Text: “Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good?” (I Peter 3:13).
How many people here this morning like to do good deeds? We like to do good deeds because we were raised with that thought in mind. Our parents taught us the difference between good and evil. Our Sunday school teachers shared with us Bible stories about people who did good and Godly deeds as well as those who did evil and ungodly deeds.
Our parents, our school teachers, and our Sunday school teachers were our mentors who demonstrated to us how to treat people, how to be obedient and understanding, how to forgive those who mistreated us, how to share what we have with those people who are in need, and how to follow the directions God gave to us in the Bible.
Those of us fortunate enough to have mentors like these have never forgotten what they taught us. There are some people in life who were not as lucky or as blessed as each one of us. As we were growing up, we can recall some of our friends who were always in some sort of trouble. Some were greedy and would steal something they wanted. Some were ready to fight at the least little incident. Some were not interested in school or school activities or Sunday school or church and ended up hanging out with the wrong crowd or other people who felt the same as they felt.
Raising young people today can be a very trying experience. I say young people, but actually some adults have a very difficult problem doing what is right and acceptable. What makes matters even worse is that many of these young adults, moms and dads, are projecting poor images and setting poor examples for their children.
Our jails and our juvenile detention centers are crowded with people who have made wrong choice for one reason or another. Counselors, clergy, judges, etc. try to help people of all ages focus on the good life. These professional people are trying their best to help people live honest, productive, and happy lives. It doesn’t work in all cases. We know this by reading the daily paper.
It appears that much effort and money is being wasted in an effort to do the right thing which is to help people get their lives together, get their priorities in order, and live the good live that God has in store for them. Maybe it comes down to people not knowing that life is a gift and that they are not here by accident. Maybe they don’t realize that God only gives us one earthly life and the rest of life is in eternity. Perhaps some people think that once this earthly life is over there is no other life.
I believe that all people want to do good, but they just don’t know what good is. Maybe the good life to one person is to be saturated with alcohol. Another individual might think that the good life is to be “high” on some drug or drugs. Alcohol and drugs have brought their toll upon God’s children.
Families have been torn apart; unborn children have been scared for life or born dead; suicides have been committed; many talented lives have been lost; opportunities have been buried, and many hearts have been broken.
You and I, as well as all other Christians, should always be ready and willing to help an individual stay on the straight and narrow road. I know that we are not perfect, but we have been taught right from wrong.
If we see one of our friends doing something we know is not right, it our Christian duty to approach that person and let them know God loves them, we love them and what they are doing or about to do is not right.
For example, two married people, not married to each other, working in the same office might strike up a love relationship which leads to adultery. This happens more than we would like to believe. I have seen this happen. People may have little problems at home and they take them to work and the first thing you know someone in the office lends a listening ear and a shoulder to lean on.
The listening person thinks it would be a good idea to help this person, so a luncheon or dinner invitation is offered and accepted. This relationship takes root and the two spend more and more time together. The first thing you know is that cheating and lying enter into the picture. A separation occurs and is followed by divorce. The end result is a broken-up family.
What started out to be something good caused much suffering and heartache for all the parties involved. There are people who really try to do the right thing, but the right thing turns into the wrong thing. We do not like to see people suffer.
We want people to be just as happy as we are, but what we sometimes don’t realize is we cannot solve someone else’s problems. We can offer Christian advice based on God’s Word, but unless that other person listens to the advice and accepts it and believes it, the advice will be of no value to them.
I know a young fellow who had visited his girlfriend and was walking home when two of his friends came by in a car and offered him a ride. Since he knew these two in the car, he accepted the ride because he thought they were doing him a good deed.
As they traveled down the road, a car behind them turned on red and blue lights, but the driver of the car speeded up instead of stopping. After several miles of traveling, the driver of the car slowed down and the two boys in the front jumped out. The young fellow in the back seat, who didn’t know what was happening, also jumped out of the car and proceeded to run across the field.
Unfortunately, the young fellow who accepted the ride did not get too far before the Police K-9 took him down. That young fellow ended up in the emergency room, received numerous stitches about the arms, legs, and back and then was taken to the juvenile detention center and remained until his mother arrived.
He thought his friends were being good by offering him a ride, but what he did not know is that the car had been stolen and the friends had drugs in their possession. What looked like a good deed turned out to be a bad deed which ended up causing physical suffering for the boy, mental suffering for the mother, and an appearance before the judge.
I read a story about a doctor who was in practice for many years and had many satisfied patients. This doctor did not follow the standard practice of prescribing prescription drugs for his patient. He was more interested in natural remedies that were acceptable to people and did not cause adverse reactions.
The doctor wanted his patients to have the vitamins and minerals necessary for good health. He was looked down upon by other healthcare professionals, State Regulatory Personnel, and government and private insurance companies.
This doctor believed in his heart that what he was doing was safe and good for the welfare of the people. Because of what other people thought, his practice suffered. His offer to do good was rejected by other healthcare professionals.
The little boy in the school yard tried to talk two other boys out of fighting with each other. He told them it was not worth ending up in the Principal’s office. He used all his effort and all that he had learned in Sunday school and church to try and convince the boys that fighting was not the answer to solving their issue.
The little boy told them that Jesus said, “…love one another; as I have loved you…” (John 1334). He told them that when Jesus was a boy their age, he did not fight, but instead, he showed them differences could be worked out if they would just talk to one another and love one another like God loved them.
Although the little boy tried to do good and help the other boys, the other boys chose to make a scene which resulted in being expelled from school. The boys learned that their act brought suffering to them because now the other students looked at them as being troublemakers. In addition, the incident appeared as a mark in their school record.
Many times we try to do good, but people do not listen. Children do not heed the advice of the parents. Young people do not listen to their teacher, their pastor, their lawyer, their probation officer, the policeman who gives them a warning, or a host of other people who are trying to do them a favor. Judges get upset when the same person appears time and time again in their courtroom.
The adults who are caught time after time for possession of drugs, robbery, battery, failing to obey driving laws, abuse, child neglect, etc. never seem to learn right from wrong. Many of these people are sent to rehabilitation centers for treatment, but when they are released, they fall right back into the same old routine.
It is true that there are times we try to help someone in need and we end up getting hurt. We may get hurt physically or emotionally, but that does not mean we should stop helping.
God’s Word says, “Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good?” (I Peter 3:13). Just because we are Christians, does not mean we are free from harm. However, being a Christian and having Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior gives us hope and strength to get through the valleys in our lives.
We are going to face hardships; we are going to be mistreated; we are going to be called names; we are going to be looked down on; we are going to face the enemy; we will fight battles; we will have battle wounds, but we will be conquerors because Jesus is our leader.
We will have the strength to face all these adversities because our strength comes from a suffering Servant and that is none other than Jesus. There may be a time in our life when our suffering for righteousness may cost us our earthly life. Jesus said, “For whoever desires to save is life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it” (Mark 8:35).
Jesus is not saying that our life is useless or worthless, but we should be willing to lose our life because it does not compare to what He has in store for us. Since Jesus created us, he controls our destiny.
Last year in China, a young woman and her mother-in-law went through the market place distributing Bibles and Christian literature. The women were arrested, beaten, and the mother-in-law died. Christians have been persecuted down through the years and they are still persecuted for what they believe is good in God’s sight. Trying to do good has cost many lives, but that does not mean we should stop doing good deeds.
There have been numerous people through the years who have refused to deny God’s Word or deny their Christian faith. Some of the people lost their earthly life, but have moved on a better eternal life Jesus had in prepared for them.
We need to continue to do what is good in the sight of Almighty God. Yes, we will have enemies, but so did Jesus. We may suffer disappointment, pain, and even misfortune, but with the strength and hope given us through Jesus, our enemies will be the losers.
We will ultimately end up as being victors. We do not need to fear those people who come against us, because we are on the winning side. We are on the winning side because God is in control, not us nor our enemies.
Isaiah talked about the Messiah. He said, “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:5, 7, 9).
All these words that Isaiah wrote down came to reality. God loves us so much that he was willing to send His Son to suffer for us. God wanted to do something good for us. He wanted to give us another opportunity to form a right relationship with Him through His Son Jesus. We need to continue doing good in the name of Jesus. We need not fear or be frightened of what other people might say to us or about us because Jesus is in our heart.
Since Jesus is in our heart we need to share with others what He has done for us. Some people we talk to will be anxious to hear about Jesus, but some will choose to ignore us or proceed to question us concerning our faith and our hope.
Although people may not agree with what we believe and or that there is a God or that Jesus ever existed, but we must answer them in a respectful manner so as to project a Christ-like image. In order for us to witness for Jesus, we must be have Him in our heart and truly believe all God’s Words teaches about Him. Our words and our actions to those who speak evil things to us must be of love, understanding, caring, and forgiveness.
Peter wrote to Jewish Christians in Rome who were being persecuted for their Christian faith. He tried to give them comfort. He told them, “It is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil” (I Peter 3:17). All of us will go through periods of suffering during our earthly life, but if our suffering is for doing good instead of evil, God is on our side.
Jesus came to this world and suffered for us. Man was the one with the sinful nature, not Jesus. God’s love was so strong for mankind that He was willing to sacrifice His Son in an effort to redeem man. Jesus performed many good deeds while He was here walking the earth.
Jesus showed Satan that although Satan could tempt Him, He would not succumb or yield to the temptations. Each time Satan tempted Jesus, Jesus quoted God’s Word. We need to do likewise thus doing good instead of evil.
Scripture tells us, “…they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them” (Matthew 4:24). Jesus did good to all who came to Him.
Through the Word of God, Jesus not only healed people physically, but He also healed them spiritually. He does the same for us today. There is no problem or issue too big or too small to take to God in prayer. He still does good today. He is the same as He was yesterday, and He is today, and as He will be tomorrow.
There were people in Jesus’ day that did not believe Him and thought He was possessed by the devil (Mark 3:22). The Pharisees of the day saw the miracles that were taking place, but they did not believe that it was power coming from God.
If the Pharisees admitted that Jesus’ power for performing the many miracles came from God, then they would have to admit that Jesus was the real Messiah. This they did not want to admit because it would hurt their pride. The Pharisees thought that by accusing Jesus of being possessed by the devil, the people would soon lose faith in Him and He would vanish from the scene. This obviously did not happen.
Conclusion:
Jesus continued to do good deeds because of His love for us as He continues to do them today. He paid the price for doing good that others thought to be wrong. He suffered according to Isaiah’s prophesy. He bore our punishment out of love. He gives us the opportunity to repent of our sins and accept Him as our own personal Lord and Savior. By accepting Him, He comes to live within our hearts in the Person of the Holy Spirit. The bottom line is we have been redeemed and saved. He has a room for us in his mansion just over the hilltop. We will spend eternity in His presence.
Story: “The Surgeon’s Lesson for Doing Good”
“Tomorrow morning I’ll open up your heart” the surgeon said to the 8 year-old-boy.
“You’ll find Jesus there,” the boy said.
The surgeon continued, “I’ll open your heart and check the damage.”
“You’ll find Jesus there,” the boy said.
“When I see the damage, I will suture you back up and then think about the next step,” said the surgeon.
“You will find Jesus in my heart because my Sunday school teacher told me so. She said it says so in the Bible. Besides that, our Sunday school songs say He lives there,” said the boy.
The surgery took place the next day. After the surgery the surgeon began to make notes of what he found. In his mind there was no hope and no cure. The little boy would die within a matter of months.
The thought began to get to the doctor and all of a sudden the doctor shouted to God, “Why did you do this to the boy? Why can’t he live a normal life?”
God spoke to the surgeon’s heart and said, “The boy is a part of my flock and will always be a part of my flock. When he is with me there will be no more suffering and pain. He will have comfort and peace. One day his parents as well as you will join him and my flock will continue to grow.”
The next day the surgeon went to the boy’s room and sat down with the parents beside the bed.
In a moment or two, the boy opened his eyes and asked very quietly, “What did you find in my heart?”
With tears flowing down his cheeks, the surgeon said, “I found Jesus there.” (author unknown)
Amen.
