I Didn't Do Anything!

 Do we earn the blessings that we enjoy in our lives? Most people would say "yes." I agree with them -- but only to a point. And whether we say "yes" or "no" influences what we do with those blessings. Do we share them... or hang on to them tightly. Maybe this sermon will make you think about your blessings in a different way.

“I didn’t do anything!” Now, I ask you, what kind of statement is that? Is it a protest? Is it a confession? Or is it a lament? Let’s take a look at the possibilities.

Anyone who has ever been around children will probably see this statement as a protest. When they are accused of having some part in mischief, most children will immediately cry, “But I didn’t do anything!” Does that sound familiar?

Imagine this scene. Mother is folding laundry in the bedroom while Billy is watching Sesame Street. Suddenly, a huge crash echoes from the kitchen. Mother rushes in, and is greeted by fragments of the ceramic cookie jar spread all over the floor. “What happened?” Mother cries. Billy doesn’t skip a beat. “I didn’t do anything,” he says innocently.

Now, we all know that the cookie jar didn’t jump off the counter and commit suicide all by itself. Billy gave it some help. After all, he was the only other person in the house at the time! But it’s human nature to try to hide our crimes. All of us have said, “But I didn’t do anything!” at one time or another.

But that statement can be understood in another way. Sometimes when we say, “I didn’t do anything,” it’s not a protest; it’s a confession. When we are adult enough to realize that we enjoy benefits that we did nothing at all to deserve, then we confess, “But I didn’t do anything.” The Israelites weren’t very good at admitting that. The scripture reading this morning (Deuteronomy 8:7-18) is a portion of the book of Deuteronomy, the great sermon that Moses delivered to the Israelites as they stood on the very threshold of the Promised Land. “Now remember,” he tells them, “one of these days you’re going to have it pretty good. On that day, you’ll be tempted to say, ‘Hey, look at all the things I have! I’ve done pretty well for myself, haven’t I?’ Well, don’t fool yourselves. Remember that it was God who gave you all those things! You really didn’t do anything at all to deserve them.”

We Americans give in to that temptation all the time. Our culture just loves to brag about successful people who look like they have made it all by themselves. We admire people who have “pulled themselves up by their bootstraps.” In fact, there is a philosophy lurking in the bushes these days that says that we should all just leave one another alone! Let all our neighbors fend for themselves! That’ll weed out the hard workers from the people who only sponge off everyone else. And it sounds really good! After all, there’s nothing wrong with hard work. Hard work is a good thing! Hard work is, in fact, a big part of being successful. But hard work alone can’t earn all the blessings that we enjoy every day. The reality is that “we didn’t do anything” to deserve the good life that we all have. Don’t believe me? Let me ask you a few questions.

Did you get an education? Great! You studied hard, and you applied that education in the jobs that you held later in life! But where do you think your school system came from? Other people set it into place without any help from you. In many places in the world, there is no education system. Or it’s only for the very wealthy. Or it’s only for boys. You took advantage of our system – but beyond that, you didn’t do anything. And by the way, that good brain that you have – you were born with it. You didn’t do anything to get it.

Maybe you own a business. Wonderful! Whether it’s a farm or a grocery store or a beauty shop, you worked hard to make it a success. But – how did you get it in the first place? Did you inherit it from your parents? You didn’t do anything to bring that about, did you? It was pure chance that you were born into the family that you were. Maybe you didn’t inherit it, but took out a small business loan, instead. Many places in the world don’t offer small business loans. If you aren’t born into a wealthy family – well, too bad for you!

Are you beginning to see why I claim that the confession, “I didn’t do anything” applies to every single one of us? It even applies to our church! Most of you know that Nashville has received a considerable sum of money as a bequest from a former member. Did we do anything to deserve it? Nope. The fact is that there are millions of small, friendly, faithful churches just like ours who need money just as much as we do. We were simply blessed enough to receive it. What did we do to earn this gift? Not a darn thing!

“I didn’t do anything.” A protest; a confession; and one more thing: a lament. It’s the lament of Marley’s ghost in the story A Christmas Carol.

You all know that story. Jacob Marley was the partner of Ebeneezer Scrooge; and two more grasping, miserly men were never found upon the face of the earth. Marley visits Scrooge on Christmas Eve, begging him to change his ways, and confessing that he is eternally condemned because of the way he conducted his business. “But you were always a good man of business, Jacob,” Scrooge replies. “Business?” cries the ghost. “Mankind was my business! Charity, mercy, and benevolence were all my business! Why did I walk through crowds of fellow-beings with my eyes turned down?”

“I didn’t do anything.” That was Jacob Marley’s bitter lament.

“I could have shared some of my wealth with others who needed it desperately, but I didn’t do anything.”

“I could have tried to understand their troubles instead of congratulating myself on my success, but I didn’t do anything.”

“I could have made a difference in the lives of people who were frightened and neglected and lonely, but I didn’t do anything.”

Marley’s ghost was beyond all help. My spirit, he tells Scrooge, “is doomed to wander through the world… and witness what it cannot share, but might have shared on earth, and turned to happiness.” But we are not doomed to that fate. The world is full of chances for us to offer the help that we are able to offer because of the blessings that we have received.

People in West Milton and in Tipp City and in Troy need our help.

People in Chicago and in New York City and in Los Angeles need our help.

People in Nicaragua and in Colombia and in Kenya need our help.

And we have help to offer them! This congregation has a long tradition of responsible stewardship, of sharing what we have with those who have needs that we can help satisfy.  Empowered by the Spirit, we will continue to do all kinds of things that extend God’s love in our own neighborhood and around the world in the name of Jesus Christ. That, friends, is the greatest blessing of all. We need never say, “I didn’t do anything.”