Crosspoint

Israel cries out to me, "O our God, we acknowledge You!" But Israel has rejected what is good; an enemy will pursue them.

(Hosea 8:2-3 NIV)

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Jesus said that in the end many will say to Him, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your Name, and in Your Name perform many miracles, and have the perfect doctrine?" And He will say to them at that time, "Get away from me. I have no idea who you are." In case anybody is wondering, that is the BJ Version.

More than any others it is ones like these in Hosea and Matthew that worry me. I mean, here are people that are sure that they are God's Chosen. They are confident that they are part of the People of God. The Elect. Call it what you want they are it. They're sure of it. But God is saying they have rejected what is good. Jesus goes even further in saying, "I never knew you."

So my question here is, "What is good?" I'm sitting here in Denny's right now eavesdropping on four pastors at another booth talking about their sermons and churches. What would they say is good? Is it different than what the two ladies on my other side talking about their grandchildren would say is good. Down near the other side is a Muslim man who is a part of a group I see all the time at Barnes and Noble. They are some of the friendliest and well liked regulars over there. (Besides myself of course.) How would their answer differ from these four evangelical preachers?

There is an answer that is far more important than any of these. What does God say is good? I think really there are two answers to this question. First, when asked what the greatest commandment was Jesus said you should love God and running a close second to that is to love others. Second, Jesus gives reasons for why He says in Matthew 25, "depart from me, I never knew you." He explains Himself, "For I was hungry, and you didn't feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn't give me a drink. I was a stranger, and you didn't invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn't give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn't visit me." And when they asked when all this happened he said, "when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me."

So, having all the right doctrine, is an important thing but it is not what is "good". It is important to know God and to know about Him. It is important to study ecclesiology and soteriology and eschatology. We should know our scripture. It is beneficial to study the things of God. But you could have all your doctrine in line and still miss the boat. Very few people today are even close to knowing their scripture as well as the Pharisees did in Jesus day. Yet time and again they were being rebuked and upbraided by him. They knew the Word of God, but they didn't know God.

It is important to maintain our spiritual disciplines. We should pray every day. We should have times of fasting and intercession. We should maintain a daily quiet time. These things are all important, but they are not "good". What does Isaiah say is true fasting? It is to loose the chains of the oppressed. It is to feed the hungry and to clothe the naked and shelter the homeless. This is the fasting that God delights in. These are the same things Jesus said the "religious" that he didn't know neglected. After all, I don't know any Christian who is spending more quiet time than a Buddhist monk. Most orthodox Jews and Muslims are far more disciplined in their prayer and fasting than I am. If that is what it takes to be accepted by God then we'd better get in line because they will be meeting Him far sooner than I will.

No. It is far simpler (and far more difficult) than any of this. I think Paul, in his letter to the Philippians showed us very eloquently what is good what is best. In chapter two he talks about reaching out to others: "Don't push your way to the front; don't sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.

Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human!Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient deathand the worst kind of death at thata crucifixion." Jesus thought of others before Himself and we should do the same.

In chapter three Paul continues on to talk about running after God: "I've dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn't want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting ChristGod's righteousness. I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself. If there was any way to get in on the resurrection from the dead, I wanted to do it. I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onwardto Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back."

So, what is good? To run after God and to reach out to others. Anything else everything else, is peripheral. I just want to run after God and reach out to others. That's the good stuff.