Isaiah talks about preaching Good News to the poor. Jesus goes about the towns and villages of Galilee proclaiming the Good News. We’re always hearing about God’s Good News, so much so that we may never have stopped to consider it in all its particulars. So here’s the quiz: When you hear that phrase, “Good News,” what does it mean to you?
[input possibilities:God’s love for everyone, regardless of status; God offers forgiveness and grace, many second chances; The Messiah has come; God is faithful, even when we are not; Acceptance as you are; All are welcome; God is with us always; End to oppression. Being poor is not a judgment from God, not your fault; Justice; All is holy; Peace; God is in charge]
Are we receiving that Good News? Are we taking it in on a deep level, and if so, how are we changed by it? If we are truly saying Yes to the Good News, this means letting it seep into our souls and bathe everything in its love. It means letting the Good News of love and forgiveness and acceptance permeate our stuck places and help us figure out what forgiving ourselves looks like.
Now maybe you know where your stuck places are, the things you’ve done that you regret. It might be that time you cut off a relationship for what now seems a trivial reason, or hurt this person, or screamed at your kids, or drove drunk and caused an accident, or whatever. Relationships were damaged, maybe the environment suffered—and they stayed that way. Or maybe your stuck places have become so much a part of your internal landscape that you don’t even see them anymore. You have built obstacle courses around them that now just seem normal.
Seeing our stuck places in the full light of day and seeking forgiveness and grace takes courage, honesty, and commitment. It might include making amends to anyone we have hurt, as the Twelve-Step programs recommend. Oh, and that would be hard, uncomfortable, awkward, humbling. Maybe you’re invested in being right all the time—I know I like being right—and making amends means admitting we were wrong. That’s hard. Maybe it’s easier to say No to the Good News and stay stuck in our mistakes, stuck without being able to forgive ourselves. God offers forgiveness and grace for our mistakes, but we don’t accept it, and we don’t offer it to ourselves. Yikes.
But if we can receive the Good News, it becomes the frame for our worldview, the way we interact with other humans and creatures and environment. Which leads to another question: Who is allowed or authorized to proclaim the Good News? Maybe the answer is obvious: We are. Jesus sends all his followers out to proclaim the Good News.
Okay. So what do we say? How do we do this? Most of us can’t imagine saying to anyone we know, “I proclaim to you the Good News of Jesus Christ” or “the coming realm of God” or “God’s love.” “I proclaim to you”—really? Are we proselytizing? Evangelizing? Those are loaded terms to which we may have a visceral gut reaction. And maybe you’re thinking, “Who am I to proclaim anything? What do I know about Jesus? I’m not even sure I believe in this whole thing—I’m just here to sing with Kia. I have more questions than answers.” And then, if you did proclaim the Good News, what if people have questions that you don’t know how to answer? I’m imaging a deer-in-the-headlights look.
So what do we say? We speak our truth. We might say, I was hurting, and this has helped me find grace and healing and a positive way to move forward with my life. I have found community, a place to belong and serve and feel needed, a chance to express my creative talents, opportunities to reflect on deeper, meaningful questions. Whatever it is that keeps you coming here, that keeps you seeking the Divine, that keeps you steeping yourself in that Good News. Share that.
Because people are hungry for it. People are feeling beaten down and hopeless, overwhelmed. There are more people than ever struggling to afford basic necessities such as housing, food, and gas; more people living on the streets. Our political system has become so divisive that people of different parties sometimes can’t even talk to each other. People are more connected to their cell phones than they are to real human beings. We don’t join clubs or bowling leagues the way we used to, so more people feel lonely and isolated. And on and on.
Given the reputation of Christianity in the public sphere these days, people are not flocking to churches. They may call themselves “spiritual but not religious,” meaning that they are not looking for specific doctrine so much as connection to something larger than themselves. They may be seeking community, acceptance, love, a place to feel they can serve the greater good, make a difference, opportunities to ponder deep questions about why they’re here. It sounds to me like they are seeking Good News.
Jesus went about Galilee preaching the Good News in all the synagogues and out in boats and up on mountains. People came from all over to hear him. He was a huge success. But the Good News is not just for good times. When people are in need, broken, stuck, desperate, sick, broke, homeless, addicted, grieving, out of work—then more than ever, they need some Good News. That’s who Jesus was preaching to: the marginalized, the sick, the forgotten, the poor, the oppressed. And the Good News he offered was not a promise to fix everything. It was and is a promise that God loves them—loves us, loves everyone—no matter what, that God never leaves us, never gives up on us.
Can you think of someone in your life who might need to hear that Good News? Let us be bearers of Good News, each in our own way, to all who will listen. Amen.