When the Government release their annual statistics on crime levels we always hear some facts and figures, which leave us rather shocked.  One such report indicated that, “More than 28 per cent of all suspected robbers are black”.   It was one of those statements which immediately created suspicion and prejudice of the Black community and most likely of young black males.  When you first read a statement like that your immediate reaction might be, “That’s awful!” It reinforces all the negative feelings you have about people whom you might already be suspicious of.  But a moment's reflection can make you see just how miss leading facts and figures can be.  If 28% of suspected robbers are black, then presumably 72%, that is, nearly three quarters of all suspected robbers are not black! That sounds almost refreshing and enlightening! It sounds as though it could be good news.

The Government report, which that statement was drawn from, was not actually about crime.  It was however about racism, revealing that black people were, on average, five times more likely to be stopped and searched than white people, and on average four times more likely to be arrested.  So to say that, 'More than 28 per cent of all suspected robbers are black' was, quite misleading. 

The heading in an advert said, 'State of the art computer - only £999.99.  My immediate reaction there was 'That's quite good.' But after a moment's reflection I found myself thinking, 'But that's a thousand pounds - it's not so good after all!' And when I looked at the small print to read that VAT, Carriage and handling charges had still be applied I soon found out it was such a hot deal after all.  It isn't always easy to know from headings and headlines, what's good and what's bad news; they can be very misleading and purposely so.

In today's reading from the letter to the Corinthians, Paul talks about the good news of Christianity through which people are being saved, but he talks about it in headline terms, so it isn't particularly easy to determine what the good news is.

Paul said that the good news through which we are being saved is that Jesus died for our sins, that he really was dead because he was buried, that he then rose again and that he really did rise again because he appeared to any number of people.  But if you went out into the streets of East Kilbride today and told people that the good news through which they are being saved is that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and rose again, they'd probably spin round on their heel and hurry off in the opposite direction.

The headlines need more flesh; they need the in-depth article to explain what they really mean. We need the small print so we know exactly what we are getting.  Paul’s headline approach to explaining Christianity can no longer be satisfactorily explained in terms, which were acceptable and understandable centuries ago.  Our language and our culture have changed almost beyond recognition, and if we're really to spell out the good news, we need to use today's language and speak within today's culture.  In other words, although churchy language may be OK in church, it certainly isn't a suitable medium for telling the good news to non-churchgoers.  Headlines can be very misleading.

For a start, what does "being saved,” mean? What are we being saved from? And what would happen if we weren't saved?  Paul tells us that we're being saved from our sins because Jesus died to save us from our sins.  And he tells us elsewhere that the wages of sin are death and the free gift of God is eternal life (Rom.  6:23), so presumably if we're not saved from our sins we die, but if we are saved, we live forever. 

Except that no one really lives their lives in such a sense of impeding danger that they feel a need to be saved from it.  Perhaps people don’t have a great sense of sinfulness from which they want to be released and given that everybody dies eventually, and there's no evidence whatsoever to suggest that bad people die any earlier than good people.  So what difference does the death of Jesus make, what are sins, and how does Jesus save us from them?

Imagine for a moment that you're a teenager again, and madly in love.  Can you remember both the pain and the ecstasy of your passion for your loved one; the agony of waiting for the postman or a phone call, the seventh heaven of delight when your loved one appeared? That's how God feels about you, all the time.  He waits to pour his love into and over and through each one of us, with all the benefits of healing and deep inner peace that he brings.

Sin is turning away from all that, in one way or another turning away from all God offers.  And if I turn away from God's healing love, I'm likely to feel unhealthy, dis-eased.  But it's hard and often painful work to keep ourselves always close to God.  Jesus showed us how to hang on in there even when the going gets very tough indeed.  Through his integrity and his refusal to stop loving, even in the face of terrible agony, he reached an unexpected and overwhelming resurrection - the pinnacle of God's love for him.

It's that kind of resurrection which is waiting for all human beings who can hang in there even when the going gets tough.  We experience glimpses of it now, but will experience it in all its glory when this life is over.  In this life we may experience resurrection as spiritual health, which has a huge influence on physical health.  Or we may experience it as the light, which begins to emerge at the end of one of life's dark tunnels.  And occasionally we may have moments of transcendence, spiritual highs, mountain top experiences.  When this life is over we experience resurrection as eternal life - complete, utter and total health and overwhelming happiness.

All we humans have to do to receive these amazing gifts is to remain faithful.  "Hold firmly to the message" was Paul's headline way of speaking about it.  Jesus has shown us how to remain faithful, and God does the rest.  And that really is good news.