THE TRANSFORMING POWER OF GOD'S GOODNESS, part 1

Fr. Peter Sanders

For those who desire to be “good,” the goodness of God is a life-transforming fundamental truth. This article will explore how we can not only experience that truth but also come into a greater reflection of his goodness in our lives.

“God is good” … “All the time!”
“All the time” … “God is good!”

This exchange has for many years been commonplace at spiritual events, especially in the evangelical and charismatic communities. It is truly a motto. Honestly, I have a hard time bringing myself to respond because it can be reduced to just a ritual formula that obliges you to answer, rather than a deep expression of faith. To say, ”God is good” seems clear enough, but we often miss the depth and power of God’s goodness.

Goodness goes to the core of who God is and what he does. To know how to deeply affirm the goodness of God means that we ourselves will be transformed by that goodness... in the depths of who we are and in what we do. Jesus Christ is the “gate,” (Jn. 10:7) he will provide the way into God’s goodness.

God wants to share his goodness with you!

God communicates his goodness and is generous about sharing it with you. This takes place as he pours into you a faith that is active, a hope that stretches to connect with his promises, and the love of God, which is “poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit” (Rom 5:5).

Through the saving work of the gospel, God has been good to you as his creature. Now he in turn calls us to thirst for personal goodness in response, and will satisfy that thirst by saturating us with his Holy Spirit, producing in the reflection of his goodness. This is the core of holiness in your life. Thus the goodness of God is derived from a living union with God. “He has bestowed on us the precious and very great promises, so that through them you may come to share in the divine nature, after escaping from the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire (2 Pt. 1:4). This “share in the divine nature” is what is called “communion.”

One of the greatest expressions of God’s goodness comes from Paul’s letter to Titus:

When the kindness and generous love of God our Savior appeared,
not because of any righteous deeds we had done, but because of his mercy,
he saved us through the bath of rebirth
and renewal by the Holy Spirit,
whom he richly poured out on us
through Jesus Christ our Savior,
so that we might be justified by his grace
and become heirs in the of eternal life. (Titus 3:4-7)

How Beautiful is the Person who manifests God’s goodness!

The goodness of God is evident in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The gospel is the “good news” (Isaiah 40:9; 41:27; 52:7; 61:6; Luke 1:19; 2:10; Acts 8:12; 13:32; Hebrews 4:2, 6), and good it is! God is good to all in His common grace, showering blessings on the wicked and the righteous alike (Mt. 5:43-45; Acts 14:16-17). But God is good in particular ways to those who believe in the gospel.

The gospel was announced to the human race in order to show a better way for us who had deviated from friendship with God and were trapped in our own, self-inflicted wounds. Our ways are at best sickly, and most often sinful, steering us in wrong, disoriented directions leading to alienation from God, from our fellow human beings and from ourselves. The bad news is that we have developed the tendency to create division and strife in our world. We have resorted to degrading ourselves rather than to trust in God. That is the source of evil and it leads to hell.

Nowhere is the goodness of God more evident than in the Person of Jesus Christ. The “good news” – the gospel – is that God in his goodness has made possible the way back to communion and happiness. That way is through the Incarnation of Jesus Christ; he healed us, set us free and he revealed to us the right relationship with God, others, and our value as his children. He taught us what prayer is and to call God our “Abba, Father.” Jesus died a vicarious death so that we would not have to face eternal death; he rose from the dead to give new life to all who are united to him, and he sends us the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father to those who believe; till the end of time, he gives us the sacraments, particularly Baptism and the Eucharist as conduits of his life-giving grace and blessing. If this resonates as good news, then you are on the right track!

The Encouragers

When Bishop Alexander came into my life and ministry several years ago, I had been bruised by church politics at the hands of officials who sometimes saw themselves more as company executives pushing their own agendas and busy protecting themselves than reflections of Jesus the Good Shepherd. When that happens, the temptation is to feel isolated, hurt and bitter; it can color ones whole outlook on the church. What predominates in Bishop Alexander is the goodness of God. Even his name, “Alexander” means literally, “the defender of men.” To be in his presence is to feel accepted, affirmed, and respected by Christ himself. I could not understand how he could be so un-political, so kind, so affirming in the face of so much sin and institutionalization in the church. But I quickly felt in my spirit, “I would like to be a pastor like this holy man.” He gave me a thirst to open myself to the goodness of God; he enabled me to see that “charity covers a multitude of sins” (1 Pt. 4:8). I had come to accept some pretty erroneous beliefs about God, others and especially myself. I thought to myself, “I don’t have such a personality as Bishop Alexander.” It was then I realized that while I will always have my own personality, my character could change; I can be like Bishop Alexander in the way God specially purposed for me. Bishop Alexander is a man of manifest goodness.

In the Acts of the Apostles, the apostle Barnabas is described as “a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and faith” (Acts 11:22). They called him, “Bar-nabas” which means “son of encouragement” because he showed forth God’s goodness to the community, to the apostles and teachers, to St. Paul and John Mark (likely St. Mark the evangelist). All of us who have encountered someone who encourages us are the recipients of the goodness of God through him or her. Goodness or kindness is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5:22. Those who are filled with the Spirit of God – like Barnabas and Bishop Alexander manifest the core aspect of God’s character. It makes one truly beautiful before the eyes of God and humans.

Peter declares, “His divine power has bestowed on us everything that makes for life and devotion, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and power” (2 Peter 1:3). This divine bestowal of power first of all is that of manifest goodness.
St. Paul in Ephesians 5:8‐9 exhorts, “you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light, for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth.” God’s light, shining before all is first of all a kindly light and manifestation of his goodness.

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