Priming the Morality Pump

A Sermon by Dr. Neil Chadwick


One of the most well known and remarkable men of our country's early history was Benjamin Franklin who was born in 1706, and died at the age of 84 on April 17, 1790. Of course, he is widely known for his famous "kite experiment," but he was also the founder of the first library, the first fire department, the University of Pennsylvania, as well as being known for being a signer of the "Declaration of Independence." His face also appears on the one hundred dollar bill, but most of us don't see that very often! Near the end of Franklin's life, he composed what would be a long letter to his son, and what would become known as his autobiography.

Now it may seem strange to some, and even inappropriate for us to begin a sermon with a reference to a man many do not believe was a born again Christian. However, it should be noted that at the beginning of this autobiographical sketch, Franklin openly gave thanks to God for his life of success and prosperity. Among the opening paragraphs is this statement:

"And now I speak of thanking God, I desire with all humility to acknowledge that I owe the mentioned happiness of my past life to His kind providence, which led me to the means I used and gave them success. My belief of this induces me to hope, though I must not presume, that the same goodness will still be exercised toward me, in continuing that happiness, or enabling me to bear a fatal reverse, which I may experience as others have done: the complexion of my future fortune being known to Him only in whose power it is to bless us even in our afflictions."

    As an aside, when Franklin was just 17 years old, he left Boston, went to New York, and from there, with a childhood friend named Collins, traveled on to Philadelphia which became his life-long home. Although Franklin admired the superior intelligence of his friend, he was very upset about his drinking habit, which kept Collins from being gainfully employed.

    One day, Collins, Franklin and some other friends were in a boat on the Delaware River, and when Collins refused to take his turn at the oars, Benjamin Franklin tossed him into the river. Collins was a good swimmer, but as soon as he would get near the boat, the other boys would ask him again if he would row, and when he again refused, they pulled harder on the oars in order to keep him from grabbing on. Finally, seeing that the lad was exhausted, they brought him back into the boat, but the friendship between Collins and Franklin soon ended and they went their separate ways.

However, what interested me most concerning this autobiography of Franklin were some comments he made about preaching and sermons.

At one point, he gave a report about a preacher, Hemphill, who came from Ireland. Franklin commented, he ". . . delivered with a good voice, and apparently extempore, most excellent discourses, which drew together considerable numbers of different persuasion, who joined in admiring them." What impressed Franklin was not only that this man was eloquent speaker, but his sermons were such that "inculcated strongly the practice of virtue, or what in the religious style are called good works."

However, the "old clergy" were not happy with this preaching and tried to have the young Irish preacher silenced. Then, it so happened that one of these critics heard in a sermon something he thought he had heard before, and sure enough, found that much of the sermon had been quoted word for word from a British preacher by the name of Dr. Foster. Right away, the young preacher was abandoned by those who had supported him, all except for Franklin, who said, "I rather approved his giving us good sermons composed by others, than bad ones of his own manufacture, tho' the latter was the practice of our common teachers."

During one period of his life, Franklin made an effort to regularly attend church services. However, he became disheartened and finally quit because, even though he liked the preacher, the sermons seemed to consist mostly of doctrinal arguments, and were "very dry, uninteresting, and unedifying, since not a single moral principle was inculcated or enforced, their aim seeming to be rather to make us Presbyterians than good citizens."

What clinched it for Franklin was when he listened to a sermon on the verse we read last week, Philippians 4:8. Afterwards, Franklin observed, "I imagined, in a sermon on such a text, we could not miss of having some morality." However, to his dismay, all he heard was exhortations about keeping the Sabbath, reading the Bible, taking communion, and "paying a due respect to God's ministers.”

Having been disappointed that no moral instruction would be coming from the church, Benjamin Franklin devised his own system for moral improvement. He started out by naming what he considered to be the top thirteen virtues, and then determined that he could "live without committing any fault at any time," in other words, by conscientious effort, reach moral perfection.

Franklin's chosen virtues, with their precepts, were as follows:

    1. Temperance. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.

    2. Silence. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.

    3. Order. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.

    4. Resolution. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.

    5. Frugality. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.

    6. Industry. Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.

    7. Sincerity. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.

    8. Justice. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.

    9. Moderation. Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.

    10. Cleanliness. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation.

    11. Tranquility. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.

    12. Chastity. Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.

    13. Humility. Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

Very quickly, Franklin admitted that “I found I had undertaken a task of more difficulty than I had imagined." For one thing, it was too difficult to keep all of these virtues in mind at all times, so he decided to work on one virtue each week, so that in the course of each year, he would have given concentrated attention to each virtue for four weeks. To help keep track of his progress, he made a small notebook that was ruled with seven columns and thirteen rows so that at the end of each day he could record the number of times he had violated the particular virtue of the week. In the square representing that virtue and day, he would place a mark to show each fault committed in respect to that virtue. A page in Franklin's little book looked something like this:

Contrary to some opinions, Benjamin Franklin was not a thorough humanist, for he realized that his project of moral self-improvement would not be successful apart from God's help. He wrote, "Conceiving God to be the fountain of wisdom, I thought it right and necessary to solicit his assistance for obtaining it." He composed a little prayer which was included in his notebook.

Franklin's conclusion was twofold - he soon realized that his faults were many more than he had imagined, but he also "had the satisfaction of seeing them diminish."

In the end, he seemed to have allowed his expectations to be reduced, and be satisfied with "speckled success," referring to a neighbor who wanted to have his axe polished so that the entire axe would be as bright as the sharpened edge. The smith was wiling to do this only if the neighbor agreed to turn the grinding wheel as the smith pressed the axe against it. As the smith pressed the axe heavily on the grinding stone, it made the wheel hard to turn and the man became very tired and wanted to give up. But the smith said, "No, turn on, turn on; we shall have it bright by-and-by; as yet, it is only speckled." "Yes," said the man, "but I think I like a speckled axe best."

Perhaps that's our problem too; we become weary and are content with "speckled morality." But that's not the only problem, for we also have developed a good theological rational for avoiding so-called Christian moral instruction and striving for perfection. After all, we know that one cannot be saved by doing good - that salvation is a free gift of God. We're so afraid of being legalists, or giving the impression that we're trying to earn our salvation by our good works, we have become nearly silent and passive on the subject of morality.

The fact of the matter is, the Bible has much to say about doing good, or moral perfection.

    The Psalmist David said it clearly when he wrote, "Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it." (Psalm 34:14) And then there's the more familiar verse in Psalm 37:3, "Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed."

    Attributed to David's son, Solomon are the words, "I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live." (Ecclesiastes 3:12)

    Later on there was a layman in the Old Testament who prayed this simple prayer, "Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and wipe not out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God, and for the offices thereof." (Nehemiah 13:14)

    The prophet Jeremiah lamented about the people of his day when he quoted God as saying, "My people are fools; they do not know me. They are senseless children; they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil; they know not how to do good." (Jeremiah 4:22)

But, you say, that's Old Testament, and we live in the New. Unfortunately, too many people have seemingly adopted the idea that the "new" means that there is no longer any restraint, do whatever you want, whatever pleases you, whatever enhances your self-esteem, whatever leads to self-fulfillment. After all, "we are saved by grace not works." So let's look there to see what is provided for Christian instruction regarding morality. Alarmingly, right at the beginning of the New Testament, in His famous Sermon on the Mount, we hear Jesus Himself exhorting us to "Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect." (Matthew 5:48) Following that, there are many other challenging statements urging us to "do good."

    Jesus raised the bar significantly when He said, "Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you . . . if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. But love ye your enemies, and do good and lend hoping for nothing again and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil." (Luke 6:27, 33, 35)

    Most of us understand that we are to become like our Lord, but listen to what is said of Him, "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him." (Acts 10:38) If Jesus "went about doing good" shouldn't we strive to do the same?

    The Apostle Paul, whom we consider to be the Champion of Grace, has much to say about the necessity of doing good. His instruction to the churches included such comments as:

    "Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers." (Galatians 6:10)

    "Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life." (I Timothy 6:17-19)

    "We are . . . created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10)

    "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. “Titus 2:11-14)

    "This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone. Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order that they may provide for daily necessities and not live unproductive lives."(Titus 3:8+14)

    And specifically addressing church leaders, Paul wrote to Timothy and Titus: "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." (II Timothy 3:16, 17)

    "Encourage the young men to be self-controlled. In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us." (Titus 2:7, 8)

    In what are called the General Epistles there are also exhortations about doing good:

    "Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds." (Hebrews 10:24)

    "Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise -- the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. “(Hebrews 13:15, 16)

    "Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins." (James 4:17)

    "Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” I Peter 2:12)

    And finally, near the end of the New Testament, Peter brings us full circle when he quotes the very verse we started with when he writes to the Christians of His day, "Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it." (I Peter 3:10, 11)

However, there's a special Biblical expression that has to do with this idea of doing good. It's actually one word, a word that is used very differently in our language compared with the 17th century days of King James. The word is "conversation." Our current understanding is that this word has to do with people talking together, but formerly the English word was closer in meaning to the Greek word in our text (anastrepho), which simply meant behavior, "having dealings with others," or "manner of conducting oneself in the world." In fact, at one time it was used as a synonym for "sexual intercourse," and that's why "criminal conversation" was used as a legal term for adultery.

Let's look at a sampling of this word in the Bible.

    First, here's a good example of how the meaning of this word has changed as seen in translation by comparing the KJV and NIV of Galatians 1:13, "For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it. (KJV) "For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it." (NIV)

    Throughout the Epistles, this word is used having to do with moral conduct, or behavior.

    "Let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ." (KJV) "Conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ." (NIV) (Philippians 1:27)

    Later in the same letter, Paul writes, "For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ" (KJV) "We live or conduct ourselves as citizens of heaven." (NIV - Philippians 3:20)

    There is the familiar advice given to young Timothy "Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity." (KJV) "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity." (NIV - I Timothy 4:12)

    The writer to the Hebrews makes a specific application: "Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have for he hath said I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." (KJV) "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have. . . ." (NIV - Hebrews 13:5)

    According to James 3:13, true wisdom is demonstrated by good living: "Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom." (KJV) "Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom."

    And the Apostle Peter says it straight up when he writes, "But as he who hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation." (KJV) "But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: 'Be holy, because I am holy.'" (NIV - I Peter 1:15, 16)

    And in his second letter asks this important question, "Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God." (KJV) "Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming." (II Peter 3:11)

    At the end of Psalm 50, God is speaking clearly, but harshly to the "wicked" who hate His instruction, who join with thieves and adulterers, and who use their mouths to deceive and slander. But before ending the Psalm, God gives this parting encouragement, "Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God." (Psalm 50:23) Here the Hebrew word for "conversation" has a similar meaning as the Greek - "a course of life or mode of action."

What is also of interest is the relationship between the words "conversing" and "converting." Obviously, conversion is a turning around of our behavior, from doing what is evil to doing that which is good.

Going back to Benjamin Franklin, most of us agree with him - practicing a high level of morality is difficult; as much as we want to do good, at best, we only hope to achieve a speckled moral experience. We very easily relate to Paul who once admitted, "What I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do." (Romans 7:15)

However, we take comfort in another of Paul's teachings when he talks about the "fruit of the Spirit." As you know, one fruit is "goodness" - in other words, the hope for the Christian is that having His Spirit within, we can change, we can do what is good.

Not too long ago, a well-known television reporter interviewed the famous captain of the New York Yankee baseball team. At the close of the interview, the reporter commented, "All of the people we've talked to - your, parents, your sister, your team mates, manager - they say you have your priorities straight. What do you think they mean by that?" he asked.

This is what Derek Jeeter answered, "I know how I want to treat people, I know how I want to be treated, and I enjoy life - you know you gotta have fun - I have fun every single day, and the number one priority is to be a good person, and I've always tried to be that."

Of course we understand that what the baseball player is referring to is what Jesus called the "second great commandment," love your neighbor as yourself. We happen to believe that one can't really fulfill the second without the first, but on the other hand, too many seem to assume that only the first is necessary - love God.

The point is, we must make every effort to practice moral living. Our behavior must be above reproach. If being a Christian is not demonstrated by a higher plane of moral living, then it's not true Christianity.

Back to Benjamin Franklin, we may want to join those who fault him, and thus ignore him because he was a "Deist." However, he did get this right - the moral, virtuous life is a good life, and it deserves our highest effort. After all, what right do we have to ask for God's help doing something for which we are not willing to expend any energy?

By now, we all know that Ben Franklin's saying "God helps them that help themselves" is not in the Bible. We know that God also helps them who can't help themselves, but in the case of moral, righteous, virtuous living, we can help ourselves. And when we do, we can fully expect God to be right there enabling full success.

Every spring when we go back to our summer Camp, I have to get the water running again. (Well, we have running water in the winter - I run to the brook with a pail to bring some back!) To get water flowing to the cabins, I turn off all the open faucets, bring pump and pipes out of storage, and hook them back together. But before I start the pump, I take a plastic gallon jug to the brook, take off the foot valve, hold the end of the pipe up to shoulder height, and pour three gallons of brook water into the pipe. Once the pipe is filled, the water runs into and fills the pump. I then replace the foot valve and put the pipe down into the cistern I have created in the brook. Then, and only then am I ready to return to the pump, flip the switch, and realize a powerful flow of water to the pressure tank to be available for sinks, shower, and toilets. You know what it's called - it's called "priming the pump." That's what I'm asking us to do today, to prime the pump for moral, righteous, virtuous living, making every possible effort to behave in a way that demonstrates love for God by keeping His commands, and love of neighbor by refraining from doing anything that is harmful, but rather doing everything we can to bring benefit and blessing.

Just two days ago I saw a Fox News report saying that 84% of Americans consider themselves to be Christian. What a different world it would be if all who claim the name walked the walk - in the words of Paul I say, “I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received." (Ephesians 4:1)

Discussion Questions
Priming the Morality Pump

1. What are some of the things Benjamin Franklin is known for?

2. Is it necessarily wrong to receive instruction from someone who is not a confessing Christian?

3. What do you think about Franklin's comment that he'd rather hear good borrowed sermons than poor unique ones?

4. What might be some reasons why preachers may shy away from moral instruction?

5. How would you rank the list of virtues championed by Franklin? (Temperance, Silence, Order, Resolution, Frugality, Industry, Sincerity, Justice, Moderation, Cleanliness, Tranquility, Chastity, Humility)

6. Which of these are more difficult to achieve?

7. Besides being lax, and being satisfied with "speckled morality," what is a theological reason we fail to work as hard as we should at developing moral goodness?

8. Among other Old Testament writers, David, Solomon, Nehemiah and Jeremiah can all be cited as promoting good deeds. Who in the New Testament do the same?

9. How has the word "conversation" changed since the days of King James?

10. How does our understanding of the "Fruit of the Spirit" encourage our pursuit of a high level of morality?

11. What did Jesus identify as the two great commandments, and what is their relation to each other?

12. What is the truth and untruth in the proverb, "God helps them that help themselves"?

13. How can "priming the pump" relate to the practice of moral and virtuous living?

14. If 84% of all Americans claim to be Christians, why is there so much immorality, and why are our prisons so full?

  • - - Return to Top of this Page
  • - Email a link to this page
  • - Go To Next Sermon by Dr. Neil Chadwick
  • - Back To Sermons Page or to the Sermons Alphabetical List
  • - - Download This Sermon
  • - - Download a Power Point Presentation for This Sermon
  • - - If you have enjoyed joyfulministry.com, you may send a referral letter - Click Here, and enter email addresses of your friends. 
    This Page's Title Is:

                       
    Your Name Is:

                       
    Your Email Address Is:

                        
    Your State and Country:

    Please identify your vocation:

         Senior Pastor.     Associate Pastor.
            Youth Pastor.    Lay Minister.
                  Church Member.

    Which section of this site would you most likely return to?

         Sermons     Articles     Stories   
             Poems     Hymns    Articles for Leaders
               Marriage Articles         A Bit of Humor

    Would you like to receive the free weekly E-mail Circular?

      YES

    If you have a web page, would you like to establish a reciprocal link?

      YES

    Feel free to add a comment or prayer request: