Trinity Sermons

Bearing One Another’s Burdens
June 10, 2007

Rev. David C. Huffman
Gal. 6:1-10

(Flute prelude)

The beautiful piece Vickie just played on the flute is from an old hymn my Old Testament professor in seminary used to play on his baby grand piano in the parlor of his home on Mercer Street, right across the street from Albert Einstein’s home, “There Is a Balm in Gilead.” The hymn title is based on Jeremiah 8:22, when Jeremiah speaks for God who is grieving over the sins of his people, “Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there?” God’s people had broken the covenant over and over again, further alienating themselves from God, causing God great pain and anguish. So, with great irony, God asks, “Is there no medicine, is there no doctor to restore Israel’s broken relationship with God?” But the problem wasn’t for the lack of medical treatment; it was the perennial problem of human sin and disobedience.

I

In the old African-American spiritual Vickie played for us, the slaves lifted their eyes and voices to heaven and sang with great faith and confidence, “there is a balm in Gilead, to make the wounded whole and to heal the sin sick soul.” I have always been impressed that many people who have gone through such brutalities as slavery, concentration camps, and other ordeals didn’t lose their faith. Surely many have lost their faith in such dire circumstances, but many more have found their faith and resolve strengthened by such adversity. This certainly seems to be the case with our African-American brothers and sisters during slavery. Look at the all the wonderful spirituals that came out of that experience that continue to inspire us today. They are testimonials to the power of the Holy Spirit and the faithfulness of God’s people in times of trouble.

Thank God you and I do not live under slavery or in a concentration camp, but that is not to say that many people do not have crosses to bear, even in middle class suburbia. The longer I serve in the ministry the more I realize that a lot of people are carrying heavy burdens, some of which are almost unbearable. This week on the Today Show, a 14 year old Middle School student told of how fellow classmates had bullied her to the point of depression and daily thoughts of suicide. A friend put this out on the internet and within days this girl has received over a thousand e-mail letters of encouragement and support, which literally helped save her life.

We never know what burdens our friends or our family members are carrying, which is why it is very important to belong to a community of people who love us and can help us in times of need. We are mightily blessed to be members of the Body of Christ, the church universal, and the church local, where we know one another and care for one another as Jesus taught. We are doubly blessed not only to have elders and deacons who provide care during times of need, but also to have a team of gifted Stephen ministers who have been highly trained in Christian care giving who are able to offer a quiet ministry of compassionate listening and concern.

I believe this ministry’s is so successful for three reasons: 1. They are highly trained, spending 52 hours of training with skilled leaders who have spent a week of training with the Stephen Ministry national leaders; 2. They spend two hours twice a month in continuing education and supervisory discussion; and 3. their ministry is completely confidential. The only people who even know that a church member is receiving care are the Stephen leader who assigns the Stephen Minister; the Stephen Minister; and the care receiver. And everyone is pledged to absolute confidentiality. So if you ever get to one of those points in your life where you feel that there is no balm in Gilead for you or that you cannot bear your burdens alone, please do not hesitate to call My Chau Matrick, our primary Stephen leader. I promise you, it can make a difference.

(Flute Interlude)

II

When we read the New Testament, we plainly see that the early church was a compassionate community whose members loved one another as Jesus had instructed, and they cared deeply for each another, especially in times of hardship. Paul wrote to the Galatian Christians to be sure that they bear one another’s burdens. Paul was very clear that those who belonged to the church belonged not only to God but to one another; they were family. That is why everywhere Paul went he took up a collection for the Jerusalem church that was facing persecution by the Romans and was on hard times. Jerusalem’s problems were the church’s problems.

We church members may not love one another perfectly or selflessly, but there is no denying that this is our calling. We are not a YMCA or homeowners association, a collection of casual acquaintances who barely know each other (although it might behoove you to be nice to your fellow homeowners who have the power to vote to raise your monthly dues!) We are the descendants of those first followers of Jesus whom Jesus told to love one another, as he had loved them. Henri Nouwen described the task of pastoral care among Christians as lowering the pain of life to the level at which it can be shared. Misery might love comfort, but what misery really loves is having someone to help us carry the load, especially someone who is experienced in the art of hauling. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.”

I have just returned from a week of continuing education at Montreat with about a hundred other pastors from around the country. You know, having that many ministers all together under the same roof can be a dangerous thing. Someone has described ministers as being like manure. If you spread manure around your plants thinly it can be healthy thing, but if you pile it up in a big pile, it can stink to high heaven. Anyway, at the first evening worship service, during the pastoral prayers the preacher asked us to share with one another around our table our concerns and needs. One woman sitting at our table began to ask prayers for a friend and then burst into tears. Being good pastors, we all instinctively leaned forward and tried to muster as much empathy and concern as we could. They teach you to do that in seminary. She said, “My husband died six years ago, and I am still not over it.” We learned that she is raising two children alone while working full time. I suspect a lot of people, even in our congregation, can understand what she is going through. Sometimes we never get over losing a loved one, because they were such a big part of who we are and when they are gone they leave such an unfillable hole in our lives.

III

A great debate is going on in the church these days that has gone on since the beginning of the church. Is the Christian life primarily about our own personal destiny or about how God wants us to live in relationship with God and one another in the world? The early church clearly thought that Jesus would be returning in their lifetime and bringing God’s Kingdom with him. Clearly they were wrong, at least by our standards of measuring time. And when you look at the writings of Paul and others, it is clear that the main act of the Christian life was not about believers sitting on the mountain waiting for heaven to come, it was about living in the world as Jesus had taught, loving God and loving neighbor.

Many today seem to believe that the Christian faith is primarily about getting hold of a ticket to heaven and praying for that day to come quickly. But the Bible I read tells me that the Christian faith is primarily about loving God and loving neighbor and bearing one another’s burdens. Yes, that includes the fundamental reality that we have received the grace of God through faith and have been reconciled to God, which does secure our destiny. And that should give us great comfort and assurance to know where we are headed. But that is not the main mission of the church. Jesus commissioned the church to make disciples, baptize and to teach all that he had taught, which included loving God and neighbor, praying for enemies, bearing one another’s burdens, and ministering to the weak and the poor. Heaven can wait; we have a job to do here first.

Someone once said of a person that his mind was on such heavenly things that he was of no earthly good, which reminds me of story I told you many years ago that bears repeating. A man joined a monastery so that he could spend the rest of waking hours at prayer in his room, so that when Jesus returned to earth he would be found praying. He did this for years. One day a hungry beggar knocked at his door and asked for some food. The monk’s heart went out to man but he did not want to leave his station and go to the kitchen for food for fear that Jesus might come while he was away and not find him praying. He was in a real dilemma. Finally, he followed his heart and went to the kitchen and prepared a meal for the beggar. When he got back to his room he was astonished and alarmed that Jesus had returned and was sitting on his bed. He fell to his knees and apologized for not being at prayer and told him that he had been praying for years. Jesus interrupted him and said, “My son, if you had been here praying and not in the kitchen helping your neighbor I would not have come.”

Bearing one another’s burdens, loving one another, and walking with a friend through the valley of the shadow of death; this is what we are called to do. God grant us the wisdom to see this and the stamina to pull it off.

(Flute postlude)