Often, while preaching, I find myself wishing it was possible to make my words sound more in public the way they sound in my heart.
Last Sunday was one of those moments.
It is such a dramatic scene in Luke chapter four. Jesus stands in the synagogue, takes the scroll of the prophet Isaiah and reads:
‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me. (Luke 4:18)
Leading up to this scene, in chapter three and the beginning of chapter four in Luke’s Gospel, everything has aimed at making a common point. Jesus’ baptism, the genealogy, and his temptations in the wilderness, all announce that Jesus shared our humanity.
Just as we need to be baptized, Jesus chose to be baptized. As we have a human lineage, the genealogy of Jesus can also be traced through human history. As we struggle with the reality of temptation so too Jesus was tempted in the wilderness. And now in chapter four, as Jesus was “anointed” by the Spirit to fulfill God’s calling in his life, we are to understand that we too need to be empowered by the Spirit of Jesus to fulfill our mission as people called to live the Jesus-life in our day.
In 2 Corinthians Paul used the same word used in Luke 4:18 when he wrote,
it is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us, by putting his seal on us and giving us his Spirit in our hearts. (2 Corinthians 2:21, 22)
So, when Jesus reads from the prophet Isaiah and then puts down the scroll saying,
‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled
in your hearing.’ (Luke 4:21)
Jesus is not talking only about himself. He is talking about all those he represents. As Jesus was “anointed” to fulfill Isaiah’s prophecy, so we too who follow him are “anointed” to fulfill this prophesy through our lives. The call Jesus heard in his heart, is the call we are to hear in our lives. Through the prophet Isaiah, Jesus announces the reason for which we humans exist.
Like Jesus we are anointed
to bring good news to the poor.
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 favour.’ (Luke 4:18,19)
This is the human mission. Our divine calling is to be “good news,” to bring release, recovery of sight, freedom, and favour into the world.
I will meet someone today who is “poor”. They may not be materially poor; they may be lonely, lost, confused, or poor in spirit.
- How will I be “good news” for the “poor” person God brings across my path today?
- How will I proclaim “release” to the person who experiences life as a trap, who feels held captive by circumstances they are powerless to change?
- How will be a source of clarity and truth for a person who has lost sight of the way forward?
- How can I proclaim freedom to the person I encounter who is oppressed?
- What does it mean for me to proclaim that God is in favour of all human beings?
They are challenging questions.
It is tempting to feel overwhelmed by this grand mission of being human. This is why we must begin where Isaiah, Jesus, and Paul all began, with the affirmation that,
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me.
The Spirit of Jesus lives in my heart. The question is not, how will I do what Jesus calls me to do. The only question is how will I open my heart to allow the Spirit of Jesus to be expressed in and through my life.
The Spirit of Jesus will manifest differently in every person’s life. The important thing is to live responsively in tune with that Spirit of love and compassion that as Christians we see embodied in Jesus. The wisdom, power, and light have been given.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me…
he has anointed me.
In A Spacious Place 
3 comments
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January 26, 2016 at 8:13 am
Middle Man
Of course I ask myself ” where am I poor, captive, blind and oppressed?”
Perhaps only when I have faced those places with absolute honesty can I begin to act authentically in the world. Perhaps then that anointing oil can fill this body and flow out quite naturally ( and I won’t even know it).
February 26, 2016 at 12:15 pm
Robert
Christ was more than “annointed”. Have a look at Ron Wyatt’s account of the blood sample he had tested in a lab in Jerusalem. That blood came from an area below the Mount of Calvary. Oh, yes, you may find all he says hard to hear, but listen awhile and ponder, and ask yourself whether this man sounds like a liar or an opportunist. Today the Israeli authorities reportedly say Ron Wyatt was never given a permit to excavate in Jerusalem, and certainly not near the Garden Tomb. And yet now film is posted online showing him doing exactly that. The Director of Antiquities reportedly says he never met Ron Wyatt, and yet there is a photo of them in Ron’s book with arms around each others shoulders. I won’t spoil the rest of the story for you, but what he was led to makes perfect and ultimate sense. All will be revealed.
September 23, 2016 at 10:41 am
tressbackhouse
Going through my old very large collection old e mails , knowing that there is still a listthat I can efer to I anyway decided to read this that I think that I missed in January. I know I had a rather bad spell around then ! This was beautiful ! and really spoke to my understanding! Thank you!