LUKE 4:14-21
14Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to
Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding
country. 15He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by
everyone.
16When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up,
he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He
stood up to read, 17and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to
him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
18 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
19to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
20And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and
sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.
21Then he began to say to them,
"Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."
Its that time of year, that beginning and planning time of year. It is January.
There are New Year’s resolutions and inaugural addresses. Its that time of
year, that beginning and planning time of year. It is season of Epiphany. The
wise men have seen the Christ child and must decide how to proceed toward
home. We have seen the Christ child, and must decide where to go from
here. Its that time of year, that beginning and planning time of year. It is the
season of Epiphany and the lectionary reflects the beginning of the life of
Christ. We hear stories of Jesus as a kid teaching at the temple, we hear
stories of Jesus’ first miracle at the wedding at Cana, today we have Luke’s
story of Jesus’ first public ministry. It is that time of year, a beginning time, a
planning time. This passage from Luke serves as an introduction for the
reminder of his Gospel. Likewise, Luke chapter 4, verses 18 & 19 are an
inaugural address for Jesus’ ministry. They are his New Years resolution, and
his mission statement for his life.
***
Jesus says,
Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
19to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
18"The
It is a lofty list, but it begins with the Spirit. “The Spirit of the Lord is
upon me,” Jesus says, and I appreciate that he recognizes the source of his
mission. Jesus is not relaying this prophesy just for himself, by himself. He
does so with the Holy Spirit. He is telling his friends and family at the
synagogue that although he is the anointed one, he is anointed by the God
they know. It is a mix of the unfamiliar and the familiar, just as Jesus is to
them. He is child of the church come back to preach, and he is God before
their eyes. He is taking this old passage from Isaiah, and making it his call for
the future. It is the familiar and the unfamiliar, an old text, claimed anew.
Jesus is anointed for a purpose. He tells his family and friends he is
anointed to bring good news to the poor. Jesus lives in a society where the
poor are to remain poor. Like the cast system people are destined to their
station in life. Jesus came with a mission to bring them good news, to bring
them hope for a life different then they could ever imagine. Likewise, he
would bring good news to the poor in Spirit. He would bring good news to
the grieving, good news for the hopeless, good news even for those who were
selfish, for the tax collectors, for the wealthy, for the powerful. His mission
was to bring good news to the poor in Spirit.
Jesus also was anointed to proclaim release to the captives. In Jesus’
time, Israel had been controlled by the Romans and others, for many, many
years. There were political prisoners galore, including Jesus’ cousin John.
Proclaiming release to the captives would not only be personal to Jesus, but
also something those listening in the temple knew well. Jesus came with a
mission to set the prisoners free. His was not only a mission for actual
prisoners but the prisons which held people in greed, in hate, in prejudice, in
violence, in shame, in sorrow, in fear. Jesus’ mission was to break these
chains, to set the people free.
Jesus also came to bring recovery of sight to the blind. In a time with
little medical knowledge there would have been more people who suffered
from blindness. The blind would have been outcasts, and very poor. The
blind would have blamed for their blindness, as if they had done something
evil and deserving of such punishment. Jesus was anointed not only to heal
their blindness, but to turn over the cultural framework which kept them
apart. Jesus’ mission was to heal and be in relationship with those who were
blind, and ill, and outcast. Likewise, Jesus was anointed to recover the
people’s blindness to who God created them to be. Jesus sought to help
people see they were created for joy, for hope, and for love. Jesus’ mission was
to recover sight to the blind.
Jesus also came to let the oppressed go free. Not only were the poor,
the prisoners, and the sick oppressed, but so were foreigners, women,
children, the hungry, slaves, those with mental illness, and many others.
Jesus was anointed to lift up the oppressed. His mission was to take away
their shame, and free them from the shame others placed upon them.
Lastly, Jesus says he was been anointed to proclaim the year of the
Lord's favor. This is understood as the year of jubilee. The year of Jubilee is
a time when debts were forgiven, and land returned to God. Land would lie
fallow, and after a year no longer was it the person who owned it before. All
creation would go back to a time like the garden of Eden before the fall.
This was the last part of Jesus’ mission. That not only was Jesus anointed for
humans, but for all creation. Jesus’ mission was to bring the people back to
how God imaged them to be. Jesus’ mission was also to bring us back to how
God imagines us to be.
You see, because we are also anointed by the Spirit for these
things. We are to bring good news to the poor, proclaim release to
the captives, recover sight to the blind, let the oppressed go free, and
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. You and I, and this church,
and all the Churches, and all God’s people are anointed to do these
things. It is our mission statement as well. Jesus did not tell people
just for them to know what he was going to do He told the people so
they could be included in his life and mission. He told them, that the
reading was fulfilled in their hearing. He did not say, it has been
fulfilled in my speaking. It was that they heard it which made it
fulfilled. It was his call to them. Perhaps his mission is also our
inaugural address, and should be our New Year’s resolution. It is that
beginning planning time of year. What is your mission statement, for
today, for this month, this year, for your life? For what have you been
anointed by the Spirit?
We as a church have asked ourselves this question. There was
visioning committee who spent some time in the desert of
discernment, just as Jesus did before he came to the temple. We
prayed, and we listened, we talked and discerned, and we felt we
were anointed with the Spirit. Out that we have formed a new
mission statement. It reads, “As God's family we are called to bear
witness to Christ, support our community, and encourage spiritual
growth.” “As God's family we are called to bear witness to Christ,
support our community, and encourage spiritual growth.” Let us say
it together, repeat after me, “As God's family we are called to bear
witness to Christ, support our community, and encourage spiritual
growth.”
We like Christ, hope to be God’s family. We like Christ in the
temple are called to bear witness. We like Christ hope to support our
community. We like Christ see to grow in the Sprit. Our mission
statement is in line with that of Christ’s. We have been anointed by
the Spirit to join Christ in his work. This church, in the Epiphany
season has begun to plan. It is our prayer that this church live into
Christ’s mission by living into our church’s mission. It is our prayer
that like Christ we serve both inside these walls, and outside these
doors. It our prayer, that the people of this church will feel the Holy
Spirit anointing them to plan, to begin this day with a mission. It is
that beginning planning time of year. What is your mission
statement, for today, for this month, this year, for your life? What is
your mission as a part of this church? For what have you been
anointed by the Spirit? What will be fulfilled in our hearing?
