“So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for all, and especially for those of the family of faith.” [Galatians 6: 9 & 10]

Paul’s words to the Churches in Galatia drew me as I read over the lessons for today. As I began to prepare I did an online search for “doing the right thing” and got 118,000,000 ‘hits’ – I didn’t go through them all, of course. However, even looking through a few of the top hits told me that as a nation we are concerned with doing the right thing, with becoming and acting as people of integrity. I even encountered a book review for atheists and agnostics showing them that their position didn’t preclude their functioning as moral people. That’s good to know, but I still think that as believers we have a better chance of doing what is right even when doing the wrong thing is easier.

When we come to faith in Jesus Christ, when we open ourselves to God’s transforming love shown in his life and work, something happens to us. Being a Christian isn’t all about assenting to a set of doctrinal statements, even though doctrine is – or at least can be – a good and necessary thing. Neither is being a Christian ascribing to a set of rules and regulations, though rules in themselves aren’t bad things. Rather, coming to faith in Christ involves coming into a relationship and involves our becoming conformed to Christ so that we might have “the same mind that was in Christ Jesus” [Philippians 2:5]. Thus, Paul tells the Galatians that it is not about any ritual, but about becoming a new creation. He says, “For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything, but a new creation is everything!” [Galatians 6:15]

To be a new creation means that we have allowed God’s life, God’s kingdom brought into the world through Jesus Christ, to enter into our very selves and then start reflecting it back to the world around us. The transformation into a child of God, a co-heir of the kingdom of God with Jesus Christ, is not something that we are to keep to ourselves. Jesus’ life was always other-centered. First, it was centered on the Other, with a capital ‘O’, God the Father. Second, it was centered on others, small ‘o,’ meaning those around him. Jesus lived his life unselfishly and generously. He was very clear about his other-centeredness when he called the twelve and he is no less clear when he calls the seventy. The seventy could represent a number of fulfillment, the known nations of the world reflecting the universality of Jesus’ message and call, or identify them with those called to assist Moses, since the early Church saw him as a type of Christ. The essence of their mission is really no different than ours – we’re to continue and to extend the work which Jesus began. Remember some time back we talked about the incarnation, the enfleshment of God’s Word in Jesus the Christ and how the Church – which is us – is called to continue the incarnation? In short, we’re to consistently do the right thing, even when doing the wrong thing is easier to do because of what we have become and who we are – not because of rules or beliefs.

Well, there you have it. We’re to do the right thing consistently because in doing so we continue the work of Jesus and continue to make him present to the world. In reminds me of something I read about university students somewhere in the Midwest years ago wanting to learn about Hinduism. They found a practicing Hindu to come and explain his religion to them. The story goes that as he spoke to them he started out by making some comparisons between Hinduism and Christianity and then stopped, looked at his audience and with absolute seriousness and eloquence said, “Most of you listening to me are Christians. I don’t want to appear to be preaching to you but I must say this: if you Christians would live like Jesus, all of India would be at your feet tomorrow.” The answer is simple: live like Jesus; the complex part is how we go about it, because we’ve been trying and falling short since shortly after the first Pentecost!

Two quotes from eminent Britons come to mind as I think about how we’re supposed to accomplish this task of doing the right thing. One comes from Francis Bacon, the sixteenth century philosopher, who said, “It’s not what we eat but what we digest that makes us strong; not what we gain but what we save that makes us rich; not what we read but what we remember that makes us learned; and not what we profess but what we practice that gives us integrity.” The other is from Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington who said, “The battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton.” Both of these quotes speak to an important truth – doing the right thing grows out of a habit of being. In other words, it is in how we have formed ourselves, how we have developed character, and how we have practiced our faith that makes all the difference. A habit, remember, is something we do almost unconsciously because it has become part of who we are and part of where we live. Recalling that the root word for habit is also the word that gives us habitat and we should get the point.

I came across a wonderful book on Christian ethics called Improvisation by Samuel Wells (there’s a copy in the library and I’m thinking of doing a book group using it this fall). Wells addresses the need for character formation rather forcefully – in fact he’s the one who reminded me of Wellington. He tells a story that makes the point:

“One day in the 1950s, in an Edinburgh hospital, a child died tragically on an operating table. Later that week two friends were talking over the sad events. One of the friends expressed sympathy for the surgeon involved, since he had encountered an unexpected complication. The other; a colleague of the surgeon, strongly disagreed, in these words: ‘I think the man is to blame. If anybody had handed me ether instead of chloroform I would have known from the weight that it was the wrong thing. You see, I know the man well. We were students together at Aberdeen, and he could have become one of the finest surgeons in Europe if only he had given his mind to it. But he didn’t/ He was more interested in golf. So he just used to do enough work to pass his examinations and no more. And that is how he has lived his life – just enough to get through, but no more; so he has never picked up those seemingly peripheral bits of knowledge that can one day be crucial. The other day in that theater a bit of ‘peripheral’ knowledge was crucial and he didn’t have it. But it wasn’t the other day that he failed – it was thirty-nine years ago, when he only gave himself half-heartedly to medicine.’

The Duke of Wellington’s observation about a Belgian field applies equally well to the Edinburgh operating table. Just as the battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton, so the battle for the sick child’s life was lost on the golf course. An athlete trains for months for a marathon race, and no amount of enthusiasm on the day can make up for deficiencies in preparation. A student studies for years for an exam: again, no amount of thought on the day can make up for deficiencies in preparation. A doctor studies and trains and practices for years to excel in surgery: no amount of goodwill on the day can make up for deficiencies in preparation.

Ethics is not primarily about the operating theater; it is about the lecture theater, the training field, the practice hall, the library, the tutorial, the mentoring session. There are two times – one, the time of moral effort, the other the time of moral habit. The time for moral effort is the time of formation and training.” [Improvisation: The Drama of Christian Ethics, pages 74-5] His point, ultimately, is that ethics is not about the situation, but about the preparation. The person we become is the person who will do the right thing because we have been formed in the right way and have developed the right habits.

So, how do we develop the habit of being that will enable us to live rightly? Let’s look at a couple of examples. I’m a Rotarian and the “Four-Way Test” of Rotary is one way people approach this formation: “If it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned?” I also came across a syllabus for a course in moral formation that offered a series of questions: “What does my conscience – the ‘little voice’ inside my head – say about it? Could it hurt anyone – including me? Is it fair? Would it violate the Golden Rule? (How would I feel if somebody did it to me?) Have I ever been told that it’s wrong? How will I feel about myself later if I do it? What would adults I respect say about it?” Both are ok, actually good, but both rest on first having received information so that one can even ask the questions. How do we come to know what is truth, what is fair and what is good?

First, by opening ourselves to God’s Spirit in relationship, coming to have the mind of Christ formed within us. Second, by practicing our faith, living as Jesus did, in relationship, worshipping regularly, engaging ourselves in prayer and study, and giving ourselves to service of others. If we don’t work at growing, we won’t grow, it’s that simple – you don’t get good at something by just giving it an hour a week do you? So, how much time do you really give to loving and serving God? As the Indian philosopher Rabindranath Tagore said: “I slept and dreamt that life was joy./I awoke and saw life was service./I acted and behold service was joy.” [Quoted in John Shea The Relentless Widow, p. 193]

Bottom line, I would say, is that we are to live what we say we believe and be who we say we are. Most of us here today covenanted with the Lord and with one another to become a part of this Church. In our covenant are all of the essentials for living as a true follower of Jesus Christ. May I suggest that it wouldn’t be a bad thing to review the covenant and simply ask ourselves the question: “How am I doing?” Such an examination of conscience is one of the ways we develop a habit of being faithful, a way that will lead us to do the right thing and to do it consistently.

When you get down to it, the process is rather simple. First, enter into relationship with God in Christ. As followers of Jesus Christ we commit ourselves Then we open ourselves to the transforming power of God’s Spirit through worship, study, prayer, service and stewardship (engaging time, talent and treasure to the glory of God and the good other others). to share in the worship and service of God, to grow in the knowledge and expression of our faith, to reach out with compassion to those in need, to treat each other with love and understanding, and to return to God a portion of God’s gifts In short, we are to be what we profess ourselves to be. Or, “preach the Gospel at all times. Use words if necessary.” A powerful little statement attributed to Saint Francis, though we can’t trace it to his writings, yet it captures his spirit. Live what you believe. Do the right thing by being who you are as a child of God. If what you profess to be doesn’t match what you are doing, then it’s time to do a thorough review of how the faith is being practiced and making a difference in our lives. It goes back to what the nineteenth century Congregational lay preacher D. L. Moody once said, “Integrity is what you are in the dark.”

Namaan wanted something grand and spiffy to bring about his healing. He wanted flash and show. Elisha knew that what was important was that he give himself to God, seven dips in the muddy Jordan would do the trick – he did and it did. Doing the right thing isn’t a great deal different, simply open yourself to God and keep on doing it: the right thing will follow. What did Jesus tell them? “. . .rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” Don’t grow weary in well-doing and you’ll reap a harvest richer than you can imagine – life itself. Be who you profess to be and do the right thing…