Be Gentle, Generous and Good

(Gal. 6.1-10)

The theme for this Sunday is "The Serving Community", and I want us to spend the next few minutes looking at our New Testament reading this morning.

It's taken from Paul's letter to the Galatians, but before we look at it in more detail, I just want to set the scene as to what Paul's been saying in his letter so far.

Todays passage follows immediately after his description of the 'Fruit of the Spirit'.

Remember how in that passage, Paul describes how the Holy Spirit turns the rotten things in our human nature into something good.

An analogy that I've used in the past is that of a compost heap. You throw all your kitchen and garden rubbish onto the compost heap, ...potato peelings and the like, ...and at first it looks like a pile of smelly rubbish.

But the bacteria and worms get to work, and after a while it's transformed into something which is really useful for the garden.

And similarly human nature is full of rubbish, (things like jealousy, and hatred, selfish ambition, and envy), ...but the Holy Spirit is at work in Christians to transform this into something really useful.

And the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentle-ness, and self-control.

And now, in the passage which N read to us, Paul draws out some practical implications of this for the life of the church.

I want to focus on three points, all beginning with the letter G. (All the best names and things begin with the letter G!)

First, be GENTLE with those who fall into sin.

How do you react when people don't live up to your standards?

One day a young mother was driving her young son to Nursery school, ...and the inquisitive boy asked a very revealing question. "Mummy", he said, "Why do the idiots only come out when Daddy drives?"

How do you react when people disgrace themselves?

People sometimes say that it's a particularly strong characteristic of the British that we love to have heros, and put them on pedestals, ...then we wait for them to make a mistake and pull them off.

Just think of the way in which the press has treated the Duchess of York, ...or Paul Gascoigne, ...or the English cricket team during this current test match.

Well I'm not so sure that it's just a British characteristic, ...I think it's something that people are prone too the world over.

Someone once said:

"The nice thing about being imperfect is the joy that it gives to others."

How do you react when people fall? ...When you hear gossip about a friend, or a neighbour, or someone at church?

Well Paul says to the church in Galatia:

"If someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently."

Perhaps Paul was reminded of what happened when a woman caught in adultery was brought before Jesus. There were those in the crowd who wanted to stone her to death, but Jesus acted with great compassion and said "Let he who is without sin throw the first stone".

And that's the tone in which Paul continues:

"Watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. ...Each one should test his own actions."

We're to judge ourselves, not others.

Then, having urged the Galatians to be GENTLE with those who sin, Paul goes on to encourage them to be GENEROUS.

He says:

"Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor" (v6)

Of course in those days, church leaders weren't paid a salary like Church of England clergy, ...but they relied on the generosity of those they taught.

In some denominations, the same principle still works today. The local church is directly responsible for the financial support of it's minister. And if they can't afford a minister, they can't have one.

In the Church of England, the link is not so direct, and the way it works is like this:

We have to tell the diocese how many people belong to our church, (there's a complicated formula for doing this which takes account of the number on our Electoral Roll, the number of people who have communion at Christmas and Easter, and the number of people who come each week).

Then for each person who belongs to our church we have to pay the diocese about œ150 per year, (or about œ3 per week).

This money is collected from every parish, and is then used to pay the salaries of all the clergy in the diocese.

Of course our church has many other expenses, ...the maintenance of this building, heating and lighting, stationary, telephone bills, insurance, and so on.

And the money which you give each week has to pay for these things too, ...but for each full member of our church, the diocese takes œ3 a week for clergy salaries, (for which I'm very grateful).

And so, even in the Church of England, the clergy are dependent upon your generosity.

But the same principle can be applied to other situations. The things we have are not for us to hold onto, but to share and to give away.

In the marriage service I remind couples that love is about giving and sharing.

"All that I am I give to you,

and all that I have I share with you."

A farmer who sows his field does so by 'giving away' the seed, ...but then he reaps a great harvest.

And that image then leads into the third practical way in which we can serve others.

Paul urges us to be Gentle, to be Generous, and finally to be Good.

"A man reaps what he sows", Paul says. "The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. ...Let us not become weary in doing good. ...let us do good to all people, especially those who belong to the family of believers."

Now Paul is not saying that we get to heaven by being good. That's what many people think, but it's not true.

Rather, he's referring back to the previous chapter in which he described how the Holy Spirit turns the rotten things in our human nature into something good.

If we live the way of human nature, we will gather a harvest of death.

But if we live in co-operation with God's Spirit, and allow him to change us, we will see the Fruits of the Spirit growing in our lives, and we will gather a harvest of Eternal Life.

So be good, not in your own strength, but in by allowing God's Spirit to change you.

God calls us to be a serving community.

If we claim to be Christians, other people will notice the way in which we conduct our lives.

And Paul's words to the Galatians are just as relevant to us today, as they were 2000 years ago.

So let us be people who stand out because of the gentle way we treat those who have fallen, ...who are generous in our giving, ...and who do good to all people.