The Rev. Jimmy Abbott

Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

August 30, 2026

Romans 12:9-21

To Do List

No matter how many things I check off the top of my to do list, there are always more things that I add. The tasks are endless. For instance, I just reviewed my to do list for this week. Follow up with the school about their broken air conditioning. Follow up about our broken air conditioning in Eaton Hall. It’s going to be an expensive month. A few pastoral check ins with parishioners. Prep for the church pledge campaign. Prep for Bible Study. Call my dentist. To do to do to do. The never ending list. Y’all remember that ancient Greek myth, the one about Sisphyus? He’s the one who is forever rolling a rock up a hill and just about when he’s about the top, it rolls back over him and all the way downhill. I feel ya man.

And Saint Paul doesn’t really seem to help the situation. In that lesson we just heard from his letter to the church in Rome, he’s telling them what to do. And the list is long. Love. Outdo. Do not lag, serve, rejoice, be patient, preservere, contribute. If you count it up in the original language, there are thirty separate commands that Paul is giving them. That’s a lot to do.

And on the surface, this seems ridiculous. I mean, who could possibly manage all of that? How could you possibly keep all of that in your mind as you’re going through the day? You’ve got kids to raise, you’ve got your own work, you need to do the laundry, do the dishes, make dinner, you have to call the dentist. And then you want to add all of this on top of that? Just more to do? Honestly, this feels like the worst of Christianity. When Christianity is just about telling people what to do, regardless of how noble it is, we start to feel beat down by it all. All across the ideological spectrum, we’re being told what we ought to do. Eat this and not that. Recycle this and not that. Give your money here and give your money there. Support this cause, support that cause. And we can never do it fast enough, and we can never do it well enough. The checklist is never ending. And then, we come to church and hear yet another checklist. It’s exhausting.

So it seems that there are only two ways forward. First, we could throw up our hands. We could give up. It’s not even possible to do the right thing all the time, there is no way to check all the things off the list, so why even try to do the right thing, any of the time? Just throw away the morality to do list and move on with your life. We could be a lot freer, and maybe have more fun, if we did whatever we wanted to do.

But that doesn’t seem to be you. You’ve told me this, I’ve heard you say it. You’re thinking about how to raise your kids right. You’re worried about something at work, you’re wrestling with a complex situation with your friends. You go home at night and think about the things you could’ve done better. You want to help someone, but you think that by helping them, you might actually be enabling them. Now, just by acknowledging that you’re struggling with the right thing to do, shows that you’re on the right path. The real danger is when you stop caring. Just by wanting to do the right thing, just by asking the questions about what is right and wrong, shows that you’re alive to Christ.

The other option, though, seems to be to just try harder. You didn’t get to the bottom of the to do list today, but you grit your teeth and maybe tomorrow you will. You’re just going to white knuckle yourself into being a good person. But I’ll tell you – in my experience, that just makes me feel worse about myself. That no matter how hard I try, no matter how many days I wake up resolved to do better, I’m still the same person – I hold the same grudges, I’m just as selfish as I was the day before. Trying to forever knock all the things off the morality to do list just doesn’t work. 

I think then, I think the answer is somewhere else. See, it’s about shifting the mindset. It’s about moving away from checking things off the morality to do list, and focusing on holiness of life. Holiness of life. 

Think of this way. The goal for each of us should be to live more like Jesus in this world. Right, that’s our goal – to be more like Jesus so that the world is a better place. Then, what we do, is put things into place that help us toward that goal. So then going to church isn’t just a duty, it’s about training our souls to be grateful to God. Then serving the poor isn’t just an obligation, it’s opportunity to be Christ-like. Then forgiving someone isn’t just a thing that you ought to do, it’s about learning what it was like for Jesus to forgive those who hated him, even from the cross. 

Ethics, morality, it’s not a checklist; it’s a journey, it’s a process. It’s about who we are becoming.

I hope you see what I’m getting at. When Saint Paul gives us that list – it’s supposed to be inspiring, not burdensome. He says, “Let love be genuine.” In other words – don’t do the right thing for the sake of doing the right thing. Make sure it comes from your heart. Paul says, “do not repay anyone evil for evil.” That’s because when you repay someone evil for evil, you yourself are becoming evil. Paul says, “rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” That’s so that we learn empathy. It’s so that we can say, “I’m so happy for you” or, “I’m so sorry for you” and actually mean it. Like Jesus did. Paul says, to never avenge yourselves, because if you treat your enemies with kindness, that is a sign of how you have oriented your life, not around your own resentments, but around God. It’s all about who we are becoming.

I realize that this is one my denser sermons. Be that as it may. Piecing through this stuff does require care. And really, I don’t think that Saint Paul was telling us exactly what to do anyway. He was asking us – who are you becoming? He was just trying to do what I’m trying to do – to inspire a congregation of believers to live holy lives. 

So as you prepare for this week, and as you make your own to do lists, remember that what really matters is who you are becoming. Please don’t put “say your prayers” right after “call the dentist.” Don’t put “give something to charity” right after “get an oil change.” The Christian life is far more than that. But in everything you do, keep your mind, your vision, your purpose fixed on Jesus. And I’ll let the words speak for themselves – “Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” No, “if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”