AUTHORIZED FOR GOOD (19 OF 49)
Scripture: Acts 4:5-12
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Authorized for Good (19 of 49)
Lectionary, Year B, Easter 04
Christopher B. Harbin
Acts 4:5-12
How dare you do good? That seems a strange question! The more I think about it, however, the more I see the underlying question alive and well in our society. Oh, we like the idea of doing good to others, at least on the surface. We want others to do good things and make positive contributions to the lives of others. We make heroes out of those who exemplify doing good for strangers. When it comes to those good actions breaking societal norms, however, doing good may quickly be called into question. The resultant question for breaking those norms to do good is, essentially, how dare you?
At issue is that while we like the idea of doing good, it is not our highest priority. It is an ideal we hold up as a lofty goal, but not one we really choose to live by or encourage others to claim as their highest of priorities. We just elevate the exceptions to our routines in which people around us manage to rise above the status quo to do good, especially when those actions don't break very far from established parameters for when it is acceptable to perform acts of kindness, charity, generosity, or helpfulness. We don't publicize it a lot, but we even pass community standards to keep the doing of good confined within socially acceptable norms.
Perhaps you have come across ordinances, laws, or norms that limit doing good. We do things like criminalize homelessness. We also pass laws and ordinances that criminalize giving aid to those in need. I served in one town attempting to keep a soup kitchen from opening with the excuse that ''we don't have that problem here.'' When we started using church facilities as an inclement weather shelter, another town determined we were in violation of an ordinance and needed to work through a year-long permitting process to become something we were not. Another town decreed that sleeping in a car was an ordinance violation. I got in tro ...
Lectionary, Year B, Easter 04
Christopher B. Harbin
Acts 4:5-12
How dare you do good? That seems a strange question! The more I think about it, however, the more I see the underlying question alive and well in our society. Oh, we like the idea of doing good to others, at least on the surface. We want others to do good things and make positive contributions to the lives of others. We make heroes out of those who exemplify doing good for strangers. When it comes to those good actions breaking societal norms, however, doing good may quickly be called into question. The resultant question for breaking those norms to do good is, essentially, how dare you?
At issue is that while we like the idea of doing good, it is not our highest priority. It is an ideal we hold up as a lofty goal, but not one we really choose to live by or encourage others to claim as their highest of priorities. We just elevate the exceptions to our routines in which people around us manage to rise above the status quo to do good, especially when those actions don't break very far from established parameters for when it is acceptable to perform acts of kindness, charity, generosity, or helpfulness. We don't publicize it a lot, but we even pass community standards to keep the doing of good confined within socially acceptable norms.
Perhaps you have come across ordinances, laws, or norms that limit doing good. We do things like criminalize homelessness. We also pass laws and ordinances that criminalize giving aid to those in need. I served in one town attempting to keep a soup kitchen from opening with the excuse that ''we don't have that problem here.'' When we started using church facilities as an inclement weather shelter, another town determined we were in violation of an ordinance and needed to work through a year-long permitting process to become something we were not. Another town decreed that sleeping in a car was an ordinance violation. I got in tro ...
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