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Since we live by the Spirit, let us also be
guided by the Spirit. That's Paul's summary statement at
the end of ch 5. We've spent all this time talking about
how our salvation comes through the grace of God alone,
how it's faith alone that's needed for us to be right
with God, how nothing we can do will make us any more
worthy to receive the salvation that Christ has won for
us but now he wants to clarify an important issue for all
Christians. |
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You see there are actually two problems with
rules, with obedience to the law. The first is legalism
as we've seen over the past few weeks. Seeking
righteousness through the law is an exercise in futility.
But there's an equally dangerous temptation for those who
have learnt that lesson of Galatians. That is that we sit
back and do nothing. We rely on God to do everything.
This is what in some circles is called quietism. It comes
from the mistaken idea that all we have to do is sit back
and the Holy Spirit will produce the goods, i.e. the
fruit of the Spirit. These people read 5:18, "If you
are led by the Spirit you are not subject to the
law", and conclude that the spiritual person will
automatically do what's right. It's summed up in the
slogan, "Let go and let God." But that's not
how things work is it? We're not spiritual robots,
automatons who simply respond to God's directing. No, we
need to follow the Spirit's lead. We need to keep in step
with the Spirit as the NIV puts it. That's why in we're
told in 6:4 that we're to test our own work. That's why
we're told in v9 to not grow weary in doing what is
right. Not because this'll make us more worthy of
salvation, but because of who we now are. Having received
this new life in the Spirit, we're now a new creation.
We've now become self-determining human beings who are
freely able to offer our service to God. That changes the
whole dynamics of how we behave with respect to the law.
The legalist or the nomist, you see, struggles in
self-reliance and futility, while the Christian works
hand in hand with the Spirit. It's still a struggle, but
the Spirit equips and empowers us so our struggle is not
without hope. |
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There's a story in ancient Greek mythology about
an island inhabited by legendary creatures, half spirit
and half human, called Sirens. These creatures used to
sing such haunting music that sailors who passed by the
island would be entranced so that their ships would run
aground and they'd all be killed. Well, when Odysseus
sailed past this island he solved the problem by tying
himself to the wheel and filling his ears with wax so he
couldn't hear their singing. On the other hand, when
Jason and the Argonauts had to pass by the island,
Orpheus took along a harp and played such beautiful music
that the sailors weren't lured by the sirens' song. Now
that's a picture of the 2 approaches to law keeping. One
seeks to bind our fallen human nature, to barricade our
will with rules and regulations, while the other depends
on the work of the Holy Spirit to free us and empower us
for doing good. The Spirit leads and we march in step,
like soldiers marching in file behind their battalion
leader. |
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So what sorts of things will mark our lives, if
we're keeping in step with the Spirit. This is one of
those places where the chapter headings in our Bibles can
mislead us. You see, 5:25,26 are actually connected to ch
6. Here's how we'll live if we're being guided by the
Spirit: we'll be caring for one another, we'll be caring
for our ministers, we'll never weary in doing good, and
we'll be keeping our priorities right and our focus
clear. |
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Caring for one another |
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He says "Let us not become conceited,
competing against one another, envying one another, but
rather supporting one another." The church should be
a place where we can be open with one another. There's no
place for competitiveness in the Church. No place for
envy or conceit. All that does is to destroy. As he said
back in 5:15, all that will result in is us destroying
one another. It reminds me of one of my favourite
limericks: |
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- There once were 2
cats of Kilkenny,
each thought there was one cat too many,
so they fought and they fit
and they scratched and they bit,
'til excepting their nails and the tips of their
tails,
instead of 2 cats there weren't any.
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By contrast, if we're walking in step with the
Spirit here's what will characterise our lives. We'll be
part of a community and that means being involved with
one another, being responsible to each other, caring for
each other. We'll support one another. We'll bear each
other's burdens (v2). He says, "if anyone is
detected in a transgression, you who have received the
Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of
gentleness." This is the opposite of the spirit of
conceit and envy of 5:26. Now, you do see some Christians
who take great delight in restoring those who have fallen
into temptation. They're like vultures, hovering around
waiting for someone to fall so they can rescue them. But
their motives are really self-seeking. They love rescuing
weaker Christians because it makes them feel important,
even self-righteous. But he says, be careful you're not
tempted yourself. Remember the old proverb, pride comes
before a fall. That feeling of superiority you get when
you show Christian charity to someone is really the work
of Satan undermining the work of the Spirit. Rather,
we're to restore that person in a Spirit of gentleness.
This word restore could be used for setting a fractured
bone or repairing a piece of furniture. It was used of
the disciples mending their nets. It's a positive,
proactive action. Sometimes we see someone who's fallen
into sin and we don't know what to do, so we just do
nothing, as though it were nothing to do with us and we'd
rather not be involved. But that isn't a Christian
response. Neither is talking about it behind their back,
or telling the minister about it. No the Christian
response is to go to them and offer a helping hand to
pick them up, to set them back on the right path, to
restore them to Christian fellowship. |
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And we're to do so in a spirit of gentleness
(one of the fruit of the Spirit), knowing full well that
the sin into which they've fallen might just as well have
been one that we fall into regularly ourselves. We
mustn't deceive ourselves into thinking we're something
by comparison, just because our sins haven't come out
into the open yet. |
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How do we avoid such a temptation? By testing
ourselves regularly. Not by comparing ourselves with
others. It's always easier to compare yourself with
someone else isn't it? Particularly if you can choose who
you're going to use as a comparison. Have you noticed, by
the way, how, when you want to compare yourself to
others, you never choose a Mother Teresa, or a Desmond
Tutu, or a Martin Luther King? We always seem to choose
someone with obvious faults because that way the
comparison is always favourable. But if we test ourselves
against the law of Christ: that is, against Jesus' new
commandment that we love one another the way he loved us,
then we'll have a much more realistic view of how we're
going. |
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Notice, by the way, what an interesting
corollary caring for one another has. In v 2 he says bear
one another's burdens, but then he says in v 5, for all
must carry their own loads. They sound like
contradictions don't they? Yet both are necessary. If
we're to be members of a caring community, then we'll be
seeking to help each other carry those burdens that are
too heavy for one person to bear alone. Yet at the same
time we'll gladly bear our own responsibility to serve
God as best we can. There are actually 2 different words
there in the Greek, you see. One means a heavy load and
the other was used for a person's backpack, which
everyone carries. One we can share and the other we
can't. And if we're to have any pride at all, it'll only
be in seeing how we've carried our own load of
responsibility to follow the Spirit's leading. |
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Caring for our ministers |
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Secondly, he says, you'll keep in step with the
Spirit by seeing that you care for those who minister to
you. Now this is a difficult thing to preach on because
of course, I have a vested interest in what Paul is
saying here. But it's an important principle so we need
to hear it. Notice first of all how important it is that
we have people who teach us God's word. That's the most
important thing I do in case you were wondering. Nothing
will help us to follow the Spirit's leading more than
knowing and understanding God's Word. So if I should stop
doing it you should stop paying me. There's an onus on
ministers of the word, to make sure that they sow the
seeds of God's word, that they feed God's flock, that
they don't slack off, just because they have an ensured
incumbency for 10 years. |
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But the other side to that is that this is so
important that congregations need to ensure that those
who teach can concentrate on that teaching and not have
to worry about having enough to live on. And notice how
he puts it. "Those who are taught the word must
share in all good things with their teacher." Not
share enough so they won't starve. Not provide them with
a spare room in a parishioners house, as I heard
suggested by people in one Parish I know of. No, share in
all good things. How we value something in our
society today is so often shown by what we're willing to
pay for it. So for example, if you had been in a job for
a number of years and were still being paid the salary
you started at, what would you think about the value your
employer placed on your services? You'd wonder whether
they were valued at all wouldn't you? If one of your
friends gives you a birthday present that they bought at
the $2 shop and another one gives you a bottle of
expensive perfume or after-shave, which one would you
think valued your friendship more, assuming they were
equally well off? Now we have to be careful about
following the values of the world unthinkingly. I heard
about one Parish where at the first vestry meeting the
Vicar was told that they expected him to be their CEO and
that's what they were paying him for. Well, I don't think
we should be falling for that sort of thinking. But
nevertheless, you need to ask, how much do you value
being taught the word of God. Someone from another parish
said to me recently that he couldn't see why they paid
their minister so much. He obviously didn't value the
ministry provided by his Vicar. But if you do, then be
prepared to share the material things you have with those
who provide spiritual food and nourishment for you. |
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Never weary in doing good. |
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Thirdly, don't give up. One thing all of us will
discover eventually if we follow these injunctions, is
that there are times when it all gets too hard. We work
and we work, and we don't seem to see much in the way of
results. We care for one another, but the number of needy
cases never seems to get any less. We minister to others
and they don't seem to appreciate what we've done for
them. We might even feel like we're working twice as hard
as everyone else and others are getting the glory. And
what happens then? We feel like giving up. We become
cynical about the church, about other Christians, about
our Christian leaders, or about the members of our
congregation. And that cynicism begins to eat away at us,
until we're ready to give up altogether. That's when we
need to stop and read vs7-9 again. "God is not
mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. {8} If you sow to
your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh;
but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life
from the Spirit. {9} So let us not grow weary in doing
what is right, for we will reap at harvest-time, if we do
not give up." There's a sense in which all we have
to do in the Christian life is keep going. The result is
settled already. All we have to do is finish the race and
we'll reap the rewards. Those of you who have been
following the Tour de France this week, will know that
Lance Armstrong, the American, virtually had the race won
by Tuesday. At that stage all he had to do was keep
pedalling and he had it in the bag. As long as he kept in
sight of his only close rival, no-one could beat him. And
it's like that for us, except we don't have a rival as
such. All we have to do is to complete the race and we
get the prize. But not if we decide we're too tired to
keep going. Not if we give up in mid-race. Not if we
decide we'd rather please ourselves than the Spirit.
There are some who do that. There are some who get
diverted from following the Spirit to serving their own
flesh. But God won't be fooled by them. They'll reap what
they sow. As for us, if we sow to the Spirit, if we keep
working at serving God, at following the Spirits leading,
then at harvest time, we'll reap a harvest of eternal
life. |
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Keeping our priorities right and our focus
clear. |
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Finally, he says, make sure you focus on the
right things. Make sure your priorities are the right
ones. Those legalists who are opposing the gospel are
more worried about impressing people or avoiding
persecution than on following God. But our focus needs to
be on one thing: on the cross of Christ, through which
the world has been crucified to us and us to the world. |
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What matters most is that now, through Jesus'
death and resurrection, we are a new creation. What
matters is not the external rules and regulations that
people think up, but the fact that Jesus offers us and
all people, a new life in the Spirit. It's so important,
isn't it, that we be able to differentiate between what
is essential for the Christian life and what's
peripheral. There was a letter in the Melbourne Anglican
this month commenting on the fact that the most prevalent
problem for Eucharistic assistants was whether to hang on
to the chalice when giving communion or to let it go.
Well, if that's the sort of thing that people are worried
about, all I can say is that we've got our priorities
completely upside down. What really matters is whether
people understand the grace of God that's represented by
the communion service; whether they're turning in faith
and thankfulness to God for his gracious provision for us
in the death and resurrection of his Son Jesus Christ.
Not who holds the cup. |
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He finishes his letter with these words:
"May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your
spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen." It's
appropriate that he finishes his letter with this little
word, grace. It's the grace of God on which everything
depends. Our Christian life comes about because the
Spirit has worked in our hearts to bring us to faith in
Christ. Our life is lived in the power of that same
Spirit. And how does that show itself? It shows itself as
we care for one another, as we care for our ministers, as
we work without wearying at doing good and as we keep our
priorities, our focus, on the new creation that God
brings about through faith in Jesus Christ. |
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Since we live by the Spirit, let us also be
guided by the Spirit. |
