Good News - January 6
Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 46, 97; PM Psalm 96, 100; Isa. 52:7-10; Rev. 21:22-27; Matt. 12:14-21
Today’s Reflection
How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of the messenger who announces peace,
who brings good news,
who announces salvation,
who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’ —Isaiah 52: 7
Like us, the people of Israel had also been through a lot—and not just for two or three years, but over several decades of being in exile. And like us, they didn’t always respond very well to being under the pressure of these ongoing, harsh conditions. Sometimes they questioned God. And they didn’t always follow God’s directions—so they got into some trouble, with God and with one another. The relationship between God and God’s people, especially in terms of mutual trust, was understandably strained.
Again and again, the people felt like giving up on God and lost faith that God was looking out for them and caring for them. And for God’s part, God gave up on the people and told them they were on their own. If you all think you can do it better, if you think you can take care of yourselves better than I can take care of you, go ahead—give it a try. Kind of like God asking them, “How’s that going for you?” Sounds kind of familiar, right? The people of Israel had strayed and they had disobeyed, and they had given up on God and given up on themselves. And even God had given up on them for a while—or at least he was very, very frustrated with them.
God doesn’t say, you won’t have to pass through the waters. God doesn’t say, you won’t have to walk through fire. What God says, instead, is that, yes, you will pass through the waters and the rivers—but you will not pass through them alone. I will be with you, and I will not let them overwhelm you. And God says, yes, there will be times when you will walk through fire—but you will not be burned, and you will not be consumed.
Some people have, over the years, mistaken such statements to mean that God will not give us more than we can handle. That statement is flawed on a few levels. First, does God “give us” difficult circumstances? Does God decide to drop us down into a flood or a fire or its equivalent? I don’t think God does. Second, I believe God gives us the Holy Spirit, our Advocate and our Guide, to be with us and sustain us in circumstances that are just plain heavy and overwhelming—situations that are truly more than we can handle on our own. We will certainly come face to face with situations that are much more than we can ever handle on our own. But we can also be certain that God is with us in those situations—and that God also gives us one another to walk through these floods and fires of life together.
One of the blessings of going through the past few years of pandemic together has been seeing all the creative and compassionate ways people have come up with being there for each other—both for people they personally know and for the wider world. One example that comes to mind is a YouTube series produced by John Krasinski (best known for his role as Jim on The Office). On March 25, 2020, John Krasinski posted a tweet asking people to tell him some good news, “stories that made you feel good this week or the things that just made you smile.” From this tweet he received so many pieces of good news that he decided to start making a web series called Some Good News, filmed in his home in Brooklyn, complete with a colorful logo hand-drawn by his daughters with markers and crayons.
As he opened the first episode, on March 29, 2020, he observed, “And what a week for good news it was. Yes, without question, we are all going through an incredibly trying time. But, through all the anxiety, through all the confusion, all the isolation, and all the Tiger King, somehow the human spirit still found a way to break through and blow us all away.” They made just eight episodes of Some Good News in those earliest months of our collective lockdown, from March to May of 2020, but they went viral and that very first episode has been viewed over 18.7 million times so far—which, to me, means John Krasinski could be considered an incredibly effective evangelist, or spreader of the Good News.
You know, a lot of times we think of the Good News in Holy Scripture as being contained within the four Gospel books, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. But as I was reading what people have to say about the prophetic Book of Isaiah, I found one scholar, Frederick Gaiser, who calls it the Gospel of Isaiah. Isaiah not only bears the Good News that God is with us, and therefore we should not be afraid, but in Isaiah 43 we hear what Gaiser calls “the direct three-word ‘Valentine’ from God.: ‘You are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you.’ Here the claim of divine love is no longer spoken about God, but by God.
“Good news” captures exactly what we are hearing God say to us, his dearly loved children:
Here’s some Good News, God says: I created you and formed you.
Good News, God says: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you.
Good news, God says: I have called you by name, and you are mine.
Good news, God says: When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and they will not overwhelm you.
Good news, God says: When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned or consumed.
And still more good news, God says: I am the LORD your God, your Savior. You are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you.
Becky+
Questions for Reflection
Recall a time when you received some astonishingly good news. I wonder how it felt to be surprised by something so good and yet so unexpected. I wonder how it felt to be the one to share that good news with you.
Daily Challenge
Make a point to pay attention to stories of good news when you read or listen to media today, then make a point to initiate a conversation with someone in your life about something that was both very astonishing and very good. Reflect on how it feels to be a messenger of Good News.