Good for God's Sake

"No good deed goes unpunished."

I'm sure you've heard the saying. A gentlemen said it to me a few months ago after helping out a young couple and then getting burned in the process. While I don't embrace the philosophy behind the saying, I certainly understand the feeling. Most likely anyone who has done good deeds has at some point felt "punished" by doing so.

So why bother? I had a friend who donated a load of fire wood to someone and in the end was accused of stealing something. Afterward he said to me, "That's what you get for trying to help." Is that true? Should we have any expectations when we help people? Does expecting some kind of "reward" for doing good deeds ruin them? I doubt a blog post can answer much of these questions in detail, but I will at least offer a few insights that wiser people have taught me and hope it's helpful to some.

I've recently had a number of experiences where doing something good and helpful has caused some personal frustration and extra work. I've found myself annoyed, tired, and feeling sorry for myself. Then I read verses like 2 Thessalonians 3:13: "As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good." How? What am I missing? It seems lately I've been doing good deeds as if I didn't believe in God. I've been doing good for good's sake instead of for God's sake. Doing something just because you should often drains your joy and leaves the soul parched. It becomes mere duty. The bible teaches us to do everything for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). Christians should do what God says is right and good because in doing it we enjoy more of him (John 14:23).

Notice the way Jesus often talks: "But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just" (Luke 14:13-14); "But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High..."(Luke 6:35). Notions like repayment and reward sound odd when talking about doing God's will, but notice that he asks us not to expect any repayment from people because the repayment and reward comes from God. This reward also has nothing to do with money or possessions and everything to do with being in relationship with the Triune God and experiencing his presence. God is the reward. He is the treasure. In his presence there is fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore (Psalm 16:11).

Is this some form of selfishness? Are we using people when we do good for God's sake? Here's how one pastor answers those questions: "No. It’s because part of the greater joy we seek in God, by doing them good, is the inclusion of them in our joy. Our joy in God would be expanded by their joy in God. We are not using them for our greater joy. We are wooing them into our greater joy, and desiring that they become part of it."

This is true love. And the God who is love is to be our motivation.

Philip

Built for Relationship

We are social beings. We were built to live in community. To have friends. To build families. Think about it, we have inherited the right to live in the kingdom. We have been adopted by the Creator of the Universe, to be His sons and daughters, alongside Jesus Christ.

We were built to belong to a church family. We are all family. This can help change the dynamic of people you meet everyday. Whether its at work, at the grocery store, on a walk, or at the cafe. Everyone is a child of God. He created them with such intimacy and love.

Hebrews 10:24-25

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

We are better together. We need to continue to meet up together, be in the word, pray, and go out together to serve.

The beauty of Outflow is the community here. It is a good place to be. Whether you are a volunteer or employee, there is a sense of safety and love, of shelter and peace.

-Laura

Get on Your Knees

Today, you are my confessor. I feel a bit of shame in the confession, but the instruction I have received from the Lord this week is worth sharing, I think, and to share that, you have to know my mistake.

First, some back story. For quite some time, I have been feeling like my prayers are awkward and stale. I have been trying to practice conversation with Jesus and it feels weird. It feels like telling the friend I've just been with all day all that has happened to us. He already knows. I must be boring Jesus stiff. But I also want to avoid the kind of prayer that is the joke of the internet lately:

I have talked to lots of people about this, trying to figure out how to have a normal conversation with Jesus, chatting like we are hanging out.  I was focused on Jesus my friend, Jesus my brother, “Buddy Jesus.” 

                            

As I contemplated this again the other day, God spoke to me. He said, “Get on your knees.”

Four words. Four beautiful words that told me what I was doing wrong. My whole approach was incorrect. Yes, yes - Jesus is a friend of sinners, He loves us, we are his joint heirs. But first and foremost, He is King.

My confession is this: I have not been on my knees in years. I pray daily. I pray in passing when I think of things, I pray with friends, I pray for people, I pray at night. I pray. But I do not bow before the King. I think I remember the last time I was on my knees, and that was when my daughter was about 9 (now nearly 16). I knelt to pray with her.

When I was young, we had evening services at the Church my family attended. At the end of every service, some of the congregants remained in the Church after the dismissal. Most of them got down on their knees in their pews and they prayed. It was a collective bowing down before the King, even though the prayers were unique and individual. I love this memory.

I am not sure why I became so fixated on Jesus my friend and brother, neglecting all else that He is. Arrogance, I guess, probably along with a focus on teachings about an approachable God. Our God is approachable, but it wasn't always so. That came at great cost and should not be taken for granted. That is easy to forget when we are free to approach the throne. He is our friend and brother, but He is so much more. He is a King, the King, the one and only God most High, Creator, Sustainer, the Word, the Eternal One, our Saviour.

As I thought about kings in scripture, I remembered the family/king dynamic. These are things I have already known and you probably know them, too. People, even wives, could only come before the king with permission or risk death. (Thankfully, we have been summoned into our King's presence.) They bowed before their king relative. They were bold enough to ask for favours sometimes, but humble enough to know that their father, brother, husband must be treated according to his station and that they were subjects like the rest of the kingdom.

Jesus is our King. Join me on my knees.

--Chanelle