Sharing the Good News
*Isaiah 52:7-10
Psalm 98
John 1:6-8, 19-28
What makes the gospel of Jesus Christ good news? We all love good news. In some ways, we wait for it. We can’t wait to hear from a friend or family member that they got a job, or are healed, or are pregnant, or that they are happy. Good news that comes from God is even greater because it fills us with joy, it gives us hope, and in it, we can know God’s presence in our lives. The good news is, generally, something we want to receive, something that can change our lives. So in light of this, we must understand what makes the good news of Jesus Christ, the best news we can hear.
We get the image today of a messenger running up the hill of a city bringing good news. It’s the opposite image of last week. This time instead of seeing a foreign army, we are seeing someone with good news running towards us. Beautiful are their feet, even before we hear their news. Their very presence, what brings their good news to us is wonderful. The people of Isaiah’s day were in and out of fear, starvation, and the captivity of war and would have been hungry for good news. They longed for the day when it was over for them, that the day of the Lord had come. As the messenger shares the news, no longer was it just the messenger that bore the good news, the guards, the sentinels, and then all the people watching would break out into song and shouts of joy for the Lord has come with power to comfort his people. That is what we are waiting for too, in Advent as we wait on Christmas day. We are watching for the Lord to come and bring comfort in a powerful way. So we wait to join with the angels and sing his glory.
One of the most important questions we need to ask is, what makes the gospel good news for us? How have you experienced the good news of Jesus Christ? During this week and the next few, I would encourage you to think about this. What makes Jesus Christ good news?
Throughout my life this good news has changed and grown, I think partially due to what I was able to see and what I was able to receive. When I was a toddler, I knew I could be my goofy self with God and thankfully the church - where it wasn’t often welcomed otherwise. As I became a young child, I saw that I had a great big family in the church and in God, when my family was small, when my grandparents died, and when my family and friends felt less than perfect. In my preteens and teens, I found a strength in God that helped me connect with others while also resisting the pressures that would hurt me and others. When my parents got divorced, I found in God a love that was stronger and truer than anything I had ever known. When I rebelled against God in university, I knew a God who never gave up on me, longing for me to come home. As I came closer to God, I knew his immense gift, a purpose, and a hope that was more than I could have imagined. As I am living in that purpose, I have found a peace, joy, and strength I never had, even while being too busy.
You see there is so much good news in this faith, in this relationship with God. That is why I am so excited, that is why I share God’s good news with you, and why I want to share it with so many people. I want this joy, this excitement, this awe, and wonder to live in you. Joy and excitement can be contagious. I hope you are excited in your relationship with God because if we know and feel this good news, others can and will see it in us and so they will begin to long for the truly good thing we have discovered in God.
For me, I can see how God has shown up for me at every moment in my life, offering me the good news that I need. I believe and know that the same is true for you. You just have to watch for it and be open to it. It might not be exactly what we are looking for, asking for, or wanting, but it is what we need. God knows our needs before we ask.
The wonderful thing that we hear in our psalm today is that all creation shares the wonders of God with us. So to start seeing God and what makes him good, we don’t need to be super spiritual, or wise, we just need to be able to look at creation with eyes open to his work. The seas roar, the floods clap and the hills sing together for joy. The hills sing. I like to hike and I can’t even count the number of times I have climbed a mountain and experienced God at the top. That space, peace, and even the crisp wind and air communicate a presence that is hard to capture unless you know God. Then add to that the music of the mountain, the winds in trees and through the valleys, the animals, the trickling streams. It is a beautiful harmony of God’s intent. The floods clap. What makes water break and clap? Well, when it is coming to its edge or shallower point. God put an order, a limit on water to sustain and give life. Most of humanity likes to go to the beach. Especially on hot days, but even when it isn’t hot. We might go for a walk or a swim in the rain. Again, there is something about the beach that is more than the sum of its parts. There is rest, relief, play, romance, beauty, and a presence because it is communicating part of God so that we might seek him and meet him in a fuller way.
The biggest difficulty for us and others is that this good news is not neutral. It is not like winning the lottery - though the gospel is far more substantial than that. Money does not demand a relationship, it is a thing that we trade - most people want it, even if it is not what they need. Our Good News is something everyone needs, but it is fundamentally a relationship. Our good news is a relationship with Jesus Christ, who is God, who is the creator and giver of all good things. Not everyone is open to or willing to have this relationship, because like all relationships it naturally requires something of us, time, energy, allegiances, devotion, commitment, and more. This is why, even when Jesus walked the earth, people still found him a stumbling block. They wanted him to be something different. They wanted God to be made in their image, rather than to have a God who was truly good and was helping us to become like him.
This human resistance to having a relationship with God is the fundamental problem that stands in the way of the good news. It is not the church’s failures, or that people in the church are broken, we have experienced broken people and broken institutions everywhere. It is not our inability to communicate, or argue Christianity well - our experiences, nature, and wisdom speak for us even when we can’t. It is not all of people’s doubts and questions - we all have doubts and questions even when we believe - in fact, that is what makes it faith. In almost all of my experiences when we dig deep enough into someone’s lack of faith and the lack of experiencing God’s goodness it comes down to someone not wanting to or not trying to build that fundamental relationship with Jesus that is the source of everything else that is good. At the same time, I have seen people making space and welcoming Jesus in at every stage of their life, wherever they are, whatever is happening - and God comes to them.
The next hard part that we have to come to terms with is that not everyone wants this good news, even when it is something they need. In our lives, we can be so desperately holding onto something or fighting for something, even something really good. The problem is that when we hold on so tight to anything, we don’t have any openness or space for something that is far better. Oftentimes, people need to let go of something, before they can grasp onto something new. There is a lot we hold onto that gets in the way of our receiving God fully. On the opposite side, when people are in greater need when they have lost something, they are more likely to have open hands, that is often the time we find people turning to God and meeting him there; we see this in life and the gospels. Many people already have their hands empty and hungry for God, creation is already doing its part, but we also have a duty to share the good news.
In our conversations on the Chosen, I challenged those in person to watch for thirsty people. So, I want to challenge you too. Watch for people in your life, whether friends, strangers, or family, who are longing for something. It is not hard to see this hunger if we are watching for it. The harder part is to take courage and speak Jesus Christ’s good news into that longing, that need - remember, if we pray for it, God will give us that courage and the words.
So, the big question we should ask now is, what makes this good news for others? I have shared with you a few of mine, but we can keep digging. Let's just think through some simple examples. For someone who feels like they are a failure, like they have screwed up royally, knowing God’s forgiveness, love, and powerful redemption will change their lives forever. That might not be accessible good news for a person who is successful, but exhausted - instead, God’s goodness and powerful loving arm will tell them that everything doesn’t depend on them, they don’t have to keep fighting, they can and should rest, because God is doing the work with them, even far better than them. For someone who has been hurt in relationships, God is the one consistent and faithful companion who will never leave us or push us away. For someone who doesn’t know their place in the world, God gives them purpose, leadership, and potential that challenges them to step out and become something more for His Kingdom. For someone who is struggling with fear or anxiety, God grows in us a trusting faith as we watch him work everything for good and so he replaces fear with hope. For someone who feels alone, God is right there beside them, only waiting for us to reach out and speak to him and take his hand. For someone who feels weak, God responds to our prayers with strength and builds us up. For someone who doesn’t have enough, God asks us to step out in faith and he will meet us there with his bounty.
You see, God’s good news is so extravagant. It is so wonderful that it is meant to be good news for everyone. We should dig into and know why this is such good news for us, so that we might grow in joy and excitement and so that we might share it with others. Sadly, not everyone wants it or is willing to receive this good news, because goodness is something definitive and it is definitively known through Jesus Christ, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We cannot turn away from him or this fact, or we are rejecting the good. Yet, amid Jesus being a stumbling block, we know that there are millions of people who long for this good news and so we should take courage to speak Jesus Christ into their lives. It might not happen right away, they may have to take it away and pray on it, but know that when people are watching for good news, beautiful are the feet of the one who brings that good news, and soon they too shall be filled with singing and shouts of praise. AMEN
We all love good news
What makes Jesus good news for us - excited about it
Creation shows it
The good news is Jesus - stumbling block (church and people nominal) - not everyone can be right
What we need, but may not be what we want
What makes it good news for others
