Do Good
The Third in a Series
of Messages on Remembering Our Roots By Ed Winkler
Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church, Charlottesville, Virginia
May 6, 2012
Text:
Luke 6:27-36
(Jesus said:)27“But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to
those who hate you,
28bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.
29If
anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone
who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt.
30Give
to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do
not ask for them again.
31Do to others as you would have them do to you.
32“If
you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even
sinners love those who love them.
33If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that
to you? For even sinners do the same.
34If
you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to
you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again.
35But
love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your
reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he
is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.
36Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
(New Revised Standard Version)
This is the third message in our series on
Remembering Our Roots as Wesleyans, and it is the second message on
Wesley’s three General Rules for the Methodist societies. Wesley, the
founder of Methodism, knew that the societies needed some ground rules
if they were to survive, so he created these rules:
1.
Do no harm
2.
Do good
3.
Attend to the ordinances of God, or as I
put it, stay connected to God
Last week, we talked about doing no harm. This week
we will talk about the second rule, doing good. The Letter to the
Ephesians tells us that we are “created in
Christ Jesus for good works.” Wesley took those words seriously. For
Wesley, to be a Methodist was to do good. He had a famous quotation
about doing good: “Do all the good you can, by all the means you
can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the
times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.” What
a powerful statement. What would the world be like if we tried to live
that way?
Wesley didn’t just talk. He was actively involved
in doing good works his entire adult life. He founded schools and
orphanages; he started charitable organizations to feed and clothe the
poor; he visited prisoners; and he started a fund that loaned money to
women so that they could buy looms and material to make cloth (a very
important job at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution). He
fiercely opposed slavery. Wesley was so interested in the helping the
sick that he wrote a book on the treatment of diseases that he sent with
his traveling preachers so that they could treat people as they traveled
around. He experimented with electricity for the treatment of illnesses.
He even developed a cure for baldness: he prescribed rubbing an onion on
the scalp every day. Wesley could have been a very wealthy man from the
many pamphlets and books that he wrote, but he gave away so much money
that he was almost penniless when he died. Wesley gave us a powerful
example of doing good.
Some of us, like Wesley, have the capability of
doing great things for the Lord. In the 1960’s, a successful businessman
named Millard Fuller saw the need for decent and safe housing in poorer
parts of the world. With the help of a Biblical scholar named Clarence
Jordan, he developed a model for building houses through partnerships of
non-profit organizations and low-income people. The organization that he
founded, Habitat for Humanity, has built more than 250,000 homes around
the world, providing homes for more than a million people. It started
with one man who saw a need and wanted to do good.
I knew retired firefighter who collected used
clothing. Whenever his basement got filled with clothing, he would rent
a truck and take the clothes to poor people back in his impoverished
home town in eastern Kentucky. He wasn’t rich or famous. He saw a need
and he saw resources, and he had a strong desire to do good.
I have a friend who is a pastor in the Shenandoah
Valley. He saw that many people desperately needed help with food, rent,
utilities--the basic economic costs of life. He also saw that just
handing over money would solve the problem for a month--or maybe only
for a day. So he established a ministry to provide more comprehensive
help. He pays bills and provides food, but he also helps those in need
plan their expenses and use their resources wisely. He saw a need, and
he had a strong desire to do good.
Most of us do not have the energy or dedication of
the three people I just mentioned. But there are many opportunities for
doing good all around us. We have those opportunities every day. And
small things matter. For the next few minutes I’d like to share some
thoughts on doing good in our lives.
Sometimes, we may be at a loss to know what to do.
Two famous writers on church life answer the question this way: “How do
we know what to do? See what God is doing and join in.” I’d add: see
what God’s people are doing and join in. How would God have us build up
others? What acts of mercy would God have us do? Who in our community
needs help? Who in our world needs help? When we ask those questions, it
quickly becomes obvious what we should do.
Perhaps the first thing for us is to simply keep
our eyes open to what we can do. I heard a story of a nurse who was
feeling especially frustrated one day. It seemed like she was doing a
lot more busy work than nursing. So she stopped and prayed a simple
prayer: “Lord, use me any way you can.” From that moment until the end
of her shift, she was bombarded with difficult cases that required the
full range of her knowledge and skills. She opened herself up to the
Lord, had a desire to do good, and had a wonderful experience in her
profession. What would happen if we added to our morning prayers, “Lord,
use me any way you can”? I wonder what kinds of possibilities the Lord
would give us.
Some folks, like the nurse, are in the healing
professions. But all of us can be healers. We can be healers by praying
for people. We Christians believe in the power of prayer. That’s why we
pray for those who need help. We can be healers by comforting people. A
kind word of support can make a huge difference. Sometimes, we can be
healers just by being present with people. Being with people matters.
That great theologian, Woody Allen, said that ninety percent of life is
just showing up. Showing up to be with people in their times of need is
a healing act. People appreciate the presence of friends and family when
they are sick or have problems. We don’t have to make brilliant
conversation. We don’t have to be witty or funny. All we need to do is
just be present. We can be healers in our homes, schools, or places of
work by taking time to be with people.
We have many opportunities to do good with our
money. We don’t have to be wealthy to make a difference with our
wallets. We can do good with our money by contributing to worthwhile
organizations and projects. We can also do good with money by not
spending money on things that are not worthwhile.
Last week, we talked about not using words to harm
people. The other side of that coin is that we can use words to help
people and to affirm people. Have you noticed how much better things are
when people cheerfully greet you? Have you noticed how it can brighten
your day to receive a note of thanks or support? A famous youth leader
encourages adults to write notes and letters to children. Children
receive so little mail that they treasure an actual personal note. These
days, few adults receive handwritten notes. The Reformation leader,
Martin Luther, said that the commandment not to bear false witness
requires us to be honest, but it also requires us to use words to build
up others. Using our words to affirm and encourage people is doing good.
Sometimes, we do good in ways that may seem
harmful. Sometimes, we have to practice tough love. I have some friends
who cut off their relationship with one of their children. I’ve known
them for a long time. I know that it was a difficult decision for them.
They made that decision because that child will not finally become an
adult otherwise. Doing good for them required a difficult and painful
decision.
Sometimes, we do good by telling the truth in love,
which people don’t always like to hear. Telling people the truth when
they are being dysfunctional may seem cruel, but it may be just what
they need.
It’s fun to help people, except when it’s not fun.
We can suffer from doing good. Sometimes, doing good will be
misinterpreted. Sometimes, people will question our motives. Sometimes,
doing good won’t seem good to the recipient. One most frustrating thing
about doing good is that a lack of gratitude. Doing good will often be
unacknowledged. That’s when we need to remember that we do good for the
sake of doing good, not for the applause. If we do good for recognition
or gratitude, we will often be disappointed.
Here’s the hardest part for most of us: God wants
us to do good to those we may not like very much. God wants us to do
good to those who may want to harm us. Jesus told us to “love your
enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray
for those who abuse you.” It’s easy to help a friend or a saint. It’s a
lot harder to help someone who is obnoxious or nasty, but Jesus doesn’t
make any distinction between friend or foe. We’re supposed to help all
of them. Maybe we should focus on doing good and let God decide who is
worthy.
Doing good is powerful medicine. It’s medicine for
those we help, and it’s medicine for us. I have to confess that I’ve
heard thousands of sermons in my life, and I can remember very few of
them. One sermon that I do remember from a saintly old pastor was
called, “A Cure for the Blues.” That pastor, in his wonderful, old
Virginia accent, told us that the best thing to do when we’re feeling
sad is to help someone. Through the years, I’ve come to appreciate the
wisdom of his words. I’ve seldom felt better than when I was working
hard to help someone else.
This message comes with a warning and a promise.
Here’s a warning: doing good can be addictive. Nina and I used to go on
Habitat for Humanity work trips to the Eastern Shore of Virginia with
high school students in the summer. The Eastern Shore gets really hot in
the summer and, because it’s between the ocean and the bay, the humidity
can get to be about three hundred percent. One hot, humid day, we were
working on an old house. I was under the house in the crawl space where
we were replacing rotted joists. I came out of the crawl space, hot,
tired, smelly, and covered with dirt. I looked around at that group of
people, mostly teenagers and a few adults, working on that house and
thought two things: “I'm not going under that house again. I’m going to
get a teenager to do that.” My other thought was, “I really love being
here with these people to help a family have a new start in life.” As
hot and uncomfortable as those work trips were in August, they were also
addictive. Nina and I never tired of those mission trips. It is fun to
help people.
If the warnings haven’t discouraged you too much,
here’s a promise: we don’t do good by ourselves. God will guide us and
strengthen us. God will give us energy to do good. When we are doing the
Lord’s work, the Lord has a way of providing what we need. The Lord
won’t leave us out on a limb.
Let’s remember Wesley’s words: do all the good you
can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the
places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as
long as ever you can. Doing good was a way of life for Jesus, for John
Wesley, and for a few other saints that we’ve known through the years.
God was with them, God blessed them, and they were usually the happiest
people around. We can join in the fun.
© 2008 by Ed Winkler