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DO GOOD
Sunday Worship Sermon
SEPTEMBER 20, 2009 - “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you
may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and
on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:44-45)
Today’s message is the second in a three part series based on Reuben Job’s book, Three Simple Rules, A Wesleyan Way of Living (Copyright 2007 by Abingdon Press, Nashville, Tennessee). Last week, we looked at the first rule “Do No Harm.” Bishop Job reminded us of something we already knew: that “deep in the silence of our hearts we know we want to follow Jesus.” And that by seeing each person as a child of God, following Jesus example, and being accountable for what we say and do, we can be successful at doing no harm to others.
But it doesn’t end with doing no harm. God calls us also to “Do Good.”
Technically, if I see you out in the middle of a lake drowning because you can’t swim, I could walk away and not be accused of causing you to drown. But that would be ludicrous, wouldn’t it? Even if I couldn’t swim, I’d try to do anything I could think of to help keep you from drowning. In crisis situations like this one, we would act to do whatever we could to help. But let’s take some situations that are a bit more subtle, the kinds of situations we run into in everyday life.
We’re in church. It’s been a stressful week. All we want to do is quietly sit in the pew and recharge. So-and-so sits down beside us. They don’t look like themselves, but we hesitate inquiring about how their doing for fear they might want to share with us some concern in their life. Not today. Today I have concerns of my own.
Or, we notice someone new in church. We go up to them and say “hello, glad you’re with us today,” but then we turn away because this is a busy day for us and we’ve got to get moving. If these people want to be part of our church they’ll be back. Besides, I am sure someone else will ask them things like: Are you new in the area? Where do you live? What are the ages of your children? What kind of work do you do? Is there anything we can help you with?
Or, we’re in a small group at church and someone makes an observation about someone else who is not present. Others chime in. At first the conversation seems harmless enough but then it begins to become what seems to me to be gossip. I think to myself, “This doesn’t feel right.” But I’m afraid of what people in the group will think of me if I say something so I just remain silent.
The thing is we can’t do good and stand by taking no action both at the same time. It’s got to be one or the other. “Do” is a verb; it requires an action. If we’re going to do good we need to: listen to the cares of others even in the midst of our own cares, we need to go the distance to make people feel welcome, and we need to stop gossip in its tracks even at the risk of being gossiped about ourselves.
What is the nature of “Doing Good?”
Doing good is universal. It is a circle that takes in all people. Bishop Job states that, “doing good is not limited to those like me or those who like me. Doing good is directed at everyone, even those who do not fit my category of “worthy” to receive any good that I or others can direct their way.”
Doing good is proactive. We have to choose to be deliberate in choosing to do good. Rueben Job claims that we need to make this a way of life where, “even those little offenses, like [someone] cutting in ahead of me in traffic, to the large offenses, such as [someone] considering me less than a child of God, can never move me outside the circle of goodness that flows from God to me and through me to the world. Every act and every word [of mine] must pass through the love and will of God and there be measured to discover if its purpose does indeed bring good and goodness to all it touches.”
Doing good requires being in control, but not control in the way we usually think of it. Wanting to stay in control causes us to worry so much about going overboard in doing good that we don’t do good nearly as much as we actually could. Wanting to stay in control causes us to worry about things like our gift of goodness being rejected or ridiculed. Or worrying about looking weak. Or worrying about our gift being misused. So much worry.
Some might say, “Why keep going to Harlan, Kentucky on a mission trip each year. By now, the people of Appalachia have received enough help. By now they should have pulled themselves out of poverty. They’re just taking advantage of us.”
Job answers that argument this way, “The truth is my gift of goodness may be rejected, ridiculed, and misused. But my desire to do good is not limited by the thoughts or actions of others. My desire to do good is in response to God’s invitation to follow Jesus, and [that] is in my control. I can determine to extend hospitality and goodness to all I meet. I can decide to do good to all, even to those who disagree with me and turn against what I believe is right and good. And the reward for my doing good is not cancelled or diminished by the response to my acts of goodness. I will have the reward of knowing I did what was right and pleasing to God. I will still be identified, known and loved as a child of God. What could be a greater reward than this?”
Bishop Job tells us that one act of goodness inevitably leads to another. He says, “‘the image of God fresh stamped on the heart’ [when we do good] is the ultimate reward for faithfulness, and it will certainly lead me to the decision to do all the good I can for everyone I can.”
Now, this does not mean that we put the needs of safety and security for ourselves and our families at risk. That would be foolish and it would actually diminish our ability to help others. But says Job, “appropriate care for self and living selflessly are not opposites. Rather they are each essential elements of a healthy and productive life.”
The word appropriate is central to care of self. If I am going to accumulate everything I can and if I’m going to let popular culture define my life, then I’m never going to be able to do much in the way of good for God and others. On the other hand if I check in with myself periodically asking, “is this a need or a want” it may help me better keep the needs of self and others in balance. Asking myself, “how hard would it be for me to give my possession up?” is another way of measuring whether I am in control or my possessions are controlling me. John Wesley tried to live his life by these words, “earn all you can, save all you can, give away all you can.”
We end with this quote from our friend Bishop Job, “To love God with my whole being and to love my neighbor as much as I love myself was never declared to be easy; but it was declared to be essential to our spiritual life, our life of faith, and our life with God.” With God’s help, and encouraging one another, let us strive to “Do No Harm and To Do All the Good We Can.”
Amen.
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