Sharing, Sowing and Reaping

Gal 6:6-10

A wife come into her minister’s office one day very upset and discouraged about her husband. He had treated her very for much of their marriage. Thinking of passages like this and others, the minister said, “have you ever tried heaping burning coals on his head?” She replied, “No, I haven’t done that, but I have used hot water!”

As we look at this next section of Galatians, it is about reaping and sowing and also about doing good to people. Sometimes it’s not very easy to do good to others. However, when we do what is right we’ll reap what is right and when we do what is wrong someday we will reap the consequences of that wrong.

PRAYER

I. Reaping and Sowing

A. An indisputable law

1. There are some laws in life that sometimes hold true and sometimes don’t.

a) If you love them set them free…

b) green doesn’t go with purple … unless you lived through the 70’s

2. However there are other sayings that absolutely will come as the saying goes.

a) Law of gravity says: everything that goes up must come down. It’s going to happen.

b) This is the same type of deal. God cannot be mocked

c) You will reap what you sow.

B. Sowing Good and Sowing Bad

1. Some years ago a woman lion tamer kissed one of the lions as part of her act. She had performed this feat numerous times without mishap. But on one occasion while on stage in Baltimore, the beast for some unexplainable reason became angry and bit her, causing her face to be severely disfigured.

2. Sin is exactly like that!

a) We can trifle and play around with it for a long time with no apparent bad effects.

b) In fact, dabbling with forbidden practices and flirting with danger holds a special kind of fascination and thrill.

c) But then, just when we relax and seem to be getting away with iniquity, the very thing we've been toying with turns on us without warning and in some instances can literally destroy us.

3. Going back to 5:16-17 we see the sinful nature is in direct conflict with the nature of the Spirit.

a) Paul says that if we live in the sinful nature that we not inherit the kingdom of God.

b) We are guaranteed that.

c) The only way that will change is if we will change.

d) Luise Diaz is a preacher in Mexico. He wasn’t always a preacher. In fact he was one of those men you never dreamed would become a Christian let alone a preacher. When I first met him he was visiting an army buddy in Alaska that attended our church. His life had gotten out of control and he left Texas to get away from a lifestyle that would have literally killed him if he stayed there much longer. Dad began studying the Bible with him and over the summer he decided to give his life to Christ and became a Christian. He has children he has never seen. There is a part of Texas that he risks his life in if he goes back because of associations he had before he became a Christian. He has years of his life that he is ashamed of today as a Christian.

e) Has he reaped some of the sinful nature he sowed? Most definitely, but he won’t have to reap destruction.

4. sow to please the Spirit.

a) sow a good life. The harvest is so much better.

b) I used to get upset at youth speakers who were bad people turned good. In order to capture the attention of the teens, they would almost glorify the bad things they did and they talk about how God had changed their lives.

c) One of my teens even said that it almost tempted him to live sinfully for a while and then get life straightened out again like that certain speaker did.

d) My Dad’s life is the exact opposite of these guys. He lived a good Christian life. A boring life maybe to many people, but he has reaped what he sowed.

(1) His marriage is the only marriage in his family that has been stable.

(2) Mom and Dad’s children are preachers and Sunday school teachers.

(3) People of character look at him with respect.

(4) He isn’t embarrassed to run into people who knew him when he was younger.

e) I would choose his life over those who were bad any day.

5. If you are young commit to sowing a life that will please the spirit so you don’t have any regrets

6. If you are older, commit to sowing a life that will please the spirit so you can overcome the regrets.

II. Do Good to Others

A. Share good things

1. Our text started off with those who learned were to share all good things with the instructor.

2. Specifically, Paul was talking about the practice that the people had in those days of giving a financial blessing to those who has taught them when they were younger or helped them achieve a certain status in the community.

a) He was encouraging them to take care of the financial needs of the minister who taught them and nurtured them in the faith.

b) Many ministers feel like Jaques Plante who was a professional hockey goalie. After one game in which he didn’t perform well, he was in a really bad mood. One reporter worked hard to get a statement from him about the game and he replied, “how would you like it that every time you made a mistake 18,000 people booed you?”

c) Maybe we can learn from the wise words of a respected minister.

d) "A well-meaning group of laymen from a neighboring church came to see a pastor one day. They wanted advice on a painless method of getting rid of their pastor. Here's what he told them: 1. Look him straight in the eye while he is preaching and say amen once in awhile; he'll preach himself to death. 2. Pat him on the back and tell him his good points; before you know it, he'll work himself to death. 3. Rededicate your own life to Christ and ask your minister for a job to do; he'll die of heart failure. 4. Get the church to unite in prayer for him, and he'll soon become so effective that a larger congregation will take him off your hands."

3. Generally I think this can be applied to the church.

a) If the church has helped you to grow spiritually.

b) If the church has taught you to be a better Christian, bless the church financially as you can.

c) Bless the church with giving of your time and effort.

d) You make the church better, and help it to reach out to even more people with the gospel.

B. Do Good to everyone

1. verse 9 has become an important verse to me over the years of being a minister, and should be to all of us who try hard to do good for others. READ v.9

2. There have been times when I have sunk a lot of time, effort and even money to helping someone only to see them still just drift away from the church without even saying thank you. It makes me not want to put that kind of effort into the next person who needs help, but this verse reminds me to keep doing the right thing.

3. One day that effort will be rewarded.

a) Maybe I’ll see someone really blossom in their faith and know I had a part in that.

b) Maybe it just may be a peaceful heart knowing I did what I could.

c) I wonder if God ever feels like I do?

d) If he does I am glad he doesn’t quit on me, but keeps on doing good.

4. Take every opportunity to do good.

a) Whenever the opportunity presents itself, do good.

b) But this scripture goes beyond that. A proper rendering should be “as long as we have the opportunity to do so.”

c) don’t wait for an opportunity to present itself, look for an opportunity to do good to others.

d) Make a special effort to help your fellow Christians.

e) Maybe Malawi is a real life rendering of this verse. They are getting food to as many people as possible, but making sure Christians are being fed. What has been happening is that the church is really growing as the people of Malawi see the church giving away precious food to those in need and they want to know more about a God and a church who is willing to do that in a time of starvation.