And a ruler asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’” And he said, “All these I have observed from my youth.” And when Jesus heard it, He said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when he heard this he became sad, for he was very rich. Jesus looking at him said, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” But he said, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.”
Luke 18: 18-27
Today we begin the sixth and final week of Great Lent, as well as the sixth and final week of our Lenten series, Arise & Build. The purpose of this series was to coincide with a building project we are about to begin in my parish in Tampa, and we have based our capital campaign on a verse from Nehemiah 2:18, “Let us Arise and Build!” So they strengthened their hands for the good work. The context of this verse is that there was a need to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, after the return of the Israelites from exile, to a city that was now largely in ruins. Nehemiah rallied the people with a cry “Let us arise and build!” And that plea was met with action. First the people strengthened their hands, they prepared. And second, they set about to do the “good work,” the restoration of their city.
There will probably always be a tension between doing what is good and doing what is Godly. And the biggest reason for this is that what we deem as “good” might not be Godly. Godliness is the higher standard. There are lots of things that are good, even wholesome, that on their own are not Godly. For instance, many of us have stayed up late watching the NCAA basketball tournament. That’s good, it provides needed entertainment and distraction from the stresses of life. It is a good thing to do for relaxation. There is nothing wrong with leisure in a Godly life—we all need time to relax. And then we go to work, and we work hard to make money that helps us have a nice place to live, food to put on the table, to be able to provide for our families. Nothing wrong with this either. The problem is that we can have a good life without God factoring into it at all.
In the Scripture reading we are examining today, a ruler asks Jesus, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 18:18) We don’t know what the man’s motives are. Is he concerned if he’s on the right track? Is he making sure he’s doing just enough? Is he trying to “kiss up” to Jesus by calling Him “good?” Is he looking for an endorsement on his rich lifestyle? Jesus responds by asking him a question in return, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but God alone.” (18:19) Jesus proceeds to remind the man of the commandments. The commandments are “good” things. It is a good thing to not commit adultery, to not kill, or steal, or bear false witness. It is certainly appropriate to honor one’s parents. The problem is that we can do all these things for reasons that are not Godly. We can do them from fear—i.e., I really want to kill someone but I won’t because I don’t want to go to prison. Or we can do them for selfish reasons, i.e., I will honor my father and mother so that I can get a good inheritance. It is definitely possible to do “good” and not factor God into it at all.
Jesus turns the tables on the man, who boasts that he has done all of these good works since his youth. First of all, that is impossible. It is impossible to not sin, only Jesus Christ was without sin. So our goodness ultimately will fall short, not matter how good we are. Jesus tells the man (and I always envision this happening in a kind and gentle tone, not a harsh or judgmental one), that he was still lacking one thing, that he should sell everything he has and give it to the poor, that this would net him treasure in heaven, and that he should come and follow. Because to be Godly, would mean to put God above everything else, and for this man, his stumbling block was his riches. I don’t think Christ is telling us to sell everything we have. If we did that, we would become penniless and destitute. What Christ was saying is that there is a gap in every life between Godliness and goodness, a gap between what God calls us to be and what we really are. And what is the cause of that gap. Perhaps it is a resentment with someone we harbor, or a disappointment with God that we can’t get over. Perhaps it is chasing something and never being content with what we have. For this man, it was his riches. When Jesus went right to the heart of the matter, when He looked into this man’s soul and told him what his gap was, the man was sorrowful, because he didn’t want to do the work to close the gap, because that work would have made him uncomfortable, it would have been difficult. Surely it is difficult to close gaps of temptation that we sometimes enjoy falling into, and it is hard to close even the gaps that we try to avoid. This, however, is the difference between Godly and good, when we try to align a good life with God.
In the early years of the church, the disciples planted churches in many cities, including Corinth, in Greece. Some people met the church with opposition, they didn’t want to join and persecuted the disciples and their followers. Some eagerly joined, it sounded interesting, relatable, hopeful, all the reasons that people join the church. Of course, the new found joy was also met with temptation to regress to what they had been. The new enthusiasm was tapered by falling into old habits. And so, as he did with many churches, St. Paul wrote letters to the Corinthians, to encourage, admonish, correct and teach the members of the new church in Corinth. We still fall into these bad habits two thousand years later, which is why St. Paul’s Epistles are still read in church, and why there is so much value in them to this day.
In 2 Corinthians 7:9-10, St. Paul writes, “As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting; for you felt a Godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For Godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation and brings no regret, but worldly grief produces death.” St. Paul was writing words of encouragement. He recognized that the Corinthians were falling into old habits, but rather than judge them, St. Paul complimented them because they were repenting, that recognized that they were doing wrong and it produced Godly grief, a realization that God had called them to something more, something better. In the world, we are constantly grieving things. Some of those things might be big things like the loss of a job, or a dip in the stock market, or even something as simple as a beach day that gets rained out or a restaurant that is out of our favorite dish. This grief doesn’t produce anything Godly, to the contrary, it might cause anger or frustration, it might even cause us to lash out at God. Godly grief is sorrow for sin, and the desire to repent and grow towards God. Our frustration with the world causes stress and ultimately contributes to our death. Our sorrow over sin and our repentance leads to salvation and eternal life.
Answer me when I call, O God of my right! Thou hast given me room when I was in distress. Be gracious to me, and hear my prayer. O men, how long shall my honor suffer shame? How long will you love vain words, and seek after lies? But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for Himself; the Lord hears when I call to Him. Be angry, but sin not; commune with your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the Lord. There are many who say “O that we might see some good! Lift up the light of Thy countenance upon us, O Lord!” Thou hast put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for Thou alone, O Lord, makest me dwell safety. Psalm 4
Good is not enough. Godly is the goal. Achieving what the world says is good is fleeting. Reaching towards what is Godly is what leads to eternal life.
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