"How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, 'Your God reigns!'"
- Isaiah 52:7 (NIV)
It is finally 2020! A new year with new opportunities, choices, and actions. One may already be taking action on their resolutions or taking the time to plan out this year’s significant events. For some, this time of year is exciting and seen as a time to make changes. However, there may be others who are going into this year with more reluctance, perhaps dreading what has occurred in 2019.
Whether one is going into 2020 hopeful and excited or discouraged and low, there is something everyone needs. Encouragement.
Encouragement to try something new. Encouragement to give the task at hand their everything. Encouragement to work for a healthier life. Encouragement to pour into better relationships. Encouragement to change. Encouragement to dream big. Encouragement to give out to others.
Okay, you get it, encouragement is needed. The fantastic thing is that Christians have the most encouraging message of all. Good News and Peace by Jesus Christ, our Lord, and Savior, Redeemer of all, the one who will restore all to Him.
The Good News
The messenger talked about in this passage has a very significant role. They are running from a metaphorical battle between God and the enemies of Zion. It is to depict a victorious warrior God who has not forgotten His people. The audience is the Lord’s people. The messenger runs to the desolate people, they wait in exile, their land is barren. Their hope and identity desecrated. But… When they see the messenger on the horizon, running across the rocky terrain, hope is ignited, some kind of news is on the way.
What is this message they wonder?
Good News and Peace. Good Tidings and Salvation. A Victorious God.
When we think of Good News we think of Salvation, Jesus’ death on the cross was the Good News for us, yet here Good News is tied to Good Tidings by the English word “bring.” Good News here is a message of relief; it's something they have been waiting on. It's the acceptance letter to that hard to get into graduate program. It’s the assurance that your plans will work. It’s the spontaneous cash one comes by when they clean their room. It’s a medical procedure gone well. Relief from the stress of their current situation.
What if you can’t connect to that relief? What if you have tried tirelessly to get the promotion only to be passed up once again? Or a change in medications in the hope of relief only for the side effects to not be relinquished. You spent all night studying and still failed the exam. What if the situation is still bleak?
You are in exile. Not that you are separated or cast out of the hand of God, NO! Like the Israelites in Babylon, though, you are in a period of bleakness, awaiting your Good News, your relief. It will come, and in some mightily unexpected ways. Sometimes the relief is temporary, and other times it changes everything. Sometimes the relief is hidden, like a treasure you need to seek, while other times it is more evident than a tree in a field of grass, you do not have to try to see it. Relief can come in all shapes and sizes.
For the Exiles, Good News came by a messenger with an exasperated breath and a joyous smile, exclaiming, “Your God reigns!” It took decades for this message to come, the ones who responded to this message persisted in faith over all those decades. Celebrate when you experience relief, praise the Lord. If relief has yet to come, continue in faith, cling firmly to God, He is always present. I know you may know that, but may your heart and soul feel it. Good News is relief.
The Peace
Peace, the second message, is Salvation. Salvation is to be proclaimed! Peace is to be proclaimed! It makes headlines in Zion, one can’t help but shout it out. The peace is like a stone that a child throws into a pond. It makes a kerplunk and sends ripples to all the edges of the pond. It is impactful.
There was once a division, a conflict of sorts, for why else would peace be needed? We were once barred from unity with God, relationship, and connection. We are sick in our humanity, put in quarantine, and could only know God through the glass and plastic. Salvation… Peace… It changes everything. Christ is the antidote to our chronic illness of sin and fallenness. He redeemed all. He has made way for all to come and know God the Father.
The messenger preached Peace, Salvation, Freedom! It is a message of restoration for the people and for Zion. The result is worship and celebration.
"Burst into songs of joy together, you ruins of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem."
- Isaiah 52:9 (NIV)
Are they restored yet? No. Have they rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem? No. Are they packing their bags? No. They worship and celebrate first. Only next are they commanded to depart and get a move along and be restored and changed people.
All this, brought by a single messenger who merely said what God has done. That person brought encouragement and hope, Good News, and Peace.
What does all this mean for you? Well, it can depend, are you in exile right now, or are you to be a messenger? Being in either is perfectly fine, perhaps you may even be in both.
The Exile
If you are an exile, awaiting your relief. May this be some Good News and Peace to you. The God of the Holy Bible. He has been around since before creation, present in our very day, and will persist for eternity. He is a God of goodness and love, actively seeking to make all things new and redeemed. There will be a day where no pain exists, and no sadness could occur. Through the birth of Christ, God came onto the same level of humanity, lived, and grew up like every one of us. Jesus’ ministry as an adult was all about restoration, redeeming the downtrodden, and redirecting those in power. His death on the cross and resurrection three days later, opened the door for humanity to be saved. Now Christ is King, preparing a place to stay for many. This world is not all there is, and everything will come to the point of relief and peace.
I know this all sounds crazy, like how can this world really be fixed? May you believe by faith, and begin to be aware of His love in this world. What you just read is not just a list of things Christians ascribe to, it is the work and character of God, as mysterious and awesome as it is.
The Messenger
Others of you may be a messenger. This Good News and Peace are not for the individual alone. It is the stone that creates a ripple. Share it, spread it, be it. The messenger could very easily hold these truths to themselves and never speak of it. But if they do, how will others come to know and feel the Good News and Peace from Jesus Christ? God wants our involvement, He wants us to work with Him in this mission of redemption!
What would it look like for you to bring relief to someone else to help them and serve them with an active love from God? How may you share the Gospel, the story of Salvation with others? It begins to shape you and change how you do life. It may not be easy either, but the impact is so worth it. It is like the morning coffee or adrenaline rush you never knew you craved!
That is how one embodies the messenger of Isaiah 52. Taking on this task is how beautiful feet develop. That messenger ran long distances through deserts, mountains, and forests. The terrain was cracked, cold, hot, or moist. Their feet would have been worn and tattered. That person's feet would have been disgusting because they didn’t have Chucks or Merrells back then. No Nike or Reebok. Yet, they ran with joy, they had a message that could not be kept to themselves, it was worth the striving and driving. Israel was always meant to share this message, now it is on the Church and the believers to be ministers. To be bearers of redemption.
Final Blessing
I believe 2020 can be a year of encouragement. Encouragement to receive and encouragement to give. It can be a year of redemption, it can be a year where Good News and Peace reign true in the Nation, in the Church, and in you. Whether you are the exile persisting in faith or the messenger exercising that same faith. We all may have beautiful feet, we have a message to share. We have the best Good News and Peace this world has ever seen and a God who is presently providing for redemption and restoration. There is an antidote, there is hope, there will be relief.
May the Lord of life and redemption be with you in every step, every breath, and every heartbeat. Be messengers of the Good News and Peace friends!
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