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July 27, 2003 |
"Galatians" Series |
Pastor Brian Shimer
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"I will reap what I sow"
Galatians 5-6
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I. | I am going to tell you one more story from Peru --
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On Tuesday, June 24th, our team was invited to come to a school, which we had dubbed the Bologna school, because its name (Bolognesi) in Spanish looked like the word bologna.
It was a high school. The students did not have classes until 1 pm in the afternoon, but were invited to come to school in the morning from 9 until 11 in order to hear us. We were not sure how many would show up.
The school had arranged for us to meet in a community hall. A school official led us to the building from where our bus had dropped us off. They unlocked the door and let us into the large empty building. It had high dirty windows, a stage at the front with these huge red velvet curtains, which were torn, worn and filthy. The ends of streamers were still taped to the wall at places from some previous event held there. It was dark - not just physically dim, but spiritually as well. I am certain most of you have had experiences where you could tell there was spiritual darkness in a place. In the bible God says the sins of people contaminate land and buildings. This hall had been used for carnal celebrations. In an instant, by the gift of discernment from the Holy Spirit, I saw some of what had happened there, heard some of what had been said-- you can find some of it in today's passage where Paul lists the acts of the sinful nature beginning in 5:19. Tears came to my eyes. This place was no place for worship! It needed cleansing. I glanced at Bill and saw the Holy Spirit had told him the same thing; he was already praying.
I said: "Team, we need to pray this place clean, even before we set up."
No one said: "Why?" "Do we have to?" But instead, everyone began to pray.
We prayed individually and in small clusters for the Lord to cleanse the building. We repented for the actions committed there, the words spoken there, the wickedness portrayed there. We anointed the building asking the Holy Spirit to set apart this place for His purposes. Linda began to sing a worship chorus and others joined with her. Patricia grabbed a broom and began to sweep. It seemed so appropriate. If we were going to clean the place spiritually it seemed right to clean it physically as well. As we worked, swept and prayed, the atmosphere lightened, the lights seemed to put forth more light. We could tell the Lord had blessed and prepared the place.
The students began to arrive at 9 am. The entire class of students who had been invited came to this special program! We were astounded. Close to 40 accepted Christ and after we had given them Bibles, Pastor Marcos had them memorize a verse of Scripture in 2 minutes! It was wonderful and fun! By the time we left the hall it was a different place-so bright, clean and beautiful compared to when we had arrived.
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II. | The transformation of the building was remarkable. And our experience
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became a parable.
Like a building, we have bodies. We have structure. That structure ought to be filled with light, but our choices can equally fill it with darkness. We can use our bodies and as Paul writes, "indulge the sinful nature" in our lives. If we do this, we are choosing darkness instead of light. We will end up with a body that is maligned by our own sin -- filled with darkness and some of the obvious "acts of the sinful nature" that Paul listed in v 19-21.
The sinful nature is that unredeemed part of us that wants our own way, wants everything for ourselves, and wants to appear important (1 John 2:16). Once we receive Jesus, it is crucified. Paul writes in 5:24: "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires." But somehow, even after it is crucified, because we yet live in the world, it still rears its ugly head! We must choose to turn from the passions and desires of this part of ourselves.
How can I keep from ending up with a body similar to that building, filled with dirt and darkness?
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III. | The answer is found in chapter 6. Look with me at verses 7 through 10.
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Paul uses the analogy of sowing and reaping. He writes in 6:7 "Do not be deceived" You write it down too. "Do not be deceived."
We are deceived when we believe "I can handle this" or "God won't mind" or "God won't know I have done it." An ancient saint wrote: "Soon or late men sit down at the banquet table of results and consequences."
It helps when we remember this. I remember hearing a preacher tell how he did not do drugs in high school, not because he did not desire to, nor because he never had opportunity to, but because he simply was afraid to. He feared what could happen and more than that he feared God! He feared the consequences!
God gave us Scripture to warn us of such consequences. As 1 Corinthians 10:6 says the entire Old Testament is given, quote, "to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did." (end quote) In that passage it lists how they fell into the sins of worshiping false gods, sexual immorality, putting God to the test, and rebellion.
"Do not be deceived," Paul wrote: "God is not mocked." You write: God is not mocked!
I looked to see when that word "mocked" was first used. The circumstance of a first use in Scripture is often significant. You know what I found? It was first used in the book of Genesis in the account of Sodom and Gomorrah. "Interesting!" I thought. And what a picture that gives of a society of people who were thumbing their noses at God and doing whatever they pleased with their bodies. And just as Paul says will happen to those sowing to the sinful nature, they reaped destruction and only Lot and his two daughters escaped. God cannot be mocked.
Again: "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked. A man reaps what he sows." You write: I will reap what I sow.
Just as in gardening, we know to plant seeds and harvest a crop. So, in our lives, God says, we will reap what we have planted.
What have you been planting? Where have you planted it?
The seeds planted begin as thoughts. One of the early desert fathers, Abba Evagrius, who died in 399 wrote: There are 8 principal thoughts, from which all other thoughts stem. The first thought is of gluttony; the second, of fornication; the third, of love of money; the fourth, of discontent; the fifth, of anger; the sixth of despondency; the seventh, of vainglory; the eighth, of pride. Whether these thoughts disturb the soul or not does not depend on us, but whether they linger in us or not and set passions in motion or not -- does depend on us. (Spirit of the Disciplines, Willard, p 116-117).
Thoughts are seeds. If we let them linger and set passions in motion, we have planted them into the sinful nature, and against the Kingdom of God. If we turn from the thoughts, pray, read Scripture, look to God, then we have planted into the life of the Spirit, and taken a step to being spiritually directed.
Martin Luther used to say you cannot stop the birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair.
Paul writes that there are only two soils to plant in: the sinful nature and Holy Spirit.
Listen to verses 8-10 from the Message translation: The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others-- ignoring God! -- harvests a crop of weeds. All he'll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God's Spirit do the growth work on him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life."
One way to plant seed to please the Holy Spirit or to plant in the Spirit, is through service. Paul writes that what counts is to express our faith in love, or to "serve one another in love."
But developing a heart of love with which to serve, or strengthening that faith, takes seed planted in private. There are many such seeds to use. Here are a few that I see lacking in our culture especially, and perhaps in some of our lives, that it would do well to use in order to plant seed. They deal with the disciplining of the building -- our bodies.
Too often in our culture we ignore what we do with our bodies. Faith becomes simply a matter of our minds. We nod at God and then go our happy ways living as we choose. But that is not the Christian faith. Christianity is not about passivity at all. It is not about letting the only Bible you encounter be on Sunday morning. It is about action.
"I will reap what I sow" we wrote. So if we look at Paul as he lived, as he shared about his life in Galatians 1 and 2, and Jesus how he lived his life, we see they sowed to their lives spiritually.
Paul and Jesus used some of these gardening methods:
Solitude and Silence: the practice of withdrawing alone, seeking God, being present to God. Isaiah (30:15): In quietness and trust is your strength. Remember Paul's years alone in Damascus and Jesus' sojourn in the wilderness?
Fasting: the discipline of resting from eating food for a meal, a day, or longer. The early church Fathers recommended 1 day fasts over and above 3 days or longer. .
Secrecy: The discipline of giving but not trumpeting your gift to others
I would encourage you to choose and apply that building, your body, to some of these disciplines and through planting in the soil of the Spirit dwell in the light.
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