July 13, 2025 – EUMC & BCUMC – Proper 10, Ord 15
Deuteronomy 30:9-14 and Psalm 25:1-10, Colossians 1:1-14, Luke 10:25-37
Alan Swartz
Have you ever wondered if good is good enough? I think of
myself as a good person. I imagine all of us here today think of ourselves as
good people. Isn’t that what God wants? I know I am a much better person than
Adolph Hitler, or Joseph Stalin, or Jeffrey Dahmer. I mean, these were
notoriously evil people. That is an easy comparison. Maybe I need to look
around and see how I compare with others more like myself.
I could check the social media feeds of other clergy or good
Christian people that I know and see how I stack up.
Ah, but the problem there is that I start to look and act an
awful lot like the Pharisee who went to pray in the temple and seeing the
sinner praying next to me I could plead, “Lord, I thank you that I am not like
him!” (Luke 18:11)
What am I to do?
Bishop Gwinn encouraged pastors and church leaders to read
the book Good to Great by Jim Collins. (Collins) The basic premise of the book
is that most companies fail to become truly great because they settle for being
merely good. Collins argues that “good is the enemy of great,” meaning
organizations often become complacent with average performance and never strive
for exceptional results. Bishop Gwinn asked us to not be satisfied with Good.
We were to strive for more. We might look at it this way: being good can
interfere with being Holy -- we can confuse an attempt at goodness with growing
in holiness.
We may think that “people are basically good” and “good
people go to heaven.” But that misses the mark of Christian faith. It
completely misses the gospel, sin, grace, the cross, discipleship, and a call
to holiness. In short: it’s not biblical Christianity—it’s a vague, feel-good
moralism.
Being disciples of Jesus isn’t about being good people; it
is about being holy.
Yes, holy people should be good people, but the two are not
the same.
John Wesley said that an Almost Christian can have the form of Godliness. The Almost Christian can be active in church and live a moral life and still lack the power of a truly transformed life. (Wesley)
I want to illustrate this by talking about something known
as Moralistic Therapeutic Deism, or MTD for short. (Smith and Denton;
Dean)
MTD is a watered-down version of Christianity. It could be described as having
the form of Godliness without the power of Godliness. Wesley talks about the
almost Christian: an individual who outwardly conforms to Christian practices
and morality, avoids forbidden actions, and even engages in family prayer and
private devotion. However, this “almost Christian” lacks the power of a
transformed life. Their actions stem from self-love, a desire for reputation,
or fear of punishment, rather than a genuine love for God and people.
MTD is a phrase developed to describe the experience and
belief of many youth today. It describes a life that parents often desire for
their children and youth. Basically, it means…
1. We
want our children to be good people.
2. We
want our children to be happy.
3. We want our children to believe in God.
But here is the rub: this is a description of a life that
falls far short of what God desires for us. Jesus doesn’t call us to be good people;
he calls upon us to be transformed people living a life fully committed to
following him each day.
As our OT lesson says, “turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.” And “the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe.” That requires a transformed life.
Let me break this down…
God loves every one of us. “God loves the world so much that
he sent us his only Son!” His Son, Jesus, calls all people to come and be
gathered into his arms and we are able to approach the throne of grace because
of the great price he has paid for us on the Cross.
But remember, Jesus says that he won’t recognize every
person who calls him Lord. At another place Jesus asks, “Why do you call me
Lord, but you don’t do what I say?” This is a quote from Luke 6:46, where Jesus
is challenging the hypocrisy of those who acknowledge him as Lord but fail to
obey his teachings. It highlights the difference between a verbal profession of
belief and a life that has been transformed by faith.
What we see is an “Almost Christian” faith that is fashioned around our own ideas of goodness and personal fulfilment. It provides for a sense of personal happiness and interpersonal niceness.
On the other hand…
Jesus presents us with what we might see as an inconvenient
Gospel. It is inconvenient because it confronts us in our sense of contentment
in simply being good, happy, and nice. Jesus calls us not to be merely be good,
but to be holy. He calls us not to happiness, but to experience the joy of his
communion with us.[i]
He isn’t calling us to be nice to people for the sake of getting along, but to
a God-given desire to connect with people out of a divine self-giving love that
God has first shown us. We can’t do that alone. We can’t be that person by our
own volition. In Christ, God makes us a new creation.
In Christ, we are offered a life that is transformed.
2 Corinthians 5:17 - “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
Romans 12:2 - “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
This transformed life is manifested in both inward and outward changes.
In our Gospel lesson today, Jesus is confronted by an expert in religious law who wants Jesus’ take on what it takes to inherit eternal life. When Jesus turns the question back on him, the lawyer responds with “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself.” Yes, Jesus says, do this and you will live.
But now, the nitty-gritty at the heart of the matter. Who is my neighbor?
And you know the story that follows. The one we call the
Parable of the Good Samaritan. We have a man travelling from Jerusalem to
Jericho who ends up being beaten, robbed, and left for dead. Later on, a priest
and a scribe pass by the man without getting involved. Then a Samaritan sees
the man and gets involved.
Why?
When the Samaritan sees the man, he is viscerally moved. It
is a pity that moves his innermost being. It is the “on the ground of the love
which you have in Christ Jesus” -- “heart-felt mercy.” (TDNT 7:557) It is the
result of a transformed life. The Samaritan not only experiences it, he acts on
it.[ii]
Jesus ends by reversing the question. He flips it from “Who
is my neighbor?” to “Who was a neighbor to this man?” That is the proper
question. We don’t ask “who is my neighbor.” We ask ourselves, “how am I acting
as a neighbor to these people in need around me.”
Consider a story I read in the news some years ago now. A
woman who had several handicapping conditions broke down on the road. She
reached out for help. The man who responded to the call arrived and when
noticing a bumper sticker supporting a presidential candidate he detested, he
told the woman that he could not help her.
“Something came over me, I think
the Lord came to me, and he just said get in the truck and leave,” said Ken
Shupe of Shupee Max Towing in Traveler’s Rest, S.C .. “And when I got in my
truck, you know, I was so proud, because I felt like I finally drew a line in
the sand and stood up for what I believed.”[iii]
He said, “I think the Lord came to me, and he just said get
in the truck and leave.”
Folks! I don’t think it was the Lord who said that to him. Certainly, it wasn’t the same Lord that compelled the Samaritan to act.
Again, we don’t ask “Who is my Neighbor?” We ask, “What kind of neighbor am I?”
It is part of the new life we have in Christ who “has
rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of
his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
(Colossians 1:13-14) We begin this life with repentance. Repentance is a change
of mind, heart, and life. It is made possible by God’s prevenient grace at work
in our lives. The change that occurs in mind, heart, and life doesn’t occur in
any order, but it may be more noticeable in one area before the others. We seek
to stay in communion with Christ. We pray the Holy Spirit will continue to work
in us.
The Apostle Paul writes: “we have not ceased praying for you
and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all
spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may walk worthy of the
Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you
grow in the knowledge of God.” (Colossians 1:9b-10) We “bear fruit in
every good work” because of this cruciformed life we live. It is a life that
surprises us with joy and gratitude. It is a life of response to the continued
goodness and grace of God in our lives.
When Bishop Will Willimon was Dean of the Chapel at Duke
University, he had an experience that is often related by other preachers. One
account puts it this way…
William Willimon, who served for
many years as the Dean of the chapel at Duke University, tells a story about
receiving a telephone call one day. His secretary buzzed him and said that
there was a man calling who was terribly upset. Willimon said, “Is he upset
about what I said in my last sermon?” “No,” his secretary said, “He is mad over
something you have done to his daughter.” Willimon was puzzled and told his
secretary to put him through. The father began by saying, “I hold you
personally responsible for this.” “For what?” Willimon asked. The father
replied, “My daughter. We sent her to Duke to get a good education. She is
supposed to go to medical school and become a third-generation doctor. Now she’s
got some foolish idea in her head about doing mission work Haiti, and I hold
you responsible.”
Turns out, his daughter was
involved in the chapel, and had been one of the organizers of a previous spring
Mission trip to Haiti. The father said, “She has a bachelor of science degree
from Duke University. But instead of going to medical school, she now wants to
go to Haiti for three years to teach kids there. This would not have
happened if it hadn’t been for you. She has listened to your sermons and you’ve
taken advantage of her at an impressionable age.” At this point, Willimon was
getting a bit energized himself. He responded, “Now just a minute. Didn’t you
have her baptized?” The father replied, “Well, yes, but...” “– And,” Willimon
continued, “didn’t you take her to Sunday School?” The father stammered in
reply, “Well, sure we did.” ”There you have it,” Willimon said. “She
was messed up before she came to us. You introduced her to Jesus. Don’t blame
this on me. You’re the one who started it.” “But,” the father pleaded, “all we
wanted was a Presbyterian.” Willimon replied, “Well, sorry sir, you messed up.
You’ve gone and made a disciple.”
(Sermon: Upside Down, February 17, 2019, Accessed July 11,
2025
https://www.wpctiburon.org/communications/sermon-archives/upside-down/)[iv]
What life do we want to live? What life do we really want for our children or grandchildren? To be good Methodists? Or to be disciples of Jesus Christ?
+ In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and the
Holy Spirit. Amen.
[i]
Some people make a distinction between joy and happiness and others don’t.
For an example of saying they are the same, see…
Is there a difference
between joy and happiness?
For an example of making a distinction is…
What
Is the Difference Between Joy and Happiness?
I personally make a distinction, in part, due to the
etymology of the English words.
In particular, the etymology of the word happy is…
late 14c., “lucky, favored by
fortune, being in advantageous circumstances, prosperous;” of events, “turning
out well,” from hap (n.) “chance, fortune” + -y (2). The sense of “very glad”
is recorded by late 14c. The meaning “greatly pleased and content” is from
1520s.
It comes from the word hap…
hap(n.)
c. 1200, “chance, a person’s
luck, fortune, fate;” also “unforeseen occurrence,” from Old Norse happ “chance,
good luck,” from Proto-Germanic *hap- (source of Old English gehæp “convenient,
fit”), from PIE *kob- “to suit, fit, succeed” (source also of Sanskrit kob “good
omen; congratulations, good wishes,” Old Irish cob “victory,” Norwegian heppa “lucky,
favorable, propitious,” Old Church Slavonic kobu “fate, foreboding, omen”).
Meaning “good fortune” in English is from early 13c. Old Norse seems to have
had the word only in positive senses.
Etymologies are provided by https://www.etymonline.com/
[ii] Köster, Helmut. “† σπλάγχνον, † σπλαγχνίζομαι, † εὔσπλαγχνος, † πολύσπλαγχνος, † ἄσπλαγχνος,.” In Theological Dictionary of the New Testament: Σ, edited by Gerhard Kittel , translated by Geoffrey W. Bromiley, 548–559. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Stuttgart: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1971. Accessed July 11, 2025. https://www.theologyandreligiononline.com/encyclopedia-chapter?docid=b-9780802822499&tocid=b-9780802822499-LET.S.50. p. 554
[iii] ABC13 News, Greenville SC, May 4, 2016. Accessed June 29, 2025. https://wlos.com/news/local/tow-truck-driver-refuses-to-tow-motorist-over-bernie-bumper-sticker/
[iv]
Some other sites that use the Willimon story include:
2.
https://www.preaching.com/sermons/a-final-word-about-authentic-christian-faith/
3. https://thoughtsbetweensundays.wordpress.com/2012/06/25/sermon-one-lord-one-faith-one-baptism/
Bibliography
Collins,
James C. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...and Others Don’t.
1st ed, HarperBusiness, 2001.
Dean, Kenda Creasy. Almost Christian: What the Faith of
Our Teenagers Is Telling the American Church. Oxford University Press,
2010.
Smith, Christian, and Melinda Lundquist Denton. Soul
Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers. Oxford
Univ. Press, 2005.
Wesley, John. “Sermon 2 - The Almost Christian.” The
Wesley Center Online, 25 Jul. 1741,
https://wesley.nnu.edu/john-wesley/the-sermons-of-john-wesley-1872-edition/sermon-2-the-almost-christian/.
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