The Hard Work of Doing Good

SCRIPTURE TEXT:  Galatians 6:7-10
Rev Monte Marshall

Professionally speaking, the hardest work I have done in my life was over a period of 10 ½ months from 1994 to 1995.  My fulltime job was to coordinate the fiftieth anniversary commemoration of the end of World War II for the Admiral Nimitz Museum in Fredericksburg, TX.  The event was called V+50. 

The work was hard because V+50 was a huge and complex event.  In fact, it was an event significant enough to gain national media coverage.  The plan was to triple the population of Fredericksburg by bringing 30,000 people to town over the weekend of September 2-3, 1995.  The purpose was to express gratitude to the veterans who had served in the Pacific during World War II.  The event featured a parade, the dedication of a new outdoor exhibit at the museum, and a military field day complete with World War II aircraft, vehicles, armaments, equipment and about 200 re-enactors. 

The VIPs for V+50 were the 4,000 registered Pacific War veterans and their families.  Other dignitaries included nine Medal of Honor recipients from the Pacific War, a representative from each of the Allied nations that fought with the United States in the Pacific, a former President and First Lady of the United States, the sitting Governor of the State of Texas and his wife, and a host of other military officers, government officials, and major donors to the event.

It was my job to get V+50 organized and to keep everyone on track, which included working with at least 10 different committees on various aspects of the event.  I handled the registration of veterans’ organizations and individuals, worked with all branches of the military services, dealt with various levels of law enforcement from the local police to the U. S Secret Service, and represented the event before the Fredericksburg City Council and the Gillespie County Commissioners’ Court.  And this is just a sampling of what the job entailed.  All told, I ended up working about 70 hours a week. 

The stress was intense and intensified every time we met resistance to the event—and yes, there was resistance from some.  In fact, a host of problems arose, one problem after another, and with increased frequency the nearer we came to the event.  I spent many sleepless nights overwhelmed by scope of this work.  There were mornings when Laura Jean took me to work and I literally had to force myself to get out of the car.  I thought I’d fail, so I was ready to give up.  I wanted to quit.  But I didn’t.  And in the end, V+50 was a success.  It was the hardest work I have ever done, professionally speaking.

But here’s the deal, as hard as that work was for 10 ½ months of my life, it pales in comparison to the hard work of doing good that is our calling for a lifetime as the followers of Jesus.  Paul reminds us of this calling in the last chapter of his letter to the Galatians: “So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all.”  We Methodists say:  “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.”[1]

But doing good is hard work and it’s hard work because there is so much good that needs to be done.  In fact, the magnitude of the work can be overwhelming.  The opportunities are endless, the needs are so numerous, and the suffering so great.  In fact, the magnitude of the work can be so overwhelming that we’re tempted to only do good for ourselves while we neglect doing good for others.  Paul calls this sowing to our “own flesh.”  Conversely, doing good for others is sowing “to the Spirit.”

An article once appeared in Time magazine that suggests a way to handle the enormity of this work.  A medical doctor named Fumio Shigeto lived through the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan in World War II.  When the bomb detonated, Dr. Shigeto was waiting for a streetcar about a mile from ground zero.  He was sheltered from the blast by the corner of a concrete building.  Within seconds after the explosion, his ears were filled with the screams of victims all around him.  Not knowing what had happened, he stood there for a moment bewildered.  What should he do?  Seek safety for himself?  Even if he wanted to care for this “mountain” of patients, how would he do it?  There were so many of them.  Finally, Dr. Shigeto decided.  Even though he was still somewhat dazed, he knelt down, opened his black medical bag, and began treating the one person lying at his feet.[2]

And that’s how the hard work of doing good often begins.  In a sea of suffering, it’s not a matter of saving ourselves at the expense of everyone else, it’s a matter of beginning with the one person right before us—or with the need that grabs our attention—or with the issue that sparks our passion.

Even then, the work is often made more difficult by the resistance that arises to the good that we seek to do.  Jesus worked hard to do good for all people, and yet, the good that he did was resisted.  It even brought him a cross. 

And that’s how it is!  The resistance prolongs the struggle.  The resistance beats us down and wears us out so that we cease and desist from doing the kind of good that will change the status quo for others who are suffering.

Paul recognizes the dangers inherent in this hard work of doing good, so this is his counsel: “let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up.”

Well, thanks be to God, stubborn persistence in the hard work of doing good has indeed resulted in a rich harvest.  Consider this:  The first African slaves arrived in America in 1619.  From that date, it took 246 years of hard, costly work in doing good before slavery was finally abolished in America in 1865 with the passage of the 13^th amendment to the United States Constitution.  It took another 100 years for America to adopt civil rights legislation to advance the cause of racial equality in this country.[3]  And there’s hard work yet to do for racial justice in America, in the church, and around the world—so we dare not give up!

Consider this:  In 1848, a convention was held in Seneca Falls, New York “to discuss the social, civil, and religious condition and rights of women.”  From that date, it took 72 years of hard, costly work in doing good before women were granted the right to vote in America with the passage of the 19^th amendment to the United States Constitution in 1920.[4]  After that, it took another 36 years before women could be ordained in our predecessor denomination, The Methodist Church.  The year was 1956.[5]  And there’s hard work yet to do for gender equality in America, in the church, and around the world—so we dare not give up!

Consider this:  In 1924, The Society for Human rights was formed in Chicago, IL as the earliest known gay rights organization in this country.[6]  From that date, it took 91 years of hard, costly work in doing good before the Supreme Court of the United States finally recognized marriage equality as a constitutionally protected right for LGBTQ persons in 2015.  And there’s hard work yet to do for LGBTQ justice in America, in the church, in The United Methodist Church, and around the world—so we dare not give up!

So do you see what I mean?  The hard work I did on V+50 for 10 ½ months, pales in comparison to the hard work of doing good that is our calling for a lifetime as followers of Jesus.  But this work is the Spirit’s work.  When we do good, we reveal God’s eternal life within our lives right here and right now.  This is our challenge as the church.  In fact, Paul says: “So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.”

Paul is here speaking to us.  He’s saying to us: “Church, model for the world the hard work of doing good for all people.  And don’t give up despite the resistance!  Sow to the Spirit and reap the harvest!”  So church, let’s be who we are!  Thanks be to God.  Amen!