Acts 10:34-44; 1 Peter 1:3-4,8-12; Luke 4:42-44; Psalm 20:6-9

Bulletin 12-2-2020

Audio Only – Recorded at Hope Lutheran Church in Delmont;

Advent Service – Wednesday, December 2, 2020

Title: Good News from Heaven

As 2020 is drawing to a close, I think we all feel like we could use some good news. It seems to be hard to come by. Whether it is rioting and lawlessness, COVID, or the election controversy, we seem to have had our fill of bad news.

But the reality is, the good news we really need is already here. It has always been here, but sometimes we have a tendency to get distracted by the bad. And honestly, the bad news is the same as it’s always been. For to appreciate the Good News, we need to be real when it comes to the bad. So here is the Bad News, this world is a fallen place; it is a place that is chained to sin; because of that, this world is under a curse and is subject to decay, death, and destruction. And apart from Christ, all of us, on account of our sin, share the same curse. So that’s the bad news. And that bad news just helps us realize that all the bad news we receive in this world is just a small part of that. The really bad news is that we can’t change it. Sure, you might not die of COVID, but that doesn’t change the fact you are going to die. Sure, your favorite candidate might win or lose an election, but no candidate has the power to stop the bad news. This world seems to be ever increasingly paralyzed by fear, but you know what? Based on what they believe, the reality is they aren’t afraid enough. Because the Bad News is even greater than they will admit it is. The reality is, without Christ, this planet and everyone that has and will ever live on it is doomed. Doomed to destruction and doomed to futility and meaninglessness, and no ordinary human being can change that. That’s the Bad News.

I. Good News

Now here’s the Good News. And throughout this Advent/Christmas season, we are going to be using the theme of Good News. For that is what Christmas is all about – the Good News that Jesus came down from heaven to deliver His people. Jesus tells us this in our Gospel lesson in Luke 4:43, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.” Jesus came down from Heaven with a message of Good News from God-the Good News that, although the struggle remains, the victory has already been won. The Good News that the curse of sin that bound us to decay, death, and destruction has been lifted. And all who accept this Good News and put their faith and trust in Christ are not doomed to futility, but have been given the assurance of an eternal and meaningful existence. The Good News is that we have been rescued from the Kingdom of Darkness and brought into God’s Kingdom of Light. And this Good News is more powerful than all the bad news.

For the Good News tells us that all the bad news we experience in this life will just be temporary; for God will, one day, wipe away every tear, heal every heartache, and every wrong and injustice that God’s people have endured will be made right. Difficult times are much easier to endure if you know there is an end. If you are guaranteed a better day tomorrow, we can endure a lot today. And that’s the way it is with this Good News.

However, many in this world have bought into the lie that there can be good news apart from Jesus. They have even be deceived into believing they can create their own good news. The belief that if they had the right job, enough money, if they have the right spouse and the right family, if they live in the right house and drive the right car, that they can make their own good news. But for all who live like that, for them, it is not the bad news that is temporary, but it is their good news. Jesus gives us that choice – we can live according to the Kingdom of the World or we can live according to the Kingdom of God, but He promises that if we live for the things of this world, even if we were to gain an earthly reward, even if we were to gain the whole world, when we die, all will be lost. For in Matthew 16:26, Jesus says, “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?”

In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, Jesus says to the doomed rich man that he received all of his good things on earth, but that there is nothing left for him. However, Lazarus, while he had to endure the bad of this world, now has nothing but good things in store for him. The reality is, we can’t write our own good news, at least not good news that will last. The only true Good News needs to come from outside us and outside this fallen world, it needs to come from Heaven.

II. Given Through the Holy Spirit

In Acts 10, as Peter shared the Good News with Cornelius, a Roman Centurion, he emphasized the origins of the message. In v. 36 of Acts 10 he states, “You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.”  This Good News was not something devised by human beings, but it was a message sent by God Himself. And this Good News announced peace through Jesus Christ – the Lord of All. This is what makes the Gospel so unique – it is not of man, but from God. And its origin is evident when we look at the result of it. The result of receiving the Good News is freedom and joy, being bound to God and not to other human beings. News that human beings make up usually doesn’t free, but it enslaves. For human beings relish in bad news, just look at the newscasts and newspapers – Good News doesn’t sell, and Good News doesn’t make people dependent, bad news does. Bad News is driven by fear. Fear enslaves. Fear drives people to look to other people to save them. Fear is what we use to motivate people to do what we want them to do – to behave in the way we want them to act. The Good News of Jesus sets people free from fear, because it is not your typical earthly message, it is the unique message of Heaven. And, back in our first lesson, as Peter shares with Cornelius, in verse 44 of Acts 10 it says, “While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message.”

It is a message delivered, yes, through men, but the origin of the message is the Holy Spirit of God. This same Peter who testified before Cornelius says in our Epistle lesson from 1 Peter, in verses 10-11, that the prophets spoke through “the Spirit of Christ in them.” And that the Gospel, or Good News, comes to us it is preached “by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven.” He also testifies in 2 Peter 1:19-21, “We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. ²⁰ Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. ²¹ For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

Not only does the message originate from heaven, but Peter says that makes the message, and the witnesses that preserved it for us in Scripture, completely reliable. Again, that stands in stark contrast with the Bad News we are surrounded by. It’s unfortunate that not only are newscasts filled with bad news and fear, but it is nearly impossible to know what parts of it we are to believe. But not so with the Good News. It is reliable, and it never changes. For over 2000 years, the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ has remained unchanged, and it continues to bring change to those who receive it. For those who receive this good news are changed. They are released from doubt and fear and are brought into God’s Kingdom of light, joy, and peace.

III. Proclaiming Peace

For that is what Peter called it in Acts 10:36, “the Good News of Peace through Jesus Christ.” And that is the message Jesus proclaimed during His time on earth. The time had now come when God offered peace to His people. Repent of living in fear and bondage to the Bad News, and start living, or start living again, in the joy and peace of the Good News. This is a daily exercise. It is so easy to get sucked into the Bad News. It is so easy to give in to fear, doubt, and despair.

This Advent, we need to be reminded, once again, that the Spirit of Christ is one of courage, faith, and hope. As our opening Psalm proclaimed, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.” If we are not at peace today, it is because we have put our hope in something uncertain.

In Isaiah 26:3-4, we are told, “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. ⁴ Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.”

Now I would venture to guess that none of us would say that we experience “perfect peace,” because as hard as we try, our minds will wander and we will focus on the trouble of this world. For the truth is, Jesus honestly tells us in this world you will have trouble. But He also tells us that we shouldn’t let that trouble get the best of us. For in John 16, Jesus assures the disciples that they will never be alone and He says in John 16:33, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Our peace does not come from some delusion that as a Christian we will not experience Bad News, but our peace comes from knowing that our hope is not affected by bad news. For the Good News is more powerful. The Good News is more certain. The Good News is more lasting. The Good News of the Gospel of Jesus has overcome the Curse of the World. And that gives us hope, that gives us joy, that gives us courage, and that gives us peace.  Amen.