Galatians: The Call to Be Gentle Restorers

Well, good morning.

So we're continuing our way through the book of Galatians.

We're in chapter five now as we head through Galatians, have a few more weeks in this book.

So back in the fall, Christy and I, and our two oldest girls, we went to a UGA game.

I found four lower level tickets on Stub Hub, took out a loan from the bank, bought the ticket.

My girls won't be going to college, but they did go to a college football game.

So that was a big accomplishment for our household.

So we got the tickets, we get there, we park, we walk around, we eat.

It was one of those like beautiful college football fall days, and it was sunny, it was wonderful.

And so we get to our seats and we sit down.

It takes Christy about three seconds to make friends with the lady next to her.

Um, this lady who's about 60 years old, and she immediately says, Oh, you bought the Johnson seats.

And Christy's like, Oh, yeah, okay, we bought the Johnson seats.

We've been knowing the Johnsons for 30 years.

We've been sitting together, and she tells Christy about the Johnson's kids and where they're at, and they're from Thomasville, and then the grandkids and the husbands and the train sets, you know, like she's getting the whole story about the Johnsons.

So it's very apparent for this lady, she's decked out in red and black, by the way.

She's also watching the game, so she has a lot of stuff going on, this lady.

And what's clear for us looking at this lady is this lady knows these people's lives, the Johnsons.

We don't know these people's lives, but this lady also knows some other people around her.

And so she's not only there to attend this game and watch this event and receive this, you know, this fun day, but she's also there knowing these people.

So while there's one thing going on, there's also something much deeper going on.

This lady has all of that plus the deeper meaning of community and care.

And there's a point here for us because college football and church have a lot going on that are very, very, very similar.

And so it's easy to come into church, right, and just attend it and receive it and be like, oh, I'm coming and I'm gonna watch the show.

Like he's gonna get up there, he's gonna tell me a great story about he bought tickets of Stub Hub, I'm just gonna laugh to that, and then he's gonna read some Bible verses, and I'm gonna be great, and I'm gonna go home.

Like, it's easy to come in and attend and receive, and we want that for you.

Like, we really want it for you.

We want you to be able to do that, feel free to do that.

That's a wonderful thing.

But then there's also this deeper thing that needs to be going on, and that is going on, and that has to do with community, it has to do with care and caring for other people.

So, sure, you attend and you receive.

We love that for you.

But then there's a deeper something, and that has to do with people, not with buildings or services, but with people.

Maybe you remember that conversation in Matthew 16.

Uh, Jesus is with his disciples up in Caesarea Philippi.

So this was up near what is now uh modern-day Syria, northern Israel.

He's up there.

Jesus stops, he looks at his 12 disciples, and he says, Who do you say that I am?

And Peter says, You're the Christ, you're the son of the living God.

And Jesus says a statement, you've heard this statement probably before, if you've been around church, he says, You are right, and on this rock I will build my church, and not even the gates of hell can stop it.

So there's that one little word in the middle of that statement, church.

And the word is ecclesia, and it means gathering.

But it's not like I attend the 1030 gathering at Redeemer, right?

Like it's not like a service.

It means gathering like uh a gathering of people, a congregation.

It's a people.

So it's not a one-hour worship service that's super efficient and they keep it one hour, and that's so respectful, right?

It's not a cool warehousey building.

Oh, I love that building, right?

Like it's not that.

It's not, it's also not like a church, like that old cathedral that I love walking into, and they have the liturgical service.

It's also not the mega church that's cutting edge.

It's not all that's fine, all that's those are expressions.

This is church, like people.

Jesus predicts a people.

He doesn't predict buildings, he predicts a people.

Ultimately, buildings are not churches.

People are churches.

And this is where Paul's taking us because he turns this conversation in Galatians.

He's been hammering away for four chapters, and we hammered away for four chapters.

That you are perfectly loved in Jesus.

And all of your sin and all that guilt and all that you sort of want to work your way out of by being moral enough, all that was taken care of on the cross, and his righteousness is given to you.

So you are perfectly loved, you're perfectly righteous, you are beloved, it's all secure, you don't have to add a single thing to that.

You don't have to get on any religious performance track here.

It's all settled, it's all done.

There's nothing for you to add.

And then he turns it there, going into chapter five, and he says, Because of all of that, here's what your life should look like.

So point number one is this pretty basic, kind of leads you through with a few points here.

Because you are cared for by God, because you are cared for by God, you can begin to care for others.

Maybe you start dating someone, maybe that's been a while, or maybe you just have to imagine with me, uh, work with me here.

And this guy, he doesn't take you to Chili's, he takes you to Longhorns, he's going all out.

This guy is wonderful.

The sky is bluer, chocolate is sweeter, and not only that, he actually loves you.

He really does love you.

And that does something to you.

You are a little hard, you're a little closed off, and all of a sudden you start to soften up a little bit.

His love changes you, and you thought you were gonna move to London next year for that job or that internship, but all of a sudden you're going, I don't know if I'm gonna, I don't know if I'm gonna move.

And you used to think about your day and your work and your workout and your list, and that shirt that you needed to buy today to make yourself feel fulfilled for this day, right?

How we do that, and all of a sudden, like all that started to change because you start thinking about this other person and like the thing they had going on that day, and that conversation they were gonna have to have, that thing at work that they had, and that you need to stop by CVS to buy them the asporin, right?

Like it's all of that, but all of a sudden you start having all this other stuff in your life for this other person, and then that other person starts doing that for you, right?

Like you are caring for them, and they are caring for you.

Maybe you know that in romance, maybe you don't know that in romance, maybe you know that in friendship, maybe you know it in family.

And what this is, is this is this great truth that there is a blessing and a calling in love.

Right?

There's a blessing in love, and the blessing is that there's this other person who will help you carry your burden.

And that is such a blessing when that comes along, whether it be a family member or a friend or in romance.

That's an incredible thing.

And the calling is that you get to do that to that other person.

You get to help carry their burden, and you care for them so much, this is where we're gonna get to into this passage.

You care for them so much that when they go off the rails, you will tell them they're off the rails.

So listen to this passage, Galatians 1 and 2.

Listen, listen how this is done.

Brothers, and we said, brothers and sisters, brothers and sisters, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.

Keep watch on yourself lest you be tempted.

Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

So, point number two is this because you care, you will carry.

Because you care, you will carry.

Author and Pastor Tim Keller explains it this way this great little Bible study book.

Everybody should read it.

You should go buy it this week.

It's called Gospel in Life.

It's a little Bible study workbook.

And here's what he says on page 65.

Picture how you help a person who is trying to carry a load that is too heavy.

To help with a burden, you must first come very close to the burdened person, standing virtually in their shoes.

Next, you must put your own strength under the burden so its weight is distributed on both of you.

Thus lightening the load for the original bearer.

To carry the burden means to come under it and let some of its weight, responsibility, and pain come to you.

So you're not at a distance, like sitting in judgment without knowing this person or the whole story.

You're close.

You know the whole story, you know the person before you enter into that relationship of carrying the burden, restoring the person.

Paul continues to help us understand how to how to do this, how to work this out.

If any verse three, if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor.

For each will have to bear his own load.

Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches.

Do not be deceived, God's not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he will also reap.

For the one who sows to his own flesh will reap the flesh, reap corruption, but the one who sows to the spirit from the spirit reap eternal life.

So there's a strong warning here, isn't there?

The warning here is that you if you live by the flesh, you're gonna save yourself and be all about yourself, your life will be doomed.

You won't really have life with God.

Eternal life will be pretty much in question.

But life by the Spirit, eternal life is not in question.

It's secure because you're beloved in Jesus.

There's nothing to question, there's nothing to scorecard, to figure out, to wonder.

You will reap what you sow.

And not only that, if your life is all about you, if your life is all about you, you'll be lonely.

You'll reap what you sow.

The passage also shows us that any approach of caring for another person is only done after you realize you ain't that great.

Right?

Like it may be God, I'm not quite sure.

Just ask your neighbor, ask your friend, ask a family member.

They will be happy to tell you.

The other night I was tucking my six-year-old into bed, and I'm being super dad.

I'm speaking love into her heart.

How's your heart, babe?

You know, is there any bird?

I mean, I am I've had 10 and a half years of practice of this.

Like I can I can nail a bedtime.

I'm so impressed with myself during this little bedtime 10 minutes.

I can nail it, and I'm I'm working it super dad style.

And then she looks at me and she says, I don't like when you tuck me in.

Because you have bad breath.

Just brought me back down.

Just a guy, just a guy.

Bad breath.

The great English pastor, Charles Spurgeon.

There's this great story about him, and he's eating lunch with a friend, or maybe dinner, I forget the exact story.

But they're eating.

Uh a drunkard walks by, and his friend says, looks at him, and his friend says, There, but by the grace of God go I.

The story could almost stop there.

We'd all go, oh, how wonderful, what a wonderful statement.

Spurgeon looks back at his friend and goes, There go I.

Right, what's Spurgeon saying?

Well, Spurgeon's saying, I actually am that man.

Like, I know that I'm that man.

Like, maybe my addiction is not outwardly in a behavior of drunkenness.

Maybe it's something in my heart, maybe it's some addiction in the heart, maybe it's my self-righteousness upon that man.

But we are that man.

This is what Paul's trying to get us to understand before we have any approach to anybody about carrying a burden or we have a word for them, right?

We're that man.

We're that person before we even go to speak to them.

Point number three is this as you carry, you carry with compassion.

As you carry someone's burdens, you carry that with compassion.

It's much harder to offend somebody when you're the kind of person that understands you have your own issues.

Two weeks ago, I called my friend Kurt.

Kurt and I have been friends for a long time, and he's pastor of another church, and so I called him to complain about a lot of stuff because I like to complain.

I just do.

I like to complain, and he's a safe person to complain to.

So I called him and I'm just complaining about stuff.

You know, this is really hard, and I'm that, and you know, I'm just going at it, and he's listening, and and he's going, yeah, he's like, yeah, that is hard.

I oh, I remember, yeah, I remember when I was going through something like that.

I remember that.

Yeah, man, that is hard.

And he says this, he said, uh Russ, that's really hard.

And there's probably something in there you need to repent of.

And we can just keep talking about that.

All right, so let's just review what happened here.

I called my friend to complain.

He then told me, I need to repent.

Okay?

And I was not offended at all.

I never even got defensive.

I just I totally received it.

I left the phone call going to God, I do need to repent of a few things.

And it was because there was never a moment of self-righteous judgment from him to me.

That's why.

The idea of this passage is not that we bulldoze people with our holiness agenda for them.

The idea of this passage is that we are gentle restorers.

So the image here, the image here is actually of my sister when she was little, we were little, she's climbing a fence.

This actual story, I'm not making this up.

She's climbing a fence, she trips at the top of the fence, she falls down, she hits the ground, she breaks her arm.

Her arm looked like a V.

She runs home, dad puts her in the car, they go to the hospital.

Doctor medicates her up, waits till a little bit of that pain medicine's in there.

The doctor takes the arm, pulls it just as gently as he could, just pulls it apart, pushes the bone back in before he can cast it.

And that's the that's actually the image here.

A gentle restoration of something that is broken.

It doesn't mean there won't be pain.

It doesn't mean it won't be difficult, but it means we as people who want to walk with other people and we're close to them and we love them and we care for them, and we're gonna walk with them in gentleness and compassion, and because you love them so much, you will tell them the truth.

You'll say, Yeah, you need to repent of that.

That's not healthy.

That's headed down the wrong way.

You're not thinking straight.

That's messed up.

You need to stop that.

Verses 9 and 10.

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up.

So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

So this progression's amazing here, right?

Galatians 1 through 4, you are loved, you're secured as a child of God and Jesus alone.

That work is entirely over and secured.

We are beloved, it's done, it's over.

No religious performance for us.

So, how should we live?

Galatians 5, 14, love your neighbor.

One command, one expression of Christian faith, love.

Love God, love your neighbor.

Okay, that's great.

What does that look like?

Later in Galatians 5, walk by the Spirit, okay?

What does that look like?

Galatians 5, 22 and 23, fruit of the Spirit.

All right, a whole bunch of good adjectives there about love.

All right, what does that mean practically?

Help me out practically at this point.

Care for people.

Carry the burdens, restore them, walk with them, be so close with them in non-judgmental presence that you could speak truth into them and they will accept it.

Last point, last point, we need this last point as well.

While you love imperfectly, because we will, while you love imperfectly, you can keep loving because you are loved perfectly.

While you will love people imperfectly, you can keep loving people because you are loved perfectly by God.

Your performance in loving people has nothing to do with your acceptance of God.

And that's the very reason why you can keep loving people.

We'll wrestle with when to say something to someone.

When should you say something and when should you let it ride?

When should you be gracious or when should you just be like raw, hard, truthful?

I don't know.

Right?

That's the hard part of walking in the spirit and discerning, but I do know you need to be close enough and gentle enough to be able to speak it.

When should you help?

When should you withhold help?

I don't know.

And you won't always know.

And there'll be times that you'll help and you shouldn't have.

You there'll be times when you speak, you shouldn't have.

And there'll be the other times you you should have held your tongue and you went for it.

And you know what?

This is what is so great about love is one of the most powerful tools in love is apology.

And you get to apologize.

I'm so sorry, I should have said that.

I should have backed off.

I'm so sorry, I I saw something and I didn't say something.

I should have I should have spoken to you a while back.

And we apologize, and we keep walking together and caring for each other as the church.

And we get to do this because your earning of the acceptance of God is over.

It's settled with Jesus.

And that brings great relief and healing to our hearts, and because our hearts are free and healed, and as we rest in that, we can begin to start to see and love other people.

My brothers and sisters, you have been loved perfectly.

So go in a non-judgmental, loving presence to others, love others.

Let's pray together.

God, thank you for this great truth that because we are so loved, we get to love others.

Would you help us in this unbelievable call to walk with people so closely and so in touch with our own humanity and sinfulness that when we go to restore someone to speak something that is healthy and truthful for their well-being, that they would never receive it as judgment.

Would you help us be those kinds of people that are infatuated with the gospel?

That while we are broken and sinful, you perfectly loved us in Jesus, and would this produce great humility and great love.

In Jesus' name, amen.