Simple Actions
Colossians 1:1-14, Luke 10:25-37[1]
My Grandmother’s sister, Ruth Jackson, was the first woman
to become an orthopedic surgeon. Anywhere. In fact, the association of women Orthopedic
Surgeons is called the “Ruth Jackson Society.” She was quite a gutsy lady—just
becoming a doctor was hard enough for a woman in those days. Her passion
combined with her compassion for people led her to break into one of the most
elite “men’s only” clubs in that day. In fact, Orthopedic Surgery is still that
way to this day, a century later! When my aunt Ruth was treated for a neck
injury, she was unhappy that orthopedics in that day was a “hands-off”
discipline. They took x-rays, used neck braces, and prescribed traction for
patients without ever actually touching them. So she pioneered a “hands-on”
approach to treating neck injuries. She literally wrote the book on the
treatment of neck injuries—a book that went through 4 editions and was
translated into various languages and was the standard text around the world
for many years.
Growing up with Aunt Ruth was both wonderful and difficult.
She taught me to shoot, to fish, and to drive, among many other things. She
could be incredibly demanding of a boy who she wanted to follow in her
footsteps. I still remember the time at her dining table when she insisted that
any nephew of hers was going to learn proper table manners! I was 6 years old! Obviously,
it stuck with me all these years. In fact, the whole family expected me—both
implicitly and out loud—to do something “spectacular” just like Aunt Ruth. They
didn’t insist that I go into medicine—though she applied a great deal of “arm
twisting” to get me to do just that. But whatever field I went into, it was
clear that I was expected to do something “spectacular.”
We live in a world where it seems more and more that you
have to do something “spectacular” in order to make a difference. I think this
is in part due to the fact that instant communications have made our world much
bigger for all of us. With access to news about so many problems that are so
widespread all over the world, it can be so easy for us to think, “I’m just one
person,” and “I can’t really make a difference.” I think this is especially the
case in our culture where we almost worship “celebrities.” How many of our kids
at certain ages dream not of becoming doctors or lawyers or teachers, but
rather famous actors or musicians or athletes? To some extent, that’s just
youthful exuberance. But I think some of it comes from our near obsession with
people who are “famous.” And for some, that notion that you have to do
something spectacular or even become famous can be linked to feeling valued by
those you love.
I think that our lesson from Paul’s letter to the
Colossians this week gives us some help at this point. In his letters, Paul talks
about the Christian life in a way that is pretty down to earth. It’s a matter
of “bearing fruit” and doing “good work” (Col. 1:10). I would remind you that
“bearing fruit” in the Bible is a metaphor for the quality of your character,
not “getting results.” It’s about who we are, not what we accomplish. Here and
elsewhere in his letters, Paul talks about the Christian life as a matter of
simple actions, like “walking the walk,” and not just “talking the talk.” These
and other incredibly ordinary activities are what it means to live in a such way
as to “honor and please the Lord” who redeemed us (Col 1:10-14). It sounds like
the life that Paul envisions for those of us who would follow Christ is really
nothing spectacular at all. It’s a matter of focusing on simple actions in our
daily living.
That might seem too cliché to merit our attention, until
you think about the Parable of the Good Samaritan. After all, what did the
Samaritan do that was so “spectacular”? All that kind soul did was to notice
the one who was wounded, actually take time to stop, and care enough to bind up
his wounds. And then he saw to it that this wounded man could have the time he
needed to recuperate. It’s a story of simple actions: mercy put into practice,
compassion that goes the second mile. Stopping, caring for him, putting him up
at the inn, were all simple actions. Nothing spectacular. But they made all the
difference in the world to “the one who fell among robbers.”
It seems to me,
contrary to our culture that is obsessed with all things “spectacular,” it is
when we are engaged in simple actions that we make the most difference in
another person’s life. I’ve studied with world-renowned theologians and Bible
scholars. But the most influential person in my life was my brother, Douglas,
who was mentally and emotionally handicapped. It was just the gentleness of his
soul that impacted me so deeply. To paraphrase one of my favorite spiritual
writers, Henri Nouwen, the Christian life is “mostly hidden in the ordinariness
of everyday living.”[2] It’s not
something that makes headlines in the news.
When you get right down to it, that’s the only place we can
really make much of a difference in the life of another human being. We mere
mortals rarely achieve the level of influence that can truly make a difference
for hundreds or thousands of people out there. For the most part, we can touch
a life here, a life there. And we do that through the quality of our character
as displayed in simple actions, not anything “spectacular” we might do. It’s
through the way in which we actually relate to people, the way we actually
treat other human beings, not through any great “achievement,” that we really
have an effect on others. From that perspective, the Christian life is a matter
of simple actions that constitute living out the grace and mercy and compassion
of God. I see a lot of pain and suffering in this world. When we live in a
world of hurt like that, it makes it all the more important for us to live out
God’s grace and mercy and compassion in simple actions every day.
[1] © 2025 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm PhD on 7/13/2025 for
Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.
[2] Henri Nouwen, Here and Now:Living in the Spirit, 103: “The
compassionate life is mostly hidden in the ordinariness of everyday
living.”
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