OUR BURDEN (10-26-11)

Romans 8:16-17
The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ…
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Every morning, we would see them. Vendors carrying their wares as they go and jump through buses and jeepneys. People carrying sacks or bags on their shoulder. We want to help but we have better things to do, or so we think. Still, we see people walking down the street with nothing to carry. Can we say that they carry no burdens?

We see each other in church on Sunday mornings, and we don't know what loads the other person may be carrying. They don't have armloads of firewood, but their human spirits are hunched over from carrying heavy loads that are invisible. Some are carrying loads of grief, from recent losses. Some are weighed down by financial worries, by unemployment or failing businesses. Some are facing serious illness or divorce or children who have turned away.

We are all children of God. Bearing one another's bur¬dens is not limited to helping to carry the burden of sin or weakness. There are many kinds of burdens we have to bear. That is why we pray for one another and visit one another in times of sickness and loss. And that’s why we come alongside one another in times of moral failure and say, “Brother, sister, I want to see you become the healthy person Jesus intends you to be. I can see that you’re struggling under a burden. I am a fellow struggler. How can I help you with that burden?”

So, what is your burden today? Can I share with your burden? We have a responsibility in this life to help each other with our burdens for no Christian should ever have to carry a burden alone.

Let us pray +

Almighty Father, You keep together those You have united. Look kindly on all who follow Jesus your Son. We are all consecrated to you by our common baptism. Teach us to bear the burden of one another, doing it through love of You. Make us one in the fullness of faith, and keep us one in the fellowship of love. We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Our God is the God of salvation.