It’s All About Us
Keith McFarren
July 6, 2025
Galatians 6:1-16
    There is a song sung at the end of the Broadway
musical “Wicked” called “For Good.”   The
song takes place near the end of the show, during the final meeting of the two
main characters.  Throughout the show
they have been friends and enemies, and partners and rivals.  They meet at the end of the show under less
than ideal circumstances and together they sing this song, knowing that they
will probably never see each other again.

    The song is both an apology and an
affirmation…but more importantly it is an acknowledgment of what a deep and
lasting impact one person can make on another person’s life.
    Listen to the words of a few stanzas of
the song “For Good.”
“I’ve heard it said that people come
into our lives for a reason, bringing something we must learn. And we are led
to those who help us most to grow, if we let them and we help them in return.”
    “Well, I don’t know if that’s true, but I
know I am who I am today…because I knew you”
Songwriter:  Stephen Lawrence Schwartz
For Good lyrics copyright,
Universal Music Corp., Greydog Music.
    The song, “For Good” is meant to help us recognize
the influence other people bring into our lives and the impact that they make,
sometimes in surprising ways, but most often in permanent ways…meaning that someone
who is close to us can be a good influence on our lives by having a permanent
and lasting effect on who we are and what we have become not only for today,
but for today, tomorrow and out into the future.
    We can become better people because of the
goodness other people bring into our lives.
And that goodness stays with us throughout our life time.  Or as Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West
in the show would sing, “You’ll be with me, like a handprint on my heart.”
    Paul had been around for a while; he knew
the problems that arise in any Christian society.  He knew that even the best of people can slip
up.  The word Paul uses, “slip up,”
doesn’t mean a deliberate sin that was done on purpose; he means that one can
“accidently slip up” just like one accidently slips on the ice in the winter or
stubs their toe on a raised sidewalk.  It…just
kind of accidently happened.
    He had also been around long enough to
know that there is an element of hard heartedness in a lot of good Christian
people.  He knew that the danger of those
people who profess to walk the straight and narrow line and live the Christian
lifestyle is that they are likely to judge the sins of other people quite
harshly.  Good Christian people can be
judgmental and very unsympathetic.
    But Paul says that, if people do slip up, if
they do make a mistake, the real Christian response is not to judgmentally focus
on what sin they have committed, but instead focus on getting those people straightened
out and back on their feet again. In other words, don’t focus on the punishment
for what they have done…focus on the cure.  Don’t focus on the penalty that should be paid
for their mistake but focus on getting them back on track again by making
things right.
    Paul goes on to stress that instead of
putting ourselves up on a holier than thou pedestal, when we as Christians see
someone make a mistake, instead of judging, we would do well to say to
ourselves, “There but for the grace of God go I.”
    To fully understand the way Paul writes,
we need to think in plurals rather than singulars.  As individuals, we tend to think of “What can
I do to help someone?”  How can I grow in
my Christian discipleship?”  
    But this new creation that Paul talks
about is described in plurals…meaning we (as in community) rather than I (as an
individual).
    We, meaning all of us, after accepting
Christ into our lives, have become a new creation.  We, as Bethel United Methodist Church, have
become a family of faith.  My faith is
wrapped up in your faith.  My growth as a
Christian is wrapped up in your growth as a Christian.  Paul asks us in the 6th chapter of
Galatians to combine our faith as individuals to form a faith community and
then measure our faith by the impact we have on the wider community that
surrounds us.  
    “So let us not grow weary in doing what is
right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up.  So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let
us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith”
(Galatians 6:9-10, NRSV).
    Did you hear that?  “…let us not grow weary in doing what is
right…”  Never get tired of doing the
right thing.  Despite all the barriers
and roadblocks that lie ahead, hang in there and just keep plugging away at
it.  Don’t quit.  Don’t give up.  Service to others in the name of Christ is
not a sprint…it’s a long drawn out marathon that can, over a period of time,
wear us down and cause us to want to give up but know that in the end, those
that continue onward are the ones who will receive their reward.
    But there is another thing that Paul was
referring to when he said that we should never grow weary.  There were a lot of problems in the church at
Galatia and many of them were complicated…problems that were causing a division
at the very core of the church.  
    There was some serious theological debate
going on, but mostly the division had to do with church practices…how the
people were to live out their new faith.
And because of the differences in their beliefs and differences in how
people thought things should be done, people were angry, they were calling each
other names, and because of their frustrations the people were separating into
different factions depending upon their beliefs.  The church was being torn apart and this
grieved Paul, but Paul, who tells us to never grow weary, wasn’t about to give
up.  
    Chapter six of Paul’s letter to the
Galatians, begins with a conversation on how to deal with conflict.  He uses phrases like the “spirit of
gentleness” and he talks about “bearing one another’s burdens” as he sets out
on a completely different tone for a church that is struggling with differences
in beliefs, beliefs that led to a division among its people.  
    Instead of using the old theory of
“whoever shouts the loudest wins,” or “whoever is the strongest wins,” Paul
wants the church to realize that there are different priorities and
methodologies that they need to understand if they truly want to get along with
one another and truly function as a community of faith.  
     He
gives the people a veiled warning, implying that there are certain
responsibilities and certain expectations and certain standards to live up to
for those who have been taught and accepted and live their lives according to the
word of God.
    It was during that conversation that
verses 9 and 10 come to the forefront.  I
read it to you earlier; let me read it again.
“So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at
harvest time, if we do not give up.  So
then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and
especially for those of the family of faith” (Galatians 6:9-10, NRSV).
    “…let us work for the good of all, and especially
for those of the family of faith.”  We
know that.  Paul doesn’t have to tell us
that as a people and as a church we need to focus outward toward those around
us and not inward toward only ourselves.
We know that as Christians, we’re not supposed to be concerned first and
foremost with ourselves.  We know that as
Christians we aren’t supposed to have the “me first” mentality.  And Paul knows that.
    But Paul also knows that as much as we
think we can…we can’t do God’s work all by ourselves.  We get tired.
We get worn out.  We sometimes get
cranky, even while we’re trying to save souls, because our energy level has
dropped down to zero.
    But what would happen if we set this, “I
can do it myself” stuff aside and worked together as a faith community.  What would happen if we were to admit we slip
up and we make mistakes?  What would
happen if we were to admit that, because we are human, we are incapable of
sustaining the constant desire to do good.
What would happen if we were to admit that, because we are human, we sometimes
fail at working for the kingdom of God the way we should?  
    What if we were to admit that I can’t do
it all on my own and that the only way for me to move forward on a positive
note in the kingdom of God is to work in unison with my brothers and sisters
within the church because I need their support.
What if we were to admit I need the people of my church to keep me going,
to pick me up when I fall; I need the people of the church to keep me on the
right track.  I need the people of the
church to help me with spreading the Good News of the Gospel.  What would happen if we were to throw up our
hands and admit that we need each other.
    That’s what Paul means in verse 10 when he
uses the word especially.  “Let us
work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.”  As Christians, we are always looking for
ways to develop relationships not only outside the church but inside the church
as well.  We are looking to build
relationships that will keep us connected and build us up…as individuals and as
a church family.
    We
are always looking for ways to create relationships whereby we are transformed
by those who have come into our lives…just as others are transformed by the
relationship we have formed with them as we enter into their lives.  
    That’s why we worship together.  We have communion together.  We have cookie fellowship together.  We have Sunday school together.  We cardio drumming together.  We have Book Club together.
    The church and its people are an extended
family, in which we are to take full responsibility for one another and support
one another as we walk through the various aspects of spiritual warfare.  
    We will not grow weary in our lives or in
our faith as long as we are sustained by those we love and by those that love
us back.  We will not grow weary as long
as we have our faith community to lift us up and support us.  We will not grow weary as long as we are
sustained by the body of Christ.
    We are made better by our Christian
friends and through our love and encouragement our Christian friends are made
better by what we do for them.  Our common
welfare depends on the spiritual health of each of us because we each have a
stake in helping one another walk faithfully just as we have a stake in helping
one another through difficult times.  Together,
as one, we are encouraged and equipped to be better…to serve with passion, to
serve with care, to serve with love.
    People come into our lives for a
reason.  And we are in other people’s lives
for a reason…to pick them up when they are down, to raise them up when they
have gone astray, to offer grace when needed…and these same people do the same
for us.  Together, we share our faith.  Together, we share our love.  Together, we are shaped for service, all in
the name of Christ.