Do Good

Do Good
July 28, 2024
3 John 1:11, Acts 10:38, Luke 4:18-19

Friend, don’t go along with evil. Model the good. The person who does good does God’s work. The person who does evil falsifies God, doesn’t know the first thing about God.

3 John 1:11 (The Message)


You know about Jesus of Nazareth, whom God anointed with the Holy Spirit and endowed with power. Jesus traveled around doing good and healing everyone oppressed by the devil because God was with him.

Acts 10:38 (CEB)

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Craig J. Sefa
Do Good
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“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.”

While the attribution of this well known quote to John Wesley is heavily questioned by scholars, it remains true to the Wesleyan Spirit and the second of our General Rules, “to do good.”   As our conference youth put it, we are called to “do good however, whatever, wherever, whenever, forever.”

Like our rule last week, “Do no harm,” the rule to “Do Good” seems fairly simple and straight forward, but there are a lot of  open ended questions.  How much good must we do?  How often?   To whom?  How much do we have to sacrifice for the sake of doing good to others? 

I once saw someone pose the question, “What is the least I have to do and still be a Christian?”  While we may not ask it quite so crudely, if we’re honest we often ask a lot of similar questions.  We try to be good people, but in the back of our minds we may question if we have been good enough or if we have done enough?  The truth is there is always more to be done and compassion fatigue is very real.  Our resources are limited, not only financially, but also physically and emotionally.  We don’t always have enough information or enough bandwidth to do all the good we would like to do and it is easy to feel overwhelmed and give up altogether. 

I think that’s all the more reason to reflect again on the quote so often attributed to Wesley.  Consider using it as a prayer of examen at the end of each night.

  1.  Today, did I do all the good I could do?

  2.  Did I use every means possible to do good?

  3.  Did I do good in every way I thought of?

  4.  Did I do good in every place I went?

  5.  Did I do good to every person I encountered?

  6.  Did I keep doing good to the end of the day without giving up?

If we’re honest with ourselves, the answers will often be “no.”  We all fall short and these questions should never make us judge or shame ourselves.  They should, however, invite us to ask in every moment, what is the most good I can do, right here, right now, in this situation… and trust that God will use it and multiply it and that it will be enough.  They also give us an opportunity to celebrate and give thanks for the good God empowered us to do.

In what specific ways is God calling you to do good this week?

 

 

Do No Harm

Do No Harm
July 21, 2024
Galatians 5:13-15, Proverbs 3:28-29

You were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only don’t let this freedom be an opportunity to indulge your selfish impulses, but serve each other through love.  All the Law has been fulfilled in a single statement: Love your neighbor as yourself. But if you bite and devour each other, be careful that you don’t get eaten up by each other!

Galatians 5:13-15 (CEB)

Don’t plan to harm your neighbor who trusts and lives near you.

Proverbs 3:29 (CEB)

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Craig J. Sefa
Do No Harm
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John Wesley, in his instructions to all those desirous of salvation, explained that the evidence of their
sincerity was "First, by doing no harm, by avoiding evil of every kind, especially that which is most
generally practiced ..." (Book of Discipline 2000, ¶103, p. 73). Even before listing good things to do, Wesley began by listing harmful things to avoid doing. There is a powerful lesson for Christian leaders in this instruction — as valuable as good works may be, it is even more valuable to avoid those things that might harm others or destroy the foundation of trust of the congregation. 

~ excerpt from UMC Discipleship

In theory, the idea of doing no harm seems simple. 

Perhaps that’s why Bishop Reuben Job calls it the first of “Three Simple Rules.”  It’s simple because in general, we do not seek to do harm to others.  We don’t usually try to hurt people.  At the same time, we know the reality that it is often the people who are closest to us that we hurt the most, often without even realizing it. 

Consider a few of the ways we commonly do harm to others without necessarily intending it:

  1. Gossip - We all have opinions and easily find fault with other people, but it is far to easy to talk “about” those people rather than talking “to” them or “with” them. 

  2. Unfair Criticism - It is so easy to criticize someone for not living up to our expectations, but in truth, we have no idea what is going on  in their lives.  Scripture calls us to turn our criticism into encouragement to build one another up in the Lord.

  3. Rumors - similar to gossip, rumors or mis-information is widespread in our culture.  Even fact checkers have been challenged as false when they don’t line up with “what we have heard” or “what we already think.”  As Christians, we must be far more discerning about the information we spread, especially when it is about someone else.

  4. Respectful discourse even in disagreement - As much as we may want to avoid conflict, often brushing our disagreements under the rug and not dealing with them can do even more harm.  We must learn to respect one another’s opinions while also challenging those places where those opinions, including our own, may cause harm to others. 

  5. Apathy - One of the easiest and most common ways we do harm to others is simply by not doing anything at all.  When we refuse to speak up on behalf of a person or group who is experiencing harm, we are part of the problem. 

 

What other ways do you see harm in our world, or even in your own life? 

How will you work intentionally to “do no harm” this week?

 

Entwined


Entwined
July 14, 2024
John 15:1-17

As the Father loved me, I too have loved you. Remain in my love.  If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.  I have said these things to you so that my joy will be in you and your joy will be complete.  This is my commandment: love each other just as I have loved you.  No one has greater love than to give up one’s life for one’s friends. 

 John 15:9-13 (CEB)

Craig J. Sefa
Entwined
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Jesus’ teaching on the vine and the branches is fairly commonplace in the church, and in many ways, the
lesson seems obvious.  A branch that is not connected to the vine will die.  In the same way, we must remain connected to Christ or we will die in a spiritual sense.  Simple as that… or is it?

The problem is that too often we interpret this like we interpret far to many passages of scripture, through the lens of modern American individualism.  So long as “I” remain connected to Jesus, “I” will be ok.  But what if the “you” is plural?  What if it’s not just about each individual and their own private, personal relationship with God, but more about our collective connection to the vine.  After all, Jesus says “you are the branches”, not “the branch” or even “a branch.”  “You” is all of us. 

The thing about a vine is that it is impossible to tell where one branch stops and another begins.  They are entwined together as they grow out of the central vine.  Yes, each branch must be individually connected to the vine, but it is equally true that branches are inextricable from one another and if one is broken or diseased, it must be cut off in order not to hinder the growth of the other healthy branches.  In other words, each branch depends on the health of the others.  We depend on each other.  Christianity can never just be about “me and Jesus.”  The health of our connection to the vine impacts the health of every other branch as theirs impacts our own spiritual healthy.  We are always strong together than we are apart.  A vine with one lone branch can never be healthy or fruitful.  We need every one.

Part of this means that we do not come to church for ourselves.  We do not come to hear a good message, sing our favorite hymns, and go home feeling better about ourselves.  No, we come for one another.  We come not to be served, but to serve.  We come not just to receive, but to give.  We come because we belong to one another, we are part of one another, and we cannot simply choose to disconnect from our fellow branches without also cutting ourselves off from the vine. 

It seems easy to love God, or to love Christ, but other people are not always so lovable.  As Episcopal Priest Sheila McJilton puts it, other people “demand too much of us.  They disagree with us.  They don’t act the way we think they should act.”  Yet, to stay connected with Jesus is also to stay connected with them.  To abide in Christ is also to abide in community with others who may not be very easy to abide with.  Being a Christian is not about what we get out of it.  It is about being part of something bigger than ourselves, committing ourselves to the good of one another, whether we feel like it or not.  “As branches, we connect to Christ until we encircle each other in intricate, interwoven relationships.  In Christ, we grow in love."   

 

Completing the Work


Completing the Work
July 7, 2024
Philippians 1:3-7, Galatians 5:22-23, Mark 4:26-29

I’m sure about this: the one who started a good work in you will stay with you to complete the job by the day of Christ Jesus.

Philippians 1:6 (CEB)

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against things like this.

Galatians 5:22-23 (CEB)

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For me, this is a week of transition… sort of.

July 1st marks the first Sunday of a new appointment year in the United Methodist Church and as pastors, we are always only appointed one year at a time, though thankfully longer appointments are becoming more commonplace. Until this week, I have never served an appointment more than 3 years, but July 1, 2024 marks day 1 of my 4th year at Shiloh. I sometimes joke that this means I have to start writing new sermons now, though in truth, I regularly use a good mix of new and old material in sermon preparation.

So how is this a season of transition if I’m starting a 4th year?

Answer: because it also marks my 1st week as the new pastor at Grace UMC in Salisbury, NC. Shiloh and Grace are now linked on what we call “a two-point” charge, meaning primarily that two congregations share one pastor. There are many reasons why I believe this will be a wonderful season of new opportunities for shared ministry together in our local community. As a United Methodist who strongly believes in and practices the spirit of connectionalism, I am convinced that as individuals and churches, we can always do more together than apart.

Nevertheless, as July 7th is my final Sunday preaching only at Shiloh, I am taking some time to reflect on these past 3 years and what it means for me to have the privilege of continuing in ministry with this congregation. The opening of Paul’s letter to the Philippians describes well what I feel for the people of Shiloh and I hope describes well what many pastors feel for their congregations.

Philippians 1 -

  • 3 I thank my God every time I mention you in my prayers. 4 I’m thankful for all of you every time I pray, and it’s always a prayer full of joy. 

  • 5 I’m glad because of the way you have been my partners in the ministry of the gospel…

  • 6 I’m sure about this: the one who started a good work in you will stay with you to complete the job by the day of Christ Jesus. 

  • 8 God is my witness that I feel affection for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus.

  • 9 This is my prayer: that your love might become even more and more rich with knowledge and all kinds of insight.

  • 10 I pray this so that you will be able to decide what really matters and so you will be sincere and blameless on the day of Christ. 

  • 11 I pray that you will then be filled with the fruit of righteousness, which comes from Jesus Christ, in order to give glory and praise to God.


As a person who is always looking toward “the next thing”, I am particularly drawn to verse 6, the promise that God will complete in them the good work which has already begun. I believe this is true for every one of us and for every one of our churches. We are all works in progress. We are not finished yet. We are not who we were, but we are also not yet who God wants us to be.

For some, this may be uncomfortable, but for me it is great news.

  • It means the journey isn’t over.

  • It means no matter how much I have fallen short, there are still new opportunities to learn, to do better, and to become more like Christ.

  • It means that in seasons where we don’t feel very productive, it may simply be that our fruit is just not ripe yet. Sometimes a plant is most healthy when it has been pruned back to the point where it looks dead, but it is preparing to be more fruitful in the next season than ever before.

I’m not saying Shiloh looks dead. In fact, quite the opposite!

I see signs of new life all over this little church in Granite Quarry and I’m excited to see what they will bloom into and how they will combine their fruit with the fruit God is producing at Grace in order to feed more of our community.

Admittedly there have been seasons over the past three years when things did not look so good.

There were times it felt like decline was inevitable and that I would have no choice but to move. There were times when the discouragement was overwhelming and a spirit of negativity permeated everything. Then our wonderful Deacon, Rev. Tangela Cameron, beautifully reminded us that genuine lament does not end with sorrow but with hope. It does not end with despair, but courage to press on. It does not end with death, but resurrection and new life.

And over this past year I have been blessed to see us live into this new life filled with new hopes, new dreams and new possibilities. I’ve seen us start to take new risk, and open ourselves to fresh ideas and fresh leadership. I’ve seen people step up and use gifts they didn’t always even knew they had for the sake of building up the community.

That is why I am filled with joy entering this 4th year and why I believe that in our new partnership with Grace, God will make our love become even more, that we will be able to more deeply discern what really matters, and that together we will be filled with the fruit of righteousness, the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, which comes from Christ Jesus through the gift of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).

Wherever we see these traits in ourselves, in others, and in the church, we see glimpses of God’s ongoing work.

  • Which of these fruits do you see the most in your life or in your church right now?

God brings the growth, but we also have work to do to plant and nurture the seeds.  In whatever areas we find ourselves struggling to bear fruit, we have to ask some hard questions about what blocking that growth. 

  • What seeds are we trying to hold onto for ourselves instead of planting and nurturing them for the sake of others?

Sometimes when we fail to see growth in our congregations or in our own spiritual lives, it is because we have certain expecations about what that growth should look like that may not match up with reality.

Pediatrician and Parenting Coach, Dr. Hope Seidel, describes children as little bags of seeds. As parents, it’s our job to water them and help them grow. We don’t always know what the seed will be, but our job is to nurture it into the wonderful plant it was made to be

I belive the same is true in our spiritual life and in our churches. Just as children grow, so the seeds that God plants in our lives and in our communities also grow.  If something is not growing, it is dead. 

The problem is that we never know what kind of fruit will bloom.

Sometimes the problem is not that the fruit is bad, but simply that it’s not what we expected. Maybe we thought we were raising an apple tree but it turned out to be beets or carrots or a durian, jackfruit, or some other delicacy we didn’t even realize existed.

If we are expecting a giant redwood or an entire citrus orchard, we will be disappointed if it turns out we are growing root vegetables underground where we cannot see any progress at all.

  • What expectations do we need to let go of about our church in order to better see the good fruit God is producing?

  • What needs to die in us or be pruned back in order for new life to sprout and bloom?

  • Name at least 1 specific “next step” you believe God is calling you to as you reflect on your participation in the good work God is completing in you.  Of the various fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5, which one do you believe needs the most attention and nourishment in this season? (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control)


Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new.
And yet it is the law of all progress
that it is made by passing through some stages of instability —
and that it may take a very long time.

~ Teilhard de Chardin

Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you’ll have it forever, real and eternal.

~ John 12:24-25 (The Message)

*** This service incorporated a significant portion of table conversations which I cut out of the recording. The audio of my brief message and reflections on Philippians 1 can be found below.

Craig J. Sefa
Completing the Work
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