Thought for Today
Proverbs 15:30 The light of the eyes rejoices the heart, and good news refreshes the body.
Ecclesiastes 1:2 Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity . . . 9 What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun.
Luke 2:10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for see-- I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people:
Mark 1:1 The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God . . . 14 . . . Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God,
Greta enjoys her first cup of coffee each morning in bed while she watches the network news on television. This morning, as she finished her coffee, she came into our den and asked me whatever happened to all the news about New Orleans and Las Vegas? Recently, that was all we read or heard 24/7.
Many of us are familiar with some version of, “There’s nothing more stale than yesterday’s news.” Edward Abbey wrote, “Nothing could be older than the daily news, nothing deader than yesterday’s newspaper.” Hearing and watching the news on radio or television makes me think Abbey grossly understated that truth.
Why? I often ‘rant’ about our seemingly insatiable appetite for all things new. We seem obsessed with the latest fashions, the latest opinions or ideas. Each year, the introduction of the new car models, the latest ‘new and improved’ products are major ‘news’ events.
We seem to have the same fascination for ‘new’ in current events. The tragedies in New Orleans and Las Vegas occurred 2 weeks ago. They were both tragic; they both were shocking; and, they both occupied most of the news we read, heard and saw for several days. Have you read, heard or seen anything about them this week? Think back about 2024, about the major events, many of which are still reverberating throughout societies all over the world. Have you read, heard or seen anything about them this week? It is true that much of what we read, hear and see today will be about the cessation of hostilities in Gaza, a war that was much in the news throughout 2024. But, the insatiable, gaping maw of 24/7 news coverage on multiple platforms seems to require 24/7 feeding of new news.
Was Qoheleth, the Prophet of Ecclesiastes, correct? Is our striving for ‘new,’ our obsession with ‘new and improved’ merely a vain attempt, inevitably doomed? Is there truly nothing new under the sun? Are all the stories we read about the latest terrorist, about the latest mass murderer, the latest moral degenerate merely variations on a theme?
Certainly human history and the stories of the Bible suggest that some of the failings we see today in human behavior are endemic, maybe even integral to our humanity. As we read about one political party placing blame for the latest issue on the other, we might want to reference Genesis 3:12, “The man said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.” When we read about the latest moral failure of a celebrity or a politician, we might want to read about David and Bathsheba. If you want to read about wars and human suffering and tragedy, the word ‘war’ appears more than 200 times in the Bible. In some ways, Qoheleth may have understated the issue.
I do find something new, something ‘new and improved’ in the Bible. It is not that the love revealed in the New Testament is new. God loved the world from Genesis 1:1. God’s love must be an integral element in “Exodus 3:14 God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." He said further, "Thus you shall say to the Israelites, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" My engineering brains is thinking, Love = I AM.
The author of 1John wrote, “4:16 So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.” God’s love is not new. What would be new, ‘new and improved,’ would be for us to acknowledge and respond accordingly. Imagine reading, hearing or seeing the worldwide occurrence of that reported in the news! “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” That would truly be “good news of great joy for all the people.”
Stay safe, love, trust God,
Pastor Ray