June 9, 2013Mark 10:17-22
Key verse: Mark 10:18By John Mark Fabie
This is the practical application for our passage last time,
Psalm 16:2. This time let’s talk about the characteristic of a good thing and how
do we say that God is good. Last time, we talked about the different perceptions
we have on the word good where we realize that it is very relative for we
differ in our standards. Example, a passing grade may be a good thing for you,
but for others who are high achievers, they don’t want that for they think they
should get a higher one. Sometimes, exclusivity happens because each church has
different doctrines in worshipping God. Some require certain training before they
are deemed deserving to preach as a minister while some do it by grace. In
America, football is better than soccer but the opposite goes for Europeans. We
are all so different. In the Philippines, basketball is preferred to baseball
but the opposite goes for Americans. All of us have different characteristics
in viewing these things.
Let us talk about the standard of good in God’s eyes? God
sets the standard of goodness. When the Bible talks about goodness, it means
God’s standard of goodness. Jesus is the standard of goodness, God himself. Our
standard should be God’s standard. The one who set the standard is the standard
Himself. Psalm 100:5, the Lord is good, He is supremely good, He is perfectly
good, completely, absolutely good, and he is no better today than He was
thousand years ago. Hebrews 13:8 attests to that. Before the world was created,
He was good, and until now, He remains the same.
Maybe some of you are thinking, all of us are good. Why? Because
we have our own standard of good, such as for this rich man, following the commandment.
These standards, as you adhere to them, you start thinking of yourself as good.
Many of us maybe studying real hard, not wasting time playing DOTA, and not
cramming, for some doing their best to save money, others being a good
law-abiding citizen. And when they see themselves doing this and they compare
themselves to others who are considered “bad” such as Bin Laden, Hitler, or
even an ordinary person like Maki (everybody laughs), you say smugly to
yourself that you are the better person. But if that is true, then the Bible partly
loses its point, because our true standard of goodness is written here who is
Jesus. If Jesus did not exist, your good thing can be the standard. And if we
compare ourselves, it should always be to Christ. John Lennon famously said that
he was more famous than Christ. And then somebody shot him in the back, killing
him. And all he had, gone. The man in our text wanted to know how he measured
up and where he stood with God.
Let’s read Mark 10:21 and talk about the rich young man. Maybe
some of us see this man as a “good” man. All of us know Moses, David, and
Peter. All of them are “good” too. Moses led the Israelites during the Exodus,
David was a man after God’s own heart, and Peter was one of Jesus’ top
disciples, but all of them fell short when the trials came. Moses struck the
rock twice, David committed adultery, and Peter denied Jesus. Even our leaders
in the church, we see them as “good” and competent in leading us but they, too,
fall short of the glory of God for they too have their weaknesses and are sinful.
Basically, we are all sinners by nature, and if we take away Jesus in our life,
nothing will remain but sin. Just this week, some of my co-interns noticed how
I was not eating and they realized that I was fasting. During one duty, I was
quite irritated by some people with which I vented out to one of my friends. He
then rebuked me and said, “Nagfafasting ka,” (You’re fasting). And I was surprised! I even joked to myself, “Buti
pa siya, alam” (Good for him that he
knows). And this person was not even a Christian. Another person noticed me
reading and asked what I was doing, to which I replied that I was reading a
commentary. This shocked her, and said, “Christian ka pala, akala ko loko-loko
ka,” (I didn’t know you were a Chritian
because you like to joke around and pull pranks on people and stuff).
Eventually, she said, “Share-an mo naman ako,” (Can you share with me?).
We think we’re good, we follow the commandments, and obey God,
but the day will come that God will test you and you would realize that you’re only
human. A basic example of this is the rich young man wherein he followed the
commandments. But when God said, “Sell of your possessions and follow me”, this
man’s face fell, for he cannot bear to part with his riches. Even though this man
followed the commandments, he too, fell short of God’s standard of goodness. But
let’s read Mark 10:21a, and realize that despite this man’s own greediness and selfishness,
we can see that Jesus still loved him. Jesus looked at this man although this man
fell short on God’s standard, He loved this man. “Follow me,” but still this
man, he said no, he couldn’t give it up. A person may be morally perfect, but
spiritually, it may not be the case. In Hebrews 12:1, sin easily entangles us
so we are unable to follow Christ, and so the author urges us to throw it. But it’s
not as easy. This rich young man, he couldn’t give it up. Throw of your sin, everything,
and he refused. But let’s testify that even though this man fell short of God’s
glory, let’s testify the goodness of the Lord. Even though we have shortcomings
and we are can never reach the standard of God, God showed His goodness and
grace. Do you know when God fist revealed His moral goodness to us? It is in the
first five words of Genesis 1:1. When God created the world, all His creations
He said to be good. One of the Hebrews name for God is Elohim which means
infinite strength and absolute faithfulness. God’s name not only defines His
omnipotent power but as well as His faithfulness. In Genesis 1, God was
essentially saying, “I have created, faithfully loved, nurtured and gave my
highest attention to this creation.” So the goodness of the Lord should begin
in all of us. God is taking care of His creations and we humans are the ones
who keep destroying it. The Lord is committed to our welfare. In Psalm, “the
lord is good to all, has compassion to all that he has made. Likewise, a mother
having borne a baby, no matter how ugly the baby may look, the mother looks at
her child as the most beautiful baby in the world and will love the baby faithfully.
That’s exactly God’s disposition towards us, His unconditional love towards us.
It reveals that when God created us, before creating us, even as He was
planning, He already loved us so much. And that’s the goodness of the Lord,
even though we are sinners and ugly in spirit, still God sent His one and only
Son to give us goodness, to lead us to God’s standard. Remember John 3:16.
But despite all of God’s faithfulness and absolute goodness,
we still doubt His love, still asking questions of “Why Lord? Why? Why is there
still suffering? Problems? Struggles?” Why do people doubt the goodness of God?
The rich young man doubted the goodness of the Lord. There are two reasons why
men doubt the love of God. One of them is that people do not want to live an uncomfortable
life. People do not want pain, struggle, problems, and sufferings, that’s why
they doubt the goodness of the Lord. Bo Bo Sanchez said, “Nothing just happens.”
When Jesus sees us, He sees something good in us and wants to recreate us into
His masterpiece. He sees us as a diamond in the rough, or gold that ain’t pure
yet. Our trials and struggles, they don’t “just happen”, there’s always a good purpose
behind these things. Let’s learn not to focus on them but on Jesus, the author
and perfector of our faith. Jesus is good, and He makes our life very good. Second
is, we doubt Him because He doesn’t give us what we want but let’s see the absolute
faithfulness and love of God upon us. Jesus reveals himself to be a good man reflecting
the goodness of the Father. Jesus died on the cross to save us, even though we
fall short of His standard of goodness. Can we open our bible to Psalm 34:8a? Let’s
put our faith, belief, and trust in God, that whatever happens, let’s learn to
say, “Nothing just happens.” Are you in pain? Struggling? Suffering? That’s good,
it is good, it is very good. Jesus is planting himself in your heart, that you
may learn faith. He’s gonna break you first but he is good. I pray that our
standard of good becomes Christ and we realize the goodness of the Lord.
