Do the Right Thing

By Rev. Heidi L. Barham |  October 11, 2026

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Read Philippians 4:1 – 9 (NIV)
 
It was back in 1989 that Spike Lee released a film entitled DO THE RIGHT THING.   The film was set in a Brooklyn neighborhood on the hottest day of the summer and focused on the heightened racial tensions between an Italian American pizzeria owner and the residents of the neighborhood.  The movie received critical acclaim, including from Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, who ranked it as one of the top 10 films of the decade.
 
And while this sermon does share its title with the film… the message for us today is not quite the same message that Spike Lee sought to convey with his cinematic work… although given what we have been watching happen here and around the world… there could certainly be some correlations found between the two.
 
Now, as we look at our New Testament lesson for today… which comes from the final chapter of Paul’s letter to the Philippian church… I want to suggest that it contains three steps that we can take as we think about what it means to DO THE RIGHT THING.
 
Those three steps are: reconcile, rejoice and reflect. 
 
As we consider the first step… RECONCILE... I want to invite us to listen to verses 2 and 3 again as they are found in the Message Paraphrase:
I urge Euodia and Syntyche to iron out their differences and make up. God doesn’t want his children holding grudges.  And, oh, yes, Syzygus, since you’re right there to help them work things out, do your best with them. These women worked for the Message hand in hand with Clement and me, and with the other veterans—worked as hard as any of us. Remember, their names are also in the Book of Life.
It is no secret that we have been living in an unprecedented time in history… when tensions are continually running high… and when differences of opinion have created divisions that will have such long-lasting effects that our children and our children’s children will be left to resolve them.
 
Have you ever wondered whatever happened to the concept of simply agreeing to disagree with someone?
 
It has definitely become something of a foreign concept as we continue to witness senseless acts of violence being called for and then perpetrated for no other reason than this person or that group doesn’t like the other.
 
Family members and friends are being torn apart over political ideologies and philosophical differences… and it feels like it is only getting worse as we move closer to November 3^rd. 
 
But when we look at our text, we see that divisions… even among people of faith… are not unique to this current day and age. 
 
And while we do not know exactly what it was that caused the rift between Euodia and Syntyche, Paul was encouraging them to mend fences, so to speak.
 
And I believe that we should be encouraged to do the same. 
 
Despite the high degree of anger and frustration that current events might inspire… at the end of the day, the Word of God says we are to be reconciled to one another. 
 
The challenges that we face will come and go… the political officials we elect will come and go… but hopefully our families and our true friends will be around for the long haul.  Because the fact of the matter is that the love that we have for one another ought to supersede any conflict or crisis that arises.
 
We do not have to be members of the same political party or back the same political candidates in order to love one another. 
 
We do not have to come from the same cultural background or share the same ethnic heritage in order to love one another. 
 
We do not even have to live in the same communities or have the same zip code in order to love one another.
 
The Scriptures make it very clear… Jesus’ command to love one another does not come with any fine print and allows for no loopholes.  He tells us to love one another as He has loved us… period.
 
It is in John 13:34-35 that we read, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
 
In just these two verses, we find the words, “love one another,” three times.  And if we did a word search through the scriptures, we would find that same phrase, “love one another,” occurs at least eight more times in the New Testament… depending on which version of the Bible you are reading.
 
That means there are roughly a dozen times throughout the New Testament that those words, “love one another” are used.  If repetition is an indicator of the importance or significance of something in Scripture… clearly loving one another ranks high on the list.
 
Although I may not like everything you like or agree with everything you say or do… the command from Jesus is quite clear… I am called to love you, anyhow. 
 
And that means that regardless of how the world may choose to respond… as disciples of Christ we should be striving to reconcile our differences as a demonstration of the love Jesus says we are to have for one another.
 
Now, let me just say this… it won’t always be an easy thing to do but it is absolutely the right thing to do.
 
So, the first step we ought to take is to reconcile with those with whom we may have differences or disagreements. 
 
And that takes us to the next step we should take on our quest to DO THE RIGHT THING… which is REJOICE.
 
In verse 4 of the text we read, “Rejoice in the Lord always.”  But just in case it wasn’t clear the first time he said it, Paul writes, “I will say it again: Rejoice!”
 
Now, just to put things into context… Paul wrote this letter to the Philippians while he was sitting in a Roman prison.  Just think about that for a moment… 
 
Paul was being held as a prisoner… but he was still able to send words of encouragement to the Philippians to rejoice… not simply when things were going well… no, Paul’s message of inspiration to them suggested they should rejoice ALWAYS… and so should we.
 
Because Paul’s letter offers reassurance that our inner attitude does not have to reflect our outer circumstances.
 
And Paul then goes on to write:

Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

In other words, while the world may be going to hell in a handbasket as my granny used to say… that does not mean we have to feel hopeless or helpless.
 
We can rest in the knowledge that the Lord is with us.  We don’t need to be anxious about anything because we have been called to be prayer warriors… we were never meant to be worriers.  
 
That in turn means we can have a sense of peace… even as we encounter various storms in life… we can experience a peace that other people may not be able to understand.  And if we are being honest… we will likely not be able to understand it ourselves… because it is peace that transcends all understanding.
 
Or as we read in verse 7 in the Message paraphrase, “Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.”
 
Let me ask you a question to help put this in perspective… have you ever found yourself in the middle of a crisis with no idea of how you were going to make it through, when suddenly, you felt a peaceful calm just wash over you? 
 
You still did not know what was going to happen… but you knew somehow, it was all going to be alright.  That is what it means to have the peace of God that surpasses all understanding.
 
Let me give you an example from my own life.  It was twenty-five years ago on September 11, 2001… a day that most of us will never forget.  I was at work downtown at Fifth Third Bank when one of my coworkers came to my office door and said that a plane had just crashed into the World Trade Center. 
 
Not long after that, I was downstairs in the banking center when the manager came over and said that a second plane had crashed into the World Trade Center and a third plane had hit the Pentagon. 
 
My initial reaction was that it had to be some kind of horrible hoax.  There was no way all that could have happened.  But he assured me it was no hoax.
 
A short time later, I was talking to another co-worker who was frantic with worry.  She asked me how I could be so calm when the world might be coming to an end.  I told her that even if it was the end of the world, I knew where I was going. 
 
None of us knew at that point what we were facing… but in the midst of all the uncertainty… I could be certain that God’s promises were still true… and God had promised never to leave me nor forsake me… and that gave me a sense of peace that was far beyond anything I could understand.
 
And when we have that kind of peace as we go through life’s storms… that is a reason to rejoice.  As we are reminded in the Old Testament book of Nehemiah, “…do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength” (see Nehemiah 8:10). 
 
Now, just to be clear… as you have likely heard me say before… joy is different than happiness.  Happiness comes from happenings… those ever-changing circumstances that are taking place around us.  Joy, on the other hand, comes from Jesus… whose ever-present Spirit dwells within us.
 
And I don’t know about you, but when I think about Jesus and His unconditional love for me, I can’t help but rejoice.
 
So, the first step our text suggests we need to take is to reconcile and the next step is to rejoice… which brings us to the last step which is step three, REFLECT.
 
In verse 8 of our text we read, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”
 
Or as it reads in the Message Paraphrase:

Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.

In other words, reflect on the things in this life that are good… things that are excellent… things that are deserving of praise.  Sadly, however, we live in a society that seems to thrive on the negative and the sensational. 
 
Turn on the news on any given day and you are much more likely to hear stories that deal with the ugly side of life than you are to hear stories showcasing the beauty that stems from honoring our shared humanity and recognizing that our commonalities far outnumber our differences.
 
But I am convinced that this world would be a much better place if we would spend less time feeding our minds and our spirits with negativity and instead spend time reflecting on what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable. 
 
If we spend less time focusing on the images flooding the Internet and our TV screens and more time focusing on the Word of God… we will find what is truly excellent and praiseworthy and worthy of reflection.
 
And that brings us to the last verse of our text, which says, “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”
 
In essence, what Paul is saying is, “Follow the instructions I have given you and follow the example I have set for you and you will find peace as you DO THE RIGHT THING.”
 
It really is not all that complicated… although it may be extremely challenging at times… particularly with everything we continue to see happening in the world around us.
 
But rather than allow the circumstances to overwhelm us, we can make a conscious effort to follow the steps laid out for us in the text… to reconcile, rejoice and reflect… and then simply resolve to DO THE RIGHT THING.
 
Now, if only we could convince our elected officials and those in positions of power to DO THE RIGHT THING… what a wonderful world it would be…
But unfortunately, what we are seeing play out in real time, is folks doing anything and everything but the right thing.
 
There are hundreds of thousands of individuals that have lost access to healthcare within the last 10 days… and many more who will lose their benefits in fewer than 90 days (source: H.R. 1 Ends Medicaid on October 1 2026 and Medicare on January 2027 for Hundreds of Thousands of Legal Immigrants; Over 100,000 lawful immigrants are losing Medicaid coverage as 'Big Beautiful Bill' cuts begin).
 
There are ICE agents shooting and even killing individuals in the streets… including the most recent incident in New York when a man was shot in his car with his 5-year-old child right there in the vehicle with him. (source: New York City man shot in car with child present by ICE agents, mayor says).
 
Not to mention that there are talks of livestreaming the execution of the man who was convicted of shooting 13 military personnel at Fort Hood back in 2009… which would be the first public execution in the US since 1936… although the degree to which it would become “public” is exponentially greater now than it would have been almost a century ago.  (Source: Fort Hood Shooter Nidal Hasan Could Have Public Firing Squad Execution, Hegseth Says - Newsweek).
 
The debate is not about the man’s guilt or innocence or the need to punish him for his crimes… but the manner and the cruelty of the punishment that is being meted out… that is the issue.
 
All of this begs the question… what is this world coming to?  More precisely… what is this country coming to?  And where do we possibly go from here?
 
Might I suggest that the only place we can go is to Jesus… the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (see John 14:6). 
 
It was the Prophet Isaiah (30:21) who wrote, “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’”
 
It is only by following Jesus that we can ever hope to DO THE RIGHT THING…
 
So today, may we all be encouraged to DO THE RIGHT THING and walk with Jesus.
 
And if that is your hope and your prayer, I want to invite you to stand now and join in singing our Hymn of Discipleship: Just a Closer Walk with Thee #557.

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