Good News, Great Joy
He went from dreadful news of deep despair to good news of great joy.
Have you ever experienced good news of great joy? Have you ever felt incredible, off the charts joy?
Let me tell you a story about a friend of mine - you may have met him - who just recently experienced a jolt of incredible joy. This is a private story, but I did get permission to tell it, albeit reluctantly, from the two main characters.
Several years ago, my wife, Lori and I took our first trip to Cuba. Journey Church has a value of kingdom - it is not all about our church. We assist other churches in getting started; in fact, we will help fifty churches start this year! We were in Cuba to lead a Discovery Center for church planters - an event at which potential planting couples try to discover if starting a church is a good fit for them. I believe there were three or four of us staffers from the U.S; and another three of four from Mexico on the trip.
Seven couples came from all over Cuba to meet us in Havana for the week, along with three Cuban couples who had been through the process already. And then there was Omar.
Omar was not a potential church planter. Omar was not a pastor. He was simply a young man who was struggling a bit, and his pastor invited him to see the process and perhaps serve as a translator if needed.
The event went well, but on the flight home, Lori revealed that Omar had told her his story.
Omar had worked for some time getting ready to leave Cuba to come to the United States. Everything seemed in order when he, his identical twin brother and his mother arrived at the U.S. embassy to seek passage to America. Omar’s mother was approved. Then Omar’s twin was approved. But when Omar stepped forward, the embassy officials shut down the process—no one else would be allowed to go.
Can you imagine the incredible despair of being cut off from your mom and twin?
Omar came to our event shortly after that disturbing incident. It had obviously hit him very hard.
But it also hit Lori pretty hard. She too is an identical twin. She felt that maybe she could help Omar get to the U.S. As time went on, Lori felt that God was actually calling her to help Omar. She wasn’t obsessed, but she was clearly burdened.
I’m not sure what you know about Cuba, but every time I have traveled there, I felt that something was wrong. Cuba is not what it is supposed to be. It is a beautiful sunny island under a dark cloud of extreme government oppression. Cuba is great if you like cigars, like rum, like old cars, and you hate people. The citizens are deprived, tyrannized and demoralized. They live in fear, anxiety and paranoia. Getting off the island is a common goal - especially if your family is in Miami!
Lori got to work. My advice was, “Don’t get your hopes up.” But she studied the possibilities. She met with several lawyers, who told her it would be costly. So Lori opened a separate “Omar” bank account. One lawyer decided to take the case on retainer.
Then the politicians got involved. For decades the United States had a “wet foot, dry foot” asylum policy toward Cubans. That meant that if a Cuban person could get one foot on American soil, they would automatically qualify for permanent residency. But President 44, in one of his last executive orders discontinued the policy. That order made no sense, the only possible reason for such an act was to stick it to President 45, who was not known for his love of immigration. If, as expected, 45 reinstated the policy, he would look weak. 45 scheduled a press conference but didn’t reestablish wet foot, dry foot. He wanted to stick it to 44 and make 44 take the brunt of the blame. So, ridiculous politicians made everything worse. They played political football with Cuba only to have the Cuban people end up intercepted, fumbled and drop-kicked.
Lori’s lawyer tapped out. He actually returned all her money. But Lori didn’t give up. She enlisted the help of quite a few of us to aid Omar.
Any hopes of a visa hinged on us getting Omar a job. I could do that with my non-profit network, no problem. Then we learned we’d have to guarantee pay for him. Problem. I told Lori she would have to raise the money. That meant I would have to raise the money. Many folks pitched in generously. We started another bank account for Omar--if he could ever get here.
Weeks and months and years went by. The process took a toll on Lori, but she persevered.
Amazingly in early 2020, we got the word that Omar was approved for an R-1 Visa to start in May 2020! This was a surprise to us, but can you imagine the joy that Omar must have felt years after being rejected for entry. Good news of great joy!
But then, I’m not sure you remember, something big happened right before May of 2020. The world shut down, and it took Cuba with it. Zero flights came in or out of Havana. Zero. No boats traveled there. I sent Omar a message asking how far and fast he could swim.
We waited and waited. Lori had a friend send Omar funds for a plane ticket if the airport ever opened. And we waited some more.
Then this past August, we received the news that Omar had secured a flight to another country, met with the U.S. embassy there, then traveled to the U.S. He was in Miami with his family!
Good news of great joy. Relief for Lori - and me. But what unspeakable joy for Omar. From despair to delight.
But what does this story have to do with Christmas?
It is actually a pretty good picture of the Christmas story.
This world, if we are honest, is not what it is supposed to be. It can be beautiful, but there is a dark cloud of oppression, death, disaster, dishonesty and sin over all of us. It can be demoralizing. We live under a spirit of anxiety, fear and paranoia. We trust politicians to make things better, but they only seem to make it worse. We long to be reunited with our heavenly father, to live in peace with our brothers and sisters. But we are lost in our sin.
Yet God didn’t leave us there. Lori spent years coordinating a way for Omar to get out of Cuba. God spent decades, centuries, millennia orchestrating an elaborate plan for the Savior that was mentioned to Adam and Eve, and promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to come through the line of David. There were obstacles for Omar. But God busted through political enemies like Pharoah, Goliath, evil rulers, civil wars and even King Herod killing babies to rescue us. Lori says, “God is bigger than any circumstance.”
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.
Luke 2:8-11 (NIV)
Good news of great joy!
We are not stuck in our sins. We are not stuck in a place where everything dies. We are not stuck. God has made a way. Jesus came to deliver the good news that we are approved, we are forgiven, God will let us in to a life of abundance, of rest and forgiveness.
But just like Omar, we have to get on the plane. It’s not enough to know there’s a way - we have to take the way.
How do we do that?
It is as simple as ABC:
Admit we need a savior.
On one return trip to Cuba Omar told me that his entire generation is depressed and hopeless. When I asked why, Omar explained that these young people were told their entire lives that Cuba is the greatest country in the world, that is it the strongest, the best at education and health care. But many of these young people discovered the internet, and they came to realize that it isn’t necessarily so. We call that fake news.
We may be going through life thinking we’re okay, we’re not as bad as other people, we’re just fine. It isn’t necessarily so. We are a mess, we need saving.
Omar needed Lori. We need a Savior.
Believe Jesus is the way. Have you ever looked into how many prophecies were fulfilled at the birth of Jesus? The messenger of John the Baptist beforehand, son of David, the descendant of Judah, the virgin birth, the birthplace of Bethlehem, out of Egypt, on and on. Believe.
Commit. Essentially get on the plane. The good news is the airport is not shut down. You can pray that ABC prayer right now. Tonight!
God gave us the incredible Christmas gift of a savior. But I want you to notice the tag on the gift, the card.
I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.
Luke 2:10-11 (NIV)
Lori helped Omar. But God’s gift is for you! You may think God is only for other people, religious people, perfect people. He is for you, even if you, like Omar, were not one of the people invited to the meeting!
When Omar got to Miami, we didn’t drop him. We sent him some money, a double amount to get settled. We flew him to Arizona for some meetings and I asked my friend, Daniel to take care of him there. We brought him out to Elk Grove, where Tim and leaders of this church decided to give him money for a car. Ray and Patricia hosted him. One morning Omar asked if he could walk the dog with Ray. As they walked, Ray noticed Omar was cold, so they took him to Burlington Coat Factory and got him a great jacket and a new outfit. I flew with Omar to San Diego, where people there and in Los Angeles doted on him for a week.
The Apostle Paul wrote:
If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
Romans 8:31-32 (NIV)
God doesn’t just rescue us and drop us. He has great plans for you me and Omar.
Omar needed a Lori.
You and I needed a Savior.
Here’s the question, who needs you? Who is that one Omar that God is putting on your heart? Who has God given you a burden for? You can’t rescue everyone, but you can do for one what you wish you could do for everyone. Who is you person?
Some of you are launched out doing your best to help people, and like Lori you have helped an Omar or two. Who is next?
Who needs to experience the good news of great joy?