July 21, 2007 Galatians 6:1-5

1 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. 2 Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3 If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, 5 for each one should carry his own load.

Paul's letter to the Galatians might be called his Declaration of Independence - the epistle of freedom. It defends and declares this freedom by clearly and loudly proclaiming Christ crucified - all that we need - the gospel of salvation. I've really enjoyed preaching on it for the past month. Just as we declare that our freedom isn't free in America, throughout this letter we have seen that spiritual freedom isn't and wasn't free for Christ either. Jesus had to come and fight against the realms of hell itself and the wrath of God Almighty in accomplishing our freedom. Jesus used His blood and effort to create freedom and continues to use His blood to maintain that freedom. He gives us this freedom from hell and damnation free of charge - through simple faith and baptism in Christ which covers us in His righteousness.

Yet this freedom that we have and celebrate through Christ's victory doesn't mean that there are no battles that need to be fought by us. Two weeks ago we studied chapter 5, how Paul warned us to fight against our own flesh and the temptations to be enslaved by sinful cravings. This is not an easy task, for the flesh is deceitful and so is Satan. The one enemy is invisible while the other is intimately connected to our bodies and souls until the day we die. We can neither run nor hide for them. All we can do is fight them in order to maintain our freedom. Anything less than a life long war is equal to surrender. This war - unlike the battle that Christ fought - is not made to be fought alone. So Paul broadens the aspect of freedom fighting from beyond fighting for the self to fighting for your fellow Christians and being concerned about them as well. The theme of this section is -

Fight for Freedom by Bearing Each Other's Burdens

I. Burdens are common

Paul starts out, "Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently." Notice first of all that this is a possibility - for a believer to get caught in a sin. Just because our sinful natures are drowned in baptism and we are given the powerful gift of the Holy Spirit doesn't mean that we can't sin or won't sin. There's a difference between sinning and getting caught in a sin. Getting caught - the word carries with it a connotation of surprise and also anticipation - as if the hunter knew the exact type of call to make to get the weak Christian to not only perform a one time sin - but to get caught in a habitual and addictive behavior.

So sin - Paul says - can "catch" you. Satan puts the bait out - and like a big piece of chocolate cake staring you in the face during a diet. It says "just try one bite." Your friends say, "hey, it's a birthday - celebrate a little." No matter how long you've been on a diet and no matter what dangers that chocolate may pose to your diabetes - it still looks so good - and everybody else is enjoying it. So you try one bite, but then it tastes so good that you can't just have one, you better try another one. Before you know it, your diet has gone out the door, and you find yourself back at square one, wishing you had never tried in the first place. This is the way sin works. It catches us in so many ways. It goes far beyond drugs and sex. Now you can be addicted to the internet, addicted to shopping, addicted to chocolate, addicted to video games, addicted to gambling, running, even work . . . your flesh isn't picky. One may be more destructive than another - but one way or another - you can get caught.

How do you know if you're caught or a fellow Christian is caught? A good sign is if you think about your addiction all the time. If you find yourself shirking your regular duties that you used to have plenty of time to get done; if you're tired because you are staying up late at night doing it or thinking about it; if you think you can quit but find yourself going back to it again and again; if it is taking time away from the time you spend with your spouse or your children - you could be caught. If you find yourself getting very irritable or angry because you can't do what you want to - or if you try to hide how much you do your pet thing - you are probably caught. When someone is caught it is a serious matter. It shouldn't be thought of as no big deal, for Paul warns that "God is not mocked. He will not be taunted or jeered. You reap what you sow. If you sow to please your sinful nature, you will reap destruction." It is also embarrassing to the Christian to have gotten caught in the first place - especially when he or she is a well known Christian who is known to be strong and faithful. The idea of letting down children or spouse and letting them see you for what you are is a terrifying thing. Yet inevitably it becomes evident.

II. Burdens need help to bear

It is when this sin becomes evident that Paul encourages the Galatians to try the team approach. "You who are spiritual should restore him." That little phrase "who are spiritual" is a pretty thick concept. I mean, how do you really know if you are spiritual enough to restore someone? Paul even called himself "unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin." Jesus also said that "those without sin should cast the first stone." Is there anyone who really is spiritual enough to restore anyone? Or is this in fact an impossible prerequisite in which Paul doesn't expect anyone to dub themselves as "spiritual"? Yet in addressing the Corinthians Paul spoke of being "spiritual" in a more obtainable fashion.

1 Corinthians 2:12-15 We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment:

In this instance Paul talks about the confidence a man of the Spirit can have - to make judgments about all things and not be subject to any man's judgment. I don't believe that Paul is talking about an impossible scenario here. He is honestly calling on the spiritual man - the man who regularly partakes of the Word and sacraments - to restore someone who is caught. The word for restore means to make whole again - to mend. If you see a broken Christian - and you are healthy - it is your duty to try and fix him. Show him what he's doing is wrong. Tell him that he needs help. Pray with him. Lead him into God's Word. Get him to see that he's got a problem that needs fixed.

The way Paul describes it is to "carry each other's burdens." It's an interesting picture. Imagine a man trying to walk down the road with a hundred pound sack of luggage on his back. His legs are getting weary. Sweat is pouring down his brow. Every step is slower than the next. He's trying to act strong - but it's obvious to everyone walking around him that this guy is having a hard time of it all. Paul says, "carry his burden." What does that mean? It means to take his burden on your shoulders. Imagine that you were suffering with what he is struggling with. What would you want done for you? What would help you? Don't even offer to take some off of his shoulders - just start grabbing without his permission. Make him forcefully say no before you stop. Honestly try to help him - even if that burden will weigh you down and make you tired. If you know of a man who is obviously struggling with his patience in dealing with his children, try to help him through it. If you know of a fellow Christian who is being led to hatred of your hard headed boss - try to help spiritually counsel her through it.

This is what Paul calls "fulfilling the law of Christ." Isn't that an interesting term? Usually we don't associate any laws with Christ. He is the one who frees us from the law by living and dying and fulfilling the demands of the law. So what is this "law of Christ"? Is there some new law that we need to fulfill? Not really. It is the standard of living - the way to life - the standard that He Himself set - by saying to us, "I know that you are weary and heavy laden with guilt and sin. Come to me. Put your sins on me. Let me carry your guilt to the cross. Let me pay for it. I know you didn't do anything to deserve this. I don't want any payment for it. I came here as the burden bearer. This is the standard by which I want to be known for." As Peter wrote in 1 Peter 2:24, "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed." Fulfilling the law of Christ means looking at other people now and saying, "I have had my burden taken care of. How can I help you take your burdens to that same cross? How can I help you deal with your sin so that it doesn't run your life? How can I use my time and my talents to assist you with this problem you are having right now? I don't care how much time it takes. I don't care how much effort. Whatever you need, I want to help you bear this burden."

III. Bear your own burdens first

That's a hard thing to say to someone, because we're just so busy, and we have enough problems of our own to deal with. Who wants to hear about other people's burdens when it will just make us all the more depressed? And what can we really do to help? In a lot of ways - attempting to help other people with their burdens can be one of the most irritating things in life. Imagine walking through a desert - having brought good walking gear and plenty of water - but then walking past someone with cruddy shoes and way too much baggage. In order to help them, you will have to share your water and help carry their baggage. Well, naturally once you start carrying that baggage you will start complaining, "what did you bring all of this baggage with you for? Why didn't you bring more water? You should have known better. We're going through a desert here!" You would get angry because of the time and effort burden bearing can carry. Imagine doing this five or ten times within a two month period. By the tenth time, you would probably be so irritated that you would start yelling at these idiots to stop bringing so much baggage with them.

This is the way the spiritually strong can start feeling towards those who are weak. So Paul warns us, "restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted." The temptation is to cop a spiritual attitude - to get angry at people because of their weaknesses - because of the time and effort it is causing you. The temptation is to simply start spiritually smacking people around and brow beating them for their weaknesses. You could say things like, "I thought you were Christian! What were you watching that stuff for in the first place? I thought you were stronger than that! Why did you ever drink that stuff in the first place? Come on! What - did you think marriage was going to be all fun with no problems! Don't even think about getting a divorce just because you aren't happy! Get a grip on yourself! Don't be such a spiritual wimp!"

How do we keep from such an attitude? 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. This verse seems to completely contradict what Paul said just prior to this. First he says, "carry each other's burdens." Now he says, "each one should carry his own load." Well, which is it Paul? What does this mean? Is there some sort of saracasm here or irony?

Think about what Paul is talking about - self deception - thinking you are something when you are really nothing. How could this happen? By comparing yourself to somebody else. Think about it. When you hear about the messes some people get into, you can't help but think, "I'm glad I'm not such a lousy husband. I would never even think about getting addicted to that drug. I don't know what's wrong with him!" When you start comparing how YOU live to how the other sinner lives - it's easy to think you really are something. So we set our own standards by how we think we should live and then use weak sinners as our comparison to tell ourselves how good and faithful we are. The attitude ends up being condescending and self righteous. This is the temptation.

You need to test your own actions. Test them by what? Test them not by what you think or by comparing yourself to others - but by what God says in His Word. Are you being patient as you deal with others? Are you being kind? Are you being loving? Are you putting your neighbors needs ahead of your own? Are you doing what you do for praise and recognition from men? It's interesting that the prophet Isaiah - who was given revelation from God as to what horrible sinners the Israelites were - still had a tremendous sense of humility about him - because he recognized who HE was in comparison with what GOD demanded. He wrote in Isaiah 64:6, "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away." Think also of Paul - who definitely wasn't afraid to call the Galatians or the Corinthians out for their sins. What did he write?

Romans 3:10-12 "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one."

These men who were called on by God to show people their sins included themselves among the lost and the straying. This helped to keep them humble and grounded. When you test yourself by what God demands - you recognize that you aren't the high and mighty person you thought you were. You're just another sinner who has been saved by the gracious mercy of Christ who bore the burden of your sins into hell. This is the load that you have to carry - the recognition that you too are a sinner who needs God's grace every day, second, and hour. When you learn to carry that load to the cross and see Jesus take the whole thing with Him into the grave - then you get to understand that these other loads on your fellow Christians' backs aren't so bad. So maybe you shouldn't be so dumbfounded at the fact that your brother in Christ has gotten caught in a sin. Maybe you should have some compassion and try to help him or her instead. Maybe you should be a little more gentle with him.

If any of you saw the movie Forrest Gump - you'll remember that Forrest didn't have the sharpest knife in the drawer - he was just a simple minded guy - but he sure did mean well. One scene that shines through my mind is the scene where Forrest was in the middle of a war and all kinds of guys were getting dropped by enemy fire. Forrest went running into battle and started picking up these 200 pound guys and running them back to safety. One of the men - his own captain - was even mad at him and telling him that he wanted to die in battle. But Forrest wouldn't listen. He picked him up and saved him anyway.

You and I were laying dead on the beach. Satan had put us to death. Rigomortis was setting in. The angel of death was coming to reap us into hell. At the gates of hell a miracle came forth. His Holy Spirit breathed life into our dead bodies and brought us back to life. Christ Himself came back from the dead and gave us a holy blood transfusion. So here we sit, dripping in blood - having escaped a sure death. The battle is still raging, and some of our comrades are inevitably going to get hit. They are in danger of being captured and put into the enemy camps.

What are we going to do? The strong Galatians were doing nothing about those who were straying to the circumcision group. They were letting them go without a fight. We are losing many more Christians today to all kinds of sinful addictions. Paul calls on us to get into the battle. You are in this war together. Your comrades are getting led into captivity. Do you really want them to suffer for an eternity? If you see someone going astray, getting led into sin, how can you sit by and not say something? You are God's freedom fighter, and God is calling on you to fight for this freedom. It will take your time. It will take your effort. It will take many prayers to help others bear their burdens. It is part of the responsibility that freedom brings with it. It is a wearisome duty, but as the hymn writer writes -

Onward, Christian soldiers, Marchings as to war,

With the cross of Jesus Going on before.

Christ, the royal master, Leads against the foe;

Forward into battle See his banners go!

Onward Christian soldiers, Marching as to war,

With the cross of Jesus Going on before. Amen.