Today we conclude our series on Paul’s letter to the Galatians. A little background for today’s reading: Paul started this congregation of Gentile Christians – and then he went on to preach and teach elsewhere. But then other preachers came who taught that the Gentiles had to adopt the Jewish rites of circumcision and kosher diet in order to become fully part of God’s family. Paul is vehemently opposed to this. He writes that it is Christ who has come to fulfill the law and that it is by God’s love and grace and faith in Christ that all people – Jews and Greeks, slave and free, men and women, those who are circumcised and those who are not, -- are all made a part of God’s family. He concludes the letter with a personal note and a pastoral word for the people of Galatia and all Christians.
A New Creation
Today’s lesson made me think about moss. I know many people think about moss as a weed – but Robin Wall Kimmerer in her natural and cultural history book, Gathering Moss, suggests that we could learn a lot from mosses. She asks, “What is it that has enabled them to persist for 350 million years, through every kind of catastrophe, every climate change that’s ever happened on this planet, and what might we learn from that?” She noticed that mosses are not solitary in nature but are dependent upon a web of relationships. As mosses grow in the forest canopy, they use the trunks of trees as a foundation and they collect and store water. Then, she writes that “even without rainfall, the canopy mosses collect water and slowly drip it to the ground, keeping the soil moist for the growth of trees which in turn sustain the mosses.” She argues that some of the lessons that we can learn from mosses include: being small, giving more than you take, working with natural law, [and] sticking together. 1
These are good rules for us too. How do we live in community with one another and the world around us? It’s easy when everything goes well and everyone cooperates. But what do we do when someone breaks the rules?
Paul begins this last portion of the letter to the Galatians by addressing that question. How do you treat someone in your Christian community in whom you “detect a transgression?” There may have been a particular person or grievance of the Galatians that Paul was addressing, but he doesn’t say who or what it is. Neither does he seem to be at all concerned with what or which transgression occurred. Instead, he is concerned about the way we as Christians respond to those who have done something wrong or hurtful. Paul says, “you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness.” Restoration and reconciliation is the goal – not punishment or shunning or excommunicating or even teaching a lesson to the one who erred.
Paul knows the Galatians – he spent a good deal of time with them and they seem like an earnest and good Christian community. And this is why he is concerned. He’s concerned they may be tempted when dealing with someone who has made a mistake – maybe it was even huge transgression -- to judge and to compare themselves to this wayward soul. They might even be tempted to say, “well… at least I’m not as bad as…that person.”
But this is what Paul wants them and us not to do. This is why he says, “each must carry their own load.” If there is any comparing or judging to do – judge your own work on its own merits for on the last day we will each meet our maker. This sounds harsh, but thankfully, God has sent us a Savior, Jesus who promised to carry your load, your burdens – and gives us his light load in exchange.
This is why, rather than engage in these very human comparing and judging and self-justifying actions and attitudes, Paul urges the Galatians – and us -- to “bear one another’s burdens.” This is the way of restoration. We are to bear the burden of another – as if it were our own burden, even our own transgression. In doing this, we are being Christ to our neighbor. For just as Christ has taken on our burden, we are to be as Christ and take on the burden of our neighbor.
This sounds hard – but it doesn’t have to be. Years ago, when I worked in Minneapolis in the inner city, I became friends with a woman named Mona. She taught me how to bear the burden of another. Mona volunteered with our Mom’s group which included many neighborhood women were living in poverty who had lots of problems. After the meeting they would often go to her and talk about their challenges. She would listen and pray with them.
Someone – maybe it was me - once asked her how she could listen to so many problems and not become overwhelmed by all of the burdens that were shared with her? Mona smiled and said, “I listen to their burdens and I pray with them. But I don’t keep the burdens. I give them to Christ.” And with that, she took her hands – which had been cupped together in the shape of a cross and raised them up over her head and released the burdens to God. Mona helped build Christian community – by giving the burdens that were shared with her – to Christ.
This is what we are called to do too. We do not need to be weighed down by our burdens or the burdens of our neighbor. Like my friend Mona, we can take on the cares and prayers and concerns of our neighbor – and then give them to Christ. For together, in Christ, we are a new creation.
We are a new creation that is bound together – not by our burdens – but by the life-giving love of Christ. For our part, we can strive to be more like Mona in listening to our neighbor and giving their burdens to Christ. We can also take a lesson from the mosses who live in relationship with one another and God’s created world. For God cares for all of God’s creation, sustaining the little moss on the rock and helping it to change and adapt to thrive in new environments and God cares for us too – molding us into a new creation to live in community with one another and all of God’s beloved world. Thanks be to God who loves us so. Amen.
Faith-Lilac Way Lutheran Church July 3, 2022 Pastor Pam Stalheim Lane