Good News

I looked around and I saw thousands more
And we were singing louder than before
Yeah we were getting close
Then we set our eyes upon that hill
City walls of rock and gold were built
Then at once my heart was calmed and stilled
When I saw the Lamb

– Jack and Jill, part 2 by The Gray Havens

When did the Gospel become “Jesus died on the cross for you”? As if the focus is on His death. To anyone who hasn’t had it pounded into their heads their whole lives, death is not good news. To rejoice over the death of someone who loved you is just… morbid. If anything, it could be that He came back to life for us. That’s at least positive.

But really, isn’t the incredible thing, the thing it all really boils down to, that a good Father (who happens to be the Creator of everything and the King of all) said “I’m going to do whatever it takes to make a way for her/him to be Mine.” And He did. He said whatever it takes, and then He did it. What?! That’s really good news.

Standing outside the church and looking back on it, church people say a lot of garbled, jumbled, who-really-even-knows rhetoric. We have our own language and dictionaries that make us sound really smart to our own kind, but to those outside our circles, those stacks of books are just forming a Berlin Wall or Iron Curtain to keep us from the people we’re trying to love.

AND also, it seems that the more entrenched into the rhetoric someone is, the sadder they look. Have you ever noticed that? Drained, burdened, zombie-like. Whatever happened to the “Good News” that made it so tragically heavy, exhausting, and depressing? Have we lost sight of what makes the good news actually good?

The King loves me.
The Creator said, “I want to be with her, whatever it takes.”
The Savior came, paid the cost, and came back so He could be with me the rest of my days until I get to go be with Him forever after that.

That is amazing news!!

(and surprise, He did it for you too! AHHH!)

So after you’ve let that sink in for a while, go check out The Gray Havens because almost every song is the good news, just in lots of different, beautiful metaphors and stories that renew all the joy we had at first.