Step 12: "Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."

This is not a step inward in our own journey of life and faith. It is a step outward which we take after we have recognized where God has led us in this journey. It is, in religious language, the call of the missionary. It is the call to share the good news. For some it is the good news found in sobriety. But it is a step for anyone caught in any trap in life, who has been set free by the redeeming power of God.

This message is at the core of Scripture: The prophet Isaiah spoke the great words of promise to an ancient people. The gospel lesson tells of the joy felt by Zacchaeus when he who was lost became a new person. It is Paul who writes to the church with advice how we as individuals and as a church should act in carrying the good news to others.

As you study this letter to the church in Galatia, it appears that news reached Paul of some harsh judgment against one of the church members. There is no indication of what they had done wrong. The details of someone else's failure was not important to Paul, nor should it be to us.

What was of concern to Paul, however, was how those who have received the good news should relate to others. Our goal is not to cut off the offending member, but to bring healing. When I broke my ankle four years ago, I did not want to have it removed, but healed. So we should treat other members of the household of faith.

To hold ourselves up in pride over another is wrong. The Christian should never take the failure of another as an opportunity for self-congratulations. As Paul wrote to the church in Corinth: "Do not rejoice at the wrong, but rejoice at the right." The prophet Ezekiel wrote these words of God: "I take no delight at the death of the wicked, but that the wicked might turn from his way and live."

Paul was aware that some folks were doing things they should not be doing. There is no question about that. But Paul views these sins in a rather passive way. Those in question were not blatant and deliberate in what they did. The sinner did not plan to go out and sin. The sinner, in Paul's words, was "overtaken."

There are "sins" like alcoholism which are not deliberate sins. No one says, "When I grow up I want to be an alcoholic." "I know what will be fun. I'll spend my life lying and then covering up for my lies." "Here's a great career. I think I will spend the rest of my life making friends with people who will get me into trouble."

Sometimes in our sins we simply get caught up. We do not mean to do it. An illness overtakes us. The alcoholic reaches out to destroy others. He does not mean to. But he is no longer in control. It is like a swimmer who is drowning. The controls get anesthetized. You are just grasping for something to hold. You were trying to pull yourself up, but ended up dragging another down. In this situation you are overtaken.

There are sins we fall into because we simply are not in control of our lives. So those who know the good news that will set them free do not need to load people down with a greater sense of guilt and shame. We need to help people become unburdened.

"Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." We do not need to give the heavy laden more burdens.

Paul's words were a message to care-givers. His first message in this passage is: "Do not seek to condemn. Seek to restore." We are to be God's agents in helping to restore others. We are, to use Paul's words in this text, to bear one another's burdens. Paul talks twice in this passage about bearing burdens, and what he says in these two places may seem contradictory.

First Paul says, "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." We are to help one another. Then he says, "For each person will have to bear his own load." We are each expected to carry our own burden. How can it be both ways?

It has to do with helping another without expecting them to do the same. It is issuing a dinner invitation without expecting you will have the favor returned. It has to do with giving and not counting the cost. It has to do with the simple joy of helping others.

It has to do with helping others, but not helping to the point where they are never allowed to develop their own strength. We all need to bear our own burden as much as we can with the strength God supplied. It has to do with gaining strength as others help us bear our burdens.

It is like weight lifters. They constantly struggle to lift weights beyond their capacity. As they gain strength, they have someone with them helping to bear up the weight in case it gets too much, because to drop it would be disaster.

It has to do with being willing to bear one another's burdens, but not to eliminate one another's responsibilities. The calling of the church is to help those who get caught up to bear their burdens while God gives them strength.

It is very easy for the caregiver to become the careneeder. Back in the 1960s one of the "in" things for clergy was to have what was referred to as a "specialized ministry," such as an airport ministry, a shopping mall ministry, etc. A friend of mine developed a bar ministry. It worked for a while until he himself had a bit too much of the poison and had to take the treatment. We easily become the wounded healer.

Paul expresses a special concern for the caregiver. "Do good ... especially to those of the household of faith." By itself that message is troublesome. Aren't we supposed to live for others and give to others? Isn't that what the church is about, going forth into the world in Christ's name?

The reason to give priority for the needs of church folks is not because God loves us any more than anyone else. But the caregivers must be cared for. When our fortunes shift, we can easily become the walking wounded.

As an analogy, Paul talks about the harvest. The apple farmer cannot just show up one fine day in October and pick the fruit off the trees. After the picking is done there is time to prune the trees There is time to maintain and repair equipment. There is time to spray for bugs and disease, then it is time to prune all over again.

Paul urges us to be faithful in season - when the fruit is ready for picking - and out of season - when we see no bud and all we are doing is maintenance. Be faithful in our work even when there is no fruit seen on the tree.

Here we are urged to be faithful in sharing God's good news with the world. "Having had a spiritual awakening we tried to carry this message to others, and to practice these principles in all our affairs."

There are three images that come to mind. One involves fishermen. I remember someone telling me about going on a fishing trip somewhere and along the way meeting a group of other people out fishing. When he tried to engage these other people in conversation, they were silent. It seems that they were afraid that he was trying to find the location of their special fishing place. They were unwilling to share the good news.

The other image comes from the great church leader D.T. Niles. He said that evangelism is one beggar telling another beggar where to get food. For a long time I did not like that image. We are not beggars. But the more I thought about it, the more it makes sense to me.

If we believe what Scripture tells us, that none of us are worthy of God's love and grace, that life itself is a gift, that Christ's redemption of each of us is the ultimate gift, then it makes a lot of sense. We were given the gift of life. It cost us nothing. When we strayed, it was God who paid the price to redeem us. All we can do, then, as an act of gratitude, is to let others know where they, too, can receive this gift of life.

The third image comes from an incident that happened at a banquet I attended this past year. The banquet was held at one of the big downtown hotels that was hosting several other events that night. The hostesses for the banquet were members of the Ray of Hope Christian Church. When it came time for them to begin their hostess work, they had scattered throughout the entire floor of the hotel. So their pastor, in a loud voice, shouted: "Ray of Hope." Heads turned from all over, wondering what this ray of hope was. We know what the ray of hope is, and we are called to bring that ray of hope to an uncertain world.