People have mission statements too, though they may not describe them as such. Over the past several years identifying one’s purpose in life has become trendy. I’m not suggesting that seeking guidance to find your way in the world is a character flaw. But I question the integrity of those who exploit another’s desire to realize their purpose.
The life coach was all the rage a few years ago. Rick Warren has made a goldmine coaching Christians on finding their purpose. Warren is the pastor of Saddleback Church in Southern California. Saddleback is the mother of all mega churches with an average weekly attendance of 22,000 and Rick Warren could be called the father of popular evangelism.
He is also the author of the best selling books the Purpose Driven Life and Purpose Driven Church. Christians not just in this country, but Christians around the world, are listening to Rick Warren and praising his theology. This quote is from Warren’s website:
(The book) The Purpose-Driven Life takes the groundbreaking message of the award-winning Purpose-Driven Church and goes deeper, applying it to the lifestyle of individual Christians. This book helps readers understand God’s incredible plan for their lives. Warren enables them to see the big picture of what life is all about and begin to live the life God created them to live.
Christians are reading his books and taking his seminars; faithful people are writing their personal and their church mission statements using Warren’s theology. In rapid-fire succession Warren cites hundreds of scriptures in the
Purpose-Driven Life; not once does he quote Luke 4: 14-21, the gospel reading we heard today. I have no doubt that Jesus would find this omission appalling. I want to suggest that this scripture is the heart of the gospel message. Let’s look carefully at the way Luke presents it, I think you will agree.
Jesus has just come out of the wilderness where he had been tempted by the devil. Recall that the Holy Spirit had descended upon Jesus at his baptism in the previous chapter, and it was the Holy Spirit that led Jesus to the wilderness. These two events are hugely significant because:
1) Jesus is acclaimed from heaven as God’s son the beloved, and
2) In defeating the devil, Jesus demonstrates the power of his newly anointed authority.
Today’s gospel begins with Jesus was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit; this is Luke’s way of telling us to pay attention: readers and listeners, what is to come is very important. Like a pivotal movie scene that unfolds in slow motion, Luke describes Jesus’ every move. Jesus stands up. The scroll is handed to him. Jesus unrolls the scroll. And Jesus finds the place on the scroll where the prophet Isaiah had written and he proclaims:
“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,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
After Jesus read Isaiah’s words, every movement is accounted for again. He rolls up the scroll. He gives the scroll back to the attendant. Jesus sits down. The eyes of all in the synagogue are fixed on him. And then in what is perhaps the shortest sermon in history, Jesus says,
After Jesus read Isaiah’s words, every movement is accounted for again. He rolls up the scroll. He gives the scroll back to the attendant. Jesus sits down. The eyes of all in the synagogue are fixed on him. And then in what is perhaps the shortest sermon in history, Jesus says,
Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.
Not only has Jesus identified himself as the messiah, the one Isaiah foretold, and the king the people had been waiting for, Jesus has proclaimed his mission statement.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
Good news indeed! In those days, prosperity was a sign of God’s blessing and the impoverished were thought to be poor because of God’s judgment. The poor were generally despised and neglected. Jesus told the poor that God loved them every bit as much as he loved the rich landowners. Can you imagine hearing for the first time – No really, you are worthy, you are loved?
Good news indeed! In those days, prosperity was a sign of God’s blessing and the impoverished were thought to be poor because of God’s judgment. The poor were generally despised and neglected. Jesus told the poor that God loved them every bit as much as he loved the rich landowners. Can you imagine hearing for the first time – No really, you are worthy, you are loved?
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
Jesus isn’t simply referring to the rapists and robbers in prison. He also means prisoners of war; those bound captive by debt; those enslaved by addiction; and those constricted by sin. Whether they were literally or spiritually captive, Jesus came to set them free.
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
The religious leaders believed the blind deserved to be blind because they had sinned. Or because their parents had sinned. Jesus came to restore sight to those who were physically blind, and to open the eyes of those blinded to the messiah standing right there in their midst.
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
Up until this point, Jesus had been reading from Isaiah 61. But in a sudden twist he plucks the words “to let the oppressed go free” from Isaiah 58. It would be irresponsible of me to ignore this mixing of passages. Isaiah 58 teaches us about true worship.
The prophet tells Israel, and he tells us today, that religious ritual without the service God desires is a sin.
Taking delight in self-serving displays of public piety will not get God’s attention. Carefully crafted liturgy and richly woven vestments will not please or impress God.
Do you want God to listen to your prayers? Isaiah spells out exactly what God expects of Israel and of us:
Up until this point, Jesus had been reading from Isaiah 61. But in a sudden twist he plucks the words “to let the oppressed go free” from Isaiah 58. It would be irresponsible of me to ignore this mixing of passages. Isaiah 58 teaches us about true worship.
The prophet tells Israel, and he tells us today, that religious ritual without the service God desires is a sin.
Taking delight in self-serving displays of public piety will not get God’s attention. Carefully crafted liturgy and richly woven vestments will not please or impress God.
Do you want God to listen to your prayers? Isaiah spells out exactly what God expects of Israel and of us:
To loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free.
To share your bread with the hungry,
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
and when you see the naked, to cover them.
By bringing in this one phrase from chapter 58, Jesus invokes the whole passage from Isaiah, he names our duties very specifically. My friends, Jesus and Isaiah have handed us our mission statement. And in the other readings we heard today, Nehemiah and Paul have given us some insight on how live it out.
The proclamation of the Law of Moses in Nehemiah was a reminder to the people of their covenanted relationship with God and of what was required of them. Nehemiah says the people wept and mourned when they heard the word of God – maybe because they realized how far they had strayed from it. But rather than grieving their transgressions, they are told to feast on fat, and drink sweet wine and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared. In addition, Nehemiah gives us a glimpse of what worship actually looked like back in the day.
All the people of Israel gathered together into the square before the Water Gate.
In this short reading, we heard Nehemiah use the phrase all of the people 9 times. The point is driven home that worship is a collective activity, a gathering of all God’s people, not a solitary act for the sake of personal salvation.
This emphasis on community leads us to Paul’s concept that all of us are the body of Christ and are individually members of it. Paul presupposes diversity and reminds us that each member is blessed with a unique gift and each of those gifts is indispensable. Paul tells us that in Christian community no one person is valued above another and no one gift more important. I don’t think Paul is talking about equality as much as he is trying to emphasize wholeness and interdependence.
Today’s gospel is a blessing – we are given very clear and precise guidelines on what God would have us do. This is one occasion where the lectionary is in synch with the life of our congregation. After our service today, our Senior Warden Sarah Lawton will facilitate a parish meeting where we will discuss the future ministry of our parish. I imagine issues of the budget and our leaky roof will come up. There will probably be talk of St. John’s role in the South of Market Area Ministry project.
The good news is that whenever there is a question about our mission and ministry, Jesus has given us the plumb line to measure how true we are to living out God’s desire for us.
Isaiah wrote the mission statement and Jesus proclaimed it and modeled his life after it:
The proclamation of the Law of Moses in Nehemiah was a reminder to the people of their covenanted relationship with God and of what was required of them. Nehemiah says the people wept and mourned when they heard the word of God – maybe because they realized how far they had strayed from it. But rather than grieving their transgressions, they are told to feast on fat, and drink sweet wine and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared. In addition, Nehemiah gives us a glimpse of what worship actually looked like back in the day.
All the people of Israel gathered together into the square before the Water Gate.
In this short reading, we heard Nehemiah use the phrase all of the people 9 times. The point is driven home that worship is a collective activity, a gathering of all God’s people, not a solitary act for the sake of personal salvation.
This emphasis on community leads us to Paul’s concept that all of us are the body of Christ and are individually members of it. Paul presupposes diversity and reminds us that each member is blessed with a unique gift and each of those gifts is indispensable. Paul tells us that in Christian community no one person is valued above another and no one gift more important. I don’t think Paul is talking about equality as much as he is trying to emphasize wholeness and interdependence.
Today’s gospel is a blessing – we are given very clear and precise guidelines on what God would have us do. This is one occasion where the lectionary is in synch with the life of our congregation. After our service today, our Senior Warden Sarah Lawton will facilitate a parish meeting where we will discuss the future ministry of our parish. I imagine issues of the budget and our leaky roof will come up. There will probably be talk of St. John’s role in the South of Market Area Ministry project.
The good news is that whenever there is a question about our mission and ministry, Jesus has given us the plumb line to measure how true we are to living out God’s desire for us.
Isaiah wrote the mission statement and Jesus proclaimed it and modeled his life after it:
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.
To loose the bonds of injustice
To share bread with the hungry,
To house the homeless;
and to clothe the naked.
Just as Jesus preached that the Spirit of the Lord was upon him, I want you to know that today, right now, the Spirit of the Lord is upon us too. We have been anointed through our baptism to bring good news to the poor. We have been anointed to put flesh on the word of God. Our work isn’t finished until poverty, oppression, and injustice are finished.
Just as Jesus preached that the Spirit of the Lord was upon him, I want you to know that today, right now, the Spirit of the Lord is upon us too. We have been anointed through our baptism to bring good news to the poor. We have been anointed to put flesh on the word of God. Our work isn’t finished until poverty, oppression, and injustice are finished.
As we discern the future of St. John’s remember that as followers of Jesus, his mission statement is our mission statement. This morning we came into the church to worship and praise God, but we must leave the church with a fierce commitment to break the bonds of injustice, to share bread with the hungry, to house the homeless and to clothe the naked.
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