Once upon a time there was a little girl who loved to do good things and make people happy. She was very glad to say "yes ma'am", and always do the right thing. She was good, and she was happy.
She was glad to go to Sunday School and church every Sunday, and very glad to wear her pretty lace dress and her shiny patent leather shoes...white for spring and summer, but never after Labor Day...then, out came the shiny black ones. She was good, and she was happy.
She was glad to do the right thing because it made people happy. And when she made people happy, they liked her. And when people liked her, Jesus liked her. She was good, and she was happy.
Even when she had bad things happen in her life, she didn't let people know the bad things made her sad. Because if they knew she was sad, the people wouldn't be happy anymore. And if the people weren't happy, Jesus wouldn't be happy. She was good, and she was sad, but she said she was happy.
She was glad to only spend time with other good people, because good people aren't suppose to spend time with bad people...they will make you bad. And if she spent time with bad people, the good people would not like her anymore. And if the good people didn't like her anymore, then Jesus wouldn't like her anymore. She was good, and she was happy.
One day the good girl married a good boy and they began doing good things together. The more good things they did together, the more they made people happy. And the more they made people happy, the more they made Jesus happy. They were good, and they were happy.
Even when the good people had bad things happen in their life, they didn't let people know the bad things made them sad. Because if they let the bad things make them sad, the people around them wouldn't be happy anymore. And if the people weren't happy, Jesus wouldn't be happy. They were good, and they were sad, but they said they were happy.
One day, the good people had children. Then, they taught the children to be good. Because if they were not good children, then the people around them would not like them. And if the people around them didn't like them, then Jesus wouldn't like them. They were good, and and they were happy.
After a while, the good family moved across the land. They were going to tell other people how to be good so that Jesus would like them too. They would say that Jesus didn't like you BECAUSE you were good, but that once you truly knew that Jesus liked you, you would WANT to be good. They made others good, and they made others happy.
But one day, the good family's happy didn't seem to be good enough anymore. The happy that they were trying to wear wasn't big enough to cover over the sad that had been growing for so very long. They were good, but they were not happy.
The good family's happy was tattered and torn, and their sad became very big. The people couldn't understand how the family that had been so good at being good and happy, could allow the sad to grow so big and tear up their happy. The people were good, but they were not happy.
Many of the good, unhappy people, didn't want to be around the good unhappy family anymore, so they all went in different directions. Some held on to their happy, but some did not. They were good, and they were happy and sad.
The good unhappy family finally saw what went wrong. They realized that they weren't really good at all. They never had been. That happiness doesn't come from being good. Happiness comes by clearly seeing that no one is good. That no one is better at this "life on planet earth thing" than anyone else. No one is sinless. All have sinned. None are good. No one has worse sins than the other. No one is better than the other. They were not good, and they were not happy.
The mom and the dad, who really weren't good at all, finally understood what it meant to be spiritually prideful. They had been blinded by the sin of self-righteousness. They were so busy looking intently into the eyes of others, trying to pick out the speck of bad in order to teach them how to be good, that they didn't even see the ginormous plank of sin sickness that was protruding from their own eye. And even worse, they led others into this same self-righteousness, and didn't even realize it. That's what pride does, it blinds you to your own sins, because it turns your gaze to the sins of others. They were not good, and they were not happy.
And they all lived miserably ever after. Except, not!
The mom and dad knew that Jesus did not want them to curl up in the reality of their hypocrisy. He had humbled them not to destroy them, but to give them real life. He knocked them off of their religious pedestals, to teach them the real meaning of His grace, and allow them to know the true joy of His mercy.
For, you don't need grace when everything you do is "good", and you don't need mercy when everything you do and say is, "right in the eyes of man...". You need grace when you learn that "there are none that are good", and mercy when you learn that the way that looked right to you, "in the end leads to death".
They remembered that Jesus served the most shut up juice to the religious leaders, not those of a humble spirit and contrite heart, who didn't have it all figured out. They realized that Jesus' "woe unto you"...was actually a "woe unto them".
So the good family wasn't really good at all. They were broken, and their life story ended up looking very different than they thought it would, and very different than those around them wanted it to. Their attempt at turning their proverbial fish bowl into a stained glass masquerade ended up shattering into a million pieces.
BUT...God is good. God is merciful. God is gracious. He doesn't need pretty stained glass to accomplish His purpose. In fact, according to Scripture, He prefers jars of clay.
They were not good, but they were forgiven, and they were very happy.
The end.
