It's been an exciting week seeing progress, watching a church building going up, ordering things to make it all happen.  October 14 is our Dedication Sunday, and I hear the women of the Altar Guild are counting the Sundays.  So am I!

          Two weeks ago I spoke on the "Seven Deadly Sins," so today we'll hear about the "Seven Lively Virtues."  Virtue and goodness don't get strong ratings on our interest scales these days.  Most feel they're not exciting enough.  Hollywood doesn't make movies about things many consider bland and uninteresting.

          "Jimmy is such a good boy," boasts his mother, "He doesn't drink, smoke or do drugs and he doesn't run around with girls."  To which her friend responded, "Well, what does Jimmy do?"  It's as if being good is not enough for a youth today.  To many, goodness and virtue are like a doctor's orders to lose weight.  You have to eat what you don't like, drink what you don't want, and exercise when you don't want to.  It's all very necessary, but not very appealing.

          Human beings are the only creatures on earth who care anything at all about virtue.  Animals show no concern about goodness.  No dog cares that its adolescent daughter is sleeping around.  No horse cares how its actions will affect its children or grandchildren.  Only men and women think about how they should live and what kind of creatures they should be.  Author James Thurber wrote, "All people should strive to learn, before they die, what they are running from, and to, and why."

          Philosopher William James argued that one of the values of higher education is to teach us to be able to recognize a good man when you meet one.  James may have overestimated the impact of education alone, but he knew that knowing "virtue" when we see it is essential for a strong society.  It's also an essential to being a Christian.  If we don't have an example of goodness to follow, we'll never know how to be good or bad, or choose the right friends, or make the right decisions or do anything else right.  A good example is a gift from God for all ages.

          Our Lord Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan to people who were confused about goodness.  They believed God rewarded them because they were good, and that rewards alone should move people to do good things.  Jesus, however, went beyond the good deed to the very heart of mankind.  He taught that goodness is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, as are faith, hope and love.  The parable of the Good Samaritan shows us a man who displayed virtue by helping someone in need.  His story also shows us the callous disregard of people too busy to help.

          So what are these Seven Lively Virtues and how can they help us be a good neighbor?

1.      PRUDENCE carefully weighs all the alternatives before acting.  Prudence is taking the trouble to think out what we should do and what might come of it.  Prudent people look at a map before choosing a road.  Jesus said, "Which of you, before building a tower, doesn't first sit down and calculate the cost?" (Luke 14:28)   Prudence is the skill to manage life and involves the wise use of resources.  The Good Samaritan quickly weighed the alternatives before deciding what to do.  He did what needed to be done because a human life was at stake.

2.      FORTITUDE is being courageous and firm in the face of adversity.  From the moment we get out of bed, we live with things that can harm us.  Diseases lurk, accidents wait to happen, and criminals are there to rob.  We can't avoid danger, and it's easy to be fearful, but God gives us courage.  The key to fortitude lies in our faith.  Do we trust God to protect us?  Do we trust that He will allow into our lives only those things that are best?  Standing firm in our convictions because we trust in God.  The Good Samaritan showed fortitude, helping an injured man who was, after all, a Jew and an enemy.  But he did what needed to be done, regardless of danger to himself.

3.      TEMPERANCE shows restraint in all its actions.  Temperance is more than grim-faced women picketing bars against alcohol.  It extends to all pleasures, and refers, not just to abstinence, but to self-control.  Temperance is more than restraint.  It's the ability to get a grip on our appetites and master them, rather than letting them control us.  The Good Samaritan could have hastened on in his busy life, but instead he showed self-restraint in helping the injured man.

4.      JUSTICE is fair with others and keeps its promises.  Jesus summed up justice with the Golden Rule:  "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." (Matthew 7:12)   When we practice justice, we are honest in our dealings with others.  We refuse to show partiality to gain personal advantage, and are fair and generous to those in need.  The Good Samaritan not only helped the man, he gave money for his care and keeping.  He did to the victim as he would have wanted the victim to do for him.  It's the Golden Rule of life.

5.      FAITH retains its beliefs despite its changing moods.  Few English words have more varied definitions than "faith".  Faith here means commitment to one's beliefs.  The Bible tells Christians to pursue faith, to examine God's word, and then demonstrate our faith by our actions.  We're to stand firm in our faith, facing even death rather than falling away from our Lord and to be obedient.  The Good Samaritan was a man of faith in God.  He was obedient even in the face of danger.

6.      HOPE happily expects God to fulfill all His promises.  God makes us hundreds of promises and He fulfills them all.  His Word gives us hope to deal with the problems we encounter.  God adopts us into His family through baptism.  When you're a believer, Jesus is your true brother.  The Holy Spirit dwells in your heart and gives you a living hope.  Our greatest source of hope is in the resurrection.  Because Jesus lives, we, too, shall live, and thus we can share our hope by being a good neighbor to those in need, like the Good Samaritan.

7.      Finally, LOVE acts and serves for the welfare and benefit of others.  Love is more than a warm personal feeling;  it is our commitment to the welfare of someone else.  Love is from God, an attitude that moves God to be good to us.  As part of His family, we can reflect His love in all we do.  God's love is over all, even our enemies, and so we learn to love them also.  Jesus said, "Love one another, just as I have loved you." (John 13:34)   The Good Samaritan did it, and so can we.

          You and I can't live out these virtues by ourselves.  We need God's help.  Prudence & Fortitude, Temperance & Justice, Faith, Hope and Love -- these all are very familiar, a part of the list in Galatians 5 called the "Fruit of the Spirit".  The Holy Spirit allows fruit to be born in our lives.  We don't achieve them, but with the Spirit's help, we display them.

          A Lutheran humorist has said there are two kinds of Lutherans - "Dark Lutherans" and "Happy Lutherans."  Dark Lutherans believe in the depravity of mankind and that few will get to heaven.  They believe pessimism is a virtue and delight in being critics.  In all of creation there's not one thing so good that Dark Lutherans cannot find something wrong with it.

          Happy Lutherans, on the other hand, believe God will cover all their faults.  They splash a little water on their babies and come to church a few times a year, committing to little except weekend vacations whenever possible.  Happy Christians delight in letting others do the work, and there is not anything so very important that Happy Lutherans can't make it unimportant by making an excuse why they can't come.

          But there is another category I call "Real Lutherans."  They work like it all depends on them, but have faith like it all depends on God.  They know the darkness of sin, but rejoice in the happiness of God's love.  Real Lutherans are real Christians who rejoice in God's love for all people, and so they share their faith and hope.

          Rarely will people judge us by our theology, but they will certainly judge us by our actions and attitudes.  Jesus said, "Let your light so shine that people may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:16)   We must live these Seven Lively Virtues so others can see God in us and give Him praise.  We can't just talk about faith;  we must live it.  You and I can't just talk our Christian talk, we must also walk the walk.

          Jesus Christ lived these Seven Virtues perfectly.  He lived a perfect life, so that when you and I realize we can't, we have faith in Someone who will forgive us.  We don't deserve what He has to give us, but He loves us and that makes all the difference.  God's love for us in Jesus Christ is the Good News, the Gospel, that makes sense in a world filled with nonsense.  Jesus Christ kept God's Law perfectly, on our behalf, and now God is satisfied -- that's the best good news of all.

          God the Father has taken what Christ has done and applied it to us by our faith.  Because of the blood of Jesus, we're declared sinless and worthy of heaven.  God justifies us -- that is, He lets us go free, despite our sin.  The guilty are set free, but the innocent hangs on a cross.  The bad guys walk away, but the good guy ends up dead.  You and I, the sinners and the guilty, should be down on our knees right now thanking God because what I've just said ought to be the best news we've ever heard.  But there is a danger in thinking we've heard it enough times.

          News like that ought to make us want to jump for joy and praise God in everything we do.  It ought to make us want to practice these Seven Lively Virtues and show our attitude of gratitude.  Good works show God we're grateful, and they show others we're living by faith.

          The story of the Good Samaritan is a lesson in how to love as God has loved us.  And we don't have to go far to do this.  Opportunities to show love are as near as our neighbor, or right next to us in our own family.  Christian love visits the man in the hospital or speaks to the woman next to you.  Virtuous living speaks volumes louder than any lecture we can give.  Look around you.  Whom do you admire most - the one who wants to give you advice or the one who accepts you for what you are?  Sometimes I think sermons are just a lot of hot air, and that the real sermon starts when the words end.  May God give us all the joy of being a sermon to others.  Amen

Copyright © 2001 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.