"God is Good all the Time"
So…
God is good, all the time, he put a song of praise in this heart of mine
God is good all the time, through the darkest night His light will shine
God is good, God is good, all the time.
So, what exactly does “good” or in the case of the fruit of the Spirit, “goodness” mean? What does it consist of? How can I tell that something or someone is good, and that I am exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit “goodness”.
A couple of weeks ago, I shared some thoughts about the fruit of the Spirit, kindness!
It seems to me the one important thing you can remember about kindness as we talk today in relationship to goodness, it that goodness is the noun to kindness’s verb.
I’m guessing you weren’t expecting a grammar lesson. A noun is a person, place or thing. In this case I would argue that goodness is a thing, a state of being. In this case it is the state of being righteous. English teachers feel free to send me a correction at otisvillepres@hvc.rr.com.
Whereas, kindness is an action, a verb.
It is something you do in order to change another person’s situation. It is a choice on your part to make another’s life safer, easier, less complicated, perhaps less painful.
Kindness is offering a glimpse of the love of God to a person who perhaps is unaware that God loves them, or a moment of caring that in fact reveals God’s presence in you.
I mean after all, the point of Paul’s words in Galatians 5 is to help us understand that if God is in us, if we are inhabited by the Spirit, then God’s character will be revealed in us in the ways we treat others, what we value about them, and how we act towards them.
As I have said before we live in a very unkind time.
It’s as if the so called “me” generation has evolved into the “it’s all about me generation”. What I want and need matters exclusively, what you want and need are not only secondary, but of no account.
I matter. You don’t.
So, if I don’t get what I want, I can throw a tantrum and yell and scream, and even be violent until I get what I want. And if you try to stop me, I am within my rights to mop the floor with you.
It is truly the kind of the disaster we all have worried about forever, where a room of three-year-olds are running the planet and there are no moms or dads, or at least any with any authority to be found.
In that world - kindness is not a blessing, but a weakness.
I take what I want.
I don’t need or want your kindness.
I don’t even understand it.
To which the Psalmist replies, “To everyone who is thirsty, he gives something to drink; to everyone who is hungry, he gives good things to eat.”
That is, God!
Because as see in all of the bible, but especially in Jesus, God is good!
While kindness is the application of God’s love to others, and sometimes to ourselves, goodness on the other hand is a state of being.
Goodness is the character of God in us, showing through in our attitudes, in our way of looking at the world, and in particular, in what we value.
I saw a sign on our way home from the Adirondacks the other day. By the way, we had a wonderful vacation, well, until Sue got sick. Don’t tell her, we still had a wonderful vaction.
We were driving down Route 209 from Kingston and say a sign advertising the Boy Scouts of America program. It said, “Character Counts!”
I absolutely believe that. Your character is what in the end matters.
I also see quite clearly the irony of a program that has done and continues to do so many good things for young men and young women, who failed their own motto so miserably.
If character counts, then you don’t tolerate for a moment those who would use the cover of your program to do horrible things.
You would stand up, tell the truth, and if necessary, submit to the punishment required, because that is what people with character do.
That is what good people do.
That is what Christ did, even when the evils that had been perpetrated were not his own.
Part of the story of Jesus’ life and death is shrouded in the mystery of why Christ should suffer and die.
There are many a person whose faith has foundered on this understanding. I can’t pretend to explain it well. I can’t pretend to suggest I understand it well.
But this I do understand: out of goodness, sometimes leaders take the fall for bad decisions, bad choices, and bad actions, not because they are necessarily guilty of them, but because it is the right thing to do.
In order to be good, in order to live in goodness, you must choose to take the punishment if that is required in order to fulfill your calling.
The buck stops here. This will go no further. And those who have been hurt, those who have been marginalized, those who have been denied, will be restored.
It is repeated in all of Psalm 107, not just these first nine verses. God is good, and so, even though his people have abandoned him, God chooses to restore them.
He is kind to them, because he is good.
And we are told by Paul that if the Holy Spirit is in us, we will be kind too, because God’s goodness lives in us.
Kind to our neighbors.
Kind, get this, to even to our enemies.
Even if they are Catholics, or Methodists, or dreaded Baptists.
Even if they are blue collar workers, or teachers, or dreaded politicians.
Even if they see the world differently than us.
Have a different color of skin, a different understanding of their gender, even if they want to spend our taxes badly, just like Caesar did.
Because if God is in us, if the Holy Spirit is at work in us, we will look more and more like God, in our attitudes, in our view of the world, and in our values.
Be the kind of Christ follower who the folks around you realize they really want to have in their lives, because you bring the amazing love of God, and treat them with kindness and grace.
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and even more. Be that kind of disciple. Amen.