Jesus' Good News

Preached at Hanover Street Presbyterian Church

On January 22, 2006

By Pastor Thomas C. Davis

Texts:

Mark 1: 14-20

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news."  As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea?for they were fishermen.  And Jesus said to them, "Follow me and I will make you fish for people."  And immediately they left their nets and followed him.  As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets.  Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.

Luke 17: 20-21

Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and he answered, "The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they say, "Look, here it is!' or "There it is!'  For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you."

Sermon Text

There are many loyal Hanover members whose health is impaired, and who can't be with us this morning in worship.  This sermon is largely for them, so I will depend on you who hear it to pass it along.  The sermon is about the comfort which good news brings, Jesus' good news. 

Our reading from Mark begins:  "Now after John [that is, John the Baptist] was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the good news of God, saying, the Kingdom of God has come near . . ." Don't you find it remarkable that Jesus could talk of good news when his cousin was languishing in prison?  Remember the story told in Mark 6?  John the Baptist had criticized King Herod for marrying his brother's wife, Herodias; and she didn't like that one bit, so she had her new husband arrest John.  Everybody knew that Herod was cruel, so John's being in Herod's dungeon was by no means good news!  And yet, as soon as Jesus found out about this, he took up where John had left off, preaching all over the countryside, telling people to repent, and announcing (no doubt to Herod's consternation) that God's reign was coming. 

As the Jews say, Jesus had chutzpah.  And, if you listened to what he was preaching about, you might think he was nuts.  "Happy are the poor," he would tell people.  "Happy are those who mourn.  Happy are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled!  Happy are you who weep now, for you will laugh!  Happy are you when people hate you, and exclude you, and revile you.  Don't worry!  Didn't your ancestors do the same to the prophets?  Happy are those who are suffering now, for God's reign is coming, and your reward will be great!

Yes, it takes chutzpah and the craziness of a visionary to proclaim good news in the darkest hour, when your cousin is in a tyrant's prison and the people you love are oppressed and dirt poor.  It takes a remarkably spirited person to find good news in such circumstances.  Can you hear this, oh dear friends, you who are afflicted by the ravages of disease, and perhaps weary from fighting for your life?  Do you understand that when Jesus started his ministry, to most folk things looked absolutely miserable?  And yet, Jesus had God's holy spirit in his heart, so he went about spreading good news to the poor and the sick and the imprisoned: Don't despair!  God loves you, and God hasn't forgotten you.  God's healing reign is already dawning!  It is already among you.  Do you not perceive it?

On January 15th the New York Times ran a front-page article about a preacher named--ironically--Reverend Creflo A. Dollar.  He's made millions guaranteeing people that if they give their life to Jesus and their dollars to him, God will bless them, materially.  Hasn't his life proved it?  he argues. 

Is this the good news of Jesus--that if you do right by God, God will bless you with health and prosperity?  That is certainly the message of some parts of the Bible.  Take Psalm 37: 5, for instance, which says:  "I have been young, and now am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread."  The implication?  --Do as God commands, and everything will go well for you.  You will be prosperous.  You will be healthy, and your children will too! 

Reverend Dollar makes a lot of dollars on that voice from the Bible.  But there are other voices, too, like that of Job, a righteous saint who suffers terribly, as well as his children.  And don't forget the faultless man who died on a cross, crying in agony, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"  No, Reverend Dollar's good news sounds very good indeed, but it is not Jesus' good news.  Bad things do happen to very good people, and the remedy from our adversities, be they poverty or sickness or whatever, may not come in this life.  This is the truth, though it isn't so cheery as Dollar's gospel of prosperity, and of course, doesn't sell as well.

The really odd thing about Jesus' good news is that it may seem ridiculous if you take account just of what's here and now, and on the surface of things.  Jesus asked his contemporaries to receive the good news that God's kingdom was already among them, even though Rome still had its foot on their necks and was taxing them outrageously, and even though rich landlords were foreclosing on them and throwing them in prison.  If we are to receive the good news of Jesus as true good news and not foolery, like the Reverend Dollar's, then we need to see with eyes that don't just notice the here and now, but rather, grasp the beyond.  "I have a dream," said Martin Luther King, "that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood."  When he spoke those lines, there was more evidence against the vision than for it, but Martin prophesied anyway, because he saw with believer's eyes.  He trusted in the good news which Jesus proclaimed, that God's kingdom is coming, and dawning even now, in the midst of our adversity.

I send this message especially to our brothers and sisters who are contending with sickness and the fatigue of aging and the trials of economic hardship:  Jesus has good news for you, and it isn't the facile gospel of prosperity.  Rather, it is that God loves you come what may; and nothing can separate you from God's love, not sickness of the body or the mind or even the spirit.  The suffering of Jesus upon the cross revealed not that his talk of God's good news was foolish, but rather, profoundly wise.  For the cross did not put an end to him.  And neither shall your crosses make an end of you.  Do not despair, my brothers and sisters.  You are in God's everlasting arms.  This is the good news of Jesus.