The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel, Classic Version, 2015គំរូ

Goodness

Of all the prisons Pippa and I have visited around the world, this is the worst. It is in Lusaka, Zambia. The prison was built in 1950 for 250 men. Today it holds over 1,300. The cells, which were built to hold 50, are now home to over 150 men. They are locked in their cells from eight o’clock at night until eight o’clock in the morning. There isn’t enough room for all of them to lie down at the same time. They have to take it in turns. The stench and the heat in those cells must be almost unbearable. If they do not have AIDS or tuberculosis when they enter the prison, they are likely to become infected soon after.

The cells surround a courtyard, which is at the centre of the prison. We held a service there. Maybe because there was nothing else to do, virtually every one of the inmates attended. The service was led by a man who had been awaiting trial for four years. He was a Christian pastor who was accused of some minor offence (for which the penalty in England would probably have been a small fine had he been convicted). Though he may well have been innocent, this man had been languishing in a prison for four years, not knowing when he would be released – if ever.

I will never forget his opening words as he began to lead the service: ‘God is good – all the time.’ Here was a man who had absolute confidence in the goodness of God, not because of his circumstances but in spite of them. He knew and had experienced the goodness of God in the midst of great suffering. As a result, even though he found himself in the appalling conditions of this prison, he followed Jesus’ example and ‘went around doing good’ (Acts 10:38).

John Wesley once wrote, ‘Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.’

The passages for today tell us something about what this goodness means and where it comes from. 

Psalm 35:19-28

1. In all things God works for your good

Let’s be honest. Not everyone is good. Some people hate without reason and act maliciously (v.19).

There is a great contrast running through this passage between the difficulties that David is facing from those around him, and the goodness of God. The Message version brings out this contrast by using the word ‘good’ four times, but in very different contexts:

• Beware the ‘no good’ crowd
  There will be times in your life and in the life of your community when you come under attack from those ‘cooking up gossip’ (v.20, MSG). ‘They do not speak peaceably, but devise false accusations’ (v.20). David says, ‘No good is going to come from that crowd’ (v.20, MSG).
• Having a ‘good time’ is not always good
  David speaks of this crowd’s ‘good time’ (v.24, MSG). These people are having ‘a party at [David’s] expense’ (v.19, MSG). They hate him for no reason: ‘winking and rolling their eyes’ (v.19, MSG). They think they are having ‘a good time’ but actually what they are doing is not good.
• God works everything for good
  ‘God is great – everything works together for good for his servant’ (v.27, MSG). God takes even the bad things that are done to you and are said about you and uses them for good. ‘In all things God works for the good of those who love him’ (Romans 8:28).
• Tell the world how good God is
  David ends this psalm by celebrating God’s goodness. He writes, ‘I’ll tell the world how great and good you are, I’ll shout Hallelujah all day, every day’ (Psalm 35:28, MSG).

Lord, help me to remember your goodness and trust in the ‘good things’ that you have stored up for me.

Luke 3:1-22

2. Goodness comes from repentance and the Holy Spirit

People are sometimes surprised to see John’s message described as ‘good news’ (v.18) – it can seem very negative to us! Yet the word of God is always ‘good news’. The word of God came to John the Baptist in the desert (v.2b). It is a message of ‘repentance for the forgiveness of sins’ (v.3b). Repentance is good; it is liberating. It leads to freedom and forgiveness.

Repentance should lead to ‘good fruit’ (v.9). John the Baptist says, ‘Produce fruit in keeping with repentance’ (v.8). What is this ‘good fruit’? ‘Good fruit’ includes both social justice and personal morality. Interestingly the examples listed below all relate in some way to work or money. What does goodness look like?

• Generosity
  Those who can afford it should support those who can’t: ‘Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same’ (v.11).
• Honesty
  John tells the tax collector, ‘Don’t collect any more than you are required to’ (v.13).
• Contentment
  John tells the soldiers, ‘Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely – be content with your pay’ (v.14b).

John is not just a preacher of social righteousness. He says of Jesus, ‘He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire’ (v.16b). Fire symbolised purity (Numbers 11:1–3), power and passion. As Jesus prayed, ‘the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased” ’ (Luke 3:21–22).

Goodness is one of the characteristics listed by St Paul as the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). Through the Holy Spirit we experience God’s goodness. What God said to Jesus, he says to us:

• Enjoy being a child of God
  God says to Jesus, ‘You are my Son’ (Luke 3:22). We saw yesterday how through Jesus we are able to call God ‘Father’. Today we are reminded of what it means for us to be sons and daughters of God. While Jesus’ sonship is unique, the apostle Paul writes that God ‘sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts’ (Galatians 4:6). You are given this same experience of being a child of God – by adoption. This experience is vital for your identity, confidence and security.
• Experience God’s love
  God says to Jesus, ‘You are my Son, whom I love’ (Luke 3:22). Now, as Paul writes, ‘God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us’ (Romans 5:5). The Holy Spirit gives you an experience of God’s goodness and love for you.
• Expect God’s pleasure
  God says to his son Jesus, ‘With you I am well pleased’ (Luke 3:22). He is also ‘pleased to give [us] the Kingdom’ as we seek it (12:32). In God’s goodness, he gives you his Holy Spirit. When you are ‘in the realm of the flesh’ you ‘cannot please God’, but when the Spirit of God dwells in you, your life becomes pleasing to him (Romans 8:8–9).

As you experience God’s love and goodness poured into your heart by the Holy Spirit, the good fruit of the Holy Spirit will grow.

Lord, thank you for your extraordinary goodness to me. Thank you that you adopt me as your child and that you take pleasure in me. Help me to bear good fruit in my life. Help me to live a life of generosity, honesty and contentment.

Numbers 9:15-11:3

3. God has promised to give you good things

Moses tells his father-in-law, ‘The Lord has promised good things’ (10:29). He urges him to come with them, ‘We will share with you whatever good things the Lord gives us’ (v.32).

Moses, together with God’s people, had experienced so much of God’s goodness. In today’s passage we see that God had guided them with ‘cloud’ and ‘fire’ – symbolising his presence (9:16). This is but one example of the goodness that is seen throughout the history of the people of God.

Despite God’s goodness to them, his people ‘complained about their hardships in the hearing of the Lord’ (11:1). On another occasion in the wilderness they also grumbled about their leaders – Moses and Aaron (Exodus 16:2). Sometimes, when we forget the goodness God has shown us, we complain about our situation and can even blame our leaders. But wherever possible, leaders need our support and encouragement.

We all need to remember God’s goodness to us, especially in Christ, who is the ‘high priest of the good things’ God gives (Hebrews 9.11). Praise, thanksgiving and worship are the antidote to complaining and grumbling.

We praise you God for all your goodness to us – for the good news of Jesus, for your forgiveness, for your love for us your children, for the Holy Spirit and the love of God poured into our hearts, for the fact that you delight in us and rescue us. Thank you, Lord, for all our blessings, for your provision, freedom, friends, family and every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms. ‘God is good – all the time.’  

Pippa Adds

Numbers 11:1–3

‘Now the people complained about their hardships … his anger was aroused. Then fire from the Lord burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp.’ 

I don’t think God likes complaining. This is quite a warning. I’m going to be a little more careful in future!

Notes:
Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version Anglicised, Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 Biblica, formerly International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Publishers, an Hachette UK company. All rights reserved. ‘NIV’ is a registered trademark of Biblica. UK trademark number 1448790.

Scripture quotations marked (AMP) taken from the Amplified® Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Scripture marked (MSG) taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.