Is Our Good News Good?

Here's the scenario: Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. He appears to some of his closest friends, who tell his other close friends. But his other friends don't get it; they remain in hiding, frightened and grieving, behind locked doors.

Then suddenly, he shows up, right in their midst.

What do you think he says?

"Incorrigible sinners! Blockheads! Couldn't you understand one thing I tried to tell you? No; you're too faithless and stupid. Well, guess what -- I am through with this nonsense. To hell with you. I'm outta here."

That's not what he says. Here's what he says:

"Peace be with you."

Thomas isn't with the rest of the group. When he hears about the others' encounter with Jesus, he just can't believe it: "I need to see it myself, or I'm not buying it."

A week goes by. Jesus' disciples are together again, this time with Thomas there, too. Jesus shows up again. What do you think Jesus says to Thomas?

"You want to see me, eh? Who do you think you are? And are you so lacking in faith that you won't even listen to the others here who did see me? Thomas -- it's all over. You're not worthy to be my disciple. You're a screw-up. Get out of here. Get away from me."

That's not what he says. Here's what he says:

"Peace be with you."

I once had a pastor tell me that he thought "creeping Gnosticism" was the most serious problem afflicting contemporary American Christianity. While I'm no fan of Gnosticism (creeping or otherwise), I would posit that the most serious problem is actually what we Lutherans call confusion of Law and Gospel. No; more than that; the actual jettisoning of the Gospel message of God's love and grace, in favor of an unremitting drumbeat of wrath and scapegoating and condemnation mislabeled as "good news." "God loves you so much that he's going to send you to hell if you don't shape up" isn't good news. It's not "news" at all, because news suggests underlying truth, and there's no truth in the idea that a relationship with God is predicated on being "good" enough or theologically astute enough to earn it.

How much Gospel do you hear from the mouths of TV preachers, or the religious talking heads tapped (inexplicably) to be the Voice of American Christianity on news programs? How much Gospel do you see described on the religion pages of your local newspaper?

Now, at this point some of you are nodding your heads and saying, "Yeah...you tell 'em!"...you probably have a mental photograph of Frequent Public Offenders in your head. I know I did when the kernel of the idea for this post first formed in my mind.

But here's the thing: Those of us who consider ourselves open-minded, progressive, theologically sophisticated, can be just as rigid, just as judgmental toward people with whom we disagree, just as distant from the grounding of the Gospel message as the most histrionic, Pharisaical fundamentalist.

The bottom line, in the words of Luther, is that we're all beggars. We are all, no matter where we fall along the theological or sociopolitical spectrum, no matter how advanced we are or think we are along the Godward path, sinners. We mess up. We don't get it right. We do things we shouldn't; we don't do things we should; even when we do the right thing, it's often for the wrong reasons. That's as true of the Mother Teresas and Desmond Tutus of the world as it is of the most reprehensible people we can think of. In the final analysis...we got nuthin'. Our broken condition is the great human equalizer.

That's the bad news. The good news is that God refuses to let that prevent God from claiming us, from saving us, from seeking to befriend us. If death itself wasn't going to stop Christ, then the cluelessness of his friends certainly wasn't going to either.

And the first words out of Christ's mouth, as he comes to greet and reassure his confused friends, is Peace. The biblical concept of peace is not simply about a cessation of strife. It's about God's proactive shalom; restoration of relationships; broken places in the world mended.

As we hear Christ's benediction echo through the centuries all the way to us, and as we live into today's Gospel lesson in the days to come: How can we, in our own spheres of concern and influence, make the peace of Christ real for others? How do we keep our good news good?

Maybe the best way is to simply tell our own stories as persons of faith, persons who've had a transformative encounter with Jesus Christ. We know that Thomas wound up in India, founding a church that remains to this day; so we know that's what he did.

"Thomas," Wayne Forte