Note to teachers: the objective of this lesson is to increase awareness that the Christian life is based on a whole life commitment to God through a lifetime of service.
If you wish to focus an illustration [there are many!] other than the food illustration, do so. Increase your class' consciousness of the rise in Americans' expectations in the closing thirty years of the twentieth century.
A significant expectation shift continues in the American society. This shift gathered momentum the last three decades of the twentieth century. To illustrate this shift, consider the food industry. Many of our 60 plus group remember when you began preparation for a fried chicken dinner by catching the chicken. Many of them remember when you rarely went to a restaurant for a meal. As poverty declined, visits to the restaurant or cafe increased. As the economy grew, the need for convenient food service produced the drive-in. As a prosperous economy stressed time utilization, the drive-by window increased speed and convenience. The success of "fast food" services created the "fast food" industry.
The impact of this process is seen in common expectations. When purchasing prepared meals outside the home, we expect fast service. We expect good food with a wonderful taste served hot within minutes of being ordered. If we are disappointed, we will not return.
Our society expects fast. The postal service is too slow. We want the instant contact of e-mail. Delivery within a week to ten days is too slow. We want overnight express. At home, an electric or gas oven is too slow. We want a microwave that heats food in two to five minutes.
"Now" means instantly, not soon. When we turn on the television, we want a picture and sound "now." When we turn on the heat or the air conditioning, we want noticeable results "now." When we make a purchase, we want it "now."
We want to recover from sickness immediately ["give me a pill!"]. Our marriage problem took ten years to build, but we expect it to be resolved in less than a month ["give us the solution!"]. We want personal problems produced by two generations of destructive behavior to be solved in three visits to a counselor ["give me the answer!"]. We want investments to make us wealthy in a year ["give me immediate success!"]. We do not merely want it. We expect it! Miraculous relief! Immediate results! Instant gratification!
Expectations formed a society that demands the immediate. The expectant attitude places the same demands on God and the church. We expect God to address our "needs" on our time schedule. Prayer should produce instant results. Those results are measured by our expectations [not God's actions].
Rapidly we are becoming a people incapable of keeping long-term commitments. If a job does not measure up to our expectations within a few weeks, get another job. If a spouse does not measure up to our expectations within a few months, divorce. If family life does not meet our expectations quickly, neglect or abandon it. If a friend does not meet our expectations, end the relationship. If a congregation does not meet our expectations, find another. "I will responsibly commit as long as it obviously is good for me--period!"
Surrendering to God is a long-term commitment. It is an eternal commitment, not a ten-year commitment or an adult lifetime commitment. Eternal benefits make this long-term commitment more than worth it (Romans 8:18). However, this commitment involves struggle and inconvenience.
Help your students understand that the focus of this long-term commitment is not on us as individuals, but on God. The issue at the heart of this commitment: God is using my life to fulfill His eternal purposes.
Read Galatians 6:1-10.
A person who is spiritual [not just knowledgeable, or "right," or "correct," or in a power position] will seek gently to restore the person who is "caught" in defiance of God's instructions. The objective is restoration, not purification of the congregation. The attitude is gentleness, not a judgmental condemnation. God forgives. God makes holy. God purifies. Spiritual persons encourage restoration. Spiritual persons try to move the transgressing Christian toward restoring reconciliation with God.
He or she is to examine self to heighten awareness of the opportunity for personal temptation. When we work with a Christian who has made a mistake, we easily can be arrogant rather than humble, superior rather than meek, self-righteous rather than compassionate, judgmental rather than encouraging, condescending rather than merciful. It is easy for the corrector to assume the role and position of God. That is precisely what the Pharisees did. Read Matthew 23:1-12 and note what Jesus said about their attitudes. They were not spiritual. They were not gentle. They did not seek to restore.
Helping those who are burdened was and is the essence of what Jesus Christ was and is all about. The law of Christ was in distinct contrast to the ways Judaism applied the Mosaical law. The foundation of the Jewish law was the ten commandments. Six of those commands focused on loving your neighbor as yourself. In Jesus' day, the traditional application of those laws honored the law while disregarding people. Jesus Christ is the perfect fulfillment of the objectives of loving your neighbor. We help the burdened because our Lord was the supreme helper of the burdened. He made it quite clear that people who followed him helped the burdened.
We are self-deceived when we regard ourselves to be significant but are unimportant. We are always nothing [insignificant, unimportant] when compared to God or to Jesus. We gain significance [importance] only by surrendering to God's purposes revealed in Jesus Christ. Our significance is not found in our worth, but in our service to God. God's purposes in Jesus Christ are to gently restore those who make mistakes and to help those crushed under burdens. We want to restore the one who committed a trespass or the one who is crushed by burdens because we know what Christ continues to do in our lives. Our goodness [which does not exist] is not the basis of our help. Our help is based on God and Jesus' goodness. They, not we, are the source of grace, mercy, and forgiveness.
When other Christians serve in ways that please our desires and emphases, we say [with a positive attitude of endorsement], "Look at what we are doing," though we personally are not involved. When Christians serve in ways that displease us, we say [with a negative attitude of disrespect], "Look at what they are doing!" Or, we identify with Christian servants who are active and involved as though we participated in their efforts when we actually do nothing. Such Christians think because they know and approve of the efforts of committed, spiritual servants, they should be considered committed, spiritual servants.
We should make responsible efforts to bear our own burdens. We are quite willing to help others. We are quite willing to be helped. Yet, we never expect others to care for our burdens while we assume no responsibility and make no effort.
As a side comment, note the spiritually mature are willing to accept help as well as provide help. Some servants will not allow others to assist them in their burdens. Christian relationships are sustained by mutually helping each other. A relationship cannot exist if I make you depend on me when I will not depend on you.
Those who are blessed by a teacher sharing his or her knowledge and understanding should bless the teacher. The teacher shares with others what he or she has--knowledge and understanding of God and God's purposes. Others should share with the teacher what they have. In the early Christian community [composed entirely of first generation Christians] this was extremely important.
God cannot be fooled, deceived, or misled. The principle of the harvest is that you harvest what you plant.
The thought focused on physical life in this world [the field to be planted] and eternal life in the world to come [the harvest]. You can invest your life in physical existence or invest your life in God's Spirit. God's Spirit nurtures you and strengthens you as you serve God's purposes. [Remember the message of this letter was understood in the context of their spiritual realities. The Spirit was extremely active in every aspect of their spiritual existence and lives. Remember printing did not exist, and they did not have personal copies of scripture. Remember what we call the New Testament had not been fully written or collected into a single volume. Dependence on God's Spirit was essential for spiritual existence.] If you invest in physical existence, the harvest is a decaying body. If you invest in God's purposes by providing God's Spirit complete access to your life, the harvest is eternal life.
The harvest of eternal life was definite, certain, and assured if they refused to let weariness convince them to quit.
He or she should do good to and for people as opportunity presented itself. He or she should do good (1) to all people and (2) especially to fellow Christians.
Instant results demanded by expectations of immediate visible achievements are an American criteria, not a divine edict. From the time Abraham received God's promises (Genesis 12:1-4) until the time that Isaac was born was a period of twenty-five years (Genesis 21:5). Joseph had his dreams when he was seventeen (Genesis 37:2). Before those dreams became reality, he was sold as a slave, falsely accused by Potiphar's wife, imprisoned and forgotten, remembered as an interpreter of dreams, and transformed from prisoner to ruler. Moses was forty years old when he left Egypt. He was eighty years old when he returned to lead Israel. God spent eighty years preparing him for forty years of service. David spent over ten years gaining experience as shepherd, warrior, and fugitive who depended on God before he became king (2 Samuel 5:4,5). Jesus was about thirty years old when he began his ministry (Luke 3:23). From beginning to end Jesus' ministry lasted approximately three years.
An examination of the work and lives of many of God's great servants reveals several things. Time is a human concern, not divine concern. God uses preparation to achieve purposes. He does not seek instant results. God measures results by faith seen in spiritual maturity, not by visible statistics. What God views as successful often appears to human eyes as ineffective. Things that evoke a "well done" from God easily produce a "so what" from people.
As Christians, we surrender to God's long-term purposes. We measure success in records that stress numbers. God does not. Moses led hundreds of thousands out of Egypt. Two adults who left Egypt entered Canaan. Elijah thought he was the only faithful person left. Jesus taught and healed thousands. About one hundred and twenty remained together after his death prior to Pentecost. We sow for eternity. God gives the increase. We never stop sowing.
Emphasize this fact: spiritual results and accomplishments often are not visible to our physical eyes. We cannot see what doing good accomplishes in human hearts. Some people will deceive us and exploit the good we do. Some people will be touched when we are unaware of any good we did. The perceptions of physical senses do not determine the reality of spiritual accomplishments.
We are charged with the responsibility of being good stewards of God's mystery. [The word "mystery" meant something hidden in the past but now clearly revealed. Only after God explained His accomplishments in Jesus' death and resurrection (see Acts 2) did people comprehend God's work in Jesus.] Our primary Christian responsibilities are to do good and to share the good news of Jesus' death and resurrection. We are responsible to (1) generously, freely do good because we belong to Christ and (2) to inform people about God's accomplishments in Christ. God is in charge of results (1 Corinthians 3:6). Though we may or may not see results in forms that we identify and comprehend, we freely, generously do good and share the good news.
Only Christians who surrender to a long-term commitment can and will do these things.
Link to Student Guide
Quarter 3, Lesson 9