Nov. 17, 2019    Do not Weary of Doing What is Right                 

This past Saturday morning, the doorbell at the parsonage rang about 9:30 am. It was a couple of Jehovah’s witnesses. Now they didn’t identify themselves immediately, so I introduced myself, “This is the parsonage of Union Congregational UCC, and I am the pastor.” I guess they thought that I would be a challenge, so they began to tell me some of the things Jesus had said about the end of the world, and of course, I knew the passage, in fact, we read it this morning.

And they asked me, what I thought that people could do in the midst of all of the chaos of the world. So I of course responded from the Evangelical Catechism, “believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, Love God with all your heart, strength, soul and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself,…” and because I had been studying this morning’ passage all week, I added, “Do not be weary in doing what is right.” I guess this answer satisfied them, because they thanked me for my time and left.

After they left, I thought about our interaction. You know, the world does seem pretty chaotic right now. And I think people would like to know what they should be doing today in response to all that Chaos. And I like my answer, believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, means we believe in resurrection, life springing forth from the midst of death. And I think that loving God with all our heart, strength, soul, and mind, sets us on a solid path in life, and loving our neighbor as ourselves is the first step in a journey towards peace, fellowship, and hope for the future. And finally, not wearying of doing what is right, keeps us focused and moving forward towards our salvation, and towards God’s kingdom becoming real in our lives.

Now some might say, that’s easy stuff, we did it our whole lives, and indeed many of you, raised in the church, when it was the center of people’s lives, have indeed the joy of looking back on a lifetime of commitment to Christ’s church, to the focus of loving God, and doing what is right. You have the joy of a wonderful fellowship and family in Christ, that continues to sustain you now, especially in times of loss and grief.

But the world is a good bit different now days. Not so much because we are approaching the end of the world, people have been saying that for the last two thousand years, but because so many people in our world have given their lives over to other pursuits, they have lost their focus, and been distracted by so many other things in life. Many of your children and grandchildren have given themselves over to hobbies and interests that consume their lives. Many of them, have been tempted to think that life is all about them and their experiences, or all about their kids, and raising them.

Yeah, those things are important, but what is even more important, is having a spiritual center, a faith in the Lord Jesus Christ that sustains them when the world is all falling apart, when their world’s are all falling apart. And that faith, becomes real, in doing what is right, loving God, and loving their neighbor as themselves. This is what keeps us grounded, this is what keeps us focused, so that our lives might bear the fruit of faith, and we might enjoy the life that God intends for all of us.

This morning’s gospel lesson, speaks of endurance in the face of the end times, in the face of rejection by the world, in the face of rejection even by those closest to us. Our epistle lesson talks about people who have given up on faith, stopped doing what is right, believing God will do whatever no matter what we do. The difference is simple, we can lose our focus, become distracted by the chaos of the world, and be alone in our sufferings. Or we can remain focused, doing what is right, and share in the salvation God has prepared for us. And that is the good news of Jesus Christ!