Restoration and Reaping

So here's the last in this summer's series on Galatians. If you have questions please email them to me and I'll address what I can. My prayer is that as we move through a period of secularization we may remain God's People and faithful to the freedom that we have been called too. 

Peace,

Alan

If you needed help to whom would you go? My Facebook profile lies when it says I have 438 friends. Some are duplicates, some are immediate and more distant family, about 35. Preachers and others like them make up another 65.  But two of them are unabashed Dodger fans so they’re suspect.

More than one I’ve friended because it is safer knowing what they are up to than not knowing. Then are those from the previous churches and friends I grew up with. But, if I needed help, restoration, renewal there are probably less than 15 on whom I’d call.

We are at the end of Galatians. Paul reaffirms his teaching on the flesh and Spirit, conceit and selfishness into these final words. He underlines what he has taught us about the ‘Law of Christ’ and it’s superiority over the ‘Law of Moses’.

The law of Christ is Paul’s focus as he ends chapter 5 with a warning against conceit and pride and moves into those who are tripped up by sin. “If anyone is tripped up into sin”, the word means to lose one'ss footing, to slip or fall then it is the duty of those who are keeping step with the Spirit (5.26) to restore them. Let me stop here and use two groups to teach us God’s truth.

Two types of people

Rick gave me a poster that said, “There’s 10 type of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don’t”.  There were two types of people on the mind of Paul as God led him to write to the churches in Galatia. One group were spiritually minded, set on God’s grace and relying on Christ. They had been grabbed by the freedom offered in Christ and refused to let go. Of bigger concern to Paul, were the second group who were selling out to the Jewish cleanliness code. Trying to add their own work to God’s completed work and believing that only ‘law abiding Jews’ could be real Christians.  

This was a prideful and self-focused group. So much so, they separated themselves from the Gentiles who followed Jesus. And their influence even caused Peter and Paul’s missionary companion to ignore these non-Jewish brothers and sisters. 

Robert Heinlein, not a Christ follower, wrote a great statement on self-sufficiency via his character Lazarus Long.

“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects” (Heinlein).

A blogger expressed a similar thought more recently when she posted,

“The trait of self-sufficiency was one that I always admired. I…revere that trait because I am an American and admire the iconic pioneer who set out in a covered wagon entirely self-sufficient” (The Living Philosopher)

Paul’s now turns his attention to the responsibilities that, those who have remained faithful to Christ will have to fulfill. Practical actions that Christ’s followers will be doing in order to fulfill the ‘Law of Christ’.

We are expected to restore those who have fallen into sin. The word ‘restore’ used is that of the disciples mending their nets (Matt 4:21; Mark 1:19. It means to set a bone, make usable again, fix and renew, or make whole again. That is the call for the true follower of Christ when it comes to brothers and sisters falling into sin.

The saying, “There, but for the grace of God, go I” is true. When it comes to correction or bearing the burdens of others there is no room for conceit. Calvin said it well, “Correct the faults of brethren in a mild manner, and to consider no rebukes…which do not breathe the spirit of meekness” (Calvin and Pringle, 1948). To do otherwise sets ourselves up for failure.

There are no Christian amoebas, but there is the Body of Christ. The Lone Ranger Christian doesn’t exist because the call of Christ is a call to “the concept of mutuality” (Longenecker, 2015). There is a need for those who desire to remain true to Christ to do so with a joy and expectation, even if it is hard, time-consuming, exhausting and sometimes thankless. God’s desire is for His people not to think, “I’m better than you and I can prove it” or “you’re better than me and I resent it” but “You are a person of importance in your own right… and it is my joy and privilege to serve you’” (Stott, 1968).

Two outcomes

There are two outcomes designate for those who have been birthed into the world. They come from the normal everyday sowing seeds by our actions, words, and thoughts. One will either reap corruption or eternal life—either the works of the flesh or the Spirit. There is no middle ground no matter how much we want to believe it.

A 40-pound sack of corn has about 64,000 kernels and in Iowa typical fields contain 30,000 plants per acre. In 2008, the state average yield was 171 bushels per acre which means about 15, 390,000 kernels per acre (Agronext.iastate.edu, 2015). Phyllis understands this because she planted pepper plants this year.

God’s rule about sowing and reaping is simple. Hosea says “If you sow the wind, you will reap the whirlwind” (8:7) and in Genesis 1:11 God tells us that creation has been set up so that “Let the ground bring forth grass, & the herb yielding seed, & every fruit-bearing tree bring forth fruit after its own kind” that is one reaps what is sown. If we sow sin, evil, hatred, etc. we will reap the same and if we sow the seeds of the fruit of the spirit—kindness, patience etc… we will reap those. It is really simple.

Here’s a question to consider. Up till today, what have you sowed? Some of us will immediate think of our failures, our sowing of evil and immorality. Some of us will think of good things we’ve done, our children, community impact etc. The real truth is that we’ve sowed both types of seeds and we will and do reap both evil and good. That is because we are sinners, saved by God’s grace.

Because we are now in Christ we can take steps to sow seeds with much more thought and deliberate effort. We can begin to sow seeds “with our eyes on the future…with the harvest on our minds” (Homan, 2007). Look what Paul tells us about the way we sow, “God is not mocked.” The word comes “from turning one’s nose up at another and sneering at them or treating them with contempt” (Stott, 1968). It is to consider God a fool or believing you know better than God.

The problem with some who claim to follow Jesus is that they don’t give a rip about the seeds they sow. As a result, Trump, Clinton, Sanders, or whoever say nasty, stupid, and demeaning things without a thought as to the harvest. The agricultural truth of the God says, we cannot afford to live with such a nonchalant attitude. Instead, we must learn to be mindful of what, where and for what purpose we are planting.

One Hope

The ability to live such a life is our hope and the one thing we can ‘take to the bank’ is that God’s grace is determined to see that hope take root in our lives. Our hope is in Christ and Christ alone.

When we live out this hope we experience an outpouring of grace. Sometimes it is directed toward us but usually it is aimed at others. Paul says there is support for those who teach and bearing the burdens of others.  There is a view that sees the long game and not becoming wearing of doing good.

To do good, is to fulfill the ‘law of Christ’ to love our neighbor, to “jointly shoulder each members burdens” (Hendriksen, 2002), to restore those who have failed, to recognize how susceptible to failing we are and thus remain humble. It is sowing seeds that normally lead to a regular, everyday harvest, not to glorious adventures or spectacular miracles (Stott, 1968).

With the hope of God’s eternal life as our harvest, the world’s pressuring us to take on circumcision or some other outward ‘proof’ of our faith can be dismissed and unnecessary and harmful. We can instead simply continue on loving Christ and His people as we’ve been commanded. And, by the power of the Holy Spirit we can fulfill Christ’s law of love. Let us pray.

Works Citied  

Agronext.iastate.edu,. 'Common Corn Questions and Answers: Corn Production'. n.p., 2015. Web. 18 Sept. 2015.

Calvin, Jean, and William Pringle. Commentaries on The Epistles of Paul to The Galatians and Ephesians. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1948. Print.

Heinlein, Robert A. Time Enough for Love. New York: Putnam, 1973. Print.

Homan, Spencer. 'Spencer Homan Sermon on Don't Kid Yourselves (You Reap What You Sow)'. http://www.sermoncentral.com. n.p., 2007. Web. 16 Sept. 2015.

The Living Philosopher,. 'On Self-Sufficiency'. n.p., 2013. Web. 18 Sept. 2015.

Longenecker, Richard N. Galatians, Volume 41. [Place of publication not identified]: Zondervan, 2015. Print.

Stott, John R. W. The Message of Galatians. 5th ed. London: Inter-Varsity Press, 1968. Print.