SERMON: PURSUING HOLINESS: GOODNESS

 

12 August 2012

I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to 1 Samuel 12

1 Samuel 12:1-5 (NIV)
1 Samuel said to all Israel, "I have listened to everything you said to me and have set a king over you.
2 Now you have a king as your leader. As for me, I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have been your leader from my youth until this day.
3 Here I stand. Testify against me in the presence of the LORD and his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe to make me shut my eyes? If I have done any of these, I will make it right."
4 "You have not cheated or oppressed us," they replied. "You have not taken anything from anyone's hand."
5 Samuel said to them, "The LORD is witness against you, and also his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand." "He is witness," they said.

-- In an issue of Moody Monthly, George Sweeting wrote an article about the desperate need for honesty in our culture today -- He told the story of Dr. Madison Sarratt, a math teacher at Vanderbilt University many years ago

-- before Dr. Sarratt would pass out a test, he would give this instruction to the class -- "Today I am giving two examinations - one in trigonometry and the other in honesty -- I hope you will pass them both -- If you must fail one, fail trigonometry

-- There are many good people in the world who can't pass trig, but there are no good people in the world who cannot pass the examination of honesty."

[Source: The Sermon Illustrator, http://www.sermonillustrator.org/illustrator/sermon1a/passing.htm]

-- it goes by many names -- honesty -- integrity -- character -- goodness -- no matter what you call it, it is a trait sorely missing in our world today -- everywhere we look today we see examples of a lack of integrity, even among Christians

-- not long ago we saw in the news the story of how 44 civic leaders in New Jersey were indicted on corruption charges, including three mayors -- two state assemblymen -- several city councilmen -- and even five rabbis -- these leaders were accused of violating the public trust -- of violating the integrity of their offices by taking bribes and laundering money [Geraldine Baum -- LA Times -- 24 July 2009]

-- we’ve reached the point in our nation where the term “politician” is synonymous with “liar” and “cheater” -- but, the problem isn’t just with politicians

-- in a recent survey of our school kids, two-thirds of all high school students have admitted to cheating on tests -- 30% of the students admitted to having stolen something from a store -- 36% admit to having plagiarized assignments from the internet -- and 42% admit to lying if it will save them money

-- and we all know that with today's technological advances such as mp3 players and i-pods, the percentage of people who illegally download music and movies and software from the internet is astronomical -- three months before Mel Gibson’s movie, “The Passion of the Christ” came out in theaters, I was offered a copy on DVD from a friend at work -- illegally downloaded from the internet -- think about that for a moment -- not only has the illegal downloading of movies become normal practice in our country, they are even stealing Christian movies and have no qualms about it

-- and this is not just a phenomenon that we are seeing among non-Christians -- I was at the Potter’s House not long ago buying a Bible for my niece -- if you’ve bought a Bible there, you know that they come in boxes -- and the store clerk made a point of opening the box and comparing the Bible inside to the Bible that was listed on the box -- when I asked him what he was doing, he said that they have problems with people coming in and putting expensive Bibles in the boxes for less-expensive Bibles -- in other words, they are trying to cheat a Christian bookstore while buying a Bible

-- unethical, immoral, and downright illegal behavior have become the norm in our society -- let me give you one more example and then we'll dive right into what the Bible has to say about this subject

-- when I pastored in the Methodist Church I attended what they call "Course of Study" at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University -- one of the seminaries for the United Methodist Church

-- on the cover sheet for all of the precourse work we had to complete, there was a statement at the bottom giving us the definition of plagiarism -- and we were required to sign a statement indicating the work we were turning in was our own and had not been copied or plagiarized from someone else

-- and, honestly, it made me a little mad and a little sad to have to sign that form because the implication was that students at the Candler School of Theology and the United Methodist Church Course of Study were dishonest and would cheat by copying another person’s work and turning it in as their own

-- have we reached the point in our society where lying and cheating is so common-place that we can’t even trust seminary students -- those men and women called by God to be our spiritual leaders?

II. Biblical Goodness

-- this morning, we are continuing our sermon series on pursuing holiness through the fruit of the Spirit -- and today finds us looking at the characteristic of goodness

-- we’ve already kind of talked about the concept of goodness in a negative sense by pointing out how far our society has fallen, but let me give you a clear definition of goodness as the Bible defines it

-- The Greek word for goodness in Galatians 5:22 is agathosune -- it occurs about 20 times in the New Testament and about 12 times in the Septaguint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament that Jesus used

-- William Barclay defined agathosune as "virtue equipped at every point” -- in other words, it is defined as moral excellence -- as worthy and ethical behavior -- as honesty -- as integrity

-- it carries with it the concept of wholeness or completeness in character as compared to the standard of Christ -- agathosune -- “goodness” -- is generally what we would define as “holy”

-- to be good in this sense means that your character is spotless -- undefiled -- unassailable -- perfect as Christ is perfect

-- we see a very good sense of this type of moral perfection in the life of the prophet Samuel as we just read in this passage from 1 Samuel

-- at this time, the people of Israel had been clamoring for a king so that they could be like all the nations around them -- they were, in essence, rejecting the theocracy -- the leadership and governance of God -- through their demand for an earthly king

-- for many years, God had ruled the nation directly through His prophet Samuel -- from the time Samuel was a young boy, he had heard the word of God and followed God’s commands -- leading the nation of Israel in accordance with God’s word

-- as this passage opens Saul has been appointed as king over Israel and Samuel’s leadership role is drawing to a close -- as he prepares to transfer power to Saul, Samuel reminds the people of how he had acted among them as their leader and as God’s representative and how God expected them to act

-- look back at verse 1-3

1 Samuel 12:1-3 (NIV)

1 Samuel said to all Israel, "I have listened to everything you said to me and have set a king over you.

2 Now you have a king as your leader. As for me, I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have been your leader from my youth until this day.

3 Here I stand. Testify against me in the presence of the LORD and his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe to make me shut my eyes? If I have done any of these, I will make it right."

-- Samuel is saying, “I have acted honestly and ethically and with integrity as your leader -- I haven’t stolen from you -- not even an ox or a donkey -- I haven’t cheated -- I haven’t lied -- I haven’t oppressed others or sought illegal gain for myself -- in all my ways I have been upright and honest”

-- Samuel says, “If you know otherwise, speak now and I will make it right”

-- verse 4-5

4 "You have not cheated or oppressed us," they replied. "You have not taken anything from anyone's hand."

5 Samuel said to them, "The LORD is witness against you, and also his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand." "He is witness," they said.

-- the people of Israel agreed and testified in the presence of God and His anointed king that Samuel was a man of integrity -- that his behavior and actions and motives -- his whole being -- was characterized by agathosune -- by goodness

-- can we say the same in our lives?

-- one night I was lying in bed and I kept hearing a strange sound coming from the kitchen -- it sounded like someone was opening and closing the cabinet doors -- and I knew Brooke was in her room and Kim was there beside me and there shouldn’t have been anybody else in the house -- so, I lied there and listened for a few moments and then got up to see what was going on
-- I peeked around the corner and looked in the kitchen, and there was Brooke’s cat, Josh -- he was opening the cabinet under the sink and peeking in before the door closed -- and then when the door closed, he’d do it again -- when Josh saw me, he ran off and I stood there looking and listening for a moment to see what was going on
-- the kitchen was spotless -- Kim had cleaned it before she went to bed -- everything was in its place -- nothing was not as it should have been -- but then I heard a strange noise -- under the sink, there was a rustling -- and I realized what was going on and why our cat was acting the way he had been acting
-- apparently, we had gotten an unexpected visitor -- we had a mouse that had decided to take up residence under our sink -- and our cat heard him and was trying to get to him
-- and as I was standing there I realized, this is a great analogy about goodness -- about agathosune -- in our lives
-- goodness is more than just looking right on the outside -- it’s more than just behaving and acting morally and ethically when others are watching - it’s more than just presenting ourselves as clean and spotless to the world
-- goodness is about being totally clean -- totally pure -- totally honest -- inside and out -- not just on the surface -- but also in the dark places -- in the cabinets and closets of our lives
-- agathosune asks the question, “How do I live when no one’s looking?”
-- as Ken Boa said, “It’s easy to look like a person of integrity when people are watching, but do I live my private life with the same level of consistency as I live my public life?”

-- I have a college-aged friend that I meet with occasionally who is a good, solid Christian -- he loves the Lord -- he serves in his church -- he participates in other ministries -- he’s always sharing his faith and witnessing to others -- he’s the epitome of what we want our sons and daughters to be as Christians

-- he shared with us one day that he had a problem -- that he had a dark place behind a cabinet door in his life that wasn’t what it should be -- that even though he looked like he had it all together -- even though he looked like his life was spotless and clean and morally pure -- when he was alone -- when no one was watching -- he would look at pornography on the internet

-- but the Holy Spirit spoke to him -- He showed my friend that what he was doing was wrong -- and finally, my friend went to his father and told him what was going on -- and I’ll never forget what his father told him as they worked through this issue -- as he challenged him to open that cabinet of pornography and let God cleanse it from his life -- his father said, “that’s not who you are”

-- that’s not who you are -- that’s not who Christ called you to be -- that’s not what you are capable of doing in your life -- God expects you to live a life of integrity -- to live a life of goodness and cleanness and moral purity inside and out

-- let me ask you this morning -- what secrets do you have closed up in cabinets in your life? -- when you look at yourself in the mirror, who looks back? -- are you happy with who you are when no one else is looking?

-- if you would, turn over to Titus 2 and we’ll close there -- in this pastoral epistle, Paul is giving his protégé Titus instructions on how to serve as the spiritual leader of the Christians in Crete and how to live as a man of God

-- in Chapter 1, Paul gave instructions on how to select leaders in the church -- what leaders in the church should look like -- and here in Chapter 2, Paul is telling Titus how should teach others in the church how to live through his actions and behavior

-- look down at verse 7a

Titus 2:7 (NIV)

7a. In everything set them an example by doing what is good.

-- in everything -- in all your ways -- inside and out -- not just in the areas where others can see -- not just in the areas where you are being watched -- but inside as well -- in everything -- in every way -- set an example for others by being good

-- now, remember that this call to agathosune -- to goodness -- to integrity -- is not something that we can do on our own -- it is a fruit of the Spirit -- it can only be realized through the power of the Holy Spirit working within us to make us men and women of integrity

-- as my friend’s father implied, as Christians, we are called to be more than what we are -- we are called to reflect the image and nature of Christ in this place -- but we can only do so if we let the Holy Spirit clean out our cabinets and make us holy in the dark places and recesses of our lives

-- look at the second part of verse 7

7b. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness

8 and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.

-- that phrase, “in your teaching” or “in your doctrine” -- refers to how you live -- how you demonstrate purity and honesty and goodness and integrity to others

-- Paul isn’t just talking about teaching others from the pulpit or during Bible studies -- he’s talking about teaching others through our lives

-- he says our lives should reflect “integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech” -- the KJV says “uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity” -- these lists both refer to agathosune -- to wholeness and completeness of character -- of goodness in and out

-- live this way, Paul says -- show people through your life what a man and a woman of God is to look like -- live in such a way that others will see your example and will follow you

-- just like Samuel, if you live your life in this way, no one will be able to condemn you -- no one will be able to say anything bad about you -- not even the man in the mirror -- the person that lives inside of you and that only you see and know

-- Socrates wrote, “The first key to greatness is to be in reality what we appear to be” -- that is what we are striving for as we seek to acquire goodness in our lives -- we are striving to be complete and whole people -- men and women of integrity -- men and women who demonstrate truly ethical and moral behavior inside and out

III. Closing
-- in the best western movie that was ever made -- “Lonesome Dove” -- there is a great example of integrity and of a man who is determined to keep his word above all
-- the movie revolves around two main characters, Gus McCrae and Woodrow Call -- friends who had served in the Texas Rangers together and who were now partners in bringing a herd of cattle north to Montana
-- as the movie draws to a close, Gus gets shot in the leg and acquires a fatal infection -- as he’s laying on his death bed, he makes Call promise to carry his body back to Texas and to bury it in a grove of pecan trees where he and his sweetheart used to walk -- and then he dies
-- the trip from Texas to Montana was hard -- it was extremely difficult -- many men had lost their lives along the way -- it took months to get from Texas to Montana -- no one would have faulted Call for not carrying Gus back to Texas -- Gus, for sure, wouldn’t know where his body was buried -- but Call was a man of integrity -- he was a man who kept his word -- and when spring rolled around, he did what he had promised to do -- he took months out of his life to make the long trip back to Texas to bury his friend, demonstrating not only his friendship but also his integrity

-- throughout the whole movie, Call never wavered once but remained steadfast in his behavior and his word, even though it cost him quite a lot along the way -- it is this type of devotion and integrity that God is calling us to demonstrate in our own lives

-- Billy Graham once wrote, “Integrity is the glue that holds our way of life together. We must constantly strive to keep our integrity intact. When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost; when character is lost, all is lost.”
-- as I close in prayer, I want to invite you to reflect on your character -- not on the person that the world sees -- but the person that you see in the mirror -- the person that you know that lives within you
-- look inside the cabinets of your heart and see what lurks in the darkness, and ask God to cleanse you and to make you a person of integrity -- a person of character -- a person who reflects His goodness in all that we do as we seek to become holy in His eyes
-- let’s pray