3 John 1:11
“Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that does good is of God: but he that does evil has not seen God.”
I’d like to begin this lesson with a little joke:
During the French Revolution, as many were being imprisoned and executed, there were these three Christians who were sentenced to die by the guillotine. One Christian had the gift of faithfulness, the other had the gift of joy, and the third had the gift of goodness.
The Christian with the gift of faithfulness was to be beheaded first. He was asked if he wanted to wear a hood over his head. He declined and said he was not afraid to die. "I have faith that God will deliver me!" he shouted bravely. His head was positioned under the guillotine, with his neck on the chopping block. He looked up at the sharp blade, said a short prayer and waited confidently. The rope was pulled, but nothing happened. His executioners were amazed and, believing that this must have been an act of God, they freed the man.
The Christian with the gift of joy was next. His head was positioned under the guillotine blade and he too was asked if he wanted the hood.
"No," he said, "I am not afraid to die. The Lord is my joy in all things. I believe God will make a joyful way even in this. I predict that God will deliver me from this guillotine!" At that, the rope was pulled and again, nothing happened. Once, again the puzzled executioners assumed this must be a miracle of God, and they freed the man.
The third Christian, with the gift of goodness, was next. He was brought to the guillotine and likewise asked if he wanted to wear a hood.
"No," he said, "I'm just as brave as those other two guys." The executioners then positioned him face up under the guillotine and were about to pull the rope when the man stopped them and shouted out loudly, "Hey wait a minute," he said. "I think I can see the problem with your guillotine. There’s a small knot in the rope caught up in the pulley". The rest is history.
What is the spiritual fruit of goodness?
Let’s first explain what it isn’t. Doing good to someone who does good to you, Jesus points out in Luke 6:32-33, is not pure goodness. It’s really just two people exchanging favors, which can be at least in part self-serving. Fact of the matter is "The whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one" (1 John 5:19). In short it’s not so much about people being good to one another (even the wicked people know how to do good to the one’s they love).
The spiritual fruit of goodness ENABLES sinful people to do good and to be good. Goodness is a part of God’s character, and when we become baptized in the Holy Spirit, God’s characteristics are pour out into us. This gift is closely related to righteousness and truth, it’s the very essence of God’s nature. One way to look at it is to look at the 10 commandments, in this God-given law we can see God’s summary of what goodness is.
If you’re going to truly examine the spiritual fruit of goodness you really need to begin with recognizing that, with people, badness comes naturally (Romans 8:7). Goodness is not just what one does, but it’s what one is. Obeying God's laws is what one does, being a doer of the word and not just hearers, is what one does. Showing self-sacrificing love for other people (as described in Matthew 25) is what one does. Being fruitful requires action, after all we are being "created in Christ Jesus for good works" (Ephesians 2:10).
All that said, our hearts should match our actions. We must cleanse our hands, and purify our hearts (James 4:8). False fronts falsifies God’s character. We can easily become double-minded hypocrites. In order to keep a clean mind and heart, we must guard it carefully! We must check ourselves for any false motives. Spiritual poisons are everywhere and in everything. Pure hearts require right motives. As the apostle said, if we do good without love we profit nothing from it. I’m a horticulturist by trade and I know growing things, especially trees. The fruit on an apple tree is not produced by a single act of goodness, but it’s the result of a steady, continuing process of growth and development. To produce the best fruit, the tree must be carefully cultivated.
So what’s a good motive?
First and foremost our goodness should bring glory to God’s kingdom and His gospel message. In this present age good is called evil and evil is called good, this can be a very troubling stumbling block for the people of God. Compromising goodness in this age can rot the fruit of our goodness from within, and reflect badly upon God’s church. Integrity is an important quality of this spiritual fruit. Remember, God didn’t wait for you to do good before he forgave you, but he did command you to go and sin no more. God loves his people so he can have a sanctifying influence on them and produce in them a fruitful harvest for his kingdom.
I’d like to share a story about one man named Richard who wanted to live in faith and integrity even while being imprisoned. Richard told a story about staying a man of faith while being a prisoner.
Richard shared:
Richard was a man of faith when he came to prison. He talks about how didn’t know how much faith differed from jailhouse religion, until he came to prison. His second day there, he received an administrative request to see the unit chaplain. He had not requested to see him. He was curious as to why he wanted to see him,so he went to his office. The Chaplain said, “Richard, I had a dream last night. And in that dream I was told that I would meet a man of strong faith. That I was to get this man up in front of the other prisoners and let him give a talk on faith.” He said that Richard was that man. Richard goes on to share that he looked at the stack of prisoner requests on the chaplain’s desk, asking to be part of the chaplain’s worship team. He said, “I know what you’re thinking. Why you, right?” Before Richard could respond, he said he was doing what he was told to do in the dream.
The next weekend, Richard was helping set up chairs for the service. The chaplain approached him and said the man who was going to give the sermon cancelled and no one else was available. The chaplain said Richard was going to give the sermon. Richard was floored. Here he is, a prisoner with no history of any experience speaking to large groups of people.
The prisoners arrived and were seated, 400 men in all. The chaplain told them the story of his dream. Then he introduced Richard. With no time to prepare or to choose a topic. After musical hymns by the choir, the room went silent. Richard walked up to the pulpit, looked down at his Bible and closed his eyes.
Richard began to speak on the difference between true faith and religion. His voice was bold. Prisoners who would normally be talking with their friends had their eyes fixed on him. Richard was nervous, yet, something was urging him on to speak. He llustrated how faith is something that a person lives every day, while religion is something done once or twice a week by attending church. Eyes widened in disbelief, including his own, but he continued. Richard stated, “Faith is not about believing. It’s about trusting in the Father’s knowledge and believing that his commandments apply to our lives.” The men were in shock. Most were Christians who had forsaken the relevance of the Father’s Laws. Richard explained in the boldest voice he could muster, “God’s Commandments and Laws are made so that we know how to love him, how to love each other, and to work in harmony with the rest of his creation.”
Richard went on to describe how shock and awe filled the room. Many believed that God’s Laws were not required. What they didn’t understand was that without His law, we’d live in a world full of chaos. Many prisoners will only be pious on the days designated by their religion, when they attend church, instead of living every day by faith in the Father and His commands. After prisoners go back to their dorms, and cells, they do whatever is right in their own eyes. They pretend to be religious, but when they leave prison, they throw their Bibles in a trash barrel. They go back into the free world and do exactly the same thing they did that landed them in prison in the first place. Jailhouse religion. END OF STORY
Richard didn’t understand why the chaplain chose him for that service. He didn’t understand where the words came from. He wasn’t even sure if the message he shared wasn’t mostly for him. But what did he do? He showed up, he spoke up, and he did it in order to serve God’s good purposes. His good works that day was intended to serve God’s creation in that congregation.
Another example of the spiritual gift of goodness:
Calvina Jefferson, one chilly November morning, was utterly exhausted. She had been up all night, working her warehouse job at the U.S. Postal Service. On any other day, she would be fast asleep by now. But not today. That Sunday, Calvina's sons along with more than 100 other kids who had an incarcerated parent—attended an Angel Tree sports camp. They were there to practice their football skills. But to Calvina, the day meant much more. Her sons used to play football with their dad, Jason. But seven years ago, Jason was incarcerated. The boys missed him deeply. Jason calls every weekend, asking about their homework and how they're doing—but it's not the same.
The separation caused by incarceration weighs heavy on Calvina. But thanks to Angel Tree Christmas, Jason sends a gift and a personal message to his sons at Christmastime every year. Calvina says—"When he calls on Christmas, he asks them, 'What did you get? Did you like my gift?' and they'll be so happy, [saying] 'Thank you, Daddy!'" So it means the world to him to know that he can still give to them on Christmas for the past seven years through Angel Tree.
Calvina is grateful for the way Angel Tree has kept her family connected. So when she heard about their sports camp, she made sure her boys were there. She also wanted them to know they aren't alone.
"It was very important to me to let the boys be around other kids who live in their same shoes," she said. "I couldn't miss it. I should be sleeping—I have to go to work tonight. But it's worth it." END OF STORY
Long story short—Being fruitful in goodness isn’t always easy, or convenient. It may not even seem worth the effort sometimes. But when it’s done in Christ’s name, and for his kingdom, we can rest assured that God will make great and good things come from any situation no matter how big or small, dark or light, seen or unseen. All good things come from heaven above. If our heart is filled with God’s spiritual gift of goodness, everything we do for his kingdom will become a work from God. That is His promise and blessing to us.
I call that gracious goodness.