The Gospel: Bad News Before Good News
Some of you may have heard that Fredrik Buechner passed away this week. Buechner was a pastor/writer/theologian who not only had a way with words, but who had a unique ability to see to the bottom of a thing and bring others along with him. The observations on the Gospel that follow should sound familiar if you have been around Christ Church for a while, as they capture the core of the truth that we seek to live into together:
The Gospel is bad news before it is good news. It is the news that man is a sinner, to use the old word, that he is evil in the imagination of his heart, that when he looks in the mirror all in a lather what he sees is at least eight parts chicken, phony, slob. That is the tragedy. But it is also the news that he is loved anyway, cherished, forgiven, bleeding to be sure, but also bled for. That is the comedy. And yet, so what? So what if even in his sin the slob is loved and forgiven when the very mark and substance of his sin and of his slobbery is that he keeps turning down the love and forgiveness because he either doesn’t believe them or doesn’t want them or just doesn’t give a damn? In answer, the news of the Gospel is that extraordinary things happen to him just as in fairy tales extraordinary things happen. ... Zaccheus climbs up a sycamore tree a crook and climbs down a saint. Paul sets out a hatchet man for the Pharisees and comes back a fool for Christ. It is impossible for anybody to leave behind the darkness of the world he carries on his back like a snail, but for God all things are possible. That is the fairy tale. All together they are the truth. (Originally published in Telling the Truth.)
As we look to Sunday we will bring our chicken, phony, slobbish, loved, cherished and bled for selves together to finish out what has become a three part series on communing with God. Two weeks ago we talked about resting. Last week our focus was on delighting in God. This week we will be looking at what it means to listen to God, to hear his voice. Over the years we lose women and men like Buechner who have and ability to speak into our lives, but the good news is our Father God will never stop speaking.
Photo by Vince Fleming on Unsplash