05/17/2022
Pastor Joe's message from Sunday, May 15, 2022
(Romans 12: 9-12) -
Today is the second part of our sermon series. We will discuss the second rule of Methodism Do Good. We all have our favorite ways to end a correspondence. When we were taught how to write a letter in school, we ended a letter with the word “sincerely”. When we ended a letter or special card to someone special, we ended it with the word “love”. As I grew older, I fell into the habit of ending my correspondence with the term “Be Good”. How can you go wrong with that. It was not too formal and not too sentimental. I sailed along with that until until my lunatic sister took offense and responded to my correspondence by telling me to stop telling her to be good, that I shouldn’t keep telling her to be good, that she doesn’t need me to tell her to be good, because she was always good (not a good Calvinist). But, “Be Good” and “Do Good” are different. Be good is a quality of behavior or character, while “Do Good” describes a certain type of action, a sort of responsibility that we owe each other as God’s children. John Wesley did not tell us to “Be Good”, but to “Do Good". So, as with the phrase “do no harm”, while it sounds simple, it turns out to be very hard to do. Perhaps I should have told my sister to “do good” instead. The word “good” is a good word and it usually means that something good has happened or is happening or something is just plain good. Until it was replaced by Three Dog Night’s song “Joy to the World”, my favorite song as I was growing up was a tune by a group named Paul Revere and the Raiders named simply “Good Thing”. (When you google the song, you will realize what a strange child I was.) When you like the taste of something, you say it tastes good. When you behave as a child, you are a good boy or girl. When James Brown was happy, he sang “I Feel good”. My mom told me to always be good. Mr. Goodbar. Having a good time. A good sport. A good life. Goody Two Shoes. Goodness, Gracious, Great Balls of fire!!!!!! And of course, Genesis 1: 31 tells us “God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good.”
Our scripture, Roman’s 12: 9-21, gives us multiple clear examples of how to do good: “(9) Let love be genuine. Hate what is evil. Hold fast to what is good. (10) Love one another with mutual affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. (11) Do not lag in zeal. Be ardent in spirit. Serve the Lord. (12) Rejoice in hope. Be patient in affliction. Persevere in prayer. (13) Contribute to the needs of the saints. Pursue hospitality to strangers. (14) Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. (15) Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep. (16) Live in harmony with one another. Do not be arrogant, but associate with the lowly. Do not claim to be wiser than you are. (17) Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. 18 If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. (19) Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine. I will repay, says the Lord.” (20) Instead, “if your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink, for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.” (21) Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
Once again, the phrase and admonition “Do Good” seems too
simple and not really very helpful. The shortest sermon in history would be when the preacher stands up to the pulpit and say “Do Good” and then sit down. We as a church do good in many ways. Your VBS and after school program and the ongoing work of your UMW and UMP are excellent examples of ways of your church doing good and we celebrate these efforts. We do good when we generously give with our offering, because maintaining this building and paying our staff is a central part of maintaining our ability to carry out our missions. Our influence of our missions is stronger when we work together. We are a connectional church and our experience of God is communal. That is why we invite members of the congregation to take part in the service, to join in, if you will, when we pass the clip board with opportunities for you to take, not to add to your burdens or responsibilities, but to invite you to join us, the more the merrier. Some believe that they can experience God just by themselves on their own ("I am a spiritual, not a church, person."), but it is the belief of the United Methodist Church that we experience God better through others, that Disciple making is a shared experience, that we would be less if there were not the whole body of Christ around us. That is why the Church and the Church experience is Relevant, that the Church enables us to “Do Good” together. While our text from Romans shows is that there are many ways to do good, it also stands as a vivid example that doing good is not how most of the people in this world live or are motivated to live, including ourselves if we are honest with each other. Many times we can relate to the vengeful feelings of the wicked witch when she wrings her hands and says “I’ll get you my little pretty! And your little dog too!!” Sometimes, when we are driving down the interstate following the rules and someone speeds past us and cuts us off, it is our first inclination to hope that some police person is waiting or watching, that we want vengeance for this maniac so they can get what’s coming to them. And we feel some satisfaction on those rare occasions when our wishes comes true when we pass them later stopped by the side of the highway with a set of troopers lights flashing behind them. When we witness political corruption with actors who always seem to get away with their shenanigans, we secretly wish for the indictment and jail cell those folks so richly deserve. We all say we hate lawyers, because they seem to be nasty people without compassion or ethics, but if and when we get into a legal problem, our first impulse is to go get a "bulldog" of our own. So, vengeance appears to be in our nature and we have the tendency to want to get even so “they” can get what’s coming to them. Paul in our passage today describes another way to live if we want to be known as followers of Christ, to be guided not by the ways of the world but by the teachings and examples of Christ, that our primary motivation is not to get ahead of others, but to do good. The world may tell us that such behavior is foolish, that instead of doing good, we should instead do “whatever is necessary to be successful”, regardless of whether it is good or bad, never apologize or admit our mistakes or wrongdoing because this is only a sign of weakness, that we need to push ahead of the others regardless of who it hurts, that this is the only way to get ahead in this world, to change the admonition of John Wesley from “Do Good”, to “Don’t be a loser”. And this is why Christianity is such hard work, to live on the principles and teachings of Christ while those who don’t always seem to get the upper hand. But that is only if we can’t get past being concerned only whether others get what is coming to them. As Paul states in verse 19, never avenge yourself, but leave room for the wrath of God. Instead, Paul advocates rules of a community of faith, that we are not only connected but also accountable to ourselves and others. We don’t have to change the behavior of others or get hung up on the way others live in this world. Rather, we are called to clean our own house and call upon one another in our faith community to a higher standard, to do good, to transform lives. Verse 21 tells us “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” How do we do this? Jesus has given us the method: to love our neighbor using the tools of respect for each other, to honor each other, have patience with each other and pray for each other, and not engage in judgment or revenge. As Paul states, judgment and revenge is God’s job. Our job is to try and try to forgive our brother and sister and never give up. We keep working in community for those in our community who are struggling to learn how to live and love as Christ taught us to do. We are called to look for opportunities to show love and seize every opportunity to do so. In this regard, while we have discussed the good this church continues to do, the real work of the Church is not only what takes place on the inside or outside of the church but also on its threshold, that one of the keys to a successful church, and reason so many churches fail, is how a guest is welcomed and included, how those in proximity to the Church can be caught up in the generous hospitality that draws those people in. A church must be a welcoming place. Paul’s message may come with a price, that by doing good, we may experience personal discomfort, by being involved in missions, we may experience a cost, by sharing my faith with my neighbor, we may be taken advantage of or be the subject of ridicule. But, safety and ease was never the promise of Christ. This is not a free ride. Doing good is hard hard work. But, it is worth it for its own sake and for the sake of Jesus Christ who taught us to love one another. "As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13: 34b-35) My command is this: "Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit - fruit that will last. This is my command: Love each other." (John 15: 9-17)
We have been given the method and tools to Do Good. May we hold fast to what is good, outdo one another in showing honor, extend hospitality to strangers, do not claim to be wiser than we are, and so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Continue to use those tools as we leave through the doors of our church and encounter all those to whom we can bear witness to the teachings of Christ. Our greatest gift is love, our greatest good is to share that love without condition, without judgment of the other, without reservation, without thought of self-interest, and with only our chosen path of discipleship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.
