We Declare - Good news!

 In this second week of the Mennonite Church Canada Study Guide, we are reminded that sometimes even well meaning, caring people bring bad news while thinking they are sharing good. We are called to share good, exciting, life giving news, not the harsh arrogant judgements that people have sometimes tried to pass off as the gospel.  So how can we make sure that we share is the message God is calling us to give?

The scripture readings for this week are:

Luke 10:25-37 (The story of the Good Samaritan);

Galatians 2:9-21 (a telling of a time when the good news turned bad for some)

Ephesians 2:11-22 (a reminder that it is Jesus that makes the news good, that is our peace)

and 2 Timothy 1:5-14 (a reminder to Timothy that his faith has been passed on by Paul, but also by his mother and grandmother, and is a source of comfort and strength and courage)

Through the stories and letters of the Scripture passages we hear about love, of family and of those who are "other", outside our usual circle of friends. We hear of a love that is expressed through service, like the Samaritan in the parable. We hear of love that is expressed by acceptance, like Paul accepting the Galatians as they were. We hear of the love that is exemplified in the life and teachings of Jesus. We hear of the love of a mother, passing on her faith and courage. Showing love and respect to others, whether from within our usual group of people, with whom we gather, or from outside it, is one way to bring the good news of God's love.

In these reading we also hear an encouragement to keep focussed on Jesus. Jesus told the story of the Samaritan neighbor, giving his listeners, and us, a lot to think about in its details. It is Jesus' faithfulness, not our own works that give us hope of being called righteous (Gal 2:16). It is Christ who is our peace, who has brought us into one family, rather than dividing us according to our parentage or our works (Eph 2:14). It is through Christ that God has called us with a holy calling (2 Tim 1:9). If Christ is not the centre of our message, we can easily warp the good news into bad.

Throughout the New Testament we are called to listen to the message of Jesus' life, ministry, death and resurrection. We are called to notice that Jesus' harshest words for those who pushed themselves forward as experts, as "better than," as "righteous" judges of others. We are called to notice Jesus reaching out to the weak, the vulnerable, those without power. We are called to notice Jesus caring more about others than himself. We are called to recognize that we cannot claim any kind of righteousness without Jesus, and that we do not deserve the forgiveness available through him. It is God reaching out to us through Jesus, not us doing the "correct" things, that brings the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self control that can make us the people we want to be.

So how do we declare good news? We proclaim that every person is a beloved child of God, just as they are.  We see each person as a beloved child of God, just as they are. We treat each person as a beloved child of God.  There is so much more to share, but starting from a place of love and respect is a good start.  In this day and age when so much of the messaging we hear is "you are not enough," it is already good news just to hear you don't need to change to be loved and loveable. Even if we don't get the whole message straight, with our fallible words and logic, speaking our truth in love can help us not cause harm, not turn the good news bad. 

We also need to keep Christ at the centre of the message.  It is God's love shown through Christ that is the good news. It is when we start shifting the focus to fitting in, to discerning who is "in" and who is "out," or being "good enough" and creating "to do" lists for acceptance or salvation, that we tend to move away from good news. God, through Jesus, has already done the hard work, we need to accept that.

A third challenge is to combine a secure knowledge of God's love for us with the humility of recognizing how limited our understanding of God is. God is so much bigger and different that we, with our limited human minds, can ever understand. We need to know what we believe, but be willing to be wrong, or have others with whom we disagree possibly be right. We need to have the security to be able to listen without arguing. We need to have the courage to speak the truth as we know it, but not force our understandings on others. This goes against what we see and hear in society, where it is so important to be right and to be heard, but is our call nevertheless.

So let us go forth and declare what we have seen and heard - and listen to what others have seen and heard. Let us speak our truth in love, keeping Christ at the centre of our message. Maybe together we can grow even closer to God and to each other.  Maybe, together, we can bring truly good news to all around us.