By Pastor Bob Rasmussen
As many of you know, my wife Diana and I have had Covid for the last two weeks. This variant hit us much harder than the first time we had Covid. Diana is still out recovering. Let us look to the Word of God for direction.
James 5:14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: 15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
But let me say this, there are times when the pain may be too great or the symptoms are so bad – I know, it has happened to me, it has happened to Diana. I am never judging anyone with that because I do not know what you are going through – I don’t know what you are feeling. But you know what we can do, we can still pray for that person, amen?
But when it comes to COVID, can we please use wisdom? If you are around someone that has or has recently got COVID, I think it is our responsibility to each other to NOT bring that here. Especially if you have any symptoms. We are not all spring chickens here!
Diana and I missed being here and worshiping with you all, but trust me, you would not want what we went through. And honestly, that was one of the main reasons we even started a live stream was for the folks in this church. So that if they were ill, if they were on vacation, if they had to care for someone, that they could still participate with our church family. We can still pray for you, just not in person, amen? That is the end of our public service announcement.
I was going to preach on the goodness of God this morning, but then Diana and I got COVID, so I don’t really feel like preaching about that.
I was going to preach on the goodness of God this morning, but when I did have COVID, I could not go to work, so I lost a lot of income during that time, so I don’t really want to talk about the goodness of God.
I was going to preach on the goodness of God this morning, but, when I went through a drive though, I ordered a combo meal and when I got it, it was missing the French fries, so I don’t want to talk about the goodness of God, not so much.
I was going to preach on the goodness of God this morning, but then I had to go through some things because of a choice that I made, a mistake, you might call it a sin – I had to go through the consequences of something that I did, and it was uncomfortable or painful, and so, I don’t really want to talk about the goodness of God this morning.
Sounds silly doesn’t it. But honestly, when I first became a Christian, there are times that I thought that. That the goodness of God was dependent on my circumstances. If things were going good, then God was good and I was doing a good job in His eyes. If things were going bad, well then maybe God was mad at me. Or maybe He was not as good as I thought He should be.
Maybe the Goodness of God was measured by my expectations of Him and how He should be moving in my life. That kind of thinking, well there is actually a phrase for it. It is called retribution theology. It says you basically get what you deserve. That the “good” people in life get the good things, and the “bad” people get the bad things. It means I believe that if I get some serious disease, it’s a sign that God is punishing me for something that I have done badly. Or perhaps, if my business is doing well and I am making money, that is a sign that God is pleased with me. I have His stamp of approval.
I think the best way to define what retribution theory is that it is a simplistic interpretation of things that happen in our lives that makes assumptions about God’s motives or intentions. This kind of thinking is countered in scripture. All we have to do is read about Job or even look at the Apostle Paul and we can definitely determine that not all good people are rewarded with good things in life. There also would definitely not be scriptures like this:
Psalm 94:3 Lord, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph?
Just look at King Ahab, he was evil – one of the wickedest kings that ruled Irael, causing trouble with Queen Jezebel, remember her? For 22 years, an evil king lived like a King. That is counterintuitive to retribution theology! It’s the opposite!
And remember Job? Job’s friends brought that kind of retribution thinking when they visited Job.
Job 4:7 Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off? 8 Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same. 9 By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed.
This is Eliphaz talking to Job – what a friend! He is basically saying that the innocent in this world are protected and the wicked perish -so Job, my buddy, my friend, my pal – this calamity, this nightmare you are going through, well, it’s all because of you!
You ever have anyone say that to you? I preached a whole sermon on that once. Someone told me that what I was going through was because of something I did. Son, It’s under the Blood!
It was bad enough that his buddy Eliphaz said that, but he had 2 other friends – Bildad and Zophar – accusing Job and rationalizing that what he was going through was because of something he did. A cause and effect of sin. But then we see in the Word that God is not pleased with Job’s friends.
Job 42:7 And it was so, that after the Lord had spoken these words unto Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath.
But people can be people, can’t they? I remember that even the disciples, the ones who were closest to Jesus and were bathed in all of His teachings, still could have this type of thinking.
John 9:9 And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
They are basically saying that either that the man sinned or his parents did and his blindness is the manifestation of that sin. Lord help us if we think that about someone born with a disability or some issue that is horrible is the consequence of the parents sin. We live in a fallen world. Bad things happen to good people. But what did Jesus say?
3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.
Just to be clear here, sin is bad – it is not good and I try my best to live as close as I can to God, embracing the righteousness of Jesus and letting Him lead the way, amen. Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay. So I lean on Jesus and His Goodness.
So what is the goodness of God, if it is not just my circumstances? I am glad you asked! Sometimes when we are in the middle of it, in my case last week, COVID delirium thinking – a palpable cloudy head – and a full manifestation of every single symptom at the same time, I sometimes need to remind myself of how good God is. That’s when I go to the Word.
1 Chronicles 16:29 Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. 30 Fear before him, all the earth: the world also shall be stable, that it be not moved. 31 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice: and let men say among the nations, The Lord reigneth. 32 Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof: let the fields rejoice, and all that is therein. 33 Then shall the trees of the wood sing out at the presence of the Lord, because he cometh to judge the earth. 34 O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever. Selah and amen, O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psalm 34:8 O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
Psalm 100:4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. 5 For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.
That is how we see God for who He really is, in His Word. When the circumstances around us are beating us down, He is still good. We sing about it often in church. The Goodness of God, amen. We say it in our daily lives, We say “God is Good!” And then we say “All the time” – and He is!
Psalm 119:68 Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes.
That is actually a packed line of scripture for me.It is defining God’s goodness in two ways. One way has to do with His character, of who He is through and through. Someone described God’s goodness like this: “That is, He is “morally excellent, extraordinarily beautiful, deeply glad, and extravagantly bountiful.”” And then we see Jesus saying this:
Mark 10:18 there is none good but one, that is, God.
God is good! And the other part of Psalm 119:68 and doest good – focuses on His actions, that He does things that are good.There are good things in our lives, everyday. That was a good burger! That was a good movie! That was a good joke! But nothing on earth is absolutely perfect, is it?
But God is pure goodness, no imperfections, no flaws, perfect goodness in and of Himself. And we can see that goodness in His character as well. Character is defined as how someone thinks, feels, and behaves. The Bible is filled with the testimonies of God’s kindness, His mercy, steadfast love and generosity – His Goodness.
Psalm 145:9 The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.
The “all” in that scripture includes you. And yes, God does show His goodness to us in our circumstances and in our daily lives through his blessings.
Philippians 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
There is that old saying, stop and smell the roses or something like that. I think that is a good reminder for all of us to stop and see all the goodness of God in our lives. Sometimes we forget the all the blessings in our life until something bad happens. Taking pause to think on all the riches given to us from the goodness of God is a good practice to have.
Matthew 7:11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?
I think what really helped me understand the power of this scripture was when we started having grandchildren. When those bundles of joy came into our lives, it was so exciting! And the physical evidence of that was the unending…it was constant…it was mind boggling…it was massive flow of Amazon boxes and other boxes before Christmas or a birthday. We just wanted to bless them, amen? But how much more does Jesus want to bless you with His goodness?
James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
It is not just the physical blessings that we see the goodness of God, though. God reveals His goodness in intervening in our lives.
Psalm 107 O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. 2 Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;
I have been through some things in my life where I thought there was no way out. There was no way I was going to get through it. But Jesus, through His Goodness and Mercy stepped into the situation and made a way. What a mighty God we serve!
You can read the rest of Psalm 107, but it goes on to say that God intervened in the lives of those who rebelled against the Word of God and He saved them from their distress and the shadow of death. It continues that He rescued the foolish. Ok, that one is for me! I cannot tell you how many times I have been foolish, but He rescued me.
Psalm 107:21 Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
And it continues that when there is a storm, a storm that could sink us and we are at the end of our rope, we can cry out to Him and He will make the storms become still – why?
Psalm 107:31 Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
The greatest demonstration of the goodness of God is Jesus himself. That He would come here on earth, live a sinless life, allow Himself to be taken to the cross, dying for us as atonement for our sin, defeating death and rising from the grave. That we have the righteousness of Jesus, that we have access to heaven. We have His Holy Spirit, living in us. Come on now, tell me God is not good!
But I got to thinking about something.
Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
God created us in His image.
To be like Him.
To have the traits that He has.
We really can’t do that without Jesus.
But when we receive Jesus, we are to be like him.
Philippians 2:2 Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 3 Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. 4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. 5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
And don’t be like I was – discounting myself from that opportunity. If you think of yourself differently than God does – whose right, you or God? So many times we allow our minds to overrule what God says is true. We were made by God. And we were made for God and for His Kingdom, amen?
So if we are made in His image, let us love like Him.
John 15:12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
Loving people can be hard – yet Jesus in all His goodness loves me and in all His goodness loves you too. I know I can be hard to love, there are a lot of people that are no longer in my life just for that reason. And it goes both ways in some cases. People are messy, I’m messy – yet God loves me, bumps and all. Never stop trying to love people the best you can, even if you get hurt.
love one another, as I have loved you.
Bless like Him. When I look at what I have in my life, I am so grateful. I cannot count all the blessings in my life. And to be like Jesus, I try to bless other people. It’s not always about money, often we can bless people in many different ways.
Maybe it’s blessing someone with time out of your busy schedule, talking and praying with them. Sometimes it is just being there – to listen. Maybe it’s sharing food, or plants, or the bounty of our soon to be harvested gardens or blackberry jam, amen?
God will lead you how through His goodness and His Holy Spirit.
love one another, as I have loved you.
Give like Him. We can’t out give God, we would all be broke trying to do it! But sometimes it is about money. Helping a brother or sister in a time of need. And you folks are some of the most giving I have ever known in my life! I thank God for you all being in my life and showing me how to love like Jesus.
love one another, as I have loved you.
Forgive like Him. OK, this one is a little harder. Like I say, people are messy, they are going to do things that offend us, that hurt us. Sometimes they may not even know they hurt our feelings. I get that, it has happened to me.
But when I think about how much Jesus has forgiven me of, even before I knew Him, it humbles me. I am not saying be a doormat or stay in some sort of abusive relationship, not at all. But people are people, and sometimes we need to take that first step and forgive so that the healing can begin. That same grace of forgiveness is the absolute goodness of God.
John 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
So let us love people as he loves us. Let us bless people like He wants us to. Let us give as Jesus leads. Let’s forgive like Jesus forgave us. Let us show grace – undeserved favor. Grace can’t be earned, it’s something freely given. In all this, we show the goodness of Christ in our character, thereby His love and goodness is in the world. Amen!
Janesville Apostolic Ministries 