AM I MY BROTHER’S KEEPER?
Galatians 6:1-10
INTRODUCTION: Without a doubt, the event of Genesis 4 must have been the most difficult, the most heart-wrenching experience God would face with His creation. At the beginning God created the world in perfection, brought man into an innocent existence and placed them in a Nirvana, a Paradise He called Eden. Adam and Eve lacked nothing as God supplied all their needs in His perfect world. Yet in spite of that they would break the only rule He gave them and eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Undoubtedly this must have stuck God hard, as man’s disobedience always does, but in some ways I think He was prepared for it. After all He did give them a choice; they just made the wrong one. Yet when Cain rose up and killed his brother Able, God must have been torn apart. You see it is one thing to inflict harm upon yourself by your disobedience, by your sin, it is an entirely different thing to inflict harm on another with your disobedience and your sin. And as if this first murder was not bad enough, Cain’s response to God questioning added insult to injury. When God asked Cain about the welfare and whereabouts of his brother, his only brother mind you, he said, "Am I my brother’s keeper?" Hear the insolence, the defiance, the blatant disregard for the life of his own flesh and blood. This must have boiled God’s blood just as it does ours. Yet in spite of our abhorrence of such an ungodly attitude, don’t we at times find ourselves walking in Cain’s shoes after a fashion? We may not be murders in the physical sense, but the lack of interest, the disregard for the life of our fellow man, or fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, is no less sinful. We too find ourselves asking Cain’s question, "Am I my brother’s keeper?" Paul provides us an answer in Galatians 6. READ TEXT This entire passage concerns itself with the personal involvement of Christians in each other’s lives. It screams "You are your brother’s keeper!" And within this passage there are at least three distinct lessons.
I. RESTORE THE FALLEN
A. Satan and sin are active agents for evil in our world. They are partners in the age old plan to lead one of God’s children off track, and in reality folks that is all it takes, just to get off track.
1. Their goal is not to make devil worshippers out of the saved, but to break their bond with God.
2. Satan does not care if we surrender our lives to him or not, just so long as we take our lives out of the hands of God.
B. That is the nature of those whom Paul describes as having been "overtaken in a trespass." They are the fallen, the wayward, the unfaithful, the ones who have stumbled under the influence of sin and Satan and cannot regain their spiritual direction.
1. CEV renders this as being "Trapped in sin." These people are helpless, powerless, and in dire straits. They are on the verge of losing their soul; having their hopes of eternal life snuffed out.
2. This is why the Spirit had Paul write that we who are spiritual, faithful, should reach out to them and guide them back to a right relationship with God. The Greek word for restore carries the connotation of mending or repairing an injury like a surgeon would do.
3. There is a sense of urgency here! This is truly life and death! And we must rise up to meet this spiritual emergency with a spirit of gentleness and fear, humility and awareness, knowing that someone’s soul hangs in the balance and that we too may and can find ourselves in the same situation.
a. II Timothy 2:24-26
b. James 5:19,20
II. BEAR EACH OTHER’S BURDENS
A. Every life has its share of problems. In fact Scripture addresses this by telling us that no temptation comes upon any of us that is unique, rather it is common to all people in one form or another.
1. It doesn’t matter whether we are rich or poor, young or old, healthy or unhealthy. Satan is not a respecter of persons; he is an equal opportunity persecutor. (Folks, life’s burdens affect us all.)
2. Job said, "Man’s day are short and filled with trouble." I have no doubt that he is correct, but I also know that when we are carrying a burden of trouble in our lives, minutes stretch into an eternity.
B. This is why Paul is moved to write the words of verse 2: "Bear one another’s burdens." It wasn’t enough for him to say that we need to restore the fallen. He had to reinforce this plea by saying that we must help shoulder the troubles that other people are dealing with.
1. You see it is one thing to inform someone they are lost, point out their sins/burdens and challenge them to repent and straighten up. It is an entirely different thing to get down in the mud with them, put your strength next to theirs and fight along side them for spiritual freedom and renewal.
2. This is what God demands we do with the weak, the struggling and the wayward. Paul says to do that is to fulfill the law of Christ! And the law of Christ is that we love one another as He loved us, bearing our sins, our burdens, to the cross.
3. In verse 3 he makes his point painfully clear. NLT – "If you think you are too important to help someone in need you are only fooling yourself. You are really a nobody."
a. Philippians 2:1-4
b. Galatians 5:13-15
c. Romans 15:1
III. CONSTANTLY DO GOOD FOR OTHERS
A. When you spent time working in the vineyard, reaching out to those who are struggling in their walk with God or with troubles and burdens in their life, it is easy to become discouraged when the harvest is poor. Reality is that many give up after a short time because the work is difficult and at times disheartening.
1. Some people just don’t see the urgency of forgiveness. Some don’t see the need for faithfulness and God’s spirit in their life. Others simply do not care, "God and I have an agreement. He leaves me alone and I leave Him alone."
2. Sadly there seems to be more people out there in those three categories than there are those who are seeking God, pleading for help, and tired of struggling with sin and troubles.
B. Knowing this from his own experience, and also knowing that God’s people would face this through every century, Paul encourages us to "not grow weary while doing good" and to "do good to all people as we have the opportunity, especially those who are our brothers and sisters in Christ."
1. God’s Word – "We have to do what is good for everyone." NRSV – "Let us work for the good of all." Just as Satan is an equal opportunity persecutor we are called to be equal opportunity rescuers.
2. There are still some who want help – spiritual help. No matter what someone’s background is our duty is to help them in their plight when God opens the door. To not become discouraged, to not give up, but rather to press on, stay the course and rescue some poor, fainting, struggling soul.
a. Luke 6:31
b. Hebrews 13:16
c. I Corinthians 15:58, "Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."
CONCLUSION:
