May 29 - We Declare - New Testament Perspective

 

This Sunday we turn our attention to the New Testament.  What can we learn about sharing what we have seen and heard and experienced, from reading the New Testament?  What is the "Good News!" we find there?

The short answer is, as it is to any good churchy question, "Jesus!" Jesus is the answer. Jesus is the Way the Truth and the Life. Jesus is God with us. Jesus is the good news.  Jesus is the reason we feel called to share our faith with others.

In Luke 4:16-30 we read about Jesus' first recorded sermon. On a regular day of worship in his home town of Nazareth, Jesus reads from Isaiah the promise of Good News to the poor, the blind, the oppressed, then proclaims that prophecy as being fulfilled. Jesus did not call people to a whole new religion, but to the fulfilment of the hope of their current beliefs. Jesus did not call people to a whole new set of rules to determine who was in and who was out, but to the love, peace and justice God had been proclaiming for centuries. Jesus was calling them, and us, to proclaim, and be, good news for those who need it the most.

The Good news of Jesus goes beyond his powerful teaching.  His whole life, death and resurrection show us the lengths to which God is willing to go to bring us into relationship, with each other and with God. God cared enough to become one of us, limited by time and space and human frailty, so we could understand better God's messages.  God cared enough to endure the frustration of dealing with us and our limited understanding day in and day out.  God cared enough to suffer the pain and humiliation of death on a cross. God cared enough to show us God's power through miracles, even the miracle of Jesus' own resurrection from the dead. God appearing to us in the human form of Jesus was God's love in action, God's good news.

In Acts 2:1-13 the story continues.  God is still at work in humans, but now, instead of limiting Godself to one human form, God comes in the form of wind and fire and rests God's Spirit on a group of people, empowering them to bring good news to all those around them. God even gave them the ability to speak in languages they had never learned, helping them to communicate God's amazing love, joy, peace, hope, justice to people who may not have understood otherwise. God is amazing! Bursting into our world in different ways: Through the prophets and the age old stories of the Old Testament; Through the life, teaching, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus, God in human form; Through the powerful experiences and testimony of those who lived and travelled with Jesus; Through the phenomenal event of Pentecost; Through the empowered work and teaching of the early church; Through our ancestors and many more dedicated and inspired teachers; And, we hope, through us.

God is at work - in each one of us and in us all as a collective whole.  Life is messy when a group of humans gather, but it can still be a powerful thing. Like Pentecost used the gathered group to share God's message with people who spoke different languages, so, too, can God use our gathered congregations to share God's message of love and justice in different ways. With the many eyes of the congregation we can help each other see those around us who are in need.  With the many ears of the congregation we ca n help each other hear, both the  cry of the needy for help and God's call for compassion and mercy. With all the many hands within the congregation, we can work together to reach out and accomplish great things. With all the personalities and giftedness of a congregation God can work in many ways. With the many prayers we offer, we can open ourselves to God's good news. Life together is messy - but, with this many people, has the potential of great things.

This we declare! God loves humankind! God always has been and is present and active in the world! God's spirit is alive and at work in each one of us and in us as a gathered body! We, God's people, can access God's power through the Holy Spirit! We, God's people, individually and together, can be a conduit for God's powerful, great good news. This we declare!





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