FIRST READING Acts 8:26-40
26An angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. 27And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” 30So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth. 33In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.” 34And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. 36And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?” 38And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.
PSALM Psalm 150
1Hallelujah! Praise God in his holy temple; praise him in the firmament of his power. 2Praise him for his mighty acts; praise him for his excellent greatness. 3Praise him with the blast of the ram’s horn; praise him with lyre and harp. 4Praise him with timbrel and dance; praise him with strings and pipe. 5Praise him with resounding cymbals; praise him with loud clanging cymbals. 6Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Hallelujah!
SECOND READING 1 John 4:1-21
1Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 4Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.7Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. 13By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 18There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19We love because he first loved us. 20If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
GOSPEL John 15:1-8
1{Jesus said,} “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.”
IT IS GOOD NEWS
On December 14th, 2003 we observed the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers first flight in an airplane. Their one-minute flight not only proved the theory that man could fly, but it also started a revolution that has not only made air travel a common practice, it has also sent space fairing vehicles out into the stars. But not everyone, at the beginning of the last century, was convinced. Some 115 years ago, when news of the flight began to spread, a disbelieving cynic said, “I don’t believe it. Nobody’s ever going to fly. But if they do, it won’t be anybody from Dayton, Ohio!” Another of the Wright Brother’s less vocal critics was their father.
At one point their father said, “It is impossible for men in the future to fly like birds. Flying is reserved for the angels. Do not mention that again lest you be guilty of blasphemy.” Being skeptical is apparently part of our nature. And oftentimes, we tend to be skeptical about good news, particularly when the alleged good news comes from an unlikely source. More than 100 years ago, I imagine people did have difficulty believeing that people could fly.
For those who were more open, if such a remarkable event were to take place, it surely would have involved important people from New York City or from one of the other industrial capitals of the world; but a couple of preacher’s kids from Dayton, Ohio? No way! In much the same way, I’m sure it was difficult enough for first-century people to believe in a God who was concerned about His creation. And even more difficult to believe was that this God would love His people enough to act in history to deliver them. But to believe that such a cosmic event would have its origin in the obscure, out-of-the-way, unimportant village of Bethlehem – for some, that’s just simply too much!
And when you stop to consider all the other facts surrounding Jesus, it really stretches our imagination when we add the other factors: Mary and Joseph were poor. They were Jews, and the Hebrew people were a conquered society. They had no influence, prestige, or power. In the eyes of the world, they were nobodies. Add all these factors together, and the fact that Jesus wasn’t trained by the leading religious scholars of the day, nor was He an important member of the Sanhedrin, and you have to agree that this was not the time, the place, nor the manner in which God would be expected to act.
Suppose you had been outside the stable in Bethlehem on that first Christmas night. Would you have expected anything significant to be happening there? Of course not. Everything important happened in Rome, or in Athens, or at least in Jerusalem proper. Important events like the sending of the Messiah, would have certainly involved the rich, the educated, or the powerful. What could you expect from a group of poor nobodies in a stable? Christopher Fry has expressed the same feelings in poetry: “The darkest time in the year, The poorest place in the town, Cold, and a taste of fear,
Man and woman alone, What can we hope for here?” At first glance, that’s how we would summarize the situation. A man and a woman in a barn – no hope there, no great expectations there! That’s the way it looks when we leave God out of the picture.
But add God to the scene, a God determined to reveal Himself to His people, to act for the salvation of His beloved – add God to the picture and everything changes dramatically. Because when God entered that scene, it changed everything from an ordinary, uneventful, even hopeless situation into the incarnation, the gospel, the good news for the entire world. Listen as Christopher Fry continues his poem: “What can we hope for here? More light than we can learn, More wealth than we can treasure, More love than we can earn, More peace than we can measure, Because one child is born.”
There are no words large enough to express what the coming of Jesus has meant to the world. We’ve been trying to say it for over 2000 years now – in books, drama, poetry, and art. And we still haven’t found a canvas large enough to portray it. Of course, Jesus was the one person in whom God was uniquely present. In Him, God acted to reveal Himself. In Jesus, God acted to bring about reconciliation between Himself and all people everywhere. The story of that event – the story of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and of what it means to us, is called the gospel, or, the good news. And when we understand it, when we experience it, when we receive it in faith, we know that there is no other way to express it: it is good news indeed!
George Kaufman, the playwright, once said that he began life as an optimist, but he soon got over it. He said that often, when the telephone rang, he would rush to it, hoping that it would be good news. But usually it was someone asking for a loan or asking him to help a relative get a job. He said, “It took me a long time to realize that people were not sitting around saying, ‘What good thing, what wonderful thing can we do for George Kaufman? Let’s call him and tell him about it.’” No one was doing that. That is, no one except God.
That’s precisely why Jesus came to become one of us. And that’s why it’s such good news. God has something good to give us: In Jesus, God gave Himself – His love – His forgiveness – His gift of abundant life – His gift of life eternal in His care. He gave us all of that, and more, when He gave us the gift of His Perfect Son. That’s why we at Christmas sing, “Joy to the world, the Lord is come!” The message of God in Christ is indeed good news!
The coming of Jesus is the greatest news we can share. In His coming, the world has been dramatically flavored by the salt of Christ. The world has been illumined by the light of Christ. All of life is dramatically different because of His entrance into human history. In Christ we have the hope of forgiveness and hope for eternity. Usually when a person dies, his influence gradually wanes.
Like a pebble dropped into a pond, the ripples, quite noticeable at the point of impact, gradually diminish and then disappear. But with Jesus, just the opposite took place. He was little known throughout the world following His death and resurrection. But today, 20 centuries later, His influence goes far beyond our ability to express.
I recall the story about that man who was lukewarm, if not indifferent, about Christian missions, that is, until he took a trip around the world and saw first-hand the impact of Jesus’ life on people. He returned an enthusiastic spokesman for Christian missions. His name is Henry Van Dusen, and he wrote a book entitled, “For the Healing of the Nations.” He made a startling claim in his book. He claimed that no one had to tell him when he left a village where Christ was not known and entered one in which Christ was known. He said that he could see the difference by looking at the people, observing their behavior, sensing their spirit. The question is, does this ring true in our experience?
In our situation, does this sort of thing happen among the people we come in contact with, when God is given a chance in their lives? I know I can say that this true in my life; that the highest values I know have come from Jesus: justice, compassion, mercy, forgiveness, and love. His influence has not waned; even after 2000 years. His light still shines. His salt still flavors our lives. His leaven is still at work in our world.
So many human problems have been solved and so many other problems will yet be solved when people allow the Good News to guide their decisions and their lives. It’s true: our lives have been immeasurably enriched and blessed because He came, He lived, He died, and He rose again. The sacrifice of Jesus and of God’s great love for us is good news indeed! Now to this point we’ve been talking about the world-wide impact of Jesus’ coming to take on our nature and our lot; to suffer, die and rise again. I think it would also be good to take a few moments to consider the personal impact of Jesus in our lives. God came to us in Jesus to do that which we cannot do for ourselves. And this is something we must never forget. It was God that took the initiative. It was God who took the first step.
We must understand, that the Christian gospel, the good news that we share, always starts with God and not with us. The initiative was and is His. Listen to this emphasis in scripture: “By grace you have been saved through faith. It is not your own doing. It is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8-9.) “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8.) “This is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son for our sins” (1 John 4:10.) Over and over again in the gospels, God is pictured as the good shepherd who goes out in search of the one sheep that is lost. But we have a hard time with this concept, don’t we?
We keep turning this reality around, picturing ourselves as the shepherd, looking for God as if He’s lost. But this is backward. I need to be clear: we will never understand the Christian gospel until we understand that it’s not a discovery we’ve dug up in some library. It’s not something we’ve invented by our genius. It’s not something we’ve conjured up in our imagination. The gospel didn’t originate with us. The Good News in Jesus Christ is a gift from God! It is the gift of Himself: His love, His mercy, His forgiveness, and His gift of abundant life. It’s God who initiated it. It’s God who seeks us. We don’t find God. Without the work of the Holy Spirit, there’s no way we can even know we’re lost. It’s God who knocks (Rev. 3:20.) It’s God who extends His mercy. It’s God who did the work for our salvation. Our only effort is to accept, to believe and to allow that reality to change our lives.
This is the heart of the gospel – It’s not our effort, we can’t earn it, (Eph. 2:9) nor do we deserve it. Yet God gave Himself to us in Jesus! We hear the echoes of it again and again in the gospels. Jesus says, “He who has seen me has seen the Father” (Jn. 14:9.) The gospel of John says: “The Word became flesh and lived among us, full of grace and truth” (Jn. 1:14.) Even the name for Jesus, given to Mary by the angel, the name “Emmanuel” says it. “Emmanuel” means “God with us” (Matt. 1:23.) That’s the heart of it, isn’t it? In Jesus, God came to us, revealed Himself to us, and by His amazing grace, reconciled us to Himself, and enables us to live as His sons and daughters.
The more I grow in my experience of the gospel, the more I see the divine wisdom in God acting as He did. When God decided to reveal Himself in human flesh, and when all had been prepared, He didn’t come as a giant, as Joseph Fort Newton has said, “stalking up and down the earth, terrifying the little folk out of their wits.” Instead He decided to reach out to us as “a little child, and let earthborn creatures hold Him in their arms.” Or, as Paul Scherer expressed it so beautifully, “God just walked down the staircase of heaven with a baby in His arms.” That tells us something about God, doesn’t it? It tells us about divine tenderness, gentleness, and sensitivity.
I remember the story of a mother reading the Bible to her young daughter. She read John 3:16: “For God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” The mother turned to her daughter and said, “Isn’t that wonderful?” The daughter looked at her mother and said, “No.” The mother was shocked and upset. She read the verse a second time and then asked again, “Isn’t that wonderful?” The little girl said, matter of factly, “Why no, mother. It would be wonderful if it were anyone else, but really it’s just like God.” I think they both were right.
It is wonderful, and it really is just like God. It’s just like God to love us when we are so unlovable. It’s just like God to seek us out when we go astray. It’s just like God, in Jesus, to die upon a cross to save us when we could not and cannot save ourselves. It’s just like God to raise Jesus from the dead that we might have life! And that’s exactly what is good about the good news!
I can’t tell you how reassuring it is to me to know that there’s nothing I can do to make God stop loving me. And there’s nothing I can do to make God love me more than He already does. God’s love is constant, unwavering, and unconditional! The good news of the gospel is not how we feel about God, but how God feels about us, not that we love God, but that He loves us. All we have to do is receive that gift in faith. All we have to do is trust it. All we have to do is accept this good news and live our lives as if it were true, because it is! But the place where it all starts is with God’s love made known to us in Jesus. As our scripture puts it: “This is love: not that we love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son – for our sins.” That is indeed good news!
Let me say it one more thing…and I’ll close with this. It happened at Christmas some time ago. The occasion was the annual presentation of Handel’s “Messiah” at the Claremont Colleges in California. People were coming into the concert hall and being seated. A young man and a young woman of college age entered and sat down. The young man turned to the woman and said, “I don’t know why I come to this thing every year. I don’t believe any of it. It’s all myth, just a big fairy tale.”
The program began and proceeded through one magnificent number after another. The two students sat there and listened to the words of scripture expressed in that great musical setting: “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people – Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a Son and shall call His name Emmanuel, God with us – The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light – For unto us a child is born – Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people – For to you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior which is Christ the Lord – He shall feed His flock like a shepherd – Come unto Him, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and He shall give you rest – Take His yoke upon you and learn of Him, for He is meek and lowly of heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” The music stopped, and the two students got up to leave.
The young man again turned to the woman and said: “I really don’t believe it, but every time I hear it, it sort of gets to me, you know?” They thought they were through with God – all done with that Sunday School stuff. But God wasn’t through with them. Through that lovely music, He was reaching out to them. It’s God who came, it’s God who seeks, it’s God who paid the price we could not pay, it’s God who reaches out, even when we aren’t aware of it. That’s the good news – not that we love God, but that He loves us so much that He gave!
Amen
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