One of the presenters at this weekend's campus ministry conference was Amy-Jill Levine. An Orthodox Jew, who teaches New Testament at the Vanderbilt Divinity School, she had many interesting insights.
One of the questions asked of her went something along the lines of, "You have referred to the Good News of Jesus Christ several times. As a scholar, as a non-Christians, how would you describe that 'Good News?'"
We hear a lot of talk about the Good News. You have probably heard me say that Good News must always be good news: News which lifts up, news which builds up, news which brings life. Amy-Jill finally settled on the word (for that morning she pointed out) of freedom. The Good News, she said, is the news which sets us free: Free from our fears, free from our doubts, free from systems or mindsets which oppress.
This morning I was reading I Peter 1:23-25. Peter quotes Isaiah 40:6-9, then makes a comment about good news: "'For the word of the Lord endures forever.' That word is the good news that was announced to you."
So much of what we experience in life is temporary. My weekend conference is the annual gathering I most look forward to - and yet it ends so quickly. As a student community, we know that our life together is only 15 weeks long - that with the end of the semester some will graduate, some will go on coop, some will be forced to schedule a class for Wednesday evening. During the years in which we struggle to find and identify ourselves, friendships end quickly. When we head home for a long break, we discover that the friends with whom we shared so much during high school have also experienced life-changing events.
Certainly, the Good News of Jesus Christ contains more than an assurance of permanency. But it does contain that. It is the promise that as things around us change, God's Word will remain. We never have to venture far in order to find the assurance sufficient to anchor our lives.
Pastor Chris
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