The Fruit of the Spirit: Goodness

The Fruit of the Spirit: Goodness

Mark 10:17-27

I. Introduction

A. Introduction – Shopping Cart, Disconnect between intellect and Character: None of the perpetrators in the “#MeToo” movement thought what they were doing was right.  They would even have called out others for doing what they did, but behind closed doors they acted out of their evil rather than their goodness

II. Goodness doesn’t come from actions (17-20)

A. Exegesis

1. Focus for the RYR is on the word “do”

2. In Jesus response he begins with the question, “Why do you call me good”

a) Emphasizes that no person is good

b) At the same time Jesus answers the question affirming his goodness and oneness with God

3. Jesus answers with the law, which the man seems to recognize inherently is not enough – All that I have done since I was a child

B. Illustration  - Ancient Ascetics

C. Application

1. The things you do to be considered “Good” does not cover up for the things that you do that no one sees and you choose the bad

2. None of us can say that even in our most hidden moments we always do what is right.  If you do, then you just chose to lie.

3. Doing some good deeds does not cover over what is really in our hearts, and God knows it!

III. Goodness isn’t found in your autonomy (21-22)

A. Exegesis

1. Autonomous

a) Auto = self; nomos = law; to be autonomous means you can make you own law.

b) More practically in today’s society to be autonomous mean that you trust in nothing but yourself.  It is acting completely independently

c) This is the way that most people want to live today.  They make up their own standard for themselves and try to live by.  In the end they expect God to bow to their standard rather than His own and to accept them as they are

2. This man was much like that.  He had a standard of wealth and prestige that he had attained and expected God to accept Him on his own standard rather than God’s

3. Jesus attacks that area of autonomy by asking the man to give up what gives him his autonomy- his wealth and thus his prestige

4. Jesus knew that the man’s problem was his devotion to his material possessions and pointed that out.  He knew that the outward action of giving up his possessions would first require and inward change in his heart.

5. The man leaves unhappy

a) His face was downcast – weather term meaning gloomy, the beginning of a storm

b) It shows his disappointment that Jesus did not just accept the merit placed before Him

6. The man has surely not walked away giving up on salvation, only on Jesus’ way of salvation.  He will return to trying to earn it for himself, but he will fail

B. Application

1. Goodness can’t be defined by you.  You are not the law giver, God is

2. We must allow God to define good, and we must seek it in Him

3. What is it in us that we must give up to stop relying on ourselves?

4. What would Jesus ask us to give up?

5.

IV. Goodness can’t be bought with your assets (23-27)

A. Exegesis

1. Jesus immediately turns to his disciples and declares, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

a) They are amazed - This flew in the face of everything that knew about salvation

b) They had been taught that wealth and status were signs of God’s blessing and thus salvation

c) Jesus was saying the exact opposite

2. Jesus further declares the impossibility of salvation through wealth – camel and the eye of a needle

a) Not to be allegorized – this is literal

b) Man cannot enter heaven on his own – exemplified through the rich

3. The disciples asked the logical question, “if the rich can’t enter heaven, who can?”

4. Jesus answers in a new way, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible

5. In his response to the question about wealth he breaks commandments 1 and 10

a) 1 – to have no other gods before me

b) 10 – you shall not covet – deals with greed

6. Rev 3:17-18 “Because you say, 'I'm rich; I have become wealthy, and need nothing,' and you don't know that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked, (18) I advise you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire so that you may be rich, and white clothes so that you may be dressed and your shameful nakedness not be exposed, and ointment to spread on your eyes so that you may see.”

B. Illustration - Sam Bankman-Fried and “Effective Altruism” - Crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried was a major promoter of the "Effective Altruism" movement — a philosophy that encourages using money and logic to do the most good. He pledged to give away billions and often spoke of how his wealth could "maximize good" in the world. Yet in 2022, he was arrested and later convicted for fraud tied to the collapse of FTX, his cryptocurrency exchange.

C. Application

1. Man cannot get to heaven on his wealth – your money won’t spend there

2. Man must not depend on great wealth or status as a sign of salvation

3. Man must trust in God alone

V. Goodness comes from God alone

A. Explanation

1. With God, all things are possible

B. Application         

1. You must trust in Christ, God who came to earth and dies for your sin to make you Holy

2. 2 Corinthians 8:9 - For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.

3. Goodness comes through the from the fruit of the Spirit within you

4. We act out of the goodness of God within us

5. It is internal when the Holy Spirit changes your heart

VI. Conclusion – With man this is impossible.  With God all things are possible

A. What are you trusting in for salvation

1. Actions – Do you trust that your good will outweigh you bad?

2. Autonomy – Do you trust in yourself and your own inherent good for salvation?

3. Assets – Are you ignoring the fact of death and the need for salvation because of the good life you are living now?

Ancient Ascentics

During the fourth century, hundreds of ascetics sought to escape temptation and punish their bodies by living as hermits. The extremes to which they went in their attempts to deny gratification of “physical lusts” seem incredible.

St. Ascepsimas wore so many chains that he had to crawl around on hands and knees. Besarion, a monk, would not even give in to his body’s desire for restful sleep—for forty years he would not lie down while sleeping. Macarius the Younger sat naked in a swamp for six months until mosquito bites made him look like a victim of leprosy. St. Maron spent eleven years in a hollowed-out tree trunk. Others lived in caves, dens of beasts, dry wells—even tombs.

To suffer the discomfort of filth, stench, worms, and maggots was considered to be spiritually beneficial and a sign of victory over the body.

· St. Ascepsimas wore so many chains that he had to crawl around on hands and knees

· Besarion, a monk, would not even give in to his body’s desire for restful sleep – Would not sleep lying down

· Macarius the Younger sat naked in a swamp for six months until mosquito bites made him look like a victim of leprosy

· St. Maron spent eleven years in a hollowed-out tree trunk.

#1

In one of his sermons, A.C. Dixon told of an incident that took place in Brooklyn, N.Y. A detective who had been looking for a local citizen finally tracked him down in a drugstore. As the man began to make his purchase, the officer laid his hand on the citizen's shoulder and said, "You're under arrest; come with me!" Stunned, the man demanded, "What did I do?" The detective calmly replied, "You know what you did. You escaped from the Albany penitentiary several years ago. You went west, got married, and then came back here to live. We've been watching for you since you returned." Quietly the man admitted, "That's true, but I was sure you'd never find me. Before you take me in, could we stop by my house so I can talk to my family?" The officer agreed. When they got to his home, the man looked at his wife and asked, "Haven't I been a kind husband and a good father? Haven't I worked hard to make a living?" His wife answered, "Of course you have, but why are you asking me these questions?" Her husband then proceeded to explain what had happened and that he was now under arrest. He apparently had hoped that his record as an exemplary husband and father would impress the officer. Even so, he was still an escaped criminal. Though he was "right" with his family, he was all wrong with the state of New York.

Autonomy (Greek: Auto-Nomos - nomosmeaning "law": one who gives oneself his/her own law) is the right to self-government. Autonomy is a conceptfound in moral, political, and bioethicalphilosophy. Within these contexts, it refers to the capacity of a rational individualto make an informed, uncoerced decision. In moral and political philosophy, autonomy is often used as the basis for determining moral responsibility for one's actions. One of the best known philosophical theories of autonomy was developed by Kant. In medicine, respect for the autonomy of patients is an important goal for doctors and other health-care professionals, though it can conflict with a competing ethical principle, beneficence. Politically, it is also used to refer to the self-governing of a people.

What You Do with Your Shopping Cart Says a Lot About You

Are you a good person? There’s an easy way to tell, according to the Internet at least. It’s based on what you do with a shopping cart when you are done with it. If you put it in the designated shopping cart collection area in the parking lot, you’re good. If you leave it to drift off into parking spots, you’re bad.

The test has been discussed on Reddit and Twitter. On Reddit, a user laid out a very detailed description of the theory that essentially claims:

The shopping cart is what determines whether a person is a good or bad member of society. Objectively, the correct action to take is to put the shopping cart where it’s supposed to go. It’s not illegal to abandon the cart, so you can do that without consequence. … Therefore the shopping cart presents itself as the apex example of whether a person will do what is right without being forced to do it. No one will punish you … or fine you … you gain nothing by returning the shopping cart. You must return the shopping cart because it is the right thing to do.

Another said:

For a date you need to take them to a restaurant and do the waiter test & then later go to the store with them & do the shopping cart test.

Finally,

The only way to truly know a person’s character, is to secretly follow them to the grocery store and watch what they do with the cart when they’re done.

You can view the Reddit thread here.

Possible Preaching Angle:

God also tests our character, but instead of the shopping cart test, God uses other measures to examine us: The test of love (1 Cor. 13), the test of the fruits of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23), the test of Christlikeness (Rom. 8:29), the stress test (1 Pet. 1:7), and others.

Source: Kelly Allen, “What You Do With Your Shopping Cart When You're Done With It Says A Lot About You,” Delish (11-19-20)