Good News?

I've included the Christmas story from Luke's Gospel as our reading for today for a couple of reasons. First of all, although we will not have completed the whole Bible in this past year's readings, we have covered much of it, including all of the psalms and all of the New Testament after today. Secondly, I've saved Luke 1-2 until now for the beginning of Advent, to prepare us for this Christmas journey. I pray you will read these chapters today as we will be looking at them for the next few weeks. (There's so much here to see and learn.)

We begin Advent by remembering what God has been doing over the long history of the entire creation. From the beginning, through the creation of a nation, to its exile, its hope and expectations and eventually its restoration through the coming of the Messiah. It is a long history that has been wrought with pain, prosperity, suffering, power and God's blessing through it all. The greatest lesson learned through all of this history is that when God's work and power is revealed, it's rarely in a way that was expected!

In other words, sometimes God's Good News doesn't seem so good at the time! Yet it always is!

This is illustrated so clearly in Mary's response of God's "good news" to her. Think about it, the good news was that she, blessed and chosen among great women of faith, would bear the Messiah for the world, but at what cost? The good news had a great affect on her future, her reputation, her own hopes and dreams. While she would eventually know the full blessing of God, it wouldn't come until after the great heartache and shame of an unwed pregnancy, her own community's and family's derision the pressure put on her by Jesus' ministry and his eventual death.

It's easy for us to see how she would be "blessed among women" but not as easy to see how the good news may have sounded like challenging news at first, and would be for years!

While Christmas celebrations are expected to be filled with joy, family, gifts and great satisfaction, they may not always be so, or have ever been for some. We have not always experienced this Good News at Christmas, or at anytime for that matter. Yet the promises of God are still active. The problem is in the waiting.

The Psalms reveal the same sentiment in many places, "how long, O Lord, must I wait" for God's action, for God's direction, for God's promises to be fulfilled? Is it days, weeks, months, years, a lifetime, a generation, an age? Just how long, O God, for us to experience the fullness of your promises?

The answer is as simple today as it was for Zachariah and for Mary...

...in God's time.

"Every word I’ve spoken to you will come true on time—God’s time.” (Luke 1:20, The Message)

It's still Good News because it still brings hope. We may not see it or experience it right away, but it's still ours to hold on to, no matter how long it takes. That's what Christmas is to us, hope in the completion of the promise of God.

Hope. It's what makes the news Good, because God always keeps his word!

It's also a good place to start this journey.

Peace ><>
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