Is The Gospel Good News?

The news that came out of Normandy on June 6 1944 was widely celebrated. The allies had routed the Germans and taken the beaches, and in the next few days more than 300,000 American and British soldiers established themselves on French soil. Effectively this meant that World War II in Europe was over. It was just a matter of time. There were still battles to fight and casualties to suffer, but the final outcome of the war could not be in doubt. The allies would march through France and Belgium and the Netherlands, and in less than a year Hitler would be dead and Berlin taken and surrender achieved. So, even though there was plenty of suffering still ahead, victors could ring the bells on June 7 and celebrate glad tidings.

Because there are several points of correspondence between the news from Normandy and the gospel of Jesus Christ, preachers have long been fond of using this victory as a sermon illustration. We have good news. Jesus Christ, crucified on behalf of sinners, has defeated death and risen from the dead. Though suffering may still lie ahead of us, eternal life has been secured and in due time we will experience its fulfillment. In the meantime, we proclaim now the good news of liberty to those held captive. Jesus is risen and will reign forever! ("Normandy has been taken and the allies are victorious!").

It's a good illustration as long as you don't press it beyond appropriate points of contact. As a teacher of mine liked to say, be careful not to make a metaphor walk on all fours. For example, in this case, we certainly would not want to indulge the military aspect of the Normandy illustration in a way that would turn Christians into jihadists who advance against the enemy of other faith traditions and subdue them by force and violence. That is not the point at all. We're about love. Jesus commanded us to love our enemies.

There is however one perfectly valid extension of the Normandy metaphor that I've never heard a preacher make, and I'd like to make it here because it has so much to do with what the gospel means and how we proclaim it.

Was the news that the allies had taken the beaches at Normandy on June 6 good news for everybody?

No. It was good news for the Americans and the British, but bad news for the Germans. It was good news for Jews in concentration camps, but bad news for their guards. Good news for the French Resistance, bad news for French Vichy collaborators. Good news for Roosevelt and Churchill, bad news for Hitler. Good news for Representative Democracy, bad news for Nazi Fascism. And so on.

In other words, though the Normandy news was the same for everybody, it was good or bad depending on who you were. To call it "good" was to tip your hand and reveal that you considered yourself to be on the winning side. But not everyone was. Nazis and all those who cooperated with them were not dancing in the streets on June 7. If they were wise and well-informed, they were quaking in fear and desperate for a chance to change sides.

Part of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that it is possible to change sides. It is like the German pilot surrendering his Messerschmidt, being sworn in as an American citizen, and flying his new P-51 Mustang into battle. The Vichy mayor detaches his swastika and declares loyalty to the Resistance. The Nazi prison guard dons a striped uniform, slaps a Star of David on his chest and joins his starving Jewish brothers behind the barbed wire. Praise God, who permits and enables even his most fervent enemies to repent of their opposition to him and submit themselves in glad surrender to him and his way.

But let us not deceive ourselves into thinking - or deceive others by preaching - that the whole gospel is good news for everyone unconditionally. It is not good news for all people regardless of who they are or how they respond. According to the gospel, Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God who is risen from the dead and who will reign forever. That is not good news for people who live their lives in defiance of his authority and who refuse to repent. Frankly they would be happier in the short run and better off in the long run if Jesus were a dead fraud.

Here is the news. Jesus Christ died for sinners and rose again from the dead. He reigns forever with absolute authority, and some day every knee will bow to him. What you do with that news will determine, for you, whether it is good or bad.