REFLECTIONS: Good news!
I was asked to write this article on Tuesday morning, November 8, 2016. I chose both the theme and Bible verse early in the day, before I knew the outcome of the election.
I have good news! We have done it! We survived one of the most cantankerous election cycles in recent memory. It seems like yesterday when Ted Cruz announced his candidacy for the presidency, but that happened 596 days before election day. Maybe that is why my ears hurt and my head aches.
The election is over. Now things can get back to normal. “We the people….” can be united again.
Normal. What does normal look like in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century? There are wars, political unrest, and famine around the world. The world is experiencing more displaced people and refugees than at almost any other time in history. There is a difficult business climate, in the United States and abroad. We hear dire warnings of climate change. Many families are working hard, but can’t earn a living wage. We have a breakdown in our justice/prison system, caused by massive amounts of poverty and our decision to treat drug addiction as a crime instead of a medical issue; thus, we have 4.4 percent of the world’s population and we house 22 percent of the world’s prisoners.
Umm, Pastor Ray. I thought you had good news? No, I offer you the GOOD NEWS of Jesus Christ.
Luke’s Gospel recites the famous words of the Virgin Mary, known as the Magnificant (Lk. 1:46-56). Read of her moving experience, as she rejoices about her unborn child and shares the role he will play in the world. Luke also recorded the corresponding words of Jesus as he began his ministry, in Nazareth. They are his mission statement and they offer us a vision for God’s Kingdom on Earth.
16) He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17) and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
18) “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
19) to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
20) Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21) He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Lk. 4:16-21 (NIV)
As a nation, we seek unity and strive for a better tomorrow. As Christians, we place our hope in God and God’s places his hope in us. “God has no hands, but our hands.” (St. Teresa, of Avila) Therefore, God calls upon us to build just and equitable systems that provide for the needs of our neighbors at home and around the world.
Without justice, there is no hope. Without equity, there is no justice. Equity and justice are the twin arms of unity and the hallmarks of Jesus’ mission and vision. They are the essence of the GOOD NEWS.
Pastor Ray Baker is the pastor of Vincent United Methodist Church in Minot.
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