So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up.

Galatians 6:9

“Let us not grow weary in doing what is right,” Paul teaches us, toward the end of his Letter to the Galatians. 

A good reminder, to be sure. But sometimes we can wonder what he means by “doing what is right.” In fact, we probably should wonder about that. Because it is not always easy to figure out what is right for us to do. 

So, today, let’s think about what it means to do what is right. And not to grow weary in doing so. 

Rich Mullins’ Answer

One answer that I came across this week (from Carolyn Arends’ Foreword to Trevor Hudson’s “In Search of God’s Will”) is from the Christian singer-songwriter Rich Mullins. He was a terrific songwriter and musician, but maybe even a better person and Christian. He died too soon, in a car accident, but before that he gave this answer to what it means to do what is right: 

“I don’t think finding God’s plan for you has to be complicated … God’s will is that you love him with all heart and soul and mind, and also that you love your neighbor as yourself. Get busy with that, and then, if God wants you to do something unusual, he’ll take care of it. Say, for example, he wants you to go to Egypt … If that’s the case, God will provide eleven jealous brothers, and they’ll sell you into slavery.”

He’s being playful at the end, but there is some truth to it. As Joseph himself observed to those brothers in Genesis 50: “Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today.”

So, maybe Rich Mullins has a point. Love God with everything we’ve got, love our neighbor as ourselves, and then trust God to put us where God wants us to do these things. And when it gets challenging, trust that God is still with us, and still bringing about good. 

When we hold onto that promise, we can do what is right without growing weary. So that’s a good way to look at this. 

Today’s Gospel Reading

But another way to look at this question of what is right is found by looking at the gospels. Jesus has a lot to teach us about doing God’s will, and today’s gospel reading (Luke 10:1-11, 16-20) is a good example of this. 

In this gospel reading, Jesus is appointing seventy people and sending them ahead in pairs to places where he intends to go. And he sends them with instructions. These instructions offer us another way to think about what we are supposed to do as we try to live out God’s will. 

So let me walk us through these instructions, and see how they can help us today to determine what we should be doing, as followers of Jesus. 

Prepare the Way for Jesus

The story begins by telling us that Jesus sends the seventy ahead of him to places where “he himself intends to go.” And I think that is very important to remember. Wherever God sends us, it is not to bring Jesus there, or to usher in the kingdom ourselves. We are simply preparing the way for Jesus. He is planning to go there, or perhaps already is. 

So, humility is a very important quality to have as we seek to do what is right. Humility and faith, trusting Jesus to be right there with us. 

Doing what is right is sometimes as simple as pointing out where Jesus is already at work in the world, or in people’s lives. Sometimes all we have to do is pay attention to what God is up to, and tell others about it. 

Begin with Prayer

Back to this gospel reading. We are told that even before Jesus sends out the seventy, he tells them: “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers.” 

In other words, pray. Ask God to help. We’re not supposed to do it all ourselves. We are supposed to pray, to ask for help. We are promised that Jesus will go with us. But the way that we see that happening is through prayer. So beginning with prayer is always the right thing to do. 

When in doubt about what to do, pray. And aren’t we always in doubt? Prayer is not a way of avoiding doing what is right; it is a way of seeing what is right. Prayer opens our eyes to the ways that God is already active, in our life and in our world. And it shows us ways that we can be involved in what God is doing as we seek to love God by loving our neighbor. 

So, pray. Invite God to be a part of what you are trying to do in this world. And then keep your eyes open. God will give you plenty of opportunities to do what is right. 

Travel Light

Jesus goes on his instructions to the seventy to say: “Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals.” Travel light, in other words. Why? Perhaps because doing what is right always involves trusting in Jesus.

When God’s people were wandering through the wilderness, they learned to trust God to provide their manna each day. So, too, for us. Trust God. Travel light. We can be prepared, of course, but also leave room for God to provide. We shouldn’t prepare so much that we leave no room for God to surprise us! Trust that God will provide what is needed, and often much more than that.

Isn’t this why Jesus teaches us to pray for our daily bread? He is reminding us to trust God. He is connecting us to God’s people in the wilderness, and encouraging us to trust God daily. God will provide what is needed for us to do what God wants. That’s the promise. 

Doing what is right involves trusting God and then stepping out in faith. 

But what happens when we fail? 

Don’t Worry About Failing

Jesus warns the seventy that they are being sent out like lambs into the midst of wolves. It is not easy to do what is right, in other words, because the world does not always welcome it. We can get hurt. And we can fail. 

Jesus tells the seventy that if they enter a town and are not welcomed, they should shake the dust off their feet and try somewhere else. 

When you try to do what is right, some people will reject you. Jesus knows that, and he is getting his disciples ready for that. He is getting them ready, in other words, to fail.

There were times even in Jesus’ ministry when people turned away and stopped following him. There were people who rejected him. People who didn’t listen to him. Who disagreed with him. Why should we expect anything different for ourselves? And even more so!

But success and failure is not up to us. Being faithful is. As Mother Theresa often said: God has not called us to be successful, but to be faithful. We won’t always be successful, but we can always be faithful. 

Doing what is right doesn’t mean that we will always succeed. Sometimes we will fail. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t right. And it doesn’t mean the story is over. Jesus’ death on the cross should assure us of that. 

Do What Jesus Did

Okay, but what exactly does Jesus want us to do? We haven’t really addressed that. Jesus tells the seventy to cure the sick and proclaim the kingdom of God. In other words, do the same things that Jesus has been doing. 

And isn’t that still the case? When we are trying to do the right thing, we can always go back to what Jesus was doing. We can bring comfort to the poor and the sick. We can feed the hungry, clothe the naked. We can speak a word of hope to those who are despairing. We can do what Jesus did, as best we can, and as faithfully as we can. That is always the right thing to do. 

Go, and then Return

So, the seventy went out and did all of this. They went to prepare the way for Jesus. They prayed. They trusted. They didn’t worry about failing, but only about being faithful. And they did the same things that Jesus had been doing. 

And then they returned to Jesus. As do we. That is what Sunday worship is all about. We go in peace, to serve the Lord. But then each week we return, to hear God’s word, to pray for the world, to be together as a Christian community, and to receive the body and blood of our Lord.

We come back here each week to celebrate our successes, and to be encouraged when we fall short. And, most of all, to remember that it is not all about us. None of it is. It is always about the one who calls us and sends us. 

Jesus reminds them and us that when something good happens in our work for Jesus, we are to rejoice not in our success, but in Jesus. Always in Jesus. That is always the right thing to do. 

It is always about Jesus. As Jesus said to those returning disciples: “Do not rejoice at your success, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” In other words, at the end of the day, what matters is not whether you think that you were successful or not. What matters is that Jesus was successful, in his death and resurrection, in bringing salvation to earth and writing our names in heaven. What is more important than that?

Closing

The harvest is plentiful, and we are the laborers who are few. And it can be a difficult task to do what Jesus asks of us. There is still a lot of work for his followers to do in this world. And we might feel inadequate at times – not up to this task. 

But Paul reminds us that if we continue to do what is good and right, our work will not be in vain. We will reap at harvest time, as he puts it.

And Jesus himself reminds us that he does not leave us alone in this task. He is with us always, to the end of the age. It is the miracle and mystery of our faith: that even though Jesus sends us, he also goes with us. He goes before us. He follows us. We follow him. And he is with us all along the way. 

So, let us go into the harvest that is our world, with Jesus, seeking always to do what is right and good. By loving God with everything we’ve got, by loving our neighbor as ourselves, and by trusting God to send us exactly where we are supposed to go. Amen.