Recently the
newspapers have reported that some MPs have been demanding ‘good news’ to
counteract some of the gloom and doom that seems to have settled upon current affairs.
Of course, the danger of such a request is that governments ‘spin’ their
announcements to make them more positive than they truly are.
For Christians the very term Good News is
filled with meaning because it’s a somewhat coded phrase encapsulating the essence
of the message that Jesus preached.
Perhaps even
we, in the Church, sometimes cry out for Good News. Yet, if by that we mean words that only
comfort, then we might have misunderstood the true message of the gospel.
For, in a
way, the sermons of our Lord would have been supressed by most publicists. What advertising agency would ever have let
Jesus preach using phrases such as Take up
you cross and follow me, or Enter in
through the narrow gate? This is God’s
Good News, but it isn’t easy news. At
the centre of the gospel is the idea of sacrificial service and loving
faithfulness, and that’s often a tough call.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer called it The Cost of
Discipleship.
Yet, I think deep down we know it’s true.
How often have we heard people say this
was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life, but it was also the best
thing I’ve ever done.
I’d like to
say that about the journey of faith we are on; it may not be easy, but it is
certainly good, and Jesus shows us the way.
