The Beautiful News

"The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; 

he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, 

to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners..."

- Isaiah 61:1

This past Sunday at United Life we began our transition from our previous sermon series, "Shalom: Holy and Wholly" to our new series, "The Beautiful News" with a special word from one of our very own. Brian Hahn, who abstained from solid foods for 40 days straight, shared about what this planned encounter with hunger (and prayer) taught him. God, it turned out, had much to say to and through him. (By the way, you can check out Brian's blog here. He put up some awesome insights that God gave to him during his fast)

Having Brian speak was not only a good opportunity for all of us at United Life to hear about what God is doing in the life of one of us, it was a great prequel to our upcoming sermon series, "The Beautiful News". This series title is based off of an interesting choice Korean bible translators made when looking at Isaiah 61:1. While most English translators render the Hebrew there as "bring good news" or "bear good tidings", the Korean translators chose the phrase, "proclaim beautiful news". 

This decision not only makes sense when looking at the original Hebrew text, it's also a good reminder for those of us who believe in the gospel (a word which itself literally means: good news) of Jesus Christ. I can say from my short career in ministry that it's hard enough for us as a church to remember what's so good about the "Good News". We fixate quite easily on other things, like the number of people who come every Sunday, or planning for the next big ministry event, but the whole point of why we gather in the first place often fades quietly away over time. It's too easy for followers of Christ to forget what's so good about the good news. 

I think, however, that seeing the gospel as not only good but even beautiful news, can be useful to the church  as well. We'll explore this more in detail over the next few weeks at United Life, but I think, for starters, that thinking of the gospel as something beautiful cracks open some doors that we don't even notice when we come to church. For example, how often do we even think about beauty when we open the Bible or bow in prayer? And yet how would we be able to judge what is beautiful, good, or perfect/shalom without God, the origin of all beauty, goodness, and shalom? If we worship a beautiful God, shouldn't we see at least some element of His beauty in His word or when we gather in His name? 

Having one of our own share about the things God taught him as he sought after God was not only a great way to grow together as a Body of Christ, it was beautiful. And I think we can call it beautiful because it was something God wanted for us. He wants us to be connected and in each others' lives, in healthy, redeemed relationships that echo the beautiful relationship the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit share. 

Over the next few weeks, as United Life prepares to commemorate Jesus' crucifixion and celebrate his resurrection, we're going to focus as a people on recognizing God's beauty in all of it. I would be honored if you joined us.