Don’t Grow Weary
Scripture Reading: Galatians 6:1-10
1 Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit
of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so
fulfill the law of Christ. 3 For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he
deceives himself. 4 But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in
himself alone, and not in another. 5 For each one shall bear his own load.
6 Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches.
7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 8 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. 9 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap
if we do not lose heart. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to
those who are of the household of faith.
In the last month or so we’ve been talking about growing up in the Lord; maturing,
becoming responsible. For those of us who have already grown up you know that
many times it’s not that our work is so hard but it’s the monotony that gets to you.
You wake, go to work, come home, eat, watch tv, go to bed, wake up and start the
cycle all over again. We’ll be taking a look at that aspect of our Christian life today.
In verse one Paul tells the Galatians two things to do if someone is caught up in
wrong doing. The first thing is to restore him with a spirit of gentleness. Paul says
that those who are spiritual should do this. Evidently, not just anyone should get into
it. A babe in Christ or one who has not matured in the Spirit should likely stay away
from such things until they have matured in Christ. Many times when one baby
Christian tries to tell another baby Christian what they should or should not do, it
causes conflict. Notice also that he says we should restore him in a spirit of
gentleness; not of anger or even frustration. This is something that often gets
forsaken when we see someone doing wrong. Our flesh wants us to just get right in
there and tell him what he’s doing wrong. It’s easy to start fussing or getting
judgmental either of which will not end up serving the purpose. Many will point of that
even Jesus got angry, but if you’ll notice He only got angry at the learned men who
knew the scripture and therefore should have known better. You never see Him
getting angry with the people in general. He wept for the people. Even prayed for
the people. Jesus show people their sin in such a gentle, loving way that they would
tell Him thank you after He was done. We have to remember to be gentle and loving
as we exhort each other.
The second thing he says is that we need to consider ourselves lest we be tempted.
I think this is why it’s so important to leave this to those who are spiritually mature.
When I first got saved I remember having a vision that at the time really concerned
me. I was at the blood bank selling plasma; we all went like once a week and got paid
$15 or something like that. Yes, Jesus has brought me a long way since then.
Anyway, I had finished and was waiting for Jeff or Ed so I went outside and was
standing on this brick flower box that was in front of the building. All of a sudden I
saw muck and mire below my feet and hands reaching up for help. I remember the
thought I had was what was going to keep me from getting pulled down with them if I
reached down to pull them up. I went home and called my mother and we began
analyzing the vision and I realized that in order to pull anyone up, I would need to be
properly anchored first. We must anchor ourself in the acceptance of Christ as our
Savior and in the word of God. Just like a lifeguard must have the proper equipment
when he goes to save someone who is drowning so that they don’t pull him down as
well.
Next, we should bear each other’s burdens and in so doing fulfill the law of Christ.
We are supposed to be renewing our mind to the mind of Christ. Christ was not out
for His own gain or glory. He was always concerned about the people and their
salvation. When we see a brother in trouble and don’t help them when we can help,
we are showing that we do not yet have His priorities. Helping each other when we
can is a sign that we are on the right track.
In the same way, we can’t just sit back and let others take care of all our burdens
without doing what we can to carry our own weight. If we act as if we are all high and
mighty and others are supposed to take care of us because we’re so special, then
we are fooling ourselves. Each of us needs to bear our own load. If we all do the
task God has purposed for us to do, then everything will get done.
He tells us that the one who is taught should share with the teacher. A lot of people
think that the preacher only works one day a week and just for an hour but that’s
really not true. I know that one sermon usually takes me at least 3 or 4 hours to
complete. That doesn’t take into account all of my personal Bible study time.
Between listening to different studies on mp3, watching on television, and reading I
probably spend at least 30 hours every week just studying. And that doesn’t include
working on the sermon. My mother likely spends twice that just staying prepared.
We still do our other work. Just this week we rewired a clothes dryer and the
bathroom light switch. We also do all of the shopping, meal preparation, laundry,
and other miscellaneous jobs for our household that temporarily has ten people in it.
I see why Paul said that we should share with those who teach.
Next he goes back to the law of sowing and reaping. In our eyes it often looks like
those who do evil are the ones who are prospering while those who do right seem to
struggle but the author makes it clear that God is not mocked. If you sow evil you will
reap evil and when you sow good you will reap good in due season. Jeff’s dad was
telling us about his brother-in-law’s farm. He explained that the year they visited
them in Nebraska they had a hundred and fifty acres of wheat that had not come up
because of foul weather. They were going to have to plow it under and start fresh
without being able to harvest. Sometimes that happens in our spiritual life. But if we
are able to hold on, endure to the end; we will see our harvest. This is why he
encourages us not to grow weary in doing good. Don’t ever get to where you may
think that doing right has no reward. Remember, God will not be mocked. You will
reap what you sow if you do not lose heart!
So, let us look forward to doing good to all whenever we have an opportunity. He
says especially to our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. We have to lift each other
up because we know that the world is trying to put us all down. But even to
unbelievers and those that we might think don’t deserve it. We must strive to do
good when we have the opportunity. In many cases we might be the only Christ that
they’ll have an opportunity to see. Now, God doesn’t expect us to be doormats
either. The key is for us to stay plugged in to the Holy Spirit so we can be led. If we
see a homeless person and we go up and give them $50 we might think we’ve done
good but that person might go buy heroin and overdose and die. So it would have
been a curse not a good thing. We have to be receptive to listening to the leading of
the Spirit so we can follow His will and not our own. So if we get taken advantage of,
so what. Let it go! It may have had some purpose we can’t see. When Jeff had his
CDs stolen from his truck we said we hope they listened to them, since they were all
Christian CDs, and got saved. Maybe they sold them to someone who listened and
came to know Christ. Who knows? We’re like tiny little ants on a Rembrandt trying to
analyze what the different colors and textures mean. We can’t see the big picture so
let’s stop trying to figure it out.
Sermon by: Denise Baxley
Date: July 23, 2006