Good

The young ruler approaching Jesus for advice called out, “Good Teacher!” And Jesus replied, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.”

I have never known why Jesus said that. I assume it is because the young man caught him at a bad moment when his patience was running thin. It seems unnecessary and nonsensical.

Besides, if Jesus is God incarnate, why is he not good? Didn’t the young ruler have it right? 

Could it really be true that ONLY God is good?

The first creation story in Genesis describes how God created the world, step by step. Day by day, and at the end of every day God deemed it good. So, there it is: the word of God.

I still don’t know what Jesus meant, but this plant is good. Because it is part of God’s good creation. And it is just doing what God made it to do.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Alone

Image
I like to be alone. I can spend a lot of time alone and it’s really not a hardship. People tend to think of introverts as socially defective or lonely people, but it just isn’t true. We are simply people who need to have alone-time to recharge our batteries. We enjoy the company of others, but we also enjoy the company of ourselves. An extraverted friend once shared with me her concern and wonder that God seemed to be calling so many introverts to ministry. I told her it is because the introverts actually had the time to listen. Sitting in our prayer closets. Alone. I was joking. Sort of – yet even while I said that, I knew that it was not when I was alone that I heard the call of God. It was in conversations with other people. God speaks to us through one another. God leads us to new places and discoveries and growth through our relationships with one another. Still, introverts like me are going to need some time alone to process all of it.
Read more

Full

Image
  Kim and I went to IHOP for breakfast this morning, a rare treat. I filled myself with pancakes, eggs, and coffee. Lots of coffee. Then I came home and received the Lent word of the day: Full.  Yes, indeed. I was. This is really something to think about as we begin a season that is marked by the practice of fasting, giving up something that is of value. It’s not really about suffering or sacrifice (although I guess that depends on how you define sacrifice), but the point of fasting is to make some room for God. To empty ourselves of other things so we can begin to be filled up with the divine, the holy light of God. So I am thinking today: what am I full of? What is the clutter inside of me?  I am full of anxiety about things I have no power to change. I am full of longings, itches for newness, distraction, diversion. I am full of ideas for stuff I want to do and hope for dreams to come true.  I am full of concern and fear for myself, my loved ones, and the people o...
Read more

Celebrate

Image
  Celebrate. Celebrate birthdays – the big ones with a zero in them and all the ones in between. Celebrate marriage – multi-day extravaganzas or photos and balloons on the courthouse steps. Celebrate safe passage of loved ones from a place of danger to a place of safety. Celebrate being together in one place with friends – just because you can – after a long time apart. Celebrate losing five pounds of extra baby weight. Celebrate being able to walk down the hall after that surgery. Celebrate graduations, anniversaries, potty training, winning the big game, and losing that first tooth. Celebrate getting on the zoom meeting all by yourself. Celebrate waking up in the morning to greet the sun. Celebrate life, for it is all a gift from God.
Read more