Bear One Another’s Burdens | Good Shepherd Lutheran Church (ELCA) Manchester MO

Pastor:

Pr. John Gerike

Sermon: “Bear One Another’s Burdens”

July 3 and 4, 2010

Galatians 6:1-16; Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

My organized football playing days

ended in 5^th grade.

So I had a lot of time watching football,

through my High School years

and then watching our sons play.

And as I watched,

I got to hear the cheers

from the cheerleaders.

One I remember from my high school was:

We are the wildcats.

We are the wildcats.

We are the wildcats.

We are the wildcats.

(Because we were the wildcats.)

And as I thought about that,

I thought about the phrase that’s the focus of our sermon today.

And wondered if we could do the same thing.

Well, it really doesn’t work when you say it.

But, as a 3-part sermon,

I want to focus on these three things:

Bear one another’s burdens.

Bear one another’s burdens.

Bear one another’s burdens.

First, bear one another’s burdens.

Bear one another’s burdens,

What’s the next phrase?

and in this way you fulfill the law of Christ.

Sounds very strange coming from the apostle Paul.

Paul is the one who is constantly reminding us

that we can’t do what the law demands.

Paul is the one who keeps on telling us

that God’s grace is the only way to salvation.

Paul is the one who keeps telling us

that we fall short

and mess up

and don’t deserve God’s grace.

And now Paul tells us to

Bear one another’s burdens,

and in this way you fulfill the law of Christ.

How do we understand that?

Well, I don’t think Paul has changed his mind

about falling short and needing God’s grace.

So, what is it that Jesus says?

This is my commandment

that you….love one another

as I have first loved you.

Could Paul just be saying

that when we follow Christ

we live our lives in love,

bearing one another’s burdens?

Pretty simple.

But maybe that’s it.

When we love,

we reflect God’s love.

When we bear one another’s burdens,

we live out

what Christ has already done for us.

Because he bears our burdens.

Even taking our sin on himself

to the cross.

Max Lucado tells the story of going to a church camp in Colorado.

(Cure for the Common Life, p. 129ff)

The highlight of the week

was climbing Mount Chrysolite—

--13,000 feet

--beautiful.

But all the campers have to do it together.

400 campers each week.

All climbing to the top.

One camper counted the steps to the peak.

8,000.

And another camper, Matthew, decided around step 4000

that he was too tired to take another step.

This camper was a nice guy.

Fun to be with.

But he was tired,

his body hurt,

and he was heading back down.

Or at least he thought he was.

One of the counselors said to him:

“Can’t send you down.

If you turn back,

we all turn back.”

Max writes: “I didn’t want to go back.

I coaxed him,

begged him,

negotiated a plan with him.

30 steps of walking.

60 seconds of resting.

We inched our way along at this pace for an hour.

Finally we stood within 1000 feet of the summit.

We got serious.

Two guys each took an arm,

and I took the rear.

They pulled, I shoved.

And we all but dragged him to the top.”

When they got to the top—

--applause from the other 400 kids.

For Matt.

And as much slumped down to the ground to rest,

he thought:

“There it is, Max, a picture of God’s plan.

Do all you can do to push each other to the top.”

Now,

if you were doing this for credit,

you might be kind of upset that Matt got the applause.

But we don’t bear one another’s burdens for credit,

or to earn salvation,

or earn anything.

We do it to reflect the love

that God has first given us

as Jesus died on the cross—

--carrying our sins.

We love because we have first been loved.

Bear one another’s burdens.

In Partnership for Missional Church,

we focus on Dwelling in the word.

Reading a Bible passage

and listening for how God is speaking to us through that passage.

And we don’t read a different Bible passage each day—

--or even each week

--or even each month.

We read the same Bible passage again and again,

some of us every day

(or at least almost every day)

for a year.

This year,

we’re reading a passage from 2 Corinthians.

But last year,

we read again and again a part of the Gospel reading

we heard today.

We read Luke 10:1-12.

So reading this gospel is like coming home again.

About Jesus appointing 70

and sending them out in pairs.

Did you see the cover of the bulletin?

In the office the other day

we were trying to figure out what the picture was.

We thought,

if the picture related to the Bible reading

and made you think a little while—

--that was probably good.

What do you see in the picture?

How does it relate to our gospel reading?

Now, listen to these verses from the Gospel

and what do you see?

Verse 1:

After this the Lord appointed seventy others

and sent them on ahead of him

in pairs

to every town and place where he himself intended to go.

Verses 8 and 9:

Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you,

eat what is set before you;

cure the sick who are there,

and say to them,

“The Kingdom of God has come near to you.”

What do you see?

I see 2 of those 70.

And it looks to me like they are doing what Jesus said—

--curing the sick.

And maybe even saying,

“The Kingdom of God has come near to you.”

You know what’s interesting?

It doesn’t show the first thing

they are told to do.

What’s the first thing?

Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you…

eat what is set before you;

and then

cure the sick who are there,

and say to them,

“The Kingdom of God has come near to you.”

We have a tendency to skip over that first thing.

Because the first thing we are told to do,

is not to give,

but to….receive.

To eat what is set before us.

We’re blurring the lines again.

In a good way.

In PMC,

we often hear

that we are sent out into the world

to see where God is already at work,

and then to be a part of God’s mission.

Not our mission,

but God’s mission.

Not just within our walls,

but throughout God’s world.

Not just by what we give,

but also be what (and how) we receive.

Sometimes we’re the bearer

and sometimes the bearee.

I don’t know if that’s really a word.

But you know what I mean.

Sometimes we’re helping.

Sometimes we’re helped.

And a lot of times,

it’s both at the same time.

24 youth and 6 adults told us last week

about their trip to Puerto Rico.

We’re they the helpers

or the helpees?

What do you think?

I think both.

Mission trips help those we visit.

But just as important

is what happens to those who travel.

In a lot of cases,

their perspective on life

and love

and God

is changed forever.

And finally,

Bear one another’s burdens.

In verse 2 of the Galatians reading,

it says:

Bear one another’s burdens.

Now, what does verse 5 say?

For all must carry their own loads.

Doesn’t that seem like a contradiction?

“Bear one another’s burdens,

for all must carry their own loads”?

We talked about this at our Monday night Bible study?

Someone suggested that maybe a burden is different than a load.

A burden is something too heavy to carry—

--so you need help.

A load is something you can carry on your own.

You know what,

that’s pretty good.

I went back and read about the original Greek.

The word translated burden is “baros”,

which means heaviness, weight, burden, trouble.

The word translated load is “phortion”,

which means a load,

originally meant the pack carried by a marching soldier.

Maybe Paul was worried about some doing all the work,

and others being comfortable just receiving.

People thinking that someone else

needed to take care of them all the time.

He wanted to create some balance.

We each carry our own load.

But there are times when the burden is too heavy.

And we need a community to surround us

and share God’s love.

I’ve shared this before,

but one speaker told us preachers,

that as we are preaching,

60% of the listeners will be dealing with a problem

that they don’t know how to get through.

They don’t know if they will get through.

Maybe that’s you right now.

Or maybe it’s someone around you.

We bear one another’s burdens.

Caring for each other.

Caring for your family.

And your neighbors.

And the people here at church.

And the people of the United States.

And people throughout the world.

Caring by giving.

And caring by receiving.

Bearing one another’s burdens.

I read a story in the Lutheran magazine

about the Winkleman family.

They’d just had the funeral and buried their 23-year-old son,

Damon.

Killed in Afghanistan.

And then, right after his funeral,

Damon’s parents,

Richard and Patricia,

drove 10 hours

to attend the funeral of one of his fellow soldiers,

also killed in Afghanistan.

They arrived with food and other donations

from their congregation,

St. John Lutheran in Lakeville, Ohio.

Damon’s dad said:

It made quite an impact

that we would leave immediately after our son’s funeral

and drive all night to attend their son’s funeral

the next morning.

We took the blessings we received

and immediately passed them on

to the other soldier’s family.

Their church was with the Winkleman family

in the moment of crisis.

And they continue to support them.

Damon’s dad said:

“For the first couple of months

you’re living in this whirlwind trance.

When reality sets in,

and you realize this is long term,

family and church become so important.”

We are called to bear one another’s burdens.

As Christ first did for us.

May you eat what is set before you—

--receiving God’s love.

May you cure and proclaim God’s love—

--giving what you have first received.

Everyday.

Bear one another’s burdens.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen