Most of us don’t think we are full of goodness; some do. But for many of us, in my limited experience, on the contrary, the defining feeling is that we are not quite good enough. In the quiet of our own hearts, we feel we do not measure up. And when we wonder why, we might look to difficult parental experiences, abuse, a lack of praise or even a lack of simple kindness. Humans thrive on kindness, children do, and we’re all children really.

Kindness is underrated. In our culture it’s often simply lacking altogether.

Whatever the reason, we doubt our own goodness too often.

But I know myself, I say – and I’m not a good person. Of course, at one level that is fair, we do know ourselves. We know our histories, our baggage, the things we would do differently if we could; or maybe wouldn’t or couldn’t do differently but things which still somehow define and limit us and persuade us that we can never be good enough. We know our strengths we think, and we for sure know our weaknesses. That tendency to anger; the impatience; the unspoken dislike of someone we maybe have no reason to dislike. And we tell ourselves that if God only knew what we knew God wouldn’t like us quite so much.

But of course God does know us. Better than we know ourselves; much better. And his grace more than compensates for any lack we find in ourselves. I know it has been said that God loves us not because of who we are, but because of who God is. But I would say God indeed loves us because of who we are – beloved children. We may not be perfect, but we are perfectly human and God asks no more. As the ancient Chinese proverb goes – there are only two types of people who are really good; one type hasn’t been born, and the other type is already dead.

But in a strange heresy, we often hold ourselves to higher standards than God does. Or at least we are less forgiving than God is. We count our sins and find ourselves wanting.

But what does it mean to be good?

Can we settle for being good enough?

What does good or goodness or good enough look like?

I do remember when I was training for ordination, I went to the summer fair at my old church, and we were just sitting around and telling jokes. One joke I told, if I do say so myself, was very funny but a bit rude – think Vicar of Dibley jokes at the end of the show – and one woman, who had been laughing, stopped laughing, turned to me, patted me on the arm very kindly and said, when you’re ordained you won’t I hope be telling jokes like that, you will have to be good. You will really.

So – note to self – slightly risqué jokes are incompatible with being good?

Maybe?

Richard Coles, who with Jimmy Somerville, formed the Communards, an eighties band, was eventually ordained and once preached on the make poverty history slogan. In his sermon he made the point that a child dies from poverty every three seconds. But, to make his point, he used a swear word. Afterwards some were angry – but they were not angry that children made in the image of God and loved by God were dying needlessly – they were angry that he swore in a sermon. Now, I can see why of course – but actually more angry about swearing than about children dying?

So is the issue not about being good but about being respectable?

It’s ambiguous isn’t it?

What does it mean to be good? What does it look like? To be full of goodness?

If we turn to the reading from Amos what do we discover about goodness? Well, the prophet Amos is reporting a vision he had and in this vision the Lord God speaks of a plumb line, and of how he will measure the failings of the people of Israel in this way. At first reading, when we hear of God measuring the Israelites failings with a plumb line, we think, yep, that’s how it is. If God measured me with a plumb line, I would look pretty wonky too.

But what is God measuring here in Amos?

The Israelites think they are very good, – they have no self-doubt, no anxiety about being good enough – they think they have got it right. They tick all the boxes. They worship, they make their sacrifices, they follow the law; they are entirely ‘good’ but God, says Amos, is angry with them.  They follow the letter but not the spirit of God’s laws. They are actually, not good, but respectable. They are seen to be doing the right thing but have no heart for it. God sees that they are living in a world of appearances, a world of weights and measures and God sees through that world. And so precise is their own sense of rightness that they are measured by that, and found wanting – as you judge so shall you be judged.

Amos lived six miles from Bethlehem and 11 miles from Jerusalem. He was neither a prophet nor a priest by trade or tradition. He was a shepherd who took care of sycamore trees; he was a marginal figure. And he comes to this holy place of Jerusalem, called by God, to tell the Israelites how they have misunderstood goodness. They have confused it with respectability and they are to be confounded by God’s judgement.

And Jesus – what about Jesus and goodness?

Well, let’s be honest he wasn’t respectable. He mixed with prostitutes, ate with sinners, hung out with all the wrong people, ignored the purity laws and finally, he died, literally an outcast – outside the city walls – the least respectable place in Jerusalem.

After watching him bless children, a wealthy man runs up to Jesus and says good teacher what must I do find eternal life. Someone, who for all his failings sees beyond the lack of respectability into the goodness of Jesus.

What are the first words of Jesus in response?

Being good is not about not doing this, not doing that, it is not about avoiding real messy life and keeping our hands clean – that might make us respectable, it won’t make us good – goodness is about following Jesus and growing each day in his likeness. Until we are quite literally full of it – goodness that is.

God is good;

We are not good. Not always

But we, you and me, we are good enough, and God loves us.

The most powerful line in that Gospel reading – the wealthy man turns and leaves, unable to give up his possessions.

‘Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him’

I doubt the Roman Christians were perfect; but in a sense Paul was right when he said they were full of goodness even though he did not know their personal biographies. He knew they were trying with all their heart to follow Jesus; we are filled with goodness when we follow Christ. The Spirit of God is calling the Spirit in us. How could we be anything else? 

So my message is simple.

Getting things wrong doesn’t make us bad. It’s ok.

It makes us human.

And God won’t love us less because we are human.

That is who God created us to be.

Yes we keep trying, yes we keep failing, but we must not hold ourselves to a higher standard than God does.

God is God. We are not.

God is God, the world is not.

Let God be God and God loves each one of us; do not make the mistake of judging God by our standards. The history of the church is littered with that – we want revenge so we make God a vengeful God; we want karma so we make God a God of karma, (very odd that one) we want justice so we make God a God of justice; we want there to be hell so we say it is in God’s nature, not ours, to damn the worst of our fellow humans.

Don’t condemn others, don’t condemn ourselves – let’s be gentle with ourselves, admit we cock up, but don’t measure our failings with a plumb line and hold them against ourselves. God will judge our self- admiring respectability, but he won’t condemn us as we condemn ourselves when we are striving to be good, even when we’re striving and failing.

 ‘Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him’

We don’t know if that man came back; if he didn’t it was probably because he was judging himself far more harshly than Jesus was. Be gentle with yourself.

Jesus looked at him and loved him. 

Mark 10: 21

Amos 7: 7-9 NKJV – Vision of the Plumb Line – Thus He – Bible Gateway

Mark 10:17-31 NIV – The Rich and the Kingdom of God – As – Bible Gateway