The fruit of the Spirit

Goodness

God’s goodness is reflected in us
Isn’t it amazing the power of the ditty? The little advertising jingle that sticks in your head? When I was preparing for this sermon there was one that I couldn’t get rid of. Mind if I share it with you? Good!

A finger of fudge is just enough to give your kids a treat. A finger of fudge is just enough, its very small and neat. Its full of cadbury goodness, but there is more I need. A finger of fudge is just enough to give your kids a treat.

Goodness. It has become a word used to describe a desired quality in food; a shorthand way of saying “buy this, it has desirable qualities”.

The greek work for goodness in the list in Galatians is agathoosune. It is a pretty rare word – only Paul uses it in the NT, and then only four times. Three of those are in lists like this one, and the last is 2 Thess 1v11 where it is used in the following way “That by [Gods] power he may fulfil every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by faith”. Agathoosune. Every good purpose.
God is the source of all goodness, and in order to understand goodness, I want to trace elements of Gods goodness throughout the Bible and consider together what they mean for us. God’s pleasure in his handiwork, Gods provision for his people and Gods plans for his people.

God’s pleasure in his handiwork

In our opening reading we heard part of the account of God’s creation of the universe, and especially our little corner of it. I’m sure you’ve noticed many times the theme which runs through the account of creation – at the end of each day of work, God looks on his handiwork and proclaims that “it is good”. And when he has finished he surveys the whole thing and proclaims “It is very good”.
One of the aspects of God’s goodness is that he takes pleasure in his handiwork. Through the Bible he wants us to know that he is pleased with everything he has made.

I wanted to start with this fact because it is one that often we forget... we can be dissatisfied with our lives, disappointed with our prayer life, feel that we are letting God down. Sometimes I come to church while I feel a million miles away from God, and wonder whether my lacklustre singing and paltry prayers could possibly bring him any pleasure.

Yet these verses remind me that God takes pleasure in his handiwork – and I am his handiwork too! As are you!
While a stranger might look at a scrap of paper with a spiral pattern lying on my bed last night and think “what a load of rubbish”, I have to tell you it is a delight to me, because Katarina drew it for me. It was the best she could offer and I’m delighted as much in the fact that she did something at all, as in the artistic merits of her work.

Our God is good – and he declares that we are good too. How good? Well, if we want to judge the value that someone puts on a thing, we need to see how much they are willing to give for it. And God values you and I so much that he was prepared for his Son, Jesus, to suffer and die on the cross for our salvation.

That brings me to my second point:

God’s provision for his people

The idea of Gods goodness is mostly seen in the Psalms in the old testament – my NIV has it in Psalms 23, 27, 31, 69, 86, 109, 116, 142 and 145. In almost every case it is considering Gods provision for his people.  Our reading from Psalm 23 showed this beautifully in its closing verses.

The old testament is, in many ways, the story of Gods provision for his chosen people; the way in which God is fulfilling his promises to Abraham and sadly the way in which his people turned their back on him again and again.

Consider the rescue from slavery in Egypt that we read of in Exodus – probably the defining moment for Israel as a nation. The way that food and water were provided during the 40 years in the wilderness (and not forgetting the little footnote that nobodies footwear or clothing wore out in that time. I don’t think I’ve managed to get more than 10 years wear out of anything before Jo declares that it isn’t fit for use any more!)

Now God doesn’t change, he is constant and his goodness is constant – yet the people suffered many ups and downs during the time recorded in the Bible. And that reflects our experience too – or at least the experience of the Christian church at large across the world.

How can it be that bad things happen to good people?

Corrie Ten Boom once wrote:
“Often I have heard people say, ‘How good God is! We prayed that it would not rain for our church picnic, and look at the lovely weather!’ Yes, God is good when He sends good weather. But God was also good when He allowed my sister, Betsie, to starve to death before my eyes in a German concentration camp. I remember one occasion when I was very discouraged there. Everything around us was dark, and there was darkness in my heart. I remember telling Betsie that I thought God had forgotten us. ‘No, Corrie,’ said Betsie, ‘He has not forgotten us. Remember His Word: “For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him.” ” Corrie concludes, “There is an ocean of God’s love available—there is plenty for everyone. May God grant you never to doubt that victorious love—whatever the circumstances.”

Jeremy spoke last week of Kindness sometimes requiring ‘tough love’. The Goodness of God is sometimes expressed in those terms, as it can be an uncompromising goodness. Did you know that the first time that ‘Goodness’ is used in the Bible is when God passes by Moses on the mountain, in Ex 33? The power of Gods goodness was so great that Moses was not allowed to look on him, else he would die!

C.S. Lewis was capturing this idea in “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”.  When the children hear that Aslan is a lion, Lucy asks “Then isn’t he safe?” and Mr Beaver replies “Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good”.
Occasionally I’ve  heard people misusing Romans 8v28. That well known verse which says “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” It doesn’t  say that Good is going to provide only good things for those who love him. God is more concerned about the destination than the journey, more concerned about our character than our comfort.

Who amongst us wants to be good parents?

When children clamour for sweets, or want to do something that is bad for them, what does a good parent do? I believe that a good parent doesn’t give in to every whim of the child, to make that childs life a little paradise (from the childs limited view) – because as parents we can take the longer view, we know that something they want in the short term won’t be good for them in the long term. We do give them good things, but sometimes if we want to be truly good we don’t let them have their own way. We are concerned about how they will turn out.

That brings me to my last point

God’s plans for his people

God gave many laws to Israel to help them understand his character and to display his character to the surrounding nations in order that they might be drawn to God and blessed. Isa 19 and Isa 60 both have explicit oracles to that end.

The NT epistles show us that part of Gods plans for his people is still that they will be a blessing to the world, and in so doing draw people towards God. We are enabled to express God’s goodness to others – we become an instrument for mediating God’s goodness to the world.

Does that sound too hard? Too heavy duty? Then take heart! Remember, these are not the works of the spirit that we are dealing with here, but the fruit of the spirit. Goodness in our hearts will overflow into our actions – and goodness comes into our hearts by drawing closer to God, closer to Jesus. Then Gods goodness working in us will find expression in good works.

How do we know what to do?

When our relationship with God is sound, the God who loves us, takes pleasure in us and makes provision for us... then he works in us to give us both the will to do His good works and the opportunity to do them!

 

Alex White