From the Pulpit: Good people
Why do bad things happen to good people? Well, who is good? Jesus answers this question for us in Mark 10:17-22. This is the story of a rich young man who approaches Jesus and says, “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 except God alone.” How can Jesus say that? Surely, He is good. Jesus is God, so He must be good. But He says God alone is good.
Paul writes in Philippians 2:4-7, “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.”
Even Jesus, the only perfect person who walked on earth, does not count equality with God a thing to be grasped. He came, humbled Himself before God’s plan, died on the cross and rose from the dead to save us from our sin. So, how can any of us consider ourselves good if that is the bar that Jesus sets and still doesn’t consider Himself good.
I think, what we might truly be asking is, “Why do bad things happen to those of us who feel like we are following all the rules, never been arrested for anything, barely even have moving violations, try to be nice to others, and on and on?”
Jesus has an answer for us for that as well. He continues with the rich young man, “You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” And (the rich young man) said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” I think we would agree with the rich young man, we feel like we have kept the commandments pretty well. So, Jesus continues, “And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, ‘You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.’ Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.”
Jesus finally gets to the heart of the matter. The rich young man is looking to himself for salvation and Jesus makes it clear that the man will never achieve it by his actions. His heart is most important. Does he love God over everything else in his life? Jesus sums up all the laws for us in two statements: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength. And love your neighbor as yourself.
Not only can the rich young man not bring himself to share his wealth with others, love your neighbor as yourself, but his heart is focused on himself and not on God. This is when we realize that we need Jesus to save us from ourselves and He did and continues to do it. We are forgiven for all our sins because of Jesus’ death and resurrection. So, really, we are left with, “Why do bad things happen to people?” Let’s talk about that in next week’s article.
