Bear One Another’s Burden

Galatians 6:2

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Gradually we are coming to the end of Galatians. That will mean that within the 1st year of my Pastoral ministry, I have preached through 3 books of the Bible. Maybe when we finish Galatians, we should hold a little love feast for ourselves.

Today we will consider a title from the first line of the verse “Bear One Another’s Burdens”. If you are reading an ESV, it’s actually the title for the Chapter from verses 1-10. The NIV titles the same portion as “Doing Good To All”. All these points to what the chapter teaches. Today, I will ask and answer some questions: What Does Bear One Another’s Burden mean? How Do We Bear One Another’s Burden and Why Must We Bear One Another’s Burden?

There are about three images the New Testament paints of the church which will help us in addressing the subject. Firstly, the church is portrayed as a community of believers. The word generally translated as church is Ekklessia, which denotes a gathering together of people, “a called-out assembly or congregation”. So the Bible describes Christians as those who have been called out of the world of darkness and saved by Christ.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9).

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son (Colossians 1:13)

Simply, the church is a community of believers. Now it is important to say that not all who show up in a gathering of believers are actually saved or called-out by Christ from the world. Though the church is a gathering or community of believers, that gathering often also contains unsaved people. But those unsaved people are not believers. This clarification is important because it is only those who have professed faith in Christ as their Lord and Saviour and repented of their sin who are considered believers. And this is basic Christianity. Unless one has believed in Christ for salvation from their sin, they are not a believer and though they may find themselves among believers, they are not believers.

Secondly, another image the New Testament paints of this community of believers is that they are one body. No one person can consider themselves as a church. And you hear this error often where people claim they are the church therefore they do not need the gathering of believers to worship. Dear friends, never let us be caught up in this error of thinking we do not need the gathering of believers, we do.

See, the issue of false churches can be discussed, but that discussion doesn’t make us independent of a gathering of believers. If you find yourself in a situation where there are no sound churches to worship with, start a fellowship, invite people and later look for a church for help. The church by definition is a gathering of believers. And Paul uses the analogy of the human body to paint this picture of the church. We are many individuals that form the church, yet we are considered one body.

Thirdly, this community of believers as one body is considered as a family. And as you read the Bible, you will notice a consistent use of familial words to describe the relationship among church members: Brothers, Sisters, Sons, Daughters. I don’t know who does it well; Nigerians or Ghanaians. But for these two people, every male adult, whether you are related to or not is uncle. And every adult female is aunty. Fortunately, the Bible doesn’t use uncle and aunty to describe our relationship amongst ourselves. I think it is so because in Christianity, there are no distant relatives. Every word used to describe us is a tight, closely, knit together relationship. It is a nuclear family. Look at how the chapter begins, “Brothers”,

That word, like a magnet pulling a metal, caught my attention during my preparation. So I paused on it and told myself not to gloss over the word too quickly. And I think that often we become familiar with certain words that they may lose their profundity. Familiarity then leads to loss of profundity. The word Brothers, I believe, is profound and it helps us to understand the whole chapter. I took a count of how many times the word is used in Galatians (1) 1:11, (2) 3:15; (3) 4:12;(4) 4:28; (5) 4:31; (6)5:11 (7) 5:13

This frequent use of the word points us to the bond of affection Paul shares with the believers. Paul is an apostle, but he doesn’t throw his weight around. He sees the believers as brothers. The King James say “Brethren”. This is not true of only Paul. But this is and must be true of all believers. We share a bond of affection. We have not just randomly gathered here to worship together. So long as we have come to faith in Christ, every believer is your brother. And your sister. The ESV provides a footnote for brothers as “or brothers and sisters” so sisters, you are included here and don’t think I am speaking only of the male gender.

Now it’s in this context of brotherhood, that Paul issues the imperative”Bear One Another’s Burden”

What then does it mean to Bear One Another’s Burden?

First of all, let me attempt an explanation of what a burden is. The original word means a weight or a load. So simply a burden is a load someone is carrying. It’s heavy. It depicts the problems and cares of this world. There is a kind of Christianity out there which promises exemption from life’s problems. Dear friends, never buy into that cheap kind of Christianity. Christianity is not an exemption from the troubles of this world.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us (Romans 8:18)

“The suffering of this present time”. This is a clear evidence that Christians suffer. We get sick. Christian parents lose their young children. Yesterday, I was one of the officiating ministers at the funeral of a 23 year old young man with a promising future. He suffered an incurable disease all his life and he was a believer: 23, puff, gone. Just like that. Christians are real people and we suffer need. Christians encounter marital challenges. Christians lose their jobs. Christians fight temptations and sometimes fall into sin. There are so many problems we will face in this world that we cannot bear alone, so when Paul says “Bear One Another’s Burden”, all he was saying is “Give a helping hand”, Extend a helping hand” “Sympathise with” “Empathise with”. Simply, Paul is saying, help one another in their problems.

To our second question, How Are We To Bear The Burdens Of One Another?

Restoration From Sin

In verse 1, one of the areas by which we bear one another’s burden is the area of sin of other believers (6:1). Evident in the verse is the possibility and reality of sin in the life of Christians: “If anyone is caught in any transgression” The word transgression is “a falling away”, “a lapse”, “a false step” “a sin”. No Christian then is perfect. Christians do fall into sin. Not only in Galatians 6:1, but in other parts of Scriptures, we see this reality clearly spoken of:

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous (1 John 1:8–2:1).

“But if anyone sin”. Here is another of the Galatians 6:1 language: “If anyone is caught in any transgression” Am I here excusing the sins of believers? Not at all. Rather, I am pointing out what Scripture teaches. That Christians still sin. Remember last week I spoke of indwelling sin or residues of sin in a believer after they are saved. And it’s interesting Paul , after he has dealt with the Christian crucifying the desires of the flesh by the Spirit in Chapter 5:24, continues to speak of the possibility of Christians sinning. If I am reading Paul’s mind for writing Chapter 6, I am sure he thought to himself that despite all I have written, people will still sin and so I have to address this matter also.

When a Christian sin, what has happened is a straying or wandering away from the truth and from God. When this happens, it is the responsibility of matured Christians to bring them back in line: “you who are spiritual should restore him”. And I think this is beautiful. It’s likely those Paul referred to as spiritual, are those who are walking by the spirit and bearing spiritual fruit in the previous chapter. And those overtaken by any transgressions are those yielding to the desires of the flesh. Let me say then that one of the signs of true spirituality is helping others towards maturity. It is helping restore weak ones among us. To restore is to bring back a stray soul:

My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins (James 5:19).

Dear brothers, no Christian should be left on their own to deal with sin. No. They will soon be crushed by the weight of sin. Dealing with sin and temptation among Christians is a collective action. The work of sanctification is not a lone wolf. It’s cooperation with the Spirit of God and other believers.

Another Christian’s ensnarement in sin is not his private problem, but is a burden that others must bear with him and intervene to help him escape (Reformation Study Bible).

This also means we should have an environment where others can find trust and be able to open up. The reason people keep sins to themselves and suffer alone is because of the attitude of some Christians when these sins come to the fore. Look at what Paul says: “restore him in a spirit of gentleness.” Be gentle in addressing the sins of others Paul says. To be gentle doesn’t mean pampering the believer who has sinned. But it simply means not to be judgemental. In restoration, we rebuke, we reproof, we correct, we discipline, we chastise, we tell the brother or sister you have sinned and then work towards restoration. We don’t condemn and make their sin a matter of gossip. But we work towards restoration. This is why Paul says: “keep watch on yourself lest you too be tempted.” You see, no matter how matured you are, you too are not without sin or weakness. And this is why our restoration and correction must be done in a spirit of gentleness. Else we may be caught up in a sin of self-righteousness as we try to help others. We may even begin to think of ourselves as better believers. I think that is the point of verse 3

For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself

If in dealing with the sins of others you begin thinking “I will never do this”, “How can he or she allow themselves to fall into such sins”, dear friends, you have began your journey towards a fall yourself. Paul says “Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.” (1 Corinthians 10:12). So let’s not suffer alone in sin and temptations. Let’s find trusted brothers and sisters we can talk to. Children, talk to your parents. And as a good rule, sisters, talk to sisters about your struggles. Brothers talk to brothers. And lastly on this point, helping to restore a brother also involves church discipline. Because if no action is taken regarding sin, the sin of another believer can affect other believers in the church. It may be assumed sin is normal and others will soon begin to indulge: “A little leaven leavens the whole lump” (5:9). So let me announce in advance that we will be a church that practises church discipline.

Generosity

Generosity is an act of kindness, hospitality. It’s sharing with others especially those in need. Generosity therefore is one of the ways of bearing the burdens of others. We are all not on the same level economically and the Bible clearly enjoins us to be generous and share with the needy. And this is another area where we bear the burdens of one another. We see generosity clearly spelt out in the text. From the verse 6 through to the verse 10 is a picture of generosity. In verse 6, Paul speaks of the relationship between a Pastor and his congregation. And Paul tasks a congregation to take care of it’s Pastors/teachers.

Permit me as your Pastor who is bi-vocational to skip this verse for another time. But at the right time, if I become full-time, then you my congregation will have to take care of me as admonished by Scripture. So note the verse down. It is clearly a verse that speaks of taking care of the needs of Pastors in terms of remuneration etc and one day we will come to it.

So we take a long jump and land at verses 9-10. These verses points us to two things: generosity towards the outside world and towards those not in our congregation. Firstly, do good to everyone. A general charge. Our neighbours, even strangers who may require help of us. Then Paul comes home: especially to the household of faith. When Paul says “especially” he places some priority of generosity amongst ourselves as believers first. Let us not hold back if we need to do good. Let’s seek opportunities where we can help others.

For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’(Deut. 15:11).

Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God (Hebrews 13:6).

But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? (1 John 3:17)

I don’t think I have to speak much about generosity. The message is clear and you and I must be know to be generous.

Pray For One Another

We must seek to pray for one another. And if someone asks you pray for them, please do pray. Don’t promise to pray for another believer and forget about it. (James 5:16).

Encourage One Another

I spoke about this in the last sermon on Serve One Another and let me just read it out to you. I am quoting myself.

In many places in Scripture, this is a common call. A common call to encourage one another. “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:24-25). Let’s us consider how…In other words, let us think about ways by which we can encourage one another. There is not a prescribed way, but we are to consider. It means that we must ponder over it and come with ways by which we can encourage one another. This is serving one another.

Why Must We Bear The Burdens Of One Another?

Because it is obedience to Christ: it fulfils the Law of Christ (v.2b). What’s the Law of Christ? When Christ was asked about the greatest commandment, he summed it as loving God and loving our neighbour (Matthew 22:37-40). Paul in the previous chapter pointed us to this also (Galatians 5:14). The Law of Christ then is the Moral Law fulfilled by walking in love.