Do Good!

My wife Beth's devotion, written for our church to complement the sermon.  

Rule 2: Do Good: Two Tiny Words That Pack Quite a Punch

By Beth Stroble

While the rubric of Wesley’s three simple rules may not have been referenced in my Lutheran upbringing, their Biblical basis is clear. Luke 6:27-36 elaborates what many call the Golden Rule, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” As Luke recounts Jesus’ words from the Sermon on the Mount, we understand that “others” are not only friends, family, and those who are easiest to love. Jesus calls his followers to love all, to include all, to care for all, to embrace all, and to be merciful to all.

What I do recall from confirmation classes in the Evangelical Lutheran Church (then Lutheran Church in America), was Martin Luther’s explanation of the ten commandments in his Small Catechism. For each commandment, Luther described the positive actions that each commandment required.  Not only were Christians to follow Rule 1: Do No Harm, they were to express a love of others in thought, word, and deed. For example, Luther explained the fifth commandment, “You shall not murder,” to mean: “We are to fear and love God, so that we neither endanger nor harm the lives of our neighbors, but indeed help and support them to all of life’s needs.” For the eighth commandment, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor,” Luther teaches, “We are to fear and love God, so that we do not try to trick our neighbors out of their inheritance or property or try to get it for ourselves by claiming to have a legal right to it and the like, but instead be of help and service to them in keeping what is theirs.”

Growing up, I may have thought that those two commandments were the easiest to follow until I understood the active role that Rule 2 requires. It is not enough to do no harm. And if I extrapolate Luther’s line of thinking and take an expansive and honest view of the harm that we can and do cause others, then the good we are called to do is a necessary companion to Rule 1, a commitment that is the tangible expression of doing no harm.

Do good. Shorthand for think good, say good, act good. Unpacking those two words does pack a punch for each of us as individuals and for us collectively. Am I a force for good? Are we agents for good in the ways we form bonds and groups?

During today’s service, we asserted that WE ARE NOT ALONE.

That is a motivation and challenge for our good doing, that we see ourselves as members of a larger community for whom our active care and concern is shared, wanted and needed. And it is encouragement that as we seek to follow Jesus’ teaching: “This is my commandment, love one another as I have loved you,” that we have the grace and mercy of God—creator, redeemer, and spirit—as the model and source for our journey to love others as we are loved.

May all know we are Christians by our love. Amen.