Bearing Burdens – Introduction
Bearing Burdens – Introduction
“Continue bearing each other’s heavy burdens. In this way you will be fulfilling the Torah’s true meaning, which is upheld by the Messiah Christ. Keep carrying one another’s overwhelming loads, and you will be truly obeying Christ’s Royal Law of Love. By your ongoing offer to stoop down and help shoulder one another’s crushing burdens, you will be completely submitting to the way Christ expects us to live.” (Galatians 6:2).
Bear (Greek, “bastazo”) – to carry, to carry off; to take away, to take up with your hands; to shoulder or share a weight. This word is in the continuous present tense, which means to continue doing so, an ongoing effort and not a one-time activity.
Burden (Greek, “baros”) – a crushing load; an extremely heavy weight; an overwhelming burden; an oppressive weight too heavy for one person to carry alone.
Fulfill (Greek, “anapleroo”) – to accomplish in its entirety; to complete; to perform fully; to observe perfectly.
Law of Christ (Greek, “nomos”) – the teachings of the Messiah that highlight the intended meaning of the Law of Moses; Christ‘s words in the Gospels that clarifies the heart of Torah; the set of biblical expectations established by Jesus that reveals what the Lord had in mind in the Hebrew Scriptures; the spirit of the Law of Moses behind the letter of the Law, as expressed by Jesus Christ.
Bearing the Cross. Why was burden-bearing so near and dear to Paul’s heart, so much so as to believe that when one bears the burdens of others, one in fact is completing the expectations of Christ? Perhaps Paul focused on burden-bearing because this human act of love perfectly described what Christ did on the Cross for our salvation. The whole point of Christ’s burden-bearing was to heal and ransom us out of His profound love for us. Burden-bearing represents and demonstrates God’s love for us, and summarizes all that he did on Calvary. So when we bear the burdens of another, we are participating in the love Christ has for others. When we pick up our cross daily, we can’t help up but bear the burdens of others. “Surely it was our weaknesses He carried; it was our sorrows and our pain of punishment that weighed Him down. God has placed on Him the guilt and sin of us all… Through what He experienced, my Righteous Servant will make many righteous, in right standing before God, for my Servant bears the burdens of their sins.” (Isaiah 53:4, 5, 11).
The Premise. Caring for others reflects the heart of God, and is grounded in the Biblical fact that all human life is sacred. There is a shared human dignity between all people, regardless of race, health, age, faith, status, station in life, the country of origin. Burden-bearing begins with those closest to us… our spouse, our children, our extended family, our church community, our neighbors in need, in that order. Any father or mother who, through a personal distance, or indifference, or overwork, or arrogant disdain, doesn’t bear the burdens of those closest to him/her in a personal and profound way, then that person is disobeying Christ. That person will not fulfill the law of Christ. That person does not reflect the heart of God.
Context – Burden-bearing can be applied to any excessive weight on a believer’s shoulders, whether physical or spiritual. In this passage though, Paul seems to be directly applying this word to spiritual burdens… guilt from a particular sin; a difficult time of temptation; sorrow over spiritual failure; being overtaken by the weight of an unexpected sin or wrongdoing; the expressed need for forgiveness; a time of doubt; an obvious need for sound Christian teaching; the need for a fellow believer be warned about the path one is traveling. Whatever this spiritual burden might be, fellow believers are expected to be aware of the spiritual well-being of fellow believers, and then to helpfully carry that believer by bearing his burden, by helping to shoulder the weight of it. Paul is referring in this passage to matters that are spiritual in nature, something that is weighing excessively on a brother/sister’s spirit. Bearing someone’s burden is putting God’s agape love into action.
Earlier in his letter to the church in Galatia, St. Paul declared that agape love is the fulfillment of the Law (5:14). A little further on in this same letter, Paul broke it down even further for us. He said that love itself can be distilled to “bearing one another’s burdens.” This seems vital to us who are following Jesus. This is no light matter for us. Paul might as well have had a soundtrack of blaring trumpets in the background as we read these words. Paul has at least twelve other “one-anothers” in his letters, all of them crucial, but he singled out burden-bearing above them all as to what is at the heart of love-in-action. Torah is summarized by agape love, and agape love is summarized by bearing each other’s burdens.
There is something about carrying another’s burdens that reflects the deepest part of the compassionate heart of God. His very Spirit yearns to bear burdens, to carry the troubles of people in need. Bearing burdens is a tangible way of caring for another. When someone offers to help bear a trouble, one can easily see that it’s not just sentimental God-talk or words that seem to convey the mere superficial image of compassion. Burden-bearing, trouble-carrying, is a part of God’s nature, and so will be a sure sign of our new nature when we put on Christ, when we follow Jesus. When we are covered in Christ, bearing burdens will become second nature. Bearing burdens puts teeth into the statement of Jesus that there is no greater love than to lay down your life for your friends. (John 15:13). Bearing burdens is an important aspect of daily martyrdom, giving up something in your life for the good of a brother/sister. Bearing burdens often involve giving up something, since it involves active participation in another’s life.
It’s helpful for us to know that Paul uses two totally different words for burdens in this extended passage. In 6:5 he said that “… each one should carry his own burdens.” The burden in 6:2 is an overwhelming weight, a crushing burden in one’s spiritual life that cannot be borne by oneself. But the burden is verse 5 is “phortion,” which is used for those burdens that should be managed by the believer himself, a reasonable load that one should be expected to carry without much help. One Greek scholar reports that both those words for burdens in the Greek are old nautical terms in which “baros” (v. 5) describes an overloaded boat that will not be able to successively manage its heavy cargo without help. And that “phortion” (v. 5) is a reasonable, normal cargo that should be able to stay afloat and sail to its destination. In this case, the ship with the reasonable cargo is expected to take on some of the cargo from the overloaded ship. The believer with normal daily life burdens is expected to take on some of the weight from the overloaded believer… a great picture of burden-bearing.
The truth is that Jesus expects us who carry lighter loads to carry some of the heavier loads from those with overwhelming burdens. All believers are called upon to first, sail together, and then notice if a brother or sister is struggling under the weight. We all need to keep long attention spans with our eyes wide open so we can notice the struggles of someone else.
Verse 3 sandwiched between these two burdens in this passage declares to us, “If anyone thinks he is something when his is nothing, he deceives himself.” In other words, we are sadly deceived if we think we are above it all, somehow too good to bear another’s burden. We are only fooling ourselves, says Paul, if we think we are morally or spiritually superior when it comes to bearing burdens. As the Amplified Bible puts it, “If any person thinks himself to be somebody too important to condescend to shoulder another’s load, when he is nobody of superiority except in his own estimation, he deceives and deludes and cheats himself.” In the Christian family, nobody is that important, and everybody is expected to share another’s heavy burden. The only Person who could truly claim that superiority is Jesus, and He “emptied Himself and came in the form of a servant.” (Phil. 2).
Is there a counterfeit? Is there such a thing as false burden-bearing? Is there a point when bearing the other’s burdens becomes unhealthy? Burden-bearing is one aspect of taking the yoke of Jesus upon our shoulders. When we do that, He says that we will find rest, for His yoke is easy and His burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30). If our burden-bearing becomes spiritually burdensome, overly stressful and too heavy, or obsessive, or is an unwelcome imposition on the burdened; if we sense that we are inviting co-dependency, are becoming spiritually ambitious, or are seen as a busybody; if we are developing a messiah complex, or are subtly assuming to be the savior of the world… Then we need to consider if we are actually bearing the yoke of Christ, or if instead we are bearing a burden for selfish reasons, for our ego, or a good name, to feel less guilty, or to achieve a purpose that is not in line with Jesus, who is “meek and humble of heart.” When we are bearing burdens of others and shouldering the yoke of Christ in the process, it is meant to be costly in a healthy way, and life-giving to both the caregiver and the recipient. Burden-bearing is sacrificial, but not pathological. When it’s not life-giving, it’s time to do some soul-searching and to seek Jesus for wisdom. Burden-bearing is taking upon us the yoke of Christ, who is the Author of life and health.
Burden-bearing begins with those closest to us… our spouse, our children, our extended family, our church community, our neighbors in need, in that order. Any father or mother who, through a personal distance, or indifference, or overwork, or arrogant disdain, doesn’t bear the burdens of those closest to him/her in a personal and profound way, then that person is disobeying Christ. That person will not fulfill the law of Christ. That person does not reflect the heart of God.
Yes! I have been waiting for the right post to insert one of my favorite songs from an Irish group I have really liked for a long, long time… The Waterboys. The reference to boats and cargoes above in the post fit right into this thoughtful, practically perfect song. The first version here is their exquisite, gorgeous acoustic version. Those lyrics! Lots of Irish soul here.
The Waterboys – Strange Boat (High Quality) – YouTube
And now we are treated to something they do in concert once in awhile… the electrified version of this song. I think this is fabulous as well. Different personnel in this particular concert, though the group’s leader and songwriter remains Mike Scott, who is the heart and soul of the group. I really like the energy this electric version gives to this great song. Play it loud!