Good News

Where’s the Good News??  It has become a cliché that you won’t find any, especially in the media.  I get it.  I feel that too.  And it’s not just the things that happen in the world, events like the war with Iran, or the behavior of politicians before the midterms…  I hear and read a lot about the “mood” or “attitude” in our society that is increasingly negative.  Quick anecdote:  I got rear-ended on the NJ Turnpike last week; my Prius got towed to a lot in Carteret where it sits.  I went to get everything out of the car yesterday and the first thing the tow lot employee asked me was if I was going to sue the guy who hit me.  I said no… but he then made a financial case for why I should.  “I see it all the time,” he said.  Suing the guy who hit me would not be the right thing in this case, so why is doing the right thing the exception?  The tow lot worker shook my hand for me being a good person.  Seriously.

            We all want to do the right thing and see some of the fruits of that.  But a lot of us are also all exhausted and have a diminished capacity to “do one more thing.”  I noticed the collective sigh of relief during last Sunday’s sermon when I said I wouldn’t ask y’all to “do one more thing.”  The sermon was on Jesus’ parable about two brothers working in a vineyard.  This Sunday’s Gospel is another parable about workers in a vineyard (Matthew 21:33-46) who don’t do the right thing.  It’s a parable of judgment.          

So where’s the Good News?  It’s in the great lengths God goes to—coming all the way down in Jesus Christ—to create the conditions for the fruits of righteousness, all those good things we want in our world but don’t see.  The failure isn’t on God’s part  but ours (there’s the judgment).  But how much easier would it be to say “Yes” to God knowing and trusting that the Holy Spirit has done all these amazing things in our lives and in the lives of others?  The good is right there, right in front of us, begging to be noticed and grasped and shared.  It’s the Spirit within us and others working below the surface of what your media feed will tell you.  This comfort and encouragement makes it easier to say “Yes” to working in the vineyard, makes it a pleasure as a matter of fact.  There’s the Good News.

Peace,

Pr. Christian