5/5/24 Galatians 6:1-10 “The Science of Jesus”

02 May 5/5/24 Galatians 6:1-10 “The Science of Jesus”

5/5/24    Galatians 6:1-10         “The Science of Jesus”

Every once in a while, Sharon and I do something that we normally don’t do very often.  Once in a while we have to go shopping for living room furniture.  Then when we find what we want, we have to get rid of what we had.  Anyway, there are quite a variety of sales people who try to help us.  Many just walked by and say little or nothing.  These are the ones who had probably made their quota for the month and aren’t that hungry.  Then we have a person try to help us who was very knowledgeable.  As a matter of opinion, the more he talked with us the more we felt that he was very knowledgeable about everything and not just furniture.  I was rather taken back by this and withdrew from the conversation.  We later found what we wanted at another store.  In a sense, the first salesperson reaped what he sowed, in our case anyway.  Maybe people like that type of personality but we didn’t so we bought elsewhere.  This is part of our Scripture reading today.  Let’s take a look and see if you reap what you sow.

Melvin Newland tells a story about a beautiful fruit tree.  It was in the back yard of a family that had a young boy who just loved to climb the tree.  He would sit up there well hidden by the leaves and day dream about being a fireman, being Tarzan and many other things little boys dream about being.  He would go up there when he was sad.  He would go up there when he was happy.  One day his father decided that he had to cut the old tree down because it hadn’t produced any fruit in years.  The little boy heard about this and he was shocked.  He couldn’t let this happen.  He had an idea so he got a neighbor boy to help him.  The night before the tree was to be cut down; these two little boys went to a neighbor and gathered up all the apples that were on the ground from their tree.  Then they took these apples home and fastened them to the old tree by twist ties, wire and string.  They pretty much got an apple on each branch of the tree.  The next morning the boy couldn’t wait to see the reaction on his dad’s face.  Dad went out and looked at the tree and came in with a slight smile on his face and said, “You’re not going to believe this, but a miracle took place last night.  That old fruit tree is full of apples.  There are fat, juicy apples on just about every branch.”  The mom was amazed as the dad continued, “And it is a double miracle because that is not an apple tree.  It is a pear tree.”  We should reap what we sow.

As I read this, I realized that Paul was a master at packing a lot of material with the fewest words.  He begins by talking about sharing our burdens.  This is why we need each other in church each Sunday.  We are to help our brothers and sisters in Christ with their burdens.  Some burdens we are to share and others we have to carry alone.  Paul had a burden that he asked God to take away but it didn’t happen.  We don’t know what it was because it was one Paul had to carry himself.  Maybe it was the guilt of what he did to Stephen and others.  Maybe it was a physical problem.  We don’t know.

We have problems like this also.  We bring problems to each other so we can pray for them.  We help each other build a house.  We help after a fire.  We bring food to those who don’t have as much as us.  But there are some burdens that we just can’t share.  If you break a bone, you have to recover from it and I can’t help you.  I can help you with other things but not the actual healing.  If you say something mean, no one can help you take it back.  It isn’t that we can’t help in these situations, we can.  But we cannot undo many of our actions no matter what we do.

This all fits in with the concept that we reap what we sow.  In verse 7 Paul tells us not to be deceived and more importantly, God will not be mocked.  One of the reasons Paul is writing this is that the Galatians had been deceived to the point that they didn’t want to hear the truth.  This is very much like our country today where we have an anything goes mentality and we deplore hearing the truth.  Divorce, abortion, and lying are just a few of the things that our society tells us are not only ok, but good for us.  However, the Bible tells us these things are wrong.  We have been deceived and the great liar is running wild and having a old good time.

There are many of topics about the areas in our lives where we are being deceived and we have to be careful because God will not be mocked.  The Bible is very clear about many of these issues in our world today.  And the Bible is also very clear in ‘God will not be mocked,’ period!  That is pretty strong.

Now what is Paul talking about being mocked?  These people mocked God because they knew that these things that they were doing were wrong.  They had been taught the ways of God and they were now deceived to the point where they rejected the truth of God.  Their rejection was their way of mocking God because they thought their ways were better than God’s.  We all know that God’s ways are the best ways possible.

I don’t think that we mock God too much in the churches I serve.  However, there are many places where the pastors lead the charge, the rebellion against the word of God.  They tell us that certain things are ok now because society says they are ok.  However, the Bible tells us they are wrong.  There are pastors who help their congregations mock God.  He will not be mocked.  They may think that they are doing right, but when the time comes to meet God face to face, I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes.  As much as our God is a God of love, He is also a God of justice and nothing impure will ever get into heaven.

With that said, let’s get to the crux of the matter.  A man reaps what he sows.  This is a double edged sword.  God is telling us through Paul that if these Galatians keep on their path of sowing bad seeds, it will end in their destruction.  The other side of the sword is all the good that can happen when we sow what is good.

First of all we have to realize that this is a very true statement; we reap what we sow.  We live in an agricultural community.  There is not a person here who expects that we will be able to plant corn and we will get wheat.  It just doesn’t happen.  We don’t go out and plant grass in our yards and expect trees to come up.  Now I don’t want to confuse anyone so are we all clear on this.  Whatever we plant, we should expect to grow.  The same can be said of our lives.  This is not rocket science!  When you plant the Bible and Jesus in your heart and you do what you are supposed to do, then good things happen.  On the average, a person with a personal relationship with Jesus will live longer, live happier and be wealthier than those who don’t.  Studies have shown that this and many more good things that happen when we have Jesus as our best friend.  Science tells us this.  This is why I say that science can be a very useful tool.

Why is it then that we expect everything to be good when we go against the ways of God?  Good things won’t happen and in the long run, going against God is a real poor idea.  Satan is a very sly, ugly monster.  He started us down this road of destruction 60-70years ago.  He started by saying that we could skip church once in a while and over the years this has become that we only come to church once in a while.  Like in the Garden with the serpent, he told us years ago that God didn’t really mean that all these abominations in the eyes of God would really lead to destruction.  Now we are to the point where we had better embrace these abominations so we can have a better worldly life and that won’t happen.  Let me remind you that Satan is always wrong and he always lies.  Always, always, always!  Any time you sow away from the Bible and God, bad things will follow.  Fortunately for us, God loves us so much that He has given us the directions to have a great life and a life that will lead us to heaven.  Make Jesus your Savior today.  Don’t make this harder than it is.  Following Jesus is as simple as confessing you sins to Him and inviting Him into your heart as your Lord and Savior.  That is about as simple as it gets.

I’m going to leave this putrid beast behind us now where he belongs.  Just remember that the next couple of points can also go the other direction.  If you are a farmer and you go out to plant your field, you expect to get what you planted.  You also expect to get more than you planted.  When I was a kid, we used the term ‘seeded’ instead of planted.  We would go out and seed a quarter of wheat.  Now I don’t remember just how much we seeded per acre but just for the sake of conversation, let’s say we seeded a bushel of wheat per acre or 160 bushels for the quarter.  Here’s your question.  Did my dad expect to get a bushel an acre when he harvested in the fall?  Of course not!  In those early days, he might expect 20 bushels an acre and later on it would be 35 bushels to the acre.  What is the expectation today?  We expect and we almost always get far more than we sowed.

The very same thing can be said about our lives.  I just talked about some of the proven facts about the life of a Christian in that it will be happier, longer and more productive.  If you are a Christian, you know all about this.  What really baffles me is how so many people, and some call themselves Christian, that turn their backs on this because they think they can do it better themselves.  It’s that old midwestern work ethic rearing its ugly head again.  I know non-Christians can live their lives but they will not do it as well as Christians.  I started my new life at age 40 and I can see that I have been far more productive since that time than all the time before.  If I were a young person today, I would embrace Christ because life is so much better with Him than without Him.  I wouldn’t expend all my time trying to understand Jesus and the Gospel, I would just believe it.  When you come to know Jesus, you will get far more in return than you invested.  This is the basic principle of farming.  You sow one seed and you get many seeds in return.  For you science people, this is the science of Jesus.  This is a principle you can bank on.

Another thing that happens when we sow the seeds of Jesus is that other people will also reap the benefits.  These ancient people were losing their battle against Satan.  They were having trouble seeing all the benefits.  They had let their guard down.  Paul is trying to tell them to keep the faith so that they and everyone around them will benefit.  Families were very important at this time and their families would benefit.  Their friends would benefit.  Anyone who hears or sees them would benefit.  Personally, I love Christians because as a rule we are a happy people.  You rub off on others just by being who you are.  I have never met a happy atheist, never!  But Christians are another story.

The great thing about this is that we don’t know what effect we will have on people.  You might think that you have wasted your breath explaining Jesus or a concept to someone but you have planted a seed.  There was a woman in my life when I was a child who taught me in the ways of Jesus in many areas that I didn’t even realize at the time.  She has gone home to the Lord, but I still remember how she nourished me.  I hadn’t seen her since I was a kid but I would expect that she had no idea how much she influenced me.  She helped me to be in this pulpit today.  She knows now because she is home with Jesus, but she didn’t during her life.  You are the same way.  You might not ever know the good influence you are having on someone.  Do not stop doing good!  Do good all the time!

And don’t give up!  If you had a child who broke their arm, what would you do?  You would take them to the doctor and get it set.  If you came upon an accident where someone you loved got hurt, what would you do?  You would call for help.  It is the same way with your family and friends who don’t know Jesus.  The people we know who don’t know Jesus are like the people with broken bones or illnesses.  They need help; your help.  Minister to these people by using your gifts or whatever is handy but minister to them in the name of Jesus so they can see all the positive.  They live in the negative so they don’t need that.  That can be for another time if at all.  They need the positive.  They need love and kindness.  This can only come from you, who are working in Jesus.

Jesus Christ tells us that we will reap what we sow and I’ve tried to show you that this is always true.  The real reason it is always true is that Jesus told us through Paul.  I don’t think that Jesus is telling us this so much as to warn us but He wants us to have the best life possible.  Your life is or can be the best because you have accepted Jesus as your Savior and He lives in your heart.  I think that everyone we know should be made aware that Jesus is the only way, the only way to a happy life.  And Jesus wants everyone to know Him.   Help Him in all you do.  Thank you Jesus for this love we don’t deserve.  Let’s pray.