"Did You Hear the Good News?"

John 1: 4-5

Dear Friends in Christ,         

The text that will be the basis for my message today comes from the Gospel of John the first chapter verses 4-5.  “In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

Shepherd 1:  Did you hear the news?

Shepherd 2:  No, what news are you talking about?

Shepherd 1:  This angel told a group of us, that the Savior was born in Bethlehem.

Shepherd 2:  Really?

Shepherd 1:  Yes!  He was born in a manager.  He will be the Lord of all people.

Shepherd 2:  What beautiful news that is!

That was the way the shepherds had to share the good news of Jesus’ birth with other people on the first Christmas.  In the book of Isaiah, Isaiah spoke these words, “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!” The “feet” for the shepherds were their actually feet because they had to travel to tell people of the good news.  They didn’t have the same technology  that we have.  Think about how the “feet” have changed in the years since Jesus was born in Bethlehem over 2000 years ago.  We have so many different ways in which we spread good news in our lives.  As you think about it, it’s amazing all the ways that we tell someone good news.

                When I think of ways I spread good news, there are a couple of ways that come to mind.  One of the first ways that I think of to spread good news is text messaging.  I am a big fan of text messaging.  I like texting because it’s a quick and easy way to send out news to one person or many.  How many of you have used a text message to share good news.  One example I think of using texting to send good news was this past September when my new baby niece Ellie was born, in less than 30 minutes after she was born my mom texted me a picture of her.  My mom was about 5 hours away, yet I received that text right away so I could see my new beautiful baby niece.  What great news that was to share!

                Another way that I think of sending out news is Facebook.  I think that it is the quickest way to send out news to a lot of people at once.  One example of that in my life took place on May 4, 2011.  That is one of the most important days in my life.  May 4, was the day I found out I was called to be the Associate Pastor here at Salem Lutheran.  One of the first things I did when I had some time that evening after finding out that news, was update my Facebook status to let all of my friends on there know where God had called me to serve.  It is amazing to think that all my friends on there from different parts of the country could see that news right away.  And now, I could use Facebook to let my family back home know what’s going on in my life and even show them pictures and same with my friends spread out coast to coast.  Also there are times when I will put information for the youth group to see on my Facebook.  Both text messaging and Facebook are ways our feet bring good news to people.

                In the verse from Isaiah that I read earlier he was writing about how beautiful on the mountains are the feet that bring good news.  Today we celebrate the best news there is after Christ’s death and resurrection… and that’s Jesus Christ is born!  Why is that such good news?  Let’s look at John 1:5, which says, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”  The light John is referring to is Jesus.  His birth was necessary in order for Jesus to accomplish the best news ever and that is defeating sin, death, and the devil, on the cross.

                The light is something that is truly needed in the world today.  There is a lot of darkness in our society today.  Turn on the 5:00 or 10:00 news and what do you see?  You hear stories of crimes, violence, problems in the economy, natural disasters affecting our nation and countries around the world, and so much more.  These were just some of the headlines on various news websites this week.  It is not only in the news.  There is even darkness in our own lives.  Some of us deal with difficulties in relationships with loved ones, financial problems, the death of a loved one, issues with our own health or the health of a loved one, and the list could go on and on and on.  We are in need of some light in our lives.

                We don’t have to look hard to find that light!  All we need to do is look to Jesus He is the light that will overcome all darkness and will never be defeated.  How did Jesus overcome all of the darkness?  He was born on that first Christmas morning so He could fulfill the will of God.  That consisted of leading a perfect life.  In His time on earth Jesus was tempted by the devil to just make one mistake, because the devil knew what that one mistake would mean.  Jesus resisted all the temptations the devil threw at Him, so He would remain the unblemished Lamb who would be sacrificed to atone for all of our sins on the cross.  It was on the cross that Jesus overcame all darkness and on Easter morning Jesus shined in His victory over sin, death, and the devil.

                Jesus was born to be the light of the world and that is truly great news to know.  We might be seeing the darkness of the world right now but that is temporary.  The struggles in our life are something that will not affect us for all eternity.  When we cling to the promise of the cross we will be able to spend eternity in heaven where there is no more darkness.  We won’t have any more illnesses, relationship problems, financial problems, and we won’t turn on the news to see even more darkness, because those things are no match for Jesus the light of the world.  And when we keep our focus on God and Jesus we will be able to enjoy eternity in heaven.

                I want to try something to illustrate this point.  I am not sure how well it’s going to work, but I tried it and it worked for me.  I want you to focus on the four dots in the middle of this picture for about 30 seconds or so.  After you do that shut your eyes and then open them.  As you open them you can look either at the screen or the walls, and when I tried this out I looked at my hand.  So let’s try this.  What did you see?  If it worked you are supposed to see the image of Jesus.  Did any of you see the image of Jesus?  As I think about this illusion I would describe it this way.  The first part as we focus in on the image represents keeping our focus on Jesus and what He has done for us.  As we shut our eyes that represents the darkness that we have in our lives, but that is only temporary, because when we open our eyes the light of Jesus shines removing the darkness in our lives.

                This great news that Jesus is the light is good news that we want to bring to all people.  This was John’s goal, he wanted everyone to know that the Lord and Savior was coming to save people.  We too can be like John and be the messenger of good news.  We can share the news that Jesus is the light to those around us who are struggling with the darkness of life.  Think about the joy the person would feel when they come to the realization that the darkness of this life is temporary and that one day that it will all be gone because the Word of God became flesh and was born of a woman so He could defeat the darkness of this life.  And we are blessed to be living in a society that has so many different ways in which we can spread the good news.  We are not like the shepherds on that first Christmas who didn’t have phones, computers, iPads, and all the other ways that we have to communicate good news with those around us.

                Even though the means of which good news travels, the fact remains the same Jesus Christ is born to be the light of the world!  What great news that is.  No matter how dark it might seem in our life, there is always a light that shines and overcomes all darkness!  That’s good news that we don’t want to keep to ourselves but want to let it shine to all the people in our lives.  We all know people who are in need some of that light in their lives.  I encourage all of you to be God’s messengers and spread that good news to those in your life.  I want to challenge all of you who have Facebook to bring the good news of Jesus birth to all your friends on Facebook by updating your status, not during service of course but after church.  You never know who needs to hear that great news that Jesus is the light that shines in the darkness.  Amen.

                Now may the mercy and peace which surpasses all understanding strengthen your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

Amen.