WNS: God is Different, and that’s good

Over the past while we’ve talked about:

Rest and heaven

Sin

Faith

You’ve heard that God is just and righteous and good.

Today, we are going to dig into that a bit more, but I want to make sure we all understand that God is different. While I speak, I want to ask you a question as I often do.

WHAT DO YOU THINK GOD IS LIKE?

Let’s jump into the scripture and we can work from there:

Matthew 5:43–48 CSB

43 “You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be children of your Father in heaven. For he causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what are you doing out of the ordinary? Don’t even the Gentiles do the same? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

That’s a lot, especially that last sentence, be perfect. Lofty goals if nothing else.

I want to talk about 2 ways that God is different than us tonight.

The first way is simply this, He is good and we aren’t.

Do you do good to those who hate you, who persecute you, who hurt you?

Story of the beer cans thrown at me when I was in middle school

Downtown Vegas, converted motel rooms to apartments, across from a mall.

I did not wish for their happy return, I had hoped the police would catch them or they’d hit a telephone pole. My natural tendency was to hope something bad happened to them

We all do this, the more deep the cut, the more we hope the other person “Gets what is coming to them” right? The more we hope our anger and fury is what is coming to them.

Remember, the best way to deal with that hurt and anger is prayer.

Romans 12:20 CSB

20 But If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. For in so doing you will be heaping fiery coals on his head.

The second is that God loves everyone, even when we don’t.

That’s right, everyone.

His sun and rain fall on everyone, notice this is both good and bad.

One reason many reject Christianity is they look at Christian lives and see people who are suffering and struggling and ask what the point is if they aren’t getting an easy ride right now.

Pancreatitis over the weekend, it hurt, some of you may have had it too.

A good hot meal on a cold day, that’s a blessing

God does both for all of us.

God loves all of His creation and hopes that all of us turn to Him in faith and love.

What if you were God? Would you be so kind and loving? Would you send good things to those who do nothing but curse you? What world would you have made?

The last thing I want to discuss tonight is that Jesus has given a description of the bar of judgement we will all be faced with one day.

Jesus is saying here that goodness is not the absent of evil. You are not default “good” and as long as you don’t kill someone or hurt them or sell them you’re ok. This is the folly of the world. I said the last time I was up here I asked someone I’ve met here if they’d get to heaven, and they said they would. I asked why, they said “because I’m a pretty good person”.

I want to challenge us tonight, are we?

Goodness isn’t just not being evil, that’s the thing. It is about self-sacrificial love. If you only love your friends, or family, or those who are “like” you, or your countrymen then that’s great, but you’re not being good friend. You’re returning love for love, you’re neutral at best, and that’s if you love those people good and well.

Do you love them good and well? I know I don’t always…

Good here goes a step beyond, it is positive action. Good is not the absence of evil, it is not the morally neutral life, nor is it “helping” someone just to get paid back… Good is loving when the cost is high and there is nothing to show for it in return. The apostle Paul spells out what love really is in 1 Cor 13, here’s snippet from verses 4-7.

1 Corinthians 13:4–7 CSB

4 Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not arrogant, 5 is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs. 6 Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth. 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.