Why Do You Call Me Good?

We use a word that means infinitely more than we can grasp and that makes our using that word unhealthy!

Dec 19, 2024

I love what Mark Twain once said: “Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example.” Yep, I know what he means. I squirm under the light of someone whose life radiates a goodness I so often wish I had and all too often do not!

My best friend used to say, “No life is a total waste; it can always serve as a bad example!

But what about the good examples in our lives? What do we do with them? Do we even know how powerful a good example can be? How you answer those questions invites you to know yourself, and that’s where the “annoyance” kicks in!

Look at our lesson today in Mark 10:17-27:

At that time, as Jesus was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’ ” And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have observed from my youth.” And Jesus looking upon him loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” At that saying his countenance fell, and he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions. And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!” And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.”

I’m annoyed by the good in others only when I refuse to allow God to form the good in me through repentance and obedience. Their good example confronts me with my stubborn embrace of mediocrity and selfish living.

But there is a way out of this spiritual prison, and it has everything to do with the confrontation Jesus has with this young man in today’s Gospel lesson. Jesus reacts surprisingly to this young man’s “compliment” because that’s what the young man needs! This is a pious young man. He is a faithful follower of the rules! And he must be confronted with the sad reality that genuine goodness isn’t about rule-keeping but something much more profound!

And that much deeper reality is the honest acceptance of my need for God’s mercy.

Please understand what I mean before you shake your head in agreement with this too quickly. For most of my life, I have lived daily as if I were self-sufficient. I make choices based on my own “wisdom.” I set my priorities based on my self-interest.

I decide that something is “good” or “not good” based on how this or that thing or situation makes me “feel” or how I perceive that it affects me. In other words, most of my life is lived with the false notion that I am at the center of my life! And that, dear friends, is why I am a slave to my passions. That is why, like the young man in today’s lesson, when confronted with Jesus and His reality check that I only lack “one thing,” I go away sorrowful, just like this young man.

God knows my foolish dependence on my strength and abilities will always disappoint me!

The story of St. Boniface is a powerful illustration of this gift of “goodness.” St. Boniface was the slave of a Roman noblewoman named Aglais. These two were living together in an unlawful union. Boniface was a drunkard and loved nothing more than being a loud and riotous partygoer. But he also had a deep compassion for the poor and those who had fallen into misfortune. Aglais was moved to Faith, hearing the story of the many martyrs for Christ in Cilicia on orders of the Roman Emperor Diocletian. She was convinced that if she could obtain a relic from one of the saints, she would still be blessed with deeper faith. She asked Boniface to go to Cilicia and obtain a relic. Boniface made fun of her by saying, “And what if they bring back my body as holy relics?” He took a few companion slaves with him, and they set out to gain a relic of a Christian saint. When they arrived, Boniface's gentle nature drew him to minister to persecuted saints. He went among them and encouraged them and ministered to them. One of the soldiers arrested him for his kindness to these persecuted Christians, and Boniface boldly declared himself a Christian. He was beheaded for this confession in 290, and his body was, indeed, returned to Aglais. She became such a devout Christian that we now call her St. Aglais. God made “good” what most would see as a foolish man.

Today, are you functioning as if you are the center of your life? No wonder you keep stumbling in the darkness of the delusion of your self-sufficiency! It’s time to embrace the hard work of that One thing that you lack. Abandon the false notion that your everyday life can be lived as if God isn’t necessary to you and embrace living a Normal Orthodox life.

Why Do You Call Me Good?

We use a word that means infinitely more than we can grasp and that makes our using that word unhealthy!

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