As I came in this morning, a woman said, “Good Morning!”  Another person said, “Guten Morgen!”  He was practicing his German.  No one came to me and said, “Buenos días”.  They should have; they should be practicing their Spanish.  And then Russ White said, “What’s a good word for the day?”  I said, “Look at the title of the sermon, ‘Do Good To All’.”  Didn’t think about the Good Morning and Guten Morgen at that time; but I did think about the rest of this phrase.  “Do good to all and to all do good!”  Well, it’s a very classic kind of a thing, but it is very scriptural too.  And I want us to see in Paul’s version today in a Letter to the Church of Galatians, Chapter 6.  Not everything that Paul talks about in the first ten versus, because sometimes Paul is very organized in what he writes and other times it’s like a friendly letter just sharing some thoughts with you.  So some of these stand alone.  But we will read through the whole and I will focus on the ones, which in particular Stacey has already done with the children’s story, and we will see how it takes us from there.  Because Paul is not the only one who talks about doing good.  I want to give thanks today to Jesus Christ, to Paul of Tarsus, to John Wesley, Benjamin Franklin and Mother Theresa for I will be using some of their quotes in the sermon for today. 

            So Paul starts, in Chapter 6, Versus 1-10, “Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently.  But watch yourself for you also may be tempted.” (That’s a sermon in itself.)  “Share each others burdens and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”  (That’s one to remember for today.)  “If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.”  (That could be another sermon!)  “Each one should test his own action, then he can take pride in himself without comparing himself to somebody else.  For each one should carry his own load.”  (Verse 6 is one on its own.)  “Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor.”  (I’m still trying to figure out what that means.)  “Do not be deceived.  God can not be mocked.  A man reaps what he sows.”  (And then Paul follows, in the next two versus, to help explain that.)  “The one who sows to please the sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction.  The one who sows to please the spirit, from the spirit will reap eternal life.”  (That’s one we will remember for later.)  “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap the harvest if we do not give up.”  (And that all leads, I believe, those last three to Verse 10.)  “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”  That’s our key verse for today.  It helps us to see, in Paul’s perspective”, what it means to do good.  What we know right now and we’ll be emphasizing a little bit more later, that it’s not exclusive in doing good to all.    That’s the emphasis for those of the fellowship or the church of believers but not excluding anyone else. 

            Benjamin Franklin was quoted the following way which you may have read the same passage or something similar.  Benjamin said, “The best thing to give to an enemy is forgiveness; to an opponent, tolerance; to a friend, your heart; to your child, a good example (remember that one); to a father, deference; to your mother, conduct that will make her proud of you; to yourself, respect; and to all men, charity.”  To me that was Benjamin’s way of saying how to do good to all. 

            Even Jesus, of course, when He was approached in Matthew 19 was asked the question, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”  There’s a catch; and we want to make sure it’s clear from this point forward that what we are going to talk about today is not a way to earn eternal life, salvation from grace.  That is freely given.  But rather what we are going to be talking about comes out of the flow of the gift of that grace and forgiveness.  Jesus cautioned him and said, after checking out that he had done all of those good things, “Sell all that you have.”  But it wasn’t the money; it was about the heart, it was about the direction of what he wanted rather than to earn, but to give up that which he had held in high esteem. 

            And John Wesley brings us around by creating a 7-line little ditty that maybe by the time we end today you will have to memory.  If not, at least write it down. It’s very simple and very straight-forward.  John Wesley had a knack for being very, very convoluted in his sermons at times and very difficult from the theological translations.  But then he would turn around and do it very straight-forward.  For he starts off by saying, “Do all the good you can.”  It must have been related to Paul’s passage for today.  And again, not just the avoidance of harm.  The Hippocratic Oath some people believe starts with the phrase, “Do no harm.”  It does not, by the way.  Research supports that.  In fact, the phrase “do know harm” is sort of buried in a latter version of it.  But it does mean, in John Wesley’s “Do all the good you can”, it isn’t just the avoidance of bad things.  It takes a positive step.  Actually take steps to do something good for someone else.  Remember the verse that Paul shared, the one who sows to please the spirit, from the spirit will lead eternal life? 

            Jesus said in Matthew 23, Verse 1 and following, “The religious scholars and Pharisees are competent teachers of God’s law.  You won’t go wrong in following the teachings of Moses.  That’s the law and the letter.  But be careful about following them, for they talk a good line but they don’t live it.  They don’t take it into their hearts and live it out in their behavior.”  In Eugene Peterson’s words, “it’s all stiff and polish veneer”.  You look good on the outside because you know the words.  What John Wesley is saying, you must do that good just don’t talk about it.  And the word, the operative word is “can”.  To know how to do good, to be capable of it is at the basis to be able to do so. 

It’s a little bit like putting together a recipe for a cake.  Those who are bakers, maybe you are preparing for the Johnson County Fair, they do not expect, those judges, that you are going to be making a cake from a box mix, do they?  Maybe they can tell the difference; maybe today they can’t. I don’t know.  I can’t for the most part.  But I did find a story about when instant cake mixes first came out or they were sort of called that way.  And they became a big flop.  This was after the time when you carefully measured out every ingredient and if you were off a little bit it made a difference in the cake.  They put out their first “cake mix” boxes saying “all you have to do is add water”.  They didn’t sell well.  People didn’t believe.  How can you make a good cake if all you’re adding is water?  They went back, they researched it, repackaged it and said, “Add two eggs and the water and a little oil.”  They could have had all of that in there, they did at first, but people believed they had to do something of themselves to make it worthwhile.  That’s what it means to do good.  It’s a recipe that’s based upon the ability to be involved in it, to take some action.  Today we hear from Paul.  We have this simple messaging—do good to all that you can. 

The second point that John Wesley makes of doing all the good that you can is “by all the means that you can”.  This is the way the Means Committee of the Senate and the House.  Did you ever wonder what that means?  “Means” means money, resources!  What does it take?  What do you have available to you?  If not money, other kinds of things—physical possessions—by all the means that you have.  John Wesley said it in another trilogy base where he said, “Earn all you can, save all you can and give away all you can”.  Well, most of us have the first one pretty well figured out.  You try to earn all you can.  The second one we struggle with—saving all you can.  And we really, then, do struggle with giving away all you can.  For John Wesley said, “When I have money, I get rid of it quickly less that it find a way into my heart.”  The question of the rich young ruler and for all of us when it comes to doing good is, “How much do we hold on to what we have?  Are possessions more important than people in your life?  Accumulating good things so that you can take it with you, but you know you can’t?”  Right now each one of us receives an income either from working or from our retirement and the question that God continually asks of us, “What are you going to do with it?  Are you going to tithe it?  Are you going to return a portion to me?”  In Malachi 3:7-9, the father says in God’s words, “’Ever since the time of your forefathers you’ve turned away from my decrees and have not kept it.  Return to me and I will return to you,’ says the Lord Almighty.  But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’  ‘Will man rob God? Yet you rob me.’  But you ask God, ‘How did we rob you, God?’  ‘In your tithes and offerings,’ the Lord responds.  ‘You are under a curse, the whole nation of you, because you are robbing me.’”  John Wesley is simply saying, “You have much in the way of needs.  Will you use it, will you keep holding on to it for that rainy day piece.  Think of it this way as Paul says in I Corinthians, “As servants of Christ and stewards of God’s mysteries, we have a great resource.  More over it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy of what they have been given.” 

So, do all the good you can in all the means you can.  Then the third line of John’s teaching for us today, “in all the ways that you can”.  This is the actual conduct, the behavior, doing the good thing.  The earlier you learn to do good and do it regularly, the more it will become a habit for you.  Every one of us, although we may be born in an instant to the reception and acceptance of God’s salvation, we are yet going to grow in degrees from that point forward.  So this is truly about our witness as we have spoken of earlier for our children.  What we do and what we say will become teaching examples to the children around us.  If they see us doing good in a regular way on a regular basis and being generous with what we have and who we are, they will see that way and they will walk in that way.  I was taught this lesson very clearly by a man who came to me when I was serving another church.  And he said, “I give to the church anonymously.  I never want people to know.  But I want you to know as pastor why I give.  I give because my mother taught me how to tithe.  And every year at the end of the year I never know what I am going to give because my income is irregular.  But I see what the total is at the end, and I know how to do my math.  And every year he would give a tithe of what he earned that year.  Then I saw it continuing on because his daughter came and did the same thing.  We teach our next generation by what we do in all ways that we can and all the means that we can. 

Jesus tells us in Chapter 10 of Matthew, “We are intimately linked in the hardest work.  Anyone who accepts what you do, accepts me and the one who sent you.  Anyone who accepts what I do accepts my father who has sent me.  Accepting a messenger of God is as good as being God’s messenger.  Accepting someone’s help is as good as giving someone help.  This is the Lord’s work and I have called you in to it.  But don’t be overwhelmed by it.”   Simply what Jesus is saying, “When we are an example to our children, to our youth, we are also an example to others of Jesus Christ in our lives.”  And if you’ve not been used to doing good, start small.  Give a cup of cool water to someone who is thirsty, for instance.  The smallest act of giving and receiving makes you true apprentice of Jesus, the Christ.  You won’t lose out on a thing.  Start small and practice often and well and continue on and you’ll be doing more and more later. 

The fourth point of John Wesley is, “Do all the good you can in all the places that you can.”  Now this is a fairly simple, straightforward piece, but some people stop from doing good because they say, “But I’m not a missionary.  I can’t go to Africa or some other place.”  Well, you can support those who are called.  But truly the answer to your prayers of where you are to do good is the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  There are people every day who need some good done in their lives and they will cross your path.  Some of them will be very obvious and others will not.  They will be at the stores where you shop, school where you attend, the neighborhood where you live, the road that you drive upon, the bank where you bank, the food pantry where you may share in that way, the hospital service by volunteer or working in the preschool.  And the living example that took place this last week when we finished up the rehab trailer with Christian Help Incorporated for a family that is homeless.  We have been having a group of people regularly going there for about two months, for Saturdays for two months.  And then through our class for English as a Second Language, one of the men attending that, Linel Rodriguez, asked Judy, “I understand you are working on a trailer.  I have some gifts and skills in that area. Could I help?”  He ended up, we got him transportation, and he was there on the last Saturday as we finished up.  The good work that crew was doing became a witness to others so that they could also do good work.  That’s what we are about—all the places that we can. 

And all the times that we can is number five that John Wesley had.  That means that we never go off the clock for doing good.  The opportunities will arise when we might least expect it.  One of the interesting things is that there is always the joke about pastors only working on Sunday because that’s when we preach.  But most people understand it’s a 24-hour a day job.  You never know when you are going to get a call like doctors and others in medical professions and other helping professions.  And with that understanding, the fifth point of John Wesley is that there is no time that is not a good time to do good.  Just being available, watching for it.  As Jesus says in Matthew 12, “It’s your heart not the dictionary that gives meaning to your words.  A good person produces good deeds and words season after season.  An evil person is a blight on the orchard.”  And then, I’m going to paraphrase further what Jesus says.  “Every one of these careless words and action is going to come back to haunt you.  There will be a time of reckoning.”  But remember, words and actions are powerful.  Take them seriously.  Words and actions are the pathway to your salvation. Words and actions can also be your damnation.  So be careful what you do and make sure it is good that you do. 

And number six, John Wesley says that “you can do all the good that you can to all the people you can”.  One of the more obvious ones.  If you are not doing good to people, what else are you doing good?  “The Bible knows nothing of a solitary religion,” John Wesley says.  We have to be working together with others.  I learned a lesson early with my Grandma Coleman, Lilly.  She was a wonderful lady.  She would come around and she would make that cake recipe from scratch, by the way.  But she also taught me something early on when she shared with me that she was a member of the KKK in Connersville, IN.  I was shocked!  This was when I was a teenager, just in the beginning of the civil rights movement, and to know that a relative of mine was a member of that infamous group.  And I had studied it in history in Indiana and I just couldn’t believe it.  I said, “Grandma, you were a member of the KKK?  That’s a terrible group.”  She said, “Oh, no! We did a lot of good!”  I said, “Well, to whom did you do the good?”  “The people that we knew,” she said.  And the more and more I understood, it was the people that she knew. They were white people.  They didn’t do any good for blacks or Jews or anybody who was too different from what they saw.  But what Jesus says and Paul says, “Its all people in all places in all ways.”  Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people especially, yes, those who belong to the family of believers but not to the exclusion of other people. 

For example, at the fireworks this week we were sitting there getting ready for the show to start and there were a small group of people here and another small group of people over there.  And one person yelled out, “God bless America!”  That’s fine; that’s a good phrase.  Unfortunately, he followed it with, “And damn those Iraqi’s.”  It didn’t make for the rest of the fireworks to be very pleasant for me because I kept thinking about that.  How can you ask God to bless one and damn others?  We’re all people who were created in God’s images.  Doing good to all means “all”, not exclusive of one type or another or even one individual who may be your enemy.  For Jesus doesn’t let us go on that one. In Matthew 5, “You are familiar with the old written law, love your friend and its unwritten companion and hate your enemy.  I’m challenging that.  I’m telling you to love your enemies.  Let them bring out the best in you not the worst.  If someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer for then you are working out your true selves, your God created selves.  This is what God does.  He gives His best, the sun to warm and the rain to nourish, to everyone regardless—to the good and the bad, the nice and the nasty.  If all you do is love the low, do you really expect a bonus for that?  Any body can do that.  If you simply say “hello” to those who greet you, do you expect a no?  Any run of the mill sinner can do that! “  Or as Mother Theresa says, “Let no one ever come to you without being better and happier.”  Be the living expression of God’s kindness—kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, and kindness in your smile. 

Number seven, John Wesley gives us, “As long as ever you can.”  As long as you can mentally, emotionally, physically, keep looking for the opportunities to do good to people around you.  This last few weeks my Mother has been going through a life transition with surgery at age 87.  And she’s also facing, as many have or many will and I might some time in the future, some loss of independence.  Maybe even a little worried about losing memory.  It’s not a fun time for her; it’s not a fun time for her family.  And she unloads on her family which she should.  She should feel comfortable enough to do that.  But I watched this happen as clearly as I have seen it and watched it in other situations.  She was in pain physically, was troubled emotionally, and a lady walked by the hall who was in the room across the way and Mom put on a smile and said, “Hi, how are you doing?”  When the lady finished and walked by, Mom was back into her pain.  What did that say to me?  Mom had developed a habit.  We want to do what’s good. Maybe even for a moment she came out of that pain and she was able to do a word of greeting, to do good for someone else.  John Wesley said, and this is a very classic illustration, “when you set yourself on fire, people love to come and see you burn.”  Now that’s a hard one to hear at first.  Simply he goes on and explains, catch on fire with enthusiasm and people will come for miles to watch you burn in that enthusiasm.  What better way than to be enthusiastic about doing good. 

Well, if you haven’t heard it clearly, then let’s repeat it together now.  We’ll go through; it’s easy to remember; it’s structured to do so in that way.  Would you join with me as we share the litany that you see printed: 

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 people you can,

As long as ever you can. 

In the name of Christ do this and you will find a joy and abundance. Will everyone understand?  Will every one accept it directly with graciousness?  Not necessarily, but that’s not the purpose.  It’s to do what Christ called us to do, what Paul emphasizes for us to do, what John Wesley helps to remember to do.  So go and do all the good that you can.  In the name of God, the Father; God, the Son; and God, the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

E-mail Comments to: Pastor Bob Coleman

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