Real Fellowship

Series on Galatians

III The Apostolic Applications

E The Yardstick of Law

Text: 6:1-6

Introduction

Sometimes I hear Christian brothers talking about opportunities for “fellowship.” What they mean is they want to do social activities together and get to know one another better. This is a worthwhile thing to do. We should strive to spend time with those we care about, but that should not be called “fellowship” if we mean that worship and Bible study and care of the congregation are not fellowship. In our text for today we are looking at true fellowship. Actually the Greek word for fellowship or communion, “koinonia” is used in verse 6 where it is translated “share.” Do you want to have real fellowship? This is how you do it. Paul addresses those that are “spiritual,” but he does not mean elite Christians who are super-spiritual. He means the brothers who are living by the Spirit daily. We learned in our last message that living by the Spirit means doing everything by the Spirit. It means our eating, sleeping, studying, working, and recreation are all by the Spirit. One Pastor tells of helping to lay out new irrigation systems for farmers when he was a teenager. He especially enjoyed the moment when the switch was thrown and powered up the big pump. The pipe filled, sprinklers hissed, and water shot out across the field. He said, “Imagine the disciples’ power-up moment. On the day of Pentecost they were able to switch from fear and uncertainty to courage and boldness when the power of the Holy Spirit filled them.” We need this in every circumstance, minute by minute. Jesus said that without Him, we can do nothing. So let us learn from this text that real fellowship is hard work, and it must be done in the power of the Holy Spirit. Now this text goes back and forth between two poles; others and you. Basically the Apostle tells us that if we are truly led of the Spirit we will be helpful to others, and humble ourselves.

I Helpful

The helpfulness is mentioned in verses 1, 2, and 6 as follows, Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor. We are to be helpful by restoring the sinner, relieving the burden, and refreshing the workers.

A Restoring the Sinners

We read in verse 1, Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. The author of Hebrews reminds us in 3:12 and 13 that sin is deceitful. See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. Sin is a trap. Brothers become ensnared by sin. They are caught by it and they should be treated gently. That means not approaching them with a superior, judgmental, Pharisaical attitude. All too often Christians treat their brethren who have fallen into sin as if they themselves were far above such behavior. Self-righteousness is insidious. If you tell me you never lie you just broke your record, because everyone, every soul that ever lived, has lied. However, people are actually that blind and it prevents them from restoring a brother gently. St. Augustine said, “There is no sin which any man has done, but another man may do the same.” This is one way to be helpful and demonstrate living by the Holy Spirit. Another way is by relieving the burdens of others.

B Relieving the Burdens

The Apostle writes in verse 2, Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. In Romans 13 in the space of three verses the Apostle Paul states three times that love is the sum or fulfilling of the law, Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. The law of Christ, then, is love. Christ is the great burden-bearer. He came to bear our sins and the guilt and penalty of our sins upon the cross. None of us can bear the sins of another though some have tried. In parts of England, Scotland, and Wales, as well as certain portions of Appalachia in America, allegedly, until early 20th century there was a strange custom called eating sin. In 2010 a church in Shropshire, England restored the grave of the last sin-eater who died in 1906. Sin-eaters were generally poor people paid to eat bread and drink beer or wine over a corpse, in the belief they would take on the sins of the deceased person who died suddenly without confessing their sins. The practice was rightly frowned upon by the church because no mere human can bear the burden of another’s sin. Only Jesus can do that. However, there are other ways in which we can bear burdens. For example, a Pastor’s wife works in a pregnancy counseling center. When a young unmarried woman finds out that she is pregnant, the burdens caused by a moment of sin start to multiply. The counsellor spends time each week with such young women. Without condoning the sin, she walks with these friends through their emotional turmoil and constantly reassures them that she does not reject them and God does not reject them. She tries to lead them to understand what got them into trouble in the first place and how they can walk in moral freedom. She demonstrates her loving acceptance not only through a warm, affectionate attitude toward them but also by getting involved in their lives. She helps them in many ways to get ready for the birth of their children. She is often called upon to be a mediator between them and their angry, upset families. When the call comes in the middle of the night that her friend is in labor, she goes to the hospital to encourage and comfort. In many ways she bears their burdens.

C Refreshing the Workers

The final way in which we may be helpful is mentioned in verse 6, Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor. When Jesus sent out the seventy-two into every town and place where he was about to go, he told them in Luke 10 to accept whatever food and housing they were offered, “for the worker deserves his wages.” Paul repeated the same principle in his ministry and letters for though he usually exercised his freedom to preach without pay, he stoutly defended the right of others to be paid. Martin Luther was deeply disturbed by those who would not support their teachers writing, “For it is impossible that such as are godly indeed should suffer their pastors to live in necessity and penury. Whoso will not serve God in a little, and that to his own inestimable benefit, let him serve the devil in much to his extreme and utter confusion.” I know from experience how much of a lift, how great an encouragement it is to a Christian worker when people show their appreciation in tangible ways. Luther comments further when he says about the phrase “in all his goods,” that “it is not to be taken that all men are bound to give all that they have to their ministers, but that they should maintain them liberally, and give them that whereby they may be well able to live.” John Sanderson once told or preaching in a Plymouth Brethren Assembly. At the conclusion of the service a man came to him and said thank you, I would like to have a little fellowship with you. John said, “Fine, I would like that.” As he shook hands with the man he discovered there was something deposited in his palm. It was a monetary gift. Then he realized it was their custom to call such giving “fellowship.” They had it right. Real fellowship cares and shares.

II Humble

Real helpfulness requires humility. Paul reflects this in this passage in verses 1, and 3-5, But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. 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. In fulfilling the law of Christ we not only love, but we do so humbly, as He did. We read in Philippians 2 that he humbled Himself even unto the death of the cross. The underlying different Greek words used reveal that in verse 2 where Paul says bear the burden of another, he is talking about burdens too heavy to be borne alone, but in verse 5 he is talking about burdens (load) we can bear. A person properly humbled is a person who examines himself so that he does not have an inflated opinion of himself. Kenneth Boles comments, “Honest self-evaluation is required of all believers. Such an inventory should avoid the error of ‘thinking he is something when he is nothing,’ but it should also avoid the opposite extreme. When there actually have been achievements, they should be a acknowledged.” Paul’s choice of the Greek word for “test” implies that the testing would confirm the genuineness of what was tested.” Pride or boasting is not always a sin. For example Psalm 44:8 says, In God we make our boast all day long, and we will praise your name forever. Paul boasts about others as in II Corinthians 7:14 and 9:2, I had boasted to him about you, and you have not embarrassed me. But just as everything we said to you was true, so our boasting about you to Titus has proved to be true as well. And, For I know your eagerness to help, and I have been boasting about it to the Macedonians, telling them that since last year you in Achaia were ready to give; and your enthusiasm has stirred most of them to action. Paul also boasted about his ministry and his sufferings in II Corinthians 10:8 and 11:16, For even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than pulling you down, I will not be ashamed of it. And, I repeat: Let no one take me for a fool. But if you do, then receive me just as you would a fool, so that I may do a little boasting. The full weight of what Paul is saying here rests in sincerity and honest appraisal. We must never think we are something that we are not. Earlier I mentioned the words of St. Augustine, and now i repeat them with his extended comments, “There is no sin which any man has done, but another man may do the same. We stand on slippery ground; therefore, if we grow proud, there is nothing so easy to us as falling. It was well said therefore of one in the book called ‘The Lives of the Fathers,’ when it was told him that one of his brethren was fallen into whoredom: ‘He fell yesterday (said he), and I may fall today.’” This is how real fellowship is achieved.