with sin, Paul speaks of a gentle spirit, one that shares God’s word seasoned with salt.

The instructions come with a warning, though. When we help people with their sin, there is the tendency to show empathy, to relate and understand. Such empathy can lead us into the same temptation. To guard against temptation, the spiritual brother or sister needs to be spending more time with God through prayer and study, particularly on the matter at hand.

It’s interesting that Paul refers to the law of God. He’s spent the past few chapters refuting legalism, and yet in v. 2, he speaks about fulfilling the law of God. What is it that we do to fulfill such a law? We carry one another’s burdens. We support one another. If a brother or sister is dealing with sin, and a spiritual one begins to minister, it’s a good idea for other spiritual members of the church to be brought into the conversation. This isn’t an excuse for gossip, but for supporting one another in Christ. Similar to our prayer list, we should never use what is said in the prayer request as interesting news to share with others. Sometimes, we want to share the news we have in a way to show that we are important, that we are in the know. Such an attitude is a sinful one, inconsistent with God’s will. In this instance, when we are dealing with a sin issue, we should never share anything without the struggling person’s permission, and then only with those who the struggler is aware of and with their permission.

Part of our freedom to serve includes watching out for one another.

2. testing our actions (3-5)

“If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else. For each one should carry his own load.”

When Jesus presented the Sermon on the Mountain, His emphasis was not so much on what we do, but why we do things. He looked beyond the actions or inactions and looked at the heart of the matter. A person proudly states he has never committed adultery, but watches porn is guilty of the sin. A person who proudly treats her neighbor well but ignores the needs of those who are not like here falls short and is guilty of sin. In short, the reason we do things is as important as what we do or don’t do.

Paul stresses this in the three verses. It’s not enough to help a brother or sister with sin, but we need to know why are helping them. He states three points.

The first is that we shouldn’t have a higher view of ourselves than is wanted. We see this a lot in our world. I was talking with a church many years ago about the possibility of becoming their pastor. I had preached that morning and was meeting with the committee after lunch and before the evening service. One of the committee members had listened to many of the questions and answers before he asked me, “What is your opinion on the Second Coming?” I knew as soon as he asked that he wouldn’t like my answer, but I went ahead and told him what I believed. I told him I wasn’t really all that concerned about the End Times, but that I was of an opinion that I knew he didn’t hold. He then asked me about the Rapture. I told him, again, that I really hadn’t put much thought to it, but if I was going to be held to my first answer, I would have to say that the Rapture was symbolic and not literal. He leaned back in his chair, put his hands behind his head and said in a smug voice, “I don’t have any other questions.” I wasn’t surprised. I’d failed his test. It’s this attitude of being in the know that Paul is warning about here.

The second concern Paul writes is that we are to test our own actions. Why do we do what we do? Why do we believe what we believe? The motives and the basis for our motives is important in living out our life in Christ. Do we do what we do in order to look better in other’s people’s eyes, or do we do what we do as a sense of service in Christ’s name?

The third thing Paul urges is that we take pride in ourselves and not compare ourselves to others. There are all sorts of issues that arise when we do the opposite. A person who is not confident in himself or herself is more prone to compare himself or herself to others. We see them doing well in areas of life, and we see ourselves as failing miserably in the same areas. They’re a better husband, a better mother, a better worker, someone who easily socializes. But notice the Bible says we should take pride in ourselves. This is not to be confused with the first thing Paul warned about. Having pride in one’s self is not the same as thinking more highly of themselves than they should. Pride in ourselves is seeing us as we really are—brothers and sisters in Christ, all saved by the same grace and given the same Spirit so we can all serve the same Father and Son. We may not be good at everything, but each one of us is good in at least one thing.

Finally, Paul says that this attitude will lead to us carrying our own load. If I think I’m too good to do something or too important to do something, if I ignore one thing to do another because it will enhance my image in the eyes of others, or if I decline to do something because I don’t think I’m nearly as good at it as someone else, then I fail to carry my own load.

Notice that Paul isn’t contradicting what he had earlier. Each of us is responsible for our own actions and inactions—we carry that load. But each of us is capable of helping a brother or sister struggling with sin. We carry each other’s burdens.

3. “doing good to all people” (6-10)

“Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor. Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”

There’s a commercial on television about a medication. The person who needs to take the medicine is seen in various settings, holding a smiley face mask on a stick. The implication is the person is trying to hide their true self from others. Sometimes, we try to play that game with God. The problem with that—and the freedom that comes in our relationship with God—is that God sees through our façade and sees our true person. The fact that God knows us better than we know ourselves frees us to be fully ourselves in His presence, and in the presence of others.

Paul reminds us that we can’t pull the wool over God’s eyes. He will not be mocked. We cannot speak great things about Him on Sunday and ignore Him the rest of the week. A man reaps what he sows.

Paul says if we sow to please the sinful nature, we will reap destruction. If, on the other hand, we sow to the Spirit, we reap eternal life. Jesus tells us in John 17:3 that eternal life is to know the Father and the Son.

Having made his point that we should seek the things of the Spirit, Paul tells us there may come times when we get tired of always doing the right thing or doing good. Sometimes, it’s hard to do what God wants us to do. But Paul encourages us to persevere with the promise of a harvest of doing good.

His conclusion is that the one who is free to serve in Christ’s name should always seek opportunities to do so. He also adds an emphasis that when we live out the Golden Rule we should take special care to do good to those who may not be like us, even those who are not part of the body of Christ.

Our freedom to serve applies to everyone we know. We live out Christ by surrendering our rights and living as slaves to Christ.

Conclusion

Back to our English evangelist. The humor is in his innocent request for a beverage that is common in his land. But he should have been aware of his audience and of the social setting. Perhaps he was wanting to teach a lesson. Maybe he was. Let’s assume that was his purpose.

When God sets us free through Christ Jesus, He sets us free to serve Him. The way we serve Him is to serve others. And that means we don’t stand on our rights, but on building others us, of carrying each other’s burdens. It is in knowing our motives and not trying to be something we’re not in God’s eyes. It is in sowing to the Spirit and doing good, even to those who are not a part of the fellowship of believers.

We don’t do it to earn God’s favor. We do it because we love God.