Sermon Tone Analysis

“Merciful Mechanics” on the Road to Judgment Day

Gal.

6:1-10

When you see someone broken down on the side of the road, how often do you stop to help?

One of the excuses I often think of for not stopping in those situations is that I know absolutely nothing about cars.

I have no tools; I have no expertise; I would probably be completely unhelpful.

I’m just not the right guy to help in those kinds of situations.

As far as I remember, I’ve never been broken down on the side of the road myself, so I don’t know what it’s like to call for “roadside assistance,” or to have someone stop to attempt to help.

Some of you probably have been in that situation.

Even if you haven’t, perhaps you could imagine what it would be like if you broke down on the side of the road, due to some inexplicable malfunction in your car, and before you even have time to call for help, someone pulls over, gets out of their truck, walks up and says, “What seems to be the trouble?”

You respond, “Well, I’m not real sure.

I can’t tell where the smoke’s coming from.

I was driving along, and it just died on me.

No warning lights inside or anything.”

Then, the stranger announces, “Well, don’t worry; I’m a mechanic; I work on cars for a living, and I see what the problem is, and I have the tools in my truck to fix this precise problem.”

Now, maybe that’s too idealistic a scenario, but if that were to happen I can imagine I would feel utter relief and deep gratitude.

This scenario is not unlike what Paul is describing as we open Galatians chapter 6. Turn there with me in your Bibles, please.

The picture he paints in verse 1 is that of a Christian caught in some sin, and another Christian comes along to provide assistance, to bring restoration.

He addresses the Galatians again as “brothers.”

Actually, chapter 6 both begins and ends with the word “brothers,” not counting the closing “Amen.”

This probably indicates that “everything from start to finish in this chapter is about how we interact as brothers and sisters in the family of the local church.”

In fact, I’d like to start at the end of our passage this morning.

Look down at Gal. 6:10: So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

In Ephesians 2:19, Paul addresses Gentile Christians in particular and says, So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, and there he seems to be referring to what we might call the “universal Church” or the “global Church.”

All believers of all times and all places are part of the “household of God,” the family of God.

But, with this particular command in Galatians, it makes good sense to recognize that Paul was directing the Galatian Christians to do good to each other as brothers and sisters, as members of the same family.

Surely we have a greater obligation to care for the needs of the family members we rub shoulders with on a regular basis.

If you consider Kilgore Bible Church your “church home,” I hope you view the people of Kilgore Bible Church as your closest family.

That’s how God intends local churches to function.

Now, let’s go back and read verse 1: Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.

Let’s stop there for just a moment.

Every phrase in that sentence could be understood in multiple ways.

First, what does Paul mean by “caught in any transgression”?

Well, he might be referring to this situation: I commit some sin, and you “catch” me doing it.

Or, he might be metaphorically describing sin overtaking a person, as if sin were executing a sneak attack and got the jump on the Christian.

I think this is the better way to understand the phrase, but, even though this phrase pictures the person as a victim of sin’s assault, we shouldn’t draw the conclusion that the sinner is somehow not responsible for the transgression in view.

We can see this as another reminder from Paul about how complex the reality of sin in the life of a believer actually is.

However we understand what “caught in any transgression” means, it’s plain that the transgression is visible to others.

Paul might be painting the picture of a person who has developed a particular pattern of sinful behavior, something the person clearly is having difficulty shaking off or getting rid of.

So, Paul calls for some intervention.

He’s commanding someone else to do something about it, so he’s assuming that someone else can see the transgression.

He addresses “you who are spiritual.”

At first glance, it seems like Paul might be referring to some super mature Christian, someone who has “arrived” in their discipleship.

The English word “spiritual” is such an unhelpful word.

If you look it up in an English dictionary, you basically have two categories of meaning: non-physical or vaguely religious.

When you see the word “spiritual” in your English Bible, especially in Paul’s letters, it never means either of these things, non-physical or vaguely religious.

Instead, almost every time, with maybe 1 or 2 exceptions, Paul is talking about something that is in some way connected to the Holy Spirit.

So, here, Paul addresses “you who are spiritual,” meaning something like “you whose lives are clearly characterized by the Holy Spirit.”

Or, drawing from the imagery used in chapter 5, Paul is addressing those who “keep in step with the Spirit,” those who recognize their utter dependence on the Holy Spirit for growth in the Christian life.

Now, it is true that the one “caught in a transgression” is a Christian, and the Holy Spirit lives in the person “caught in a transgression” just as much as he lives in those who would come to restore the one “caught in a transgression.”

However, when sin becomes prevalent in a Christian’s life, we can say, at the very least, that he or she is not depending on the Spirit in that area of life.

We could say that the person has lost sight of their need for the Spirit to produce righteous fruit in this area of life.

So, others who do recognize their constant need for the Spirit to produce righteous fruit in every area of their life, and who are depending on the Spirit to produce that fruit, must come to the aid of their brother or sister.

However we define “you who are spiritual,” it is certainly not referring to an elite group of Christians who have some special status within the community.

So, finally what does Paul command “you who are spiritual” to do? Restore him in a spirit of gentleness.

The Greek word translated “restore” is fascinating; it has a wide range of uses in the ancient world, but the one I think Paul probably has in mind comes from the medical world.

This word was used to describe what you need to do when you’ve dislocated your shoulder or when you’ve broken a bone.

Not having x-ray technology in the ancient world, the dislocation of joints and the fracturing of bones were often described with the same terms.

We would speak of “relocating” the shoulder, or “setting” a bone.

If you’ve ever dislocated your shoulder, you know that putting it back into place can be even more painful than the dislocation!

Likewise, setting a broken bone—putting the bone in a position where it will heal properly—can be incredibly painful.

I wonder if Paul has the larger metaphor of the church as the body of Christ here.

When a Christian is sinning, it’s like he’s broken or dislocated; he’s not functioning properly.

So, another part of the body must reach out to help put him back in place, for the health of not only the individual member, but also for the health of the whole body.

If you get a pain in your left shoulder, don’t you automatically reach up with your right hand to massage it, or turn and look at it out of the corner of your eye, trying to assess the damage?

I think that’s the image Paul’s thinking of here.

He also begins to tell us how this must be done, “in a spirit of gentleness,” which could simply mean with a gentle attitude.

However, the word “spirit” could very well be capitalized here as another reference to the Holy Spirit.

I think Paul’s commanding Christians to do the work of restoration, not simply with a gentle attitude (though that’s true, too), but rather he’s saying Christians must do this work “by the Spirit who produces gentleness.”

This gentleness is listed among the fruit produced by the Spirit back in Gal.

5:23.

Paul is clearly addressing the “restorers” here, not the broken; the work of restoration must be done depending on the Spirit’s work, expecting that the Spirit will produce the gentleness required to bring comfort and healing to the one “caught in a transgression.”

This connection between gentleness and restoration is what drives the first phrase of the sermon title, “merciful mechanics,” a phrase I borrowed from John Piper.

Think of the illustration I began the sermon with: we are driving along the road of discipleship, and we notice someone broken down on the side of the road; maybe their headlights have failed and they can’t see the sin in their life; maybe they got a flat tire, wearied by some trial in their life; maybe they just ran out of gas, too tired to carry on.

If we are depending on the Spirit to keep our headlights working and our tires aired up, Paul is saying that we have an obligation, and we have the tools needed, to pull over and give them some aid, to get them back on the road of discipleship.

We have the Spirit of God and the Word of God, and we’ll see how these fit together in just a bit to make us “merciful mechanics.”

Paul goes on to add a warning: Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.

Paul might be warning others that, when you come close to someone “caught in a transgression,” you might be tempted to fall into the same sin.

But I think it’s more likely that Paul is warning against pride.

When you come to help someone, isn’t it easy to think you’re somehow superior to the one who needs help?

We can easily think things like, “I have the tools; I have the expertise.”

We too easily forget who provides the tools and the expertise, the Holy Spirit.

And we too easily forget how it was us who were broken down on the side of the road, “caught in some transgression,” yesterday or last week.

So, restoration must be done both gently and humbly.

Paul broadens out his concern somewhat in verse 2: Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

The false teachers in Galatia wanted the Christians to feel the need to keep the law of Moses; Paul has insisted throughout this letter that Christians are not bound to the law of Moses; rather, they are now obligated to the law of Christ, which actually sums up and fulfills the law of Moses anyway.

Paul had summarized the thrust of the whole Mosaic law in Gal.

5:14 by quoting Lev.

19:18, You shall love your neighbor as yourself, and this also works as a summary of the law of Christ.

This law-fulfilling love is expressed here in the form of carrying each other’s burdens.

What burdens?

Well, as verse 1 highlighted, sin can be a burden.

We carry each other’s burdens by restoring each other to health when our own sin overwhelms us.

But I think Paul is speaking more generally here as well.

So, burdens could refer to any great weight you have to carry.

Sickness can be a great burden.

Financial troubles can be a great burden.

Anxiety.

Emotional instability.

Family stresses.

Marital conflict.

Death.