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Abandoning Good
June 25, 2023*
By Pastor John Partridge
Genesis 21:8-21 Matthew 10:24-39 Romans 6:1-11
Author Jim Collins, in his 2001 bestselling book, Good to Great,” famously said that “Good is the enemy of Great.” The argument behind this evocative statement is that too many organizations, and people, are willing to settle for less than what they could attain and accept “good enough” because they don’t want to do the hard work that it takes to become really great. But, while that might be a popular way to think about moving from good to great as a business, or even as a church, the message of scripture uses even stronger language to warn us of settling for “good enough” in our spiritual lives personally.
Some of that is how we can understand the difficult story of Genesis 21:8-21. It is hard for us to be sympathetic to the cause of Abraham in this story because, to us, and to our sensibilities, it seems that Abraham and Sarah are being harsh, cruel, and unfeeling. In that story, we see a dark and jealous side of Sarah that is difficult for us to grapple with in a person that we regard as a biblical hero.
8 The child grew and was weaned, and on the day that Isaac was weaned, Abraham held a great feast. 9 But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, 10 and she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.”
11 The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. 12 But God said to him, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your slave woman. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspringwill be reckoned. 13 I will make the son of the slave into a nation also, because he is your offspring.”
14 Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the Desert of Beersheba.
15 When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. 16 Then she went off and sat down about a bowshot away, for she thought, “I cannot watch the boy die.” And as she sat there, she began to sob.
17 God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. 18 Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”
19 Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So, she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
20 God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer. 21 While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt.
There are only two things that make this story even a little bit easier for us to come to grips with the actions of Abraham and Sarah. The first is that Abraham genuinely struggles with the idea of sending his own flesh and blood, his seed, his son, out into the wilderness. And it is wilderness. Having only recent visited what is known as Abraham’s well in Beersheba (Be’er Sheva) it is in the middle of miles and miles of… nothing. Yes, people live there, but there is nothing there except desert, dirt, and rocks. To help you imagine what it’s like, it’s a cross between the desert and the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. It is hot, rugged, and altogether inhospitable. The second thing that helps our understanding is that before they were sent away into the desert, God reassured Abraham that he would take care of Ishmael, bless him, and raise up a nation through him.
But why did it happen at all?
Abraham by this time was wealthy. He had so many herds of sheep and camels that he needed hired men and servants to care for them all. Surely, he could have afforded to feed and clothe one more child. That would have been good. But Sarah didn’t want good. Sarah wanted what was best for her son, Isaac. You see, even though Hagar was a slave, because she had borne Abraham a son, she was, legally, equivalent to his wife Sarah. Legally, Ishmael, as the first-born son, might even have been entitled to receive the inheritance of the first-born which, with two sons, would have typically been two-thirds of Abraham’s estate. The only legal way to prevent that from happening was for Abraham to divorce Hagar, disown her and her son, and send them away. As hard as it was for Abraham, and as hard as it is for us to understand, Sarah was ruthlessly in pursuit of what was best for Isaac.
And, for what it’s worth, modern-day Arabs, who believe themselves to be the descendants of Ishmael, reverse this story and believe that it was Isaac that was sent away, and that Abraham raised Ishmael as his legal heir.
Even today, it is hard for us to set aside good enough in our pursuit of what is great, or to set aside what is good so that we can reach for what is best. In Matthew 10:24-39, Jesus teaches a lesson that is, in no uncertain terms, hard. It isn’t really that difficult to understand, but it is unquestionably hard for us to be obedient in living it out. Jesus says,
24 “The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!
26 “So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed or hidden that will not be made known. 27 What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. 28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. 30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
32 “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.
34 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn…
“‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
36 a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’
37 “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.
Jesus begins by reminding us that if Jesus is our master, and he himself has been called the devil by his opponents, then we, as his followers, should expect the same treatment. Children follow the pattern of their parents, and the bad habits or bad behaviors that they learn may well be worse in them than they were in their parents. But what Jesus demands of us, is that we follow him to the best of our ability… and that’s where this gets hard. Jesus doesn’t demand that we pursue him until we arrive at “good enough,” but until we get to what’s best. And, to get to what’s best, we may have to leave behind things that we care about and things that we love. As important as family is, we must put God, and the truth of God, in the place of first importance in our lives. Making anything more important than God, making anything more important that our relationship with, and our obedience to, Jesus Christ will cause us to lose God entirely. But surrendering what we want, surrendering “good enough,” even if that means losing valuable and treasured relationships with family and friends. But, when we surrender what is “good enough,” we will discover the life that God intends to give us.
In Romans 6:1b-11, Paul equates settling for “good enough” with sin. Paul says that we just can’t keep on doing things that we know are wrong just because we know that Jesus will forgive us. He says…
6:1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.
8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Paul says that when we choose to follow Jesus, we begin an entirely new life. He says that our old life died on the cross with Jesus, and our sins died with it. And so, for us to move from good to great, for us to live our best life, we can never settle for “good enough.” We must be changed and transformed from the person that once were and relentlessly pursue the greatness that God has in store for us but to do that, we must abandon anything that prevents us from reaching God’s best.
Jim Collins said that “Good is the enemy of Great” and the message of scripture is that we must not settle for “good enough.”
We must, at all costs, abandon good, so that we can pursue something better, because settling for “good enough” will prevent us from reaching God’s best.
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*You have been reading a message presented at Christ United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Christ UMC in Alliance, Ohio. Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you. Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601. These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at secretary@CUMCAlliance.org. These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.com . All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.comThe “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™
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