Do Good
Introduction
There are some people in our church community who never seem to stop doing good. Whenever I see them, they are serving or washing up, praying for someone, encouraging others, offering to take food to the sick, or doing some other kind act. They give generously to the work of the church. They do all these things with such grace and enthusiasm. I am always encouraged and challenged by their example. They never seem to tire of doing good.
In our society, the term ‘do-gooder’ has become pejorative; it is used as an insult. But doing good should not be seen in this way. Jesus, ‘went around doing good’ (Acts 10:38).
St Paul writes to Titus, ‘Remind the people… to be ready to do whatever is good’ (Titus 3:1). His desire is that those who have trusted in God ‘devote themselves to doing what is good’ (vv.8,14).
To quote John Wesley, ‘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.’
Psalm 119:113–120
ס Samekh
113 I hate double-minded people,
but I love your law.
114 You are my refuge and my shield;
I have put my hope in your word.
115 Away from me, you evildoers,
that I may keep the commands of my God!
116 Sustain me, my God, according to your promise, and I will live;
do not let my hopes be dashed.
117 Uphold me, and I will be delivered;
I will always have regard for your decrees.
118 You reject all who stray from your decrees,
for their delusions come to nothing.
119 All the wicked of the earth you discard like dross;
therefore I love your statutes.
120 My flesh trembles in fear of you;
I stand in awe of your laws.
Commentary
Do good, not evil
The opposite of doing good is doing evil. The psalmist is determined to do good. That is why he says, ‘Away from me, you evildoers’ (v.115a). The evildoers are ‘double-minded’ (v.113). They stray from God’s decrees and are deceitful (v.118).
Choose to avoid evil and do good. Love God’s words (vv.113,119). God is your refuge and shield (v.114a). Put your hope in his word (v.114b): ‘I’ll give total allegiance to your definitions of life’ (v.117, MSG).
The psalmist writes, ‘Sustain me according to your promise, and I shall live; do not let my hopes be dashed’ (v.116). Our hope being deferred is bad enough. The book of Proverbs says, ‘Hope deferred makes the heart sick’ (Proverbs 13:12). Bring your hopes before God today and pray, like the psalmist, that your hopes will not be dashed.
Prayer
Lord, I love your words. Help me to live by them, to stay away from doing evil and to do good. Today I bring my hopes to you again… Do not let my hopes be dashed.
Titus 3:1–15
Saved in Order to Do Good
3 Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, 2 to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone.
3 At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. 4 But when the kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Saviour, 7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. 8 This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.
9 But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless. 10 Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them. 11 You may be sure that such people are warped and sinful; they are self-condemned.
Final Remarks
12 As soon as I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, because I have decided to winter there. 13 Do everything you can to help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way and see that they have everything they need. 14 Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order to provide for urgent needs and not live unproductive lives.
15 Everyone with me sends you greetings. Greet those who love us in the faith.
Grace be with you all.
Commentary
Always be ready to do good
There is such a striking contrast between Paul’s life before he experienced a relationship with Jesus Christ and his life afterwards (and I relate to this in my own experience). Paul writes, ‘We too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another’ (v.3).
However, Jesus utterly transforms us: ‘when the kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy’ (vv.4–5). Doing good is a response to God’s kindness and love for you. We often think of the kindness of our family and friends, but God is infinitely more kind than that. If God has been so kind to you, it is a natural response for you to be kind to others.
Out of his kindness and love, God has not only forgiven you, he has also given you the Holy Spirit: ‘He gave us a good bath, and we came out of it new people, washed inside and out by the Holy Spirit. Our savior Jesus poured out new life so generously. God’s gift has restored our relationship with him and given us back our lives’ (vv.5–7, MSG). It is the Holy Spirit who enables you and empowers you to do good.
Therefore, Paul can write of the kind of lives we are now to lead: ‘Remind the people to respect the government and be law-abiding’ (v.1, MSG). This is our civil responsibility – to obey the laws of the country – unless they are contrary to God’s law.
But obedience and submission to rulers and authorities is not enough. We must ‘be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility towards everyone’ (vv.1–2). He urges them twice more to devote themselves to doing what is good (vv.8,14).
It is striking that Paul’s focus here seems to be on their relationships with other people. Paul is encouraging an ‘other-focused’ mindset, rooted in humility, truthfulness and consideration for others. While you are to be motivated by love, sometimes it is by actually serving others that you learn to love them.
Even after you have been reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit, there will be temptations to get sidetracked and become unproductive. Don’t get involved in incessant arguments. Paul writes, ‘Avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless’ (v.9).
Paul is concerned that the Christians in Crete be distinct and different from the culture in which they live. He writes, ‘Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order that they may provide for daily necessities and not live unproductive lives’ (v.14).
You live out what you believe in front of a watching world. If we are lazy and unproductive, it will be noticed. You are to reflect ‘the kindness and love of God our Saviour’ (v.4) as you ‘do good’.
Doing good and living a productive life does not necessarily mean that you need to change your job. When I was practising as a lawyer, I remember considering whether God was calling us to ordination in the Church of England. I was very struck by the mention of ‘Zenas the lawyer’ (v.13). It reminded me that if I were to stop practising as a barrister, it was not because there was anything wrong with being a Christian lawyer. Wherever you are in life and whatever your job or ministry, it is possible to go around doing good.
Prayer
Lord, thank you so much for the way in which you have transformed my life. Help me to lead a productive life and, like Jesus, to go around doing good.
Lamentations 1:1–2:6
1 How deserted lies the city,
once so full of people!
How like a widow is she,
who once was great among the nations!
She who was queen among the provinces
has now become a slave.
2 Bitterly she weeps at night,
tears are on her cheeks.
Among all her lovers
there is no one to comfort her.
All her friends have betrayed her;
they have become her enemies.
3 After affliction and harsh labour,
Judah has gone into exile.
She dwells among the nations;
she finds no resting place.
All who pursue her have overtaken her
in the midst of her distress.
4 The roads to Zion mourn,
for no one comes to her appointed festivals.
All her gateways are desolate,
her priests groan,
her young women grieve,
and she is in bitter anguish.
5 Her foes have become her masters;
her enemies are at ease.
The LORD has brought her grief
because of her many sins.
Her children have gone into exile,
captive before the foe.
6 All the splendour has departed
from Daughter Zion.
Her princes are like deer
that find no pasture;
in weakness they have fled
before the pursuer.
7 In the days of her affliction and wandering
Jerusalem remembers all the treasures
that were hers in days of old.
When her people fell into enemy hands,
there was no one to help her.
Her enemies looked at her
and laughed at her destruction.
8 Jerusalem has sinned greatly
and so has become unclean.
All who honoured her despise her,
for they have all seen her naked;
she herself groans
and turns away.
9 Her filthiness clung to her skirts;
she did not consider her future.
Her fall was astounding;
there was none to comfort her.
“Look, LORD, on my affliction,
for the enemy has triumphed.”
10 The enemy laid hands
on all her treasures;
she saw pagan nations
enter her sanctuary —
those you had forbidden
to enter your assembly.
11 All her people groan
as they search for bread;
they barter their treasures for food
to keep themselves alive.
“Look, LORD, and consider,
for I am despised.”
12 “Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?
Look around and see.
Is any suffering like my suffering
that was inflicted on me,
that the LORD brought on me
in the day of his fierce anger?
13 “From on high he sent fire,
sent it down into my bones.
He spread a net for my feet
and turned me back.
He made me desolate,
faint all the day long.
14 “My sins have been bound into a yoke;
by his hands they were woven together.
They have been hung on my neck,
and the Lord has sapped my strength.
He has given me into the hands
of those I cannot withstand.
15 “The Lord has rejected
all the warriors in my midst;
he has summoned an army against me
to crush my young men.
In his winepress the Lord has trampled
Virgin Daughter Judah.
16 “This is why I weep
and my eyes overflow with tears.
No one is near to comfort me,
no one to restore my spirit.
My children are destitute
because the enemy has prevailed.”
17 Zion stretches out her hands,
but there is no one to comfort her.
The LORD has decreed for Jacob
that his neighbours become his foes;
Jerusalem has become
an unclean thing among them.
18 “The LORD is righteous,
yet I rebelled against his command.
Listen, all you peoples;
look on my suffering.
My young men and young women
have gone into exile.
19 “I called to my allies
but they betrayed me.
My priests and my elders
perished in the city
while they searched for food
to keep themselves alive.
20 “See, LORD, how distressed I am!
I am in torment within,
and in my heart I am disturbed,
for I have been most rebellious.
Outside, the sword bereaves;
inside, there is only death.
21 “People have heard my groaning,
but there is no one to comfort me.
All my enemies have heard of my distress;
they rejoice at what you have done.
May you bring the day you have announced
so they may become like me.
22 “Let all their wickedness come before you;
deal with them
as you have dealt with me
because of all my sins.
My groans are many
and my heart is faint.”
2 How the Lord has covered Daughter Zion
with the cloud of his anger!
He has hurled down the splendour of Israel
from heaven to earth;
he has not remembered his footstool
in the day of his anger.
2 Without pity the Lord has swallowed up
all the dwellings of Jacob;
in his wrath he has torn down
the strongholds of Daughter Judah.
He has brought her kingdom and its princes
down to the ground in dishonour.
3 In fierce anger he has cut off
every horn of Israel.
He has withdrawn his right hand
at the approach of the enemy.
He has burned in Jacob like a flaming fire
that consumes everything around it.
4 Like an enemy he has strung his bow;
his right hand is ready.
Like a foe he has slain
all who were pleasing to the eye;
he has poured out his wrath like fire
on the tent of Daughter Zion.
5 The Lord is like an enemy;
he has swallowed up Israel.
He has swallowed up all her palaces
and destroyed her strongholds.
He has multiplied mourning and lamentation
for Daughter Judah.
6 He has laid waste his dwelling like a garden;
he has destroyed his place of meeting.
The LORD has made Zion forget
her appointed festivals and her Sabbaths;
in his fierce anger he has spurned
both king and priest.
Commentary
Stay close to the one who went around doing good
‘To be human is to suffer. No one gets an exemption. Lamentations keeps company with the extensive biblical witness that gives dignity to suffering by insisting that God enters our suffering and is companion to our suffering,’ writes Eugene Peterson in his introduction to the book of Lamentations.
The book, as the name suggests, focuses on the sorrow, sadness, grief, pain, loss and tragedy that the people of God experienced during the exile. Our circumstances may be different, but our suffering is just as real.
The writer laments how the once great nation of Israel has gone into exile because of her many sins: ‘she’s stuck between a rock and a hard place’ (1:3, MSG), ‘… lost everything’ (v.7, MSG), ‘… Massacres in the streets, starvation in the houses’ (v.20, MSG).
As we read today’s passage there seems to be very little hope. It is all about judgment and suffering. The writer says, ‘Is any suffering like my suffering…?’ (v.12). That is often how we feel when going through difficulties and trials.
He writes, ‘My sins have been bound into a yoke; by his hands they were woven together. They have come upon my neck and the LORD has sapped my strength. He has handed me over to those I cannot withstand’ (v.14).
The picture is of his sins being like a great heavy yoke around his neck, weighing him down. He is weary and burdened by them.
This is the experience of exile, judgment and immense suffering. The physical exile lasted approximately seventy years, but there was a sense in which the spiritual experience of exile continued.
Thank God that Jesus came to announce that the exile was well and truly over, and that you need no longer go around weary and burdened by sins. Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light’ (Matthew 11:28–30).
This is the secret of doing good: stay close to the one who went around doing good. Hand over your burdens to Jesus and receive his rest. Take his yoke upon you as you learn from him – from his gentle, humble heart – because he is the source of doing good.
Prayer
Thank you, my Lord and my Saviour, that you take the yoke of sin from me and remove its heavy burden. Thank you that when I am yoked to you, my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Help me today to stay close to you, to minister in the power of your Holy Spirit and, like you, to go around doing good.
Pippa adds
Titus 3:14 says,
‘Our people must... not live unproductive lives.’
I wonder what God thinks is productive in our lives. Life is busy. Choosing what to do is hard. In God’s upside-down kingdom, something we think is insignificant is probably the most important thing to God.
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References
Eugene Peterson, The Message, 'Introduction to Lamentations' (NavPress, 1993), p.1110.
The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel (commentary formerly known as Bible in One Year) ©Alpha International 2009. All Rights Reserved.
Compilation of daily Bible readings © Hodder & Stoughton Limited 1988. Published by Hodder & Stoughton Limited as the Bible in One Year.
Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version Anglicised, Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 Biblica, formerly International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Publishers, an Hachette UK company. All rights reserved. ‘NIV’ is a registered trademark of Biblica. UK trademark number 1448790.
Scripture quotations marked (AMP) taken from the Amplified® Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)
Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from The Message, copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.