Over the Thanksgiving holidays, like many of you, I completed my Christmas shopping. At one
point I was in a bookstore (surprise!) browsing the new books table when a title caught my eye: When Will There Be Good News?

Wow! I was stopped in my tracks. Could there be a more honest, penetrating question at this
point in time? We are drowning in bad news. The United States is openly involved in two wars,
costing not only lives but billions of dollars. The worldwide economy is in a tailspin that is well
beyond the experience of most living witnesses. Governments are struggling with how to
respond and bring some economic stability, but the cost is staggering. Homes are being lost
and jobs are evaporating. Retirement accounts have been savaged. If that were not enough
modern day pirates off the coast of Somalia terrorize shipping lanes. Fires rage out West and
the ice caps are melting. And the brutal terrorist attacks in Mumbai, coupled with 24/7 news
broadcasting, have transfixed the world for days. Indeed, when will there be good news?

Since we are entering the season of Advent, I recalled the opening verses of Luke 3, where
John the Baptist is introduced. In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when
Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of
Ituraea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene—during the high priesthood of Annas
and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, son of Zechariah in the desert … ‘Prepare the
way of the Lord.’

The passage does more than establish the time point for the onset of John the Baptist’s
ministry. This is not the cast of the “magnificent seven.” This is the post office bulletin board
with the “most wanted” from a Palestinian perspective. Here were tyrants, terrorists and
thieves. But they were untouchable because they were in power; they were bigger than life and
seemingly beyond the reach of anyone—except a bigger, more powerful tyrant, terrorist or thief. Any common person living in the Middle East then would have understood “when times were bad … the Word of God came to John.”

When there is no good news on the horizon, God chooses to send Good News. When powers
and principalities seem to have free rein, God speaks.

But let’s be honest. Times are not bad for everyone and God’s Good News is not universally
well-received. This is a paradox that we must acknowledge. I do not need to list the
compensation of certain CEOs or the perks of certain businesses even in the midst of economic
collapse to make the point. It was the same when John the Baptist began to preach. None of
the seven persons listed would have lamented an impoverished life.

The angels may have announced “Good News of great joy” to the simple shepherds on
Bethlehem’s plain, but this announcement was received as bad news by the grand court of
Herod the Great. And Herod responded accordingly.

The key point is that God works with a different value system. God’s Good News does not
support the values of tyrants, terrorists, and thieves—it challenges them. At the same time, it
undermines our expectations. The Good News cannot be reduced to prosperity, health or even
family. God’s good news is a frontal assault on the powers and principalities, both without and
within, both corporate and private.

Therein lies the bad news for me. I am loathe to admit the tyrant, terrorist, and thief within me. God’s Word is not only for me, it is against me. This is why John’s indiscriminate message was“Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” It was the same Good News that Jesus would
preach. No one, including me, can receive and rejoice in the Good News that the reign of
tyranny, terror, and thievery is ended without confessing and repenting of my own tyranny,
terror, and thievery.

Not only is God’s Good News a message based on a different value system that announces
both judgment and liberation, it also is based on a different time scale. Two thousand years ago angels announced “Good News of great joy,” and Jesus Christ preached “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” But go back to my second paragraph! Clearly, we are not at peace. Tyrants, terrorists and thieves are still at work both within and without.

Is God’s Good News and the Prince of Peace a delusion or a bad joke?

We would not be the first to ask such a question. Ever since the Resurrection and Ascension,
followers of Jesus Christ have struggled with the idea of a Kingdom that is “now and not yet” at the same time. In Romans Paul speaks of the continual struggle of all creation as we “wait
eagerly” for our full redemption. In First Corinthians he links the final victory of the Reign of
Christ to our resurrection and the defeat of Death. He describes the resurrection of Christ as
the “down payment” of redemption.

It seems that Christmas is not the whole story; it is only the beginning of the story. The story
pauses at Good Friday and Easter, but relentlessly moves to That Day. Does that mean we
should not celebrate Christmas as God’s Good News? Of course not!

In 1796, rural physician Edward Jenner provided the first scientifically verifiable evidence for the value of immunization against the dreaded disease smallpox. Almost exactly 100 years later, smallpox was virtually eliminated from the United States. Still another 100 years later and the World Health Organization certified the worldwide eradication of smallpox. While it took 200 years for the fruits of Jenner’s labors to be realized, the good news of vaccination should be celebrated.

Longfellow confronted the painful reality of the Now and still claimed the hope yet to come in a
song we sing at Christmas:

And in despair I bowed my head:
“There is no peace on earth,” I said,
“For hate is strong, and mocks the song,
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”
Yet pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men.”

God’s timeframe, as painful as it may be, is different from ours. We need not live in despair until the final trumpet sounds. The Good News is here now, and should be proclaimed with
confidence.

 

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks by
night…

 

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