April 20, 2009 Don't Shoot the Messenger

Matthew 4:17, 23-25 New Revised Standard Version
From that time Jesus began to proclaim, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." …Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people. So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought to him all the sick, those who were afflicted with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, and paralytics, and he cured them. And great crowds followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.

You may have heard the term “don’t shoot the messenger,” which has its roots in ancient times. Without mail, Internet, or phones, runners were used to convey messages back and forth between power centers. These swift bearers of news were prohibited from reading the sealed messages they carried—if their job was, in fact, to deliver bad news, it was entirely possible that they would be slain at the other end!

Some people just don’t respond to ill tidings very well.

Jesus, on the other hand, preached only good news: the kingdom of heaven has come near. God loves you. You are forgiven. Be healed! Yet even then, ruling powers killed him because his message didn’t fall in line with what they wanted people to believe.

Fortunately for us, when The Messenger was taken, he left behind a small army of others to take the good news into the world. We have the awesome privilege to be part of that army if we so choose. Aren’t you glad we have good news to share, instead of gloom and doom?

My boss, Bill Goodnight, pastor of Lillington Presbyterian Church, was in a near-tragic car accident just a month ago. That was bad news! Very bad news. But as information of the awesome power of God at work in his body was given to me—initially, on a daily basis—I had the privilege of sending out email updates to an ever-increasing list of folks who wanted to know how to pray for Bill and his family.

Several people took the time to call or email me back, thanking me for the updates. Think about that for a minute: I had nothing to do with the information given. It was not my medical care that was responsible for Bill’s dramatic improvement. Decisions regarding his health were completely out of my hands. I was far removed from every detail concerning him…but I got to spread the good news, and it was a joy. .I was so grateful to have good news to share!

How difficult it must be to have to tell a loved one that someone has died, that there was an ambush in Iraq, that the cancer was just too widespread, that the operation was a success but the patient never woke up. The people who must share these things may well be, as I have been, completely removed from the actual situation, simply conduits of information. But having good news to share, rather than bad, makes all the difference in the world.

We who follow Jesus choose to take on the task of being conduits of information about him. We should always be ready to answer those who question our hope and beliefs (1 Peter 3:15). We are to speak the word of God with both boldness and humility. And of course to speak it, we must know it, study it, let it sink down into our minds and hearts so that we know that we know that we know…

Since Jesus was hated for his message, there may be times when we are hated too. Unlike Jesus, we will invariably misrepresent the truth at times, or fail to communicate it clearly. It’s important to remember that we’re just messengers—whether the truth is received or not isn’t our responsibility. We learn about the kingdom of heaven, we share it the best we are able, then we leave the results to the King.