1 - Introduction - Living like a real Christian GOODNESS | Page 3

MONDAY
Luke 10 v 25 – 37
Statement number one: GOODNESS IS DIFFICULT TO DEFINE BUT WHEN YOU SEE
IT YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS.
On Sunday I told you the story that John Ortberg told of a woman who, as a child,
was on the Titanic when it sank. Ortberg tells of the interview that she had in
which she described her last moments with her father. She and her mother had
been placed in the lifeboat to return to safety, but her father had stayed on the
ship. As the ship continued to sink and the life boat drifted away from it the last
words she heard from her father were, “I love you, be a good girl, be a good girl!”
This lady, now in her late eighties, said that not a day had passed in her life since
that event that she had not remembered those words from her father, “…be
good…” But above all of that, that lady, as a young child that day,saw what
goodness looked like. She saw, as a graphic example, the sacrifice that her father
had made and realised that goodness always involves sacrifice.
Whenever we come to the communion table we are reminded of what goodness
looks like when we remember Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf. When Jesus said to
his disciples to be good, he left them with an indelible imprint on their minds as to
what goodness looks like.
The story of the Good Samaritan, in the reading above, is a great example of what
goodness should look like. When that Samaritan went down into the gutter to
relieve the suffering of the Jewish man, we get a great picture of what goodness
looks like. Even in everyday life, if we would look for it, we will see goodness
around us. When I visit the Genesis Care Centre and I see the administrators,
nursing staff and care givers caring for those suffering severely from ill health, I am
reminded of what goodness looks like. When I see men and women caring for
their spouses in their old age, I am reminded of what goodness looks like. When I
see volunteers giving of their time in our children’s ministry, again I am reminded
of what goodness looks like. When I visit Rehoboth and I see people working for
the good of others, I am reminded what goodness looks like. Throughout the Bible
we see goodness everywhere. We see goodness in the story of David and
Mephibosheth, when David gave back to Mephibosheth all that his