Good News from a Far Away Country

Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.

Proverbs 25:25

As of late, bad news has been hitting a bit too close to home than I find comfortable. Bad news is always best kept at a distance. Nobody enjoys hearing bad news, but furthermore, if we must hear it, we would prefer that it would be separated from us by many miles and fathoms. In America, many could be considered news junkies. We enjoy reading the headlines, keeping on top of the latest and greatest events taking place around the world, and we almost pride ourselves in just how knowledgeable we are in current events. Reading the newspaper can almost be compared to reading a fiction novel when the news is far away and impersonal. It is full of names of unknown people, political uprisings in countries far, far away, and wars, drugs, violence, disease, persecution, funerals, poverty, and natural disasters that we can only imagine through our media-saturated cultural lenses. It can seem to be the news of a galaxy far, far away.  

I am fascinated with the technologies that our modern culture has taken for granted that allow us to know what news is occurring around the world at any given time almost instantaneously. News, anymore, travels around the world in the blink of an eye. To think that Americans can watch video of a revolution taking place in Egypt in real-time is quite remarkable. To imagine that the tsunami that destroyed everything in its path in Japan was breaking news in the States in a matter of minutes is nothing short of impressive. The events can happen so fast and the news spread so quickly that the whole story seems unreal and the news possesses a novelty that our culture devours. However, when the events happen so fast but the news does not need to spread very far or very quickly before you know what has occurred, then the novelty of news loses its splendor and you are left with a sickening feeling that this news is a little more real and personal than you prefer.

The past couple of months have revealed the more realistic side of news that I myself have taken for granted. As many watched broadcast news and read national headlines, they learned of a wildfire wreaking havoc in Colorado Springs, destroying over three hundred homes. However, everyone in Colorado Springs need not watch the news to know about the devastation that the fires were causing. All we needed to do was ask our neighbors, our friends, our families, our school-mates, our coworkers, and our fellow parishioners how we could help them in this time of great need. We saw the devastation up close and personal, and what was front-page news to many around the nation was taking place in many of our backyards. News was all too personal, and it was not good. We watched and prayed as we hoped that our friends and neighbors' houses were still standing after the smoke cleared that destructive Tuesday.

A couple of weeks passed, the fires abated, full containment was accomplished, and the community went back to the way it was. The major news broadcasters packed up their cameras, their vans, and moved on to bigger and better stories. However, unbeknownst to everybody but one sinister man, they would return in a couple of weeks, and less than a hundred miles north. 

I awoke sleep-deprived and groggy from the restless night before to learn that there was a massacre that took place at a theatrical screening of the latest Batman movie. The reason I was so tired was because I had attended the midnight screening of the same movie that same day, and I now awoke to go to work. I watched as Good Morning America reported about the shooting, and for some strange reason, I shrugged the story off because lightning does not strike the same place twice. I was very disheartened to hear of another crazed lunatic who was so conceited and depressed that they went out of their way to share their pain with the world by taking weapons and forcefully and violently including innocent people in their misery-laden lives. The video they were displaying was that of an apartment complex surrounded by SWAT vehicles, squad cars, fire engines, and ambulances. I told myself that it looked like the shooting occurred somewhere out East. Chicago? Detroit? Atlanta? Aurora! 

After a double take, I could not believe my eyes. Lightning seemed to have struck the same place twice. Our community already had to deal with its fair share of tragedy this year. We did not need this tragedy to further dishearten the fragile hope that was already but a mere flicker in the hearts of many in this community. A few weeks earlier, we watched as hundreds of people's homes and property were destroyed by a natural wildfire. Now, we watched as a dozen families mourned the loss of a member of their family due to the sinfulness and evil in one man's heart. Now, we watched as dozens more were being treated for gunshot and shrapnel wounds that they received from this one man's blatant disregard for the sanctity of life created in God's image. An entire theater complex filled to the brim with people enjoying one of America's favorite past-times left that evening with more questions about life and its chief end then they frankly desired to. 

I watched in terror, knowing that there was a good chance that several of my cousins (those from my side of the family and from my wife's side of the family) were at that very theater for the movie premier. Taking advantage of one of our culture's most popular news providers, I logged onto Facebook hoping that everyone was okay. Glory to God on high, everyone was physically safe! One of my cousins was at the theater complex in one of the theaters across the hall, and she and many others will have very traumatic images and emotional reactions to wrestle through in the weeks and months to come.

Bad news is devastating in close proximity. You can hear about violent coups and uprisings happening half-way across the globe where hundreds of families are left homeless and dozens of men and women are losing their lives. When it is that far away, however, it does not seem as real. Try as we may, such stories never cause the reaction they should in the hearts of Christians in America. It is so far away, it is so impersonal, that it does not tug at our heartstrings the way it should. We constantly remind ourselves that the newspaper is not fiction but to no avail. If we watch the news every night without some jaded disposition, then world and national headlines can quickly be depressing and disheartening. My wife often tells me, "Let's stop watching the news so much. It is so depressing." If it bleeds, it leads. That is the journalism mantra. That is what people want to hear about and watch. Our culture is obsessed with violence and sex. Journalists know this more than marketers. If one does not jade themselves somehow from the depressing sight of a world full of sin, suffering, evil, hate, destruction, violence, and all sorts of wickedness, then we would sooner turn the news off and be free from the constant reminder of the curse of sin than watch it day in and day out. Needless to say, however, many a faithful Christian devours the latest headlines, often without batting an eye at the atrocities contained within them. 

I have had my fill of bad news in close proximity. But what about the opposite? What about good news from a distant land? Remarkably, when bad news gets too close, what we need the most is good news from a far country. It would seem foolish to imagine that any good news from far away would bring comfort when the local news is saturated with devastation. But, it is like cold water to a thirsty soul! Our hope has been tried and tested the last couple of months here in Colorado. Our souls seem to be as dry and parched as our local forests devoured by wildfires. Our souls thirst for water, they seek some sort of refreshment, they desire good news. There is no good news in this country, so we must turn to a country far away. A country so far distant that it would seem there is no personal relevance in the hope we pursue. The farther away the news the less personal and delicate the news seems to become. How, then, can good news from a far country be compared to cold water for a thirsty soul?

Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water."

The woman said to him, "Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock."

Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (John 4:10-14)

Are you in need of a cold glass of good news? Does hope wither and dry up in your heart as nothing but bad news surrounds you? Does your soul thirst with unquenchable thirst for something good, something personal, something wonderful to refresh its deficiency and drought? Do not pick up a newspaper and hope to find some good news in a far country that will revive your soul. We know all too well that the farther the news, the less applicable, personal, and relevant it becomes. However, there is a far away country that is altogether very near. There is a land flowing with milk and honey that is at our very fingertips yet very far away indeed. There is a city from whence living waters flow that is closer than we may think.

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. (John 7:37-39)

The Spirit has been given because Jesus is glorified! Out of your heart will flow rivers of living water if you believe in the risen, glorified Christ Jesus! Wherefore does cold water for a parched soul and good news for a hopeless exile come from? From the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in those who believe, quickening us speedily to hear, believe, rest in, cling to, and faithfully claim salvation's hope that can be found in Christ Jesus alone. Bad news up close and personal can strike a mortal blow to our hope and faith, but good news from a far county reminds us that we are but strangers, exiles, and pilgrims in this foreign land. This place, whether full of good news or bad news, is not our home. Glad tidings reach us from our heavenly Jerusalem, our foundation of peace. Good news is proclaimed from the top of Mount Zion for all of God's people to hear, to hearken, and to cling to by faith. 

Matthew Henry writes, "Heaven is a country afar off; how refreshing is it to hear good news thence, both in the everlasting gospel, which signified glad tidings, and in the witness of the Spirit with our spirits that we are God's children." Do you hear the good news, Colorado? Do you hear the good news, America? Do you hear the good news from a far country, every tribe, tongue, and nation? It is refreshing, like cold water to a thirsty soul!

The good news is that no matter how bad or close the news of the sinfulness of sin and the curse of man's disobedience becomes, our hope and faith rests in the finished work of Christ Jesus alone! If we are devastated by a natural disaster, let us avail ourselves to the good news revealed in the Scriptures. If we are horrified by the evil and malcontent actions of a crazed lunatic who himself is devoid of good news, then let us not be like him, and let us turn to the proclamation of good news preached from behind the pulpits of God's faithful church. If our souls thirst for cold water, for but a glimpse of the glorious promises to God's covenant children, then let us pray together as one body for Christ's return and our steadfastness, faithfulness, and perseverance until that great and glorious day! We sing Psalm 13 when bad news hits too close to home, but we neglect Revelation 22:20: "He who testifies to these things says, 'Surely I am coming soon.' Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!" 

The Spirit and the Bride say, "Come." And let the one who hears say, "Come." And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price. (Rev. 22:17)

Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. And he said with a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water." (Rev. 14:6-7)

Have you heard the good news this Lord's Day? Christ has risen! Your sins are forgiven if you rest in the finished work of Jesus Christ by faith! Nothing within this world or without can ever separate the faithful from the abundant love of God! All things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose! If God is for us, who can be against us? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? Never! Romans 8 is a brook of cold water to the parsed lips of thirsty souls in the midst of devastating, terrible, evil, destructive, diabolical news that is altogether too close for comfort's sake. Listen to the eternal gospel. Fear God and give him glory in this difficult time because the hour of his judgment has come! Worship him who made heaven (the far country that you have been promised) and the earth (the close country full of bad news)! Avail yourself to the springs of water, the water of life, without price, dear child, because whoever believes in Christ Jesus, as the Scripture has said, "Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water!"