What is man’s highest good? This has been a question for philosophers through the ages. How do we know what is good, and what is not? Is it obvious, or can we be deceived about this?Aristotle said man’s highest good is “happiness.” In a sense maybe he wasn’t too far from the mark, although rather than “happiness” it would be better to say “joy” is our aim. And, to be fair to Aristotle, he argued that what makes for authentic happiness is not simply being satisfied by material things, but living in a virtuous way. Again, he’s not far from the mark, although there’s more to it than that.

What does the Gospel have to say about the question of man’s highest good? In today’s reading from Matthew’s Gospel, a man comes to Christ and asks him a question. Now, the man doesn’t really seem to be asking a philosophy question, but He gets a philosophy answer - not a Greek philosophy answer, like Aristotle or Plato might give, but rather, an answer that comes from the source and prize of all true Philosophy, all true love of wisdom. Jesus - the Logos, the Truth incarnate - speaks truth to this man, and it’s more than the man bargained for. Often we ask God the wrong question. That’s why sometimes He doesn’t seem to be answering our question - rather, He answers the question we should have asked.

So the man asks, “Good teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” Okay, stop right there. Why does He call Christ “good teacher?” And, although he is asking for a good thing to do, why is he asking? Evidently, it is not that he is trying to get to the bottom of what is good, or grow closer to Christ as the source of goodness. Probably, he just wants his own goodness confirmed and figures the Lord will pat him on the back and say “way to go!” But the Lord doesn’t do that. He tells him instead, “Only God is good.”

Why does He say this? He’s answering the question the man should have asked, which is, “Where does goodness come from, and how can I receive it?” He asks, “what good thing can I do?” But he needs to be thinking in terms of not being able to do anything good by himself, but being totally dependent on the goodness of God. This is similar to what we say in the Liturgy. The priest says, “Holy things are for the Holy,” and what do the people respond? “One is holy, one is Lord: Jesus Christ, to the glory of God the Father. Amen.” In other words, our holiness comes from God’s holiness. Apart from Christ we can do nothing, not even breathe, let alone be holy. And there’s no goodness except what comes from God.

The man apparently doesn’t get that yet. He thinks he’s pretty good, and maybe he just needs one more merit badge to become a bonafide saint, ready for the Kingdom of heaven. He keeps all the commandments! So the Lord throws him a curve ball he’s not expecting. Fine, he says, but if you want to be really perfect, then sell everything you have and come follow me. And now he was dumbfounded. Hopefully he was humbled. The Lord showed him how far from perfection he was. He showed him that he was attached to material possessions. And he showed him that he was not as good as he thought he was.

That’s because goodness is not about checking off a list of accomplished virtues. How often do we think like this man and ask, “why do I try so hard to be good, and keep falling flat on my face?” Or, if we’re in an even worse state, we may even ask, “Since I’m so good, what more could possibly be expected of me?” But God forbid that we be in such delusion as that. Goodness is about being filled with the Holy Spirit - the “Good One” - and with the gift of grace. That doesn’t mean that how we act, speak and think doesn’t matter. It does matter, very much, but that’s not because of what we’re accomplishing by ourselves, but because every thought, word or deed is either a movement towards Christ and His goodness, or a movement away from Him. And every movement toward Him is a humble movement, inspired by the realization of our sinfulness and a desire to repent.

So certainly being filled with God’s grace doesn’t come from puffing ourselves up - all we get from that is air. Only after we are deflated and all the empty air goes out are we ready to be filled with real goodness. This man was deflated by the Lord’s words, and that’s a good thing. Hopefully, he later became able to receive the gift of God’s true goodness.

This is not easy, of course, and no good thing is easy. The Lord says a strange thing about the fact that the path of salvation is hard: “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.” The disciples are shocked by this, because riches are supposed to be a sign of God’s blessing. The problem isn’t the riches, though. The problem is the heart’s attachment to riches, or whatever else. The problem is that we human beings have a tendency forget gratitude, and to forget the source of what we have. When we are lacking something, then we’re praying to God to give it to us. But when we have everything we need, then all too often we forget about God.

But with God, all things are possible - even for us to be humbled. A camel, to go through the eye of a needle, would have to be a very small camel. And for us to enter the Kingdom of God requires us to become small. We shrink now so that we can become enlarged by God later. The umbrella can’t fit through the door unless it is collapsed; later, at the appropriate time, it will be opened. And we, at the appropriate time, will be given the true riches. But for now, our job, as Christians, is to remember that “One is Holy,” and that our life is in Him. Our life is not in the things of this world. It is not in the pleasures, the power, the luxury, or the money, but, rather, in “the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit.”

Everything else, and we ourselves, are worthless apart from God’s presence. But in Him, we have great value; we are the target of His love. So today, and forever, He wants our hearts. He wants my heart and yours. Let us take our heart away from the other things it clings to, and give it to Him, as the only gift He really desires from us. And He, by His presence, will make us good, holy, and fill us with indestructible joy, which is much better than this world’s happiness.

So, asking Him to grant us this priceless gift, we continue with the Divine Liturgy, saying, “Let us lift up our hearts! We lift them up unto the Lord!” Amen.