May 15, 2020
John Kwasny
22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; 24 for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, 25 but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you.
(I Peter 1:22-25)
I don’t know about you, but one thing I could do without during this Covid-19 pandemic is the 24-hour news cycle. We are pummeled by way too much news all day, every day. As an old guy, I find myself longing for the good old days of basically only having the nightly news to report the “highlights” of the day. But those days are long gone. Now, we are treated to a seemingly never-ending stream of news that’s really more opinion and conjecture than true news. And worse than that, it is almost solely bad news, isn’t it? Every time I read one article or column with some good news, there comes flooding in dozens of stories reminding me, “No, it’s really not that good at all—it’s much worse than you think!” It seems so much easier to be the bearer of bad news than a bringer of good tidings in our world today.
We really shouldn’t be surprised that the world as a whole is more attuned to bad news than good news. Without Christ, there is only bad news. If God doesn’t exist, and human beings (or viruses) are in charge of the world, then there is only doom and gloom ahead. Christians alone know, believe, and rely on the truth that there is good news available. That good news is not found on the nightly news, the scientific reports, or anywhere else--except in God’s Word. As Peter says, “this WORD is the good news that was preached to you.” When we read or hear God’s Word preached and taught, we imbibe the good news of salvation in Christ alone.
But there is also the reality that there is plenty of bad news for all of humanity—and it has little to do with a novel coronavirus. Before Peter reminds his readers of the good news, he presents the truly bad news. First, he says that we are all born into this world as “perishable” seed. All human beings will die—whether it is by Covid-19 or something else. We are all perishable, like the items left out for weeks in your fruit bowl. He compares us to grass and the flowers of the grass: the grass withers, and the flowers fall. Again, we will grow for a little while, become as glorious as a flower for a time, and then it all comes to an end. The bad news is that, because we are sinners living in a fallen world, death comes to us all. There is no way to permanently lockout death, or quarantine ourselves in order to live forever.
Amidst this true doom and gloom, as well as the overhyped end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it news of today, Christians alone have good news for the world. It’s much better news than a vaccine or effective medical treatments. It is even more glorious news than when a governor says you are free to move around, get your hair done, and actually sit in your favorite restaurant. As Peter puts it, “You have been born again of imperishable seed” and “the grass withers, and the flower falls, but the Word of the Lord remains forever.” God’s Word is the good news for the entire world. And when that Word is planted as an imperishable seed in our hearts by the Spirit, we enjoy eternal life in Christ. This is the only good news to be celebrated—much, much better than any news that the virus will be eliminated. Sin and death have been defeated already in Jesus Christ! Rejoice in that good news today, and share it with those who are lost in all the bad news this world has to offer. That is the best way for us to love one another!