Mark 10:17-22

¹⁷ As Jesus was starting out on his way to Jerusalem, a man came running up to him, knelt down, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” ¹⁸ “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked. “Only God is truly good. ¹⁹ But to answer your question, you know the commandments: ‘You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. You must not cheat anyone. Honor your father and mother.’^[a]” ²⁰ “Teacher,” the man replied, “I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.” ²¹ Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. “There is still one thing you haven’t done,” he told him. “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” ²² At this the man’s face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

As we continue in our series in Galatians 5, “Cultivating Christ Like Character” we come to the sixth virtue in the fruit of the Spirit, Goodness. Early on at the beginning of our English language, the word “good” carried the same connotation as the name “God.” Goodness may appear to be the most obviously understandable fruit, but it is often misunderstood and even made fun off. While God wants us to grow in goodness, our current culture tends to make fun of those who are “goody-two-shoes” kinds of people. While love, joy, and peace seem to hit home runs, sending the ball out of the park, goodness struggles just to steal a base. Today there are many who don’t consider goodness to be an important or even desirable virtue. Goodness may be the hardest fruit to teach on partly because we have so overused the word good. We say that we had a good vacation, a good cry, or a good meal. But what does it really mean to be good? To answer that question, we are going to turn in our bibles to the book of Mark chapter 10 where we see Jesus revealing several startling truths about Goodness as he encounters a man who considered himself to be very good. It’s here that we see this wealthy man running up to Jesus and falling on his knees before him asking, “Good teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” Jesus turned to the inquisitive man and asked, “Why do you call me good? No one is good – except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’” The man did a quick inventory and said, “I’ve kept all these since I was a boy. There’s got to be more. Is there something that I’m still missing?” Surprisingly, Jesus did not argue with him or point out that he couldn’t possibly have kept all these commands. Instead, he looked intently at him with eyes of love and then said, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this, his face fell. He walked away sad because he had a lot of money. It’s here in this passage that Jesus reveals three powerful truths that will serve to guide us toward growing in goodness. First:

1. God is Good

This man was a seeker of truth and from a worldly perspective he had everything anyone could want. He was young, He had power, Luke tells us that he was a ruler, and along with power he had possessions. Not only was he a ruler he was a rich ruler. He had youth, money and power quite a cocktail, it’s what our society says is the secret to success. But do you notice it’s not enough, despite having social status and worldly success he was still not satisfied. That restless caused him to not only search for something more, but to run to and fall at the feet of Jesus. He had worldly treasure but what he really needed and was searching for was truth. Deep down he was not happy with his legalistic, performance driven, graceless religion. He could sense that something was missing. His act of running up to Jesus shows us that he was earnest. Remember rich rulers down run, their servants do the running. For this man to run to Jesus would have been very undignified, but notice he is not concerned with social expectations and peer pressure. It’s not about looking good it’s about running to God so we can live out His goodness. Also, his kneeling demonstrates his sincerity. From a social perspective Jesus was a carpenter turned teacher while he was a king. It’s really quite a picture, the loaded leader kneeling before the peasant preacher. Now somewhere along the way he had picked up the idea that he had to do good things in order to be saved. Maybe it’s something that his parents had taught him, or religion had instilled in him, but that belief had influenced his behavior. So, he starts out by calling Jesus “good.” This is where things get interesting because this is where Jesus stops him and says, “Why do you call me good when only God is intrinsically good?” His answer must have surprised the man because at first glance it had no connection with the man’s question. Instead of answering his inquiry, Jesus makes the man realize the essence of goodness as exhibited in God. As 1 Chronicles 16:34 clearly communicated: “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.” Or as the psalmist declares as he worships God in Psalm 119:68, “You are good, and what you do is good…” Or as many Christians confess, God is good…all the time. Now as the rich young ruler addressed Jesus as “Good Teacher” he may have been trying to compliment or even flatter Him. Whatever his reason he had come seeking truth and so Jesus taught him a foundational truth, that he could not be “good” if He was a mere mortal man. Only God was good and that could only mean one thing. Jesus was revealing that if only God was good then to call Jesus good meant he was calling him God. The first hurdle to salvation is we have to be prepared to acknowledge who Jesus really is. That he is not just a good man he is the God man. So, let me ask you, who is Jesus to you? Was He just a good prophet or the perfect God who laid down His life for us on the cross of Calvary? And if you see God as good, is He only good sometimes or all the time? Gods goodness is not tied to your circumstances but to the cross. So, when your circumstances crumble don’t look for the good in life, look for it in the Lord of life. As Christians we need to stop focusing on our circumstances and start focusing on the cross.

2 Timothy 1:8-18

⁸ So never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord. And don’t be ashamed of me, either, even though I’m in prison for him. With the strength God gives you, be ready to suffer with me for the sake of the Good News. ⁹ For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus. ¹⁰ And now he has made all of this plain to us by the appearing of Christ Jesus, our Savior. He broke the power of death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the Good News. ¹¹ And God chose me to be a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of this Good News. ¹² That is why I am suffering here in prison. But I am not ashamed of it, for I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until the day of his return. ¹³ Hold on to the pattern of wholesome teaching you learned from me—a pattern shaped by the faith and love that you have in Christ Jesus. ¹⁴ Through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us, carefully guard the precious truth that has been entrusted to you. ¹⁵ As you know, everyone from the province of Asia has deserted me—even Phygelus and Hermogenes. ¹⁶ May the Lord show special kindness to Onesiphorus and all his family because he often visited and encouraged me. He was never ashamed of me because I was in chains. ¹⁷ When he came to Rome, he searched everywhere until he found me.¹⁸ May the Lord show him special kindness on the day of Christ’s return. And you know very well how helpful he was in Ephesus.

After seeing how kindness is supportive we come to the third characteristic of kindness and one we really don’t like to talk about:

3. Sacrifice

The truth is kindness will cost you. First you will have to sacrifice selfishness, because you will never serve others as long as you are focused on self. Paul tells us that everyone from the province of Asia had deserted him even those he thought were close to him and cared. Why did they desert him, the same reason most of the disciples deserted Jesus, to save their own skin. Bringing kindness to Paul would have associated them with the prisoner. It could have ruined their reputation and caused them to also be put in chains. One of the biggest reasons we are not caring is because kindness costs. There is a price to pay. So why did Onesiphorus risk his freedom and even his life to be kind to Paul, because he remembered the price Christ paid for his freedom. When kindness is motivated by grace we will give, but when kindness is motivated by getting, how it will benefit me, we will only be kind as long as it serves self. Many instead of being kind are being mean in their marriages because the motivation behind their kindness is not grace but getting. Instead of seeking ways to serve their spouse they are trying to serve self. Instead of trying to be a blessing they are trying to benefit. There are many men who are being kind to their wife not to serve her but to have sex with her. But she instinctively knows that you are not interested in her heart and so she ignores your advances. Just like patience there is a price to kindness, but the price of not being kind is greater. How many of us are paying the price of not being kind, not just with our spouses but with our kids. True kindness is motivated by sacrificial service, it understands that not only is there a price to be paid but it is willing to pay it. Which brings us to the fourth characteristic of kindness:

4. Searching

Kindness requires being intentional. I want you to notice that Onesiphorus didn’t just think kind thoughts, he went to Rome, and when he got there he searched everywhere until he found Paul. Kindness doesn’t just happen we have to be intentional. Kindness is an attitude that’s expresses itself in action. We have to be willing to put our agendas aside and seek out those who need a touch of kindness. Here was a man that left his home and journey to the big city of Rome to share the kindness of God. When he got there, he had to search for Paul, which means he would have had to inquire about Paul the prisoner and risk being associated with him. We don’t know how long he had to search for Paul, but we do know that he found him and cared for him with kindness. So, who do you need to search out and share God’s kindness with?  The last characteristic of kindness that I want to talk about is:

5. Storing

Onesiphorus was kind to a man who was unable to repay him. But notice what Paul prays for: “May the Lord show special kindness to Onesiphorus and all his family.” Here is a powerful reminder that when it comes to kindness, the Lord is watching and while it may not benefit us in this world we will be blessed in the next. So, let me ask you where are you investing your time and talents, are you investing them in yourself and making short term investments here or are you sharing them and storing up treasures in heaven? If we would open up our eyes to those around us we would see that there are many people held back by the chains and the pains of this life. But kindness can cut through the chains of loneliness, abandonment, and anger. You see kindness refreshes relationships and kindness kindles the flame of friendship. Kindness is not just a principle but something we need to put into practice. I want to invite you to participate in a 30-day kindness challenge. I want you to pray about who you need to show kindness to and then for the next 30 days:

1. Say nothing negative about that person, either to them or about them to anyone else.
2. Each day find one positive thing you can praise or affirm about that person and tell them and tell someone else.
3. Each day, do one small act of kindness or generosity for them.

It’s time for us to care for others with kindness in the same way that Christ cares for us.