Do Good to All People (Hugh F. Hardin, July 8, 2007)

There are days when I get tired of how things are going —usually after reading the morning paper or listening to the evening News Hour on TV.  The old questions about what makes a great nation, for surely there must be justice which is not twisted toward political advantage; surely leaders can be elected without spending such astronomical amounts of money.  And then there is the sadness and exasperation about the church which preaches big offerings to build expansive buildings filled with large congregations who vote and lobby for political positions selected by the Preacher.  And nearly every day my tears spill for those who die or are grievously maimed by this cruel and senseless war in Iraq.  There are indeed days when I get tired of how things are going, days when I sing with the Psalmist, How long, O Lord!  How long will this go on, O Lord…

          …how long has it been since we walked with the Lord in the cool of the evening all around that Six Day Wondrous Garden of Eden, where the animals were our friends because we had named each one at the First Creation, when the longing for the Knowledge of Good and Evil still hung like green fruits on the Holy Tree next to the Holy Tree of Life, …how long has it been since the Heavenly Angel Uris flexed his flaming sword turning endless circles, closing the Gate to the Garden so that now we walked outside but side by side, you and me, Adam and Eve into a rocky, foreboding world of my arduous work and your pained labor of birth as the Wondrous Six Day Creation of the Garden of Eden recedes far behind us, …how long has it been that we seem bereft of that imago Dei, which the Lord God of Sabbaoth breathed into the clay from which we were formed, the Image of God which set us off from all else in that First Creation, …there are days when I get tired of how things are going here as we walk side by side, You and I, Adam and Eve in the old paths out here East of Eden…

          On such days, there is another subtle but pervasive voice -- whispering:  Nobody’s interested in right and wrong anymore, just what they can do for themselves and get away with it.   Always look out for #1, since you deserve better than you’re getting.  So, I forget what’s right and good and true, and I slip into lies, grudges, harshness, anger, arrogance which darken my body, mind and soul.  Always there is temptation, and on some days it is very persuasive.

         But, Virginia, long ago we told you about Santa Claus, and now let us tell you about something else.  There really is a Right and a Wrong.  Some things are Good, and some things are Bad.  There is Truth to speak and Lies to spin like a spider.  For it is like Paul wrote to the churches in Galatia,  …God is not mocked, for whatever a person sows, that is what they shall reap…

          Paul ends his letter urging them to be as gracious to each other, as Jesus is gracious to them.  Through his short letter, Paul admonishes those several churches he started in Galatia:  never forget what Jesus The Crucified has done for you, giving you grace and mercy, forgiveness and freedom, life and hope. 

          So, when we get discouraged with the world, the nation, religion in general, the church in particular and The Episcopal Church specifically, when we get discouraged --remember what Paul advises:

          Let us never tire of doing good, for if we do not tire of doing good, we will reap a harvest.  So then, as we have the opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those of the household of faith. 

           Do good to all people, now that will shake your soul!  Do good even to those who are different that we are?  Do good to different nations…, different churches …, different religions…, different businesses …, different political positions…  What Paul is advocating for the Galatian Christians is very different than what they knew in their day, and it’s certainly different from what we know in our day.  But this resembles what Jesus did.  Jesus sent those disciples to all the towns in the West Bank, Jewish settlements and Palestinian towns, sent them to heal the sick and tell them the Kingdom of God has arrived.  If they listen, then all’s well and good, but if they won’t listen, then move on.  Doing good to all is what Jesus always did, never excluding anyone because of who they were and how they prayed. 

          But to walk this path has its price:  Do good to those who offend or attack us?   How many times must I forgive my brother hurting me?  Seven times?  No, says Jesus, seventy times seven.    Doing good to all people, most frequently requires we forgive all the people we bless with goodness.  It may not be the way of this nation or any other nation.  But it is the way Paul suggests.  It is the way Jesus calls his followers to live.

           In the final analysis, what is really important?  Well, there are 2 ancient exercise routines to bring human beings to perfection, in body, mind and soul.  First, by our own cleverness and prowess, we must finally discover and then achieve what are the ultimate goals of human striving, a sort of summation of whatever will make humans into real humans, a sort of summation of what God wants and promises to humanity.  Then, the second exercise routine:   by our diligent striving, we must scrupulously behave correctly in body, mind and soul, so that we have no flaws, no miscalculations, no amended changes of what’s expected, so that by our diligent striving, we are as perfect and clean as fresh fallen snow. 

          Now, what Paul says -- and he had tried both those ancient routines -- what Paul says is that none of that really works, and none of it is of any real importance anyway.  What really matters, he says, is that we need a whole new start.  The old ways only made minor adjustments to the problems men have and the problems women have.  Humanity needs a total overhaul, a new beginning.  We need a Second Creation.  That is exafctly what happened in Jesus the Crucified.  We become new men, new women, God’s Second Creation of you, Eve the Mother of us all, God’s Second Creation of me, Adam the Man -- new men and new women, new in such a way that we are no longer like we used to be.  Now, we are like Christ Jesus the Crucified, Christ Jesus Raised from the dead.  Now, we walk and think and speak and live with…

          the gentle generosity of God,

                   the loving forgiveness of Christ,

                             the vivacious freshness of the Holy Spirit. 

Amen.

Copyright 2007