Word for Word 9/16/26

Wanderings of a Wayward Follower of Jesus

Blessings Everyone!

Have you heard the phase, “No Good Deed Goes Unpunished”? The meaning of this phase as paraphrased from Wikipedia is; “Beneficial actions often go unappreciated or are met with outright hostility. And if they are appreciated, they often lead to additional requests.”

In the Bible, we read this about good deeds and being punished for them, John 10:32, “Jesus answered them, ‘I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?’”

After Jesus fed the 5,000, the people kept following Him, but Jesus called them out by saying they were only following Him because He did good deeds.

I was an eye witness to this phase. At a previous appointment I became involved in the local Optimist Club. One of our members - I will call her Jane - suggested a giveaway project to offer a free bike to elementary age kids.

She spearheaded the effort. Fund raising allowed for the purchase of 12 bicycles with bike helmets. The giveaway was simple; fill out a free ticket, place it in the bag hanging from the bike you were hoping to win and be present at the time of the drawing (the child hoping to win a bike was required to be present as well).

After the event, Jane recounted to the club, if we do this again next year… beware. She was verbally abused by one grandparent wanting to win bikes for her grandchildren that lived out of state and were not present the day of the drawing, even after explaining the rules and reasoning behind the giveaway. Jane witnessed another grandparent taking the tickets that were in the bag out as she placed her grandchild’s ticket in the bag.

She was also accused by others of cheating or somehow rigging the drawing.  And finally, she was approached by another lady after their child did not win a bike, wanting to know when their child would get their free bike.

Jane was surprised that such things would happen at an event of this kind, and it tarnished her experience. On a happier note, there were people that very much appreciated what she was doing and she already has one person ready to donate a bike if the Optimist Club chooses to do this event next year. At the close of Jane’s report, one of the other Optimist Club members quoted, “No Good Deed Goes Unpunished”.

We seem to live in a self-centered society and one that has a sense of entitlement of and toward things. We tend to do things only if there is a return back for doing it. The old adage, “I will scratch your back, if you scratch mine”.

As a Christian, I am called to live a Christ-centered life.   John 3:16-17 says it all, “For God so loved the world, that He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.”

So, for us, there is a bag hanging on a cross, which symbolizes our Salvation… All we have to do is write our name down and place it (our life) into His bag and we win, so to speak. If we choose not to, God still loves us, but we lost.

And All God’s People Said… Amen!

Pastor James Buckhahn, United Methodist Church, Lansing