“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.” John 10:11-18

let me ask you:

“Is doing good, feeling good, and even looking good all genetics, part of our DNA in other words? Or is it a combination of our DNA and environment – part genetics and how we were raised? Or is it a combination of the evolutionary and biochemistry makeup of the brain?” Recent studies by neuroscientists have found that altruism, putting the needs of others ahead of our own – doing good for someone else – lights up the part of the brain that also lights up in response to pleasure. In other words, donating money, doing a good deed for someone, etc. stimulates the same part of the brain that is stimulated when you eat really, really good chocolate – or get a really good back massage.

It was St. Francis of Assisi who once said:

Lord, Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

“For it is in giving — that we receive.”

Apparently St. Francis of Assisi understood the very basic nature of the human brain. You do realize that one understanding of consciousness, one understanding of our ability to recognize our place in the cosmos is that we need others in order to feel good about ourselves. We need others who can reflect back to us – people from whom we might get answers to these questions: Do I look good?  Have I done good?  Am I happy?  Am I……good?

Peter and John, from the text from Acts, believed they had done something good when they healed the beggar in the name of the Lord and Savior Jesus. If you recall last week’s lesson from Acts, Peter and John encountered this man just outside the Temple proper, and Peter healed him. Here we learn it got them thrown in jail. And yet we know they felt good about what they did for that man. And nothing was going to stop them from continuing to teach and to heal in the name of Jesus.

In our text from 1 John, the writer basically says: “You cannot feel good about yourself, about your wealth, your property and possessions if you refuse to give to someone in need.” If you refuse to share out of your abundance, you will not look good, you will not feel good, and, well, you aren’t good – because your heart betrays you – for refusing to share out of your abundance. But after all, no one does ultimate good all of the time.

Look, we tend to be people who surround ourselves with like-minded people – people who look like us – and people who reflect ourselves back to us. People driven by money, power and prestige tend to flock together. People driven by looks and fashion tend to flock together. And people driven by doing good deeds – also tend to flock together. And to continue this thought, people who are driven to live the Christ-like life, the life of selflessness, sacrifice, and love — tend to live their lives doing good things in the name of Jesus – and gathering in places where people worship Jesus. And yet, doing good, looking good, feeling good – well, they do not make you and me good – because ultimately, only G-d is good. We, you and I, well we are sinful – usually we are somewhere between people at peace and rest, and really hot, messes – and our hearts betray us.

We want others to think we are good. We want others to say we look good. We want flattery from others to feel good.

We want others to see us doing good. And, biologically doing good makes us feel good – but ultimately, we are not good. We are not good.

What is good – is the Good Shepherd. What is good is the power of the Holy Spirit. What is good is a G-d who is greater than our hearts. What is good is being baptized in the name of Jesus, because when we are baptized in his name, then Jesus abides in us, and lives in us by the presence of the Holy Spirit who resides in our hearts – or as the Greek says, resides in our bowels of compassion. It is through the Holy Spirit that Jesus lives in our very being – and we become children of G-d.

Pastor Dave