Good Reasons For Doing Good

By: Howard Vanderwell

Scripture Reading: Ephesians 2:1-10

September 30th, 2007

Introduction


The story is told that one day Arthur Schopenhauer, a nineteenth century German philosopher, was sitting on a park bench in the center of town. He had been sitting there most of the day. Eventually a policeman came along, tapped him with his nightstick, and asked, “Come, come, now, who are you and what are you doing here?“ And Schopenhauer is said to have answered, “Would to God that I knew!“


Do you ever wonder that? Do you ever feel like asking “who am I and what am I doing here?“ Maybe you ask it regularly of yourself, maybe you’ve written it at times in your diary, or on your blog. “Who am I and what am I doing here?“ And then maybe you think further about it and remind yourself, here I have this package of years that I’m given…how many will I have altogether? Maybe 30? Or 60? Or more? Who knows how many we will have! But, regardless of how many, what do I do with them? How can I live them so that, when they are finished, I can feel it was worthwhile? Yes, who am I and what am I here for?“ It’s an important question for all of us, of whatever age we may be. It’s an important question because what we do with our life will determine how fulfilling it will be, how satisfying it will be to us and how much of a difference it will make to others. But remember that what we do with our life will be shaped by the sense of purpose that we have.


It’s also an important question because so many people simply don’t have a purpose big enough to make their life worthwhile. Maxwell Maltz, a cosmetic surgeon, once wrote a book in which he described human beings as “meaning mongers“. By that he meant that we crave some sense of meaning and purpose in life. Our lives, he once wrote, are like bicycles; if you are going to keep your balance you need to keep moving forward. So, you see it really is a big question for you and me. Who am I and what am I here for?


A. Christians face the question.


Christians have a unique and very important way of dealing with that question. They know where their life has come from, and they know when it’s finished they will meet God, the giver of life. So when they ask “who am I and what am I here for?“ they always ask it with God in view. Now, Jesus said that he ultimately wants us to be in glory with him. And he will eventually take us there. But until then, he has plans for us on this earth. He has chosen to place and leave us here for awhile. So we still need to ask, “why?“


So the believer’s pressing question goes something like this: since God has saved me from sin, since he has drawn me back to him, since he has done it all through his Son Jesus Christ, and since he obviously plans for me to be here on this earth for awhile yet, why? For what purpose? What does he have in mind? And that’s the question to which the believing Christian has a very clear answer. Saved people say: “I am here to be good and to do good in the name of God and for the glory of God, the one who saved me.“ That’s what God wants.


Paul puts it all very clearly in the words of Ephesians 2 that you heard a few minutes ago, “We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.“ That means that God is the one who put us here. God determines how long we’ll be here. And God also plans the purpose for which our lives should be lived. He has designed us. And he designed us to be the kind of people who do good—who love him and serve him; who love others and serve others; and, in general, to be the kind of people who make the world a better place to be.


B. Probing Deeper.


But I think we need to probe that even more. If you read the Bible carefully, you will learn that it’s not only a matter of being good and doing good, but doing good, for the right reasons…for the right motives. I don’t know if you’ve thought about it that way before, but motives do matter. You see, there are three kinds of people all mixed together in human society here on this earth. All three of these kinds of people surround you and me every day. They all interact with us.


There are, sadly, people who seem to have no interest at all in either being good or doing good. They seem not to care at all about how they live and how their living impacts or influences other people. They will do what they want, when they want, in any way they want. They are interested only in themselves. And these folks are base people, dangerous people; they are a threat to the welfare of human society. Many of them are in the prisons of our lands, but many others live among us every day. For some reason that the rest of us just don’t understand, good means nothing to them.


There are other people who do good things, to be sure, but they do it with a questionable motive. You and I see, and sometimes benefit, from the good that they do. They are very open to others, always helping other people. They are generous people, sometimes extremely benevolent. They will help you, be kind to you. You can trust them. They are reliable. And yet…you always seem to have this gnawing and nagging feeling that something just isn’t right. They seem, (how shall I say it?) rather absorbed with themselves even while they are helping others. They seem to work harder and harder at doing good things as though they are searching to find something that always seems to be just out of reach. I know it’s very risky to judge others, but these folks leave you with the impression that they are driven to be good to others in the hopes that eventually there is something in it for themselves — like earning the applause and favor of others or to make themselves feel good or maybe even to get the attention of God. To be sure, they are good people and they do a lot of good, but you just aren’t quite sure of their motives.


Some time ago a lady wrote to our local newspaper and honestly confessed that for 29 years she had been trying her hardest to be a good person, to love God and love other people, and finally got in touch with her real motive and admitted it all was to earn God’s favor…and instead it left her with severe depression. She was doing good things, but for all the wrong reasons. And there’s deep stress in that. But the apostle Paul is talking about a third kind of person in the passage we read today. Paul is talking about people who do good and do it for the right reason, the right motive. These are people who live well; they love God; they keep his commandments; they love other people; they are an asset to their church and their community. Their actions are right; and if you get to know them inside, you discover that their motives are right too. If you ask them about why they live the way they do, they will likely answer you with words that sound like the apostle Paul. “I am God’s workmanship; God’s work of art; God has given me life and he intends for me to use it for the sake of his work and other’s happiness. And he has given me a new life in Jesus Christ so that I can live for the good of his kingdom and other people. That’s who I am; that’s why I’m here.“ You find them to be people who are very content and happy with who they are, very conscious of how they’ve been blessed, people with a clear sense of their own identity in Jesus Christ. And you are struck with how confident, and very humble, they are when they say all that.


C. “Therefore“


Let me try to make that clear to you by explaining that there is one word in human language that is a very big and important word. We often overlook it because it’s just a transition word, but it’s a pivotal one. It’s the word “therefore“. “Therefore“ is one of those connecting words that we so easily just skip over. But we shouldn’t skip over it for it’s a very big word. It’s a word that draws a connection between what happened before and what happens afterward. This happened, therefore, this was the result. It means that certain things happen as a result of actions that took place before.

  • We had a family birthday party the other day and it was the result of the fact that God gave one of my grandsons another healthy and growing year. God gave the year, therefore, we celebrated.
  • Perhaps you experienced healing after a major surgery; therefore, you live more gratefully than ever.

Do you see what I mean? Well, that word “therefore“ is a big word in the Bible too. As a matter of fact, it’s a word that captures the genuine motivation for living a God—honoring life. We are not told to obey God’s laws, to love him, and to love and serve others so that we will capture the attention of God, or impress God, or earn his love, or achieve our salvation. No more than we had our family birthday party to win points with God so that he would give another year. I love God, not so I can get him to love me back; but I love God because he first loved me! And that’s how Paul teaches us to design our motive for living the good life. In this second chapter of Ephesians, his point is — you who were dead in sin, have now been saved by grace through faith, therefore live your life of good works. Salvation by grace first; good living next as a grateful response.


He’ll do that again a little later in his book. After spending the first three chapters explaining how God saves us by his grace, he begins chapter 4 by saying, then, because of all that, live a life worthy of your calling. He does the same thing in the book of Romans. He spends the first nine chapters talking about the power of God’s grace that adopts unworthy sinners, and then begins chapter 12 by saying, “Therefore“ present your bodies as living sacrifices. In the beautiful chapter of I Corinthians 15, Paul speaks about the rich and comforting hope we have of resurrection when Jesus comes again. And then closes by saying “therefore“ always give yourselves to the work of the Lord.


Living the good life, doing good, is not a bargain with God. It’s not an attempt to win favor, or make an impression, or strike a business deal as if “when I do this God will do that.“ It is an act of sheer thanks, of living out who we are and have become by the grace of God. It was expressed very pointedly by one of the prayers at my church a few weeks ago. We were praying for the forgiveness of our sins and in doing so we asked that God would wash away all our sins with the blood of Christ, and then the prayer concluded with, “…and we will love you for it.“ Yes, there it is! We love him, not to get the forgiveness, but because we have received it!


Suppose that I am a child, trying hard to grow up, sorting out how I should live and what my motives should be. And in the process I have a conversation with my father about it all. I don’t remember if I ever had this specific conversation, but it could easily be; and it could easily be that I’ve had this very conversation with my three sons who are now all grown. My father had made it clear to me that I must be a good boy, a good man, a good citizen. And suppose then that I question it, “must I really?“ “Yes, really“, he says. And I ask, “But why, why must I be so concerned about being a good person?“ And then my father sits down with me and says, “Howard, you don’t have to be good so God will love you more; and you don’t have to be good so he will notice you; or so you can impress him“. And then he leans over toward me, and my father says, “Howard, you are a baptized boy; you must always remember that and live as a baptized boy. God has reached into your life with his love and with this grace through Jesus Christ; He has made you who you are. Live that way. Live as one who has been adopted by Jesus Christ.“ He probably never said it in quite those exact words but the message from my Christian parents was very clear — we live as good persons because God has made us his own.


We have been saved, therefore we serve!


And so, it is true that people may rightfully expect a very high standard of behavior from those who profess to be Christians. Oh, yes, we are as human as all the rest. And we have all our own personal weaknesses still hanging around. We have our failures, too, and sometimes they are all too obvious. But deep down in our hearts there is this overwhelming thankfulness to God for his saving grace. And that thankfulness is the motivator for our good living.


A historic written document that teaches the beliefs of the Christian church, called the Heidelberg Catechism, expresses this matter very concisely. It imagines someone asking a question like this:


We have been delivered
from our misery
by God’s grace alone through Christ
and not because we have earned it:
why then must we still do good?


And then it goes on to give an answer to that question. It says:


To be sure, Christ has redeemed us by his blood.
But we do good because
Christ by his Spirit is also renewing us to be like himself,
so that in all our living
we may show that we are thankful to God
for all he has done for us,
and so that he may be praised through us.


And we do good
so that we may be assured of our faith by its fruits,
and so that by our godly living
our neighbors may be won over to Christ.
(Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 32, Q/A 86)



D. Conclusion


Lloyd Douglas is a master writer. One of Douglas’ novels is entitled “Magnificent Obsession“. It’s a story about a fellow named Robert Merrick. Merrick is young; he’s rich; he’s drunk; and life is a game for him, a game of using people and tossing them aside. It’s a game of playing with his toys in a self—centered world. And then it happens: while out on his yacht, the wind catches the sail and throws the boom at him; he falls into the water, unconscious. He later is rescued, but barely alive. At the same moment, a world—famous doctor, dedicated, devoted, a saver of lives, drowns in a freak accident just down the beach. Young Merrick lies in the hospital. His eyes are closed, and everybody thinks he’s unconscious. Two nurses stand over him, and one shakes her head. “What a tragedy….“ She says. “A great man who saves lives is lost, and this fellow, who never did any good for anybody, is saved!“ Merrick overhears this comment, and he knows it is true. He’s alive, but he’s never really lived. He was pulled from the water but for no good reason. And in that moment, in that instant of judgment, Merrick gains his “magnificent obsession“. He’ll go to the university. He’ll get a degree in medicine. He’ll take the doctor’s place. He’ll save lives and begin to truly live himself. A magnificent obsession — a purpose for which to live and to die! It’s the magnificent obsession of someone who knows and is profoundly grateful for being saved by the grace of God! So who are you? And what are you here for? Do you know? And does that shape your living?

Prayer

Please join me in prayer.

Almighty and loving God, You, who have been willing to adopt us as your children through the grace of Jesus Christ, hear our prayer of thanks for your salvation. We are deeply grateful for the finished work of Jesus Christ by which he paid the price at Calvary for all our sin. Thank you, Father, for raising us to a new life. And now we pray that you will lead us in lives of grateful obedience. Forgive us when we do our good for selfish reasons—hoping there’s something in it for us, and stir the mind of Christ within us so that in all our living we may be a testimony of thanks to you for your great salvation in Jesus Christ. May our community be a better place and may those around us be well cared for because we have lived in love as you have loved us. For Jesus sake, Amen

About the Author

Howard Vanderwell

Howard Vanderwell was ordained in the Christian Reformed Church in 1962. He received his M.Div. and Th.M. degree from Calvin Theological Seminary and his D.Min. at Westminster Theological Seminary in California. He has served as pastor to four congregations over 40 years in Iowa, Illinois and Michigan. After leaving the pastorate in 2002 he began a new ministry at Calvin College and Calvin Theological Seminary. He is currently a staff member at the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI and Adjunct Professor of Worship at Calvin Theological Seminary. He consults with local congregations, provides worship materials, leads conferences and workshops, and teaches courses on worship at Calvin Seminary. Howard’‘s interests include planning, leading and evaluating worship, preaching, and worship renewal throughout the evangelical church. “My life-long prayer, from my days as a child, was that I might be honored to serve as a Christian Reformed pastor preaching the Word of God to encourage and challenge his people. I consider the forty years of my pastoral ministry to have been the most valuable way in which I could have invested those years! When I consult with pastors, teach and mentor students, hold conferences for worship leaders, or write worship planning materials, my aim is to equip and inspire others to serve their Lord and Savior by making a whole-hearted investment in his church and his people. Such ministry is certainly not without its stresses and discouragements, and those of us who have found such joy in a life-time of ministry are uniquely fitted to encourage others.” Howard lives in Hudsonville, MI with his wife Eleanor. They have three married sons and ten grandchildren ages 5 through 19. His hobbies are yard-gardening, walking, photography and model railroading.

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