5th February 2006 AM

DO THE RIGHT THING Pastor Colin Meadows

Bible Reading: Galatians 6:1-10

Ø Do the right thing: There was a clean up campaign in Australia some time ago. Its aim was to get us to stop dropping our rubbish everywhere. We were encouraged to use bins, etc to keep our environment clean for our own wellbeing and the benefit of others. The slogan that I remember was ‘Do the Right Thing’.

Here we are being encouraged to do the right thing when it comes to daily living in our community. The early part of Paul’s letter had been full of strong theological statements of faith about our personal lives. Now comes the practical outworking of what we believe when it concerns living in community. Do the right thing in living with others is the clear statement. We do this by first remembering our source of strength.

Ø Keep in Step with the Spirit: Earlier chapters of Paul’s letter to the Galatians remind us about our personal walk with God. This relationship comes about as a result of what Christ has done for us and not through our own efforts. We have been called into relationship with God as a result of his grace, not because our own merits. We now can enjoy fellowship with God, not by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. The law of God convicts us of our sins and drives us to Christ, so that we might be justified or made right with God by faith. Now that we are true children of God, we are free to live for God by the power of God’s Holy Spirit. As we do that, we will begin to produce the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Our lives will demonstrate that we are truly God’s people. We now are to live by keeping in step with God’s Holy Spirit.

Gal 5:25 “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”

This is the story that Paul unfolds in the early chapters of his letter. But there is more. The life of faith was never intended to be lived in isolation from others. We are born again into the family of God so that we can make a difference in our world. We are designed to live together with others. In fact, Paul reminds us about the true nature of the law of God:

Gal 5:14 “The entire law is summed up in a single command: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’”

Designed to live together in God’s family, caring for others, loving others. This is for some of us quite tough. We struggle to love others. John Stott in his commentary of Galatians notes that ‘our conduct to others is governed by our opinion of ourselves. We need to have a right view of ourselves.

Ø Have a right view of yourself: We need to see ourselves in the right light. Stott notes that the passage really begins in the previous chapter.

Gal 5:26 “Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.”

That is how we are not to be. Sometimes a person can have too high an opinion of oneself. They can be somewhat conceited and thus seek to provoke others. To provoke here means to ‘challenge to a contest’. They are seeking to put others in their place, to exert our influence over them. This is a spirit of superiority and should not be part of a Christian’s life. For others, they may have a spirit of envy, of being jealous of what other’s have, of their abilities, and attainments. Such people have a spirit of inferiority and that is not what God intends. Rather God desires that we have a spirit of love in our relationships with others, of equality. In pre-marriage classes I often talk with couples about these things in their relationship. We use the terms aggressive for people who look down on others, of passive for people who look up at others and assertive for people who treat others as equals, made in the image and likeness of God. Not aggressive, not passive but rather assertive.

How do you treat others? Remember that our conduct towards others is determined by our opinion of ourselves. Have the right opinion of yourself and then your relationships with others will flow in the right direction. But just how is this worked out? What does this mean in down to earth practical everyday terms?

Ø Carry each other’s burdens: What should characterise our lives as we live together in community? God’s Word is very clear here about how we should walk with others:

Gal 6:2 “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ.”

What do these words literally mean? ‘We are to help others carry the unexpected and overwhelming weights that suddenly come upon them’. When you find someone struggling with life, seek to get alongside them and encourage them. Find appropriate ways to help. The word for burden here is not the everyday events of life. It speaks of something much heavier that comes along… health breakdown, financial collapse, relationship issues, etc.

In the power of God’s Holy Spirit, seek to respond to the needs of others as you sense God wants you to do. Let’s make this very practical. Where do we begin?

● Begin with prayer. This is the most important way that any of us can help others. Pray for them. Ask God to empower them and guide them, to comfort and console them, to enable them to move on with the day that lies ahead. Yes, begin with prayer.

● Listen to others. Sit with others and really listen so that you can understand. Resist the urge to tell your story. Listen. Ask appropriate questions to clarify but spend most of your time listening. Comment of a social observer. “Often when Australians are not talking, it doesn’t mean that they are listening. It often means that they are just waiting to talk”. Test yourself today after the service. How good a listener are you? When you look carefully at the book of Job, his friends did a great job until they started talking. While they sat silently listening to Job’s story, they were an encouragement to him. Resist the urge to quickly try to sort other people’s issues out. Listen. At the end of his discourse Job cries out in despair…

Job 31:35 “Oh, that I had someone to hear me!”

There are many people in our churches and communities like Job today, desperately hoping that there is someone out there who cares and loves enough to listen to them. Listen and if you don’t know what to say, then don’t say it!! Listen.

● After praying and listening, by then the Holy Spirit may have begun to nudge you into a course of action. Often this may be by gently sharing some carefully chosen words. Sometimes the person’s situation has come about through disobedience towards God. Be very gentle as you seek to encourage them to come back to God. God’s Word in Galatians 6:1 says we are to ‘gently restore’ a person who has wandered spiritually. The word for restore is that of ‘to reset a broken bone’ or ‘repair a torn and tangled fishing net’. These things must be done with great care. Gently share what you sense God has put in your heart.

Many times, a person has just come up against a big mountain that is just too hard to get around. God may prompt you to do something for the person of a practical nature that will meet a real need. Wash the dishes, cook a meal, mow the lawn, go out and buy some food, look after the kids while the adults get a break. Be open to what God is saying – He may surprise you.

My wife, Barbara, in Botswana with a lady who was going through difficult time after the birth of her son, tensions with her husband, etc. As she listened, she sensed the family cat was a huge source of tension in the relationship. Her husband loved the cat, but she didn’t and wanted it put down. After some quick thought Barbara said ‘What if I take the cat and look after it. How do you think that will help the situation?” It would be great, was the reply! Months later, the woman said that she had felt at that time that God didn’t care for her and wasn’t listening to her cry for help. Then when Barbara came and offered to take away her greatest source of frustration, she said ‘Yes, God is there and he does really care.” Was just the slight problem when Barbara came home and said ‘Oh by the way we have another cat!” Many times that couple came out to visit us and the husband would get to see his cat again. Unexpected ways of God meeting needs through his people. Pray, listen and then act in appropriate ways. The order is vitally important.

Does this mean then that we are all to expect others to carry our burdens and for us to make no effort with our own issues? Not so:

Ø Carry also your own load: The case for personal responsibility is strong in the Bible. We don’t just sit around and wait for others to do for us what we ourselves should be doing.

Gal 6:5 “…for each one should carry his own load.”

A different word for burden is used here. It is the common word that was used for a soldier’s backpack when he was on the march. He was expected to carry that himself. Our society has over time moved away from accepting personal responsibility for an individual’s actions. What we are, it is claimed, due to our environment or our parents or other people. We are not blame. It is not our fault. I robbed the bank because I have come from a broken home and have had a bad childhood. Thus I am not really responsible for my actions.

God sees things differently. We are responsible for our own lives. We thus need to respond to the daily issues of life, asking for God’s strength to carry our own load. As we do that, we are changed and mature into the people God intends us to be. As we make our choices, so our lives take a particular direction. We will begin to reap what we sow.

Ø We will reap what we sow: This is a firm principle of life. I grew up on a farm. If dad planted barley, after a few months, we found we had a crop of barley. If in another paddock he planted oats, we got oats. However Dad always sought to sow the best seed. He could carefully keep back good seed from the previous harvest and store that ready for sowing.

The personal decisions we make and the things we think and do will lead to different fruit in our lives. Sow the best seed that you can! If we spend most of our time being negative people, criticising and pulling others down, then be prepared for a lean harvest when the time comes. If on the other hand you have sought to encourage others, to build them up in their faith, to help them when life has just got too hard, then you will reap from these things.

Ø Do the right thing to all:

Gal 6:10 “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”

Get on with the great task of encouraging others, especially believers. Why the focus first on believers? Because charity begins at home. If we can’t get our church family working as it should, then it will be difficult seeking to build community outside. Let our church community show the way.

We have a big family here at Riverton. The last count I took was that around 450 people, both young and old, regularly attend here. With a family of this size, we have to support and care for each other in smaller family groups. In such a family group, we can pray for each other, hear each others stories, support, encourage, be there for each other. We call these structures ‘small groups’! At present we have about 16 older age groups and about five young adult groups. More groups are being formed as needed so if you would like to be part of such a family group then indicate this by filling in a Rivo response card. There are other groups at Riverton as people work together in ministry. Seek to care for each other in these groups.

But let it not stop there. Begin with God’s people but don’t stop there. We must engage with our local communities and beyond. Our mission statement is clear: ‘Individually and collectively to know Jesus Christ and make Him known by what we are, say and do – in our community and around the world’. We have wonderful relationships already with others in our neighbourhoods, our schools, shopping centres, sporting groups, the list is huge. Do the right thing when it comes to these friends. Pray, listen, act in ways that honour God.

Let us seek to do the right thing! To keep in step with God’s Holy Spirit, to have a right view of ourselves, to bear each other’s burden, just as we carry our own day packs, remembering that we will reap what we sow. Do the right thing.

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