Jesus Mission and Ours

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Cuthbert Little
5 years ago
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1 Isaiah 61 :1-2; Luke 4: Jesus Mission and Ours The text from Isaiah 61 that we read this morning speaks of a new and better world: good news to the poor, release of captives, liberty for the oppressed: the prophet imagines a world free of poverty, captivity, and oppression. Wouldn t that be wonderful?! It s a hopeful text, a visionary, utopian text, we might say, about the fulfilment of the Creator s intention for this world. And when we come to Luke s gospel, we find Jesus quoting this text in almost the same words, and applying them to himself and his mission. Today, considering this particular text from Luke, we might ask: What did Jesus know personally about of poverty, captivity, disability and oppression? Did his own personal history have a bearing on his sense of mission? What happened to that baby Jesus, born in the stable of Bethlehem? We hear tidbits of Jesus early life in Matthew and Luke. Altogether, it s a story of humble beginnings and disadvantage, in a world so harsh that we can hardly imagine. We learn that, first of all, like all Jewish baby boys, he was circumcised on the 8 th day. This makes absolutely clear that he was a Jew, a child of what was then the conquered, obscure little nation of Judea, under military occupation by the Romans. Then Matthew tells us that his parents have to flee with him into Egypt to avoid the brutality of King Herod. A common human story down through the centuries, and still going on today, as we see everyday on the TV news. So we can see him as one with all the refugees of history, who flee from cruel and corrupt tyrants. We know that he grows up in the small town of Nazareth, of Galilee, a backwater region of Judea, and he s part of an ordinary poor family, a family that was forced to travel far to register as tax payers of the imperial power.

2 Just imagine the disgust and anger that Mary and Joseph must have felt about having to make such a journey, at the behest of a far away dictator, especially when Mary was great with child. We know that the poor folk of Judea were heavily taxed by the Romans, and also by their own Jewish authorities. If you didn t pay your taxes, you could immediately be beaten up or killed. Jesus grows up in a world where crucifixion was a common fate for anyone who dared to challenge Rome in any way. So Jesus was not naïve about the cruel realities of this life. We know he s the son of Joseph, a carpenter, a skilled tradesman, and so, perhaps, just one step up economically from the lowest class of his people. Jesus must have learned to read at a synagogue school. We know that, as an adult, he knew the Hebrew scriptures well. We catch a glimpse of him at the age of twelve, where Jesus briefly went missing, and his parents found him in the Temple discussing things with the rabbis. Probably he himself practiced the trade of carpentry, since it was normal for a son to follow in his father s occupation. He can imagine him as a strong man, with the hard, rough hands of a carpenter, perhaps functioning as a tradesman/entrepreneur. He must have often smarted under the oppression and violence of the Roman soldiers and tax collectors. But we hear nothing more of him until he is about thirty years old. Well, the first thing we hear of him as an adult is when he goes out to hear the prophetic preacher John the Baptist, where he is baptized by John. There, we are told, the Spirit descended upon him, and he has an overwhelming experience of inspiration and empowerment. He has a new sense of his identity and his mission. He goes into the wilderness to fast and to pray, where he resists the temptation to betray his mission and to seek his own power and glory Jesus resists the temptation. He returns from the wilderness, and begins to preach about the Kingdom of God.

3 In fact, he goes to his home town of Nazareth, and filled with the power of the Spirit, Jesus stands up to read from the prophet Isaiah the very text which we ve read this morning Isaiah 61. He declares: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, and to let the oppressed go free. He applies this to himself. This is his mission. It s an outreach to the poor, the captives, to the blind and other disabled folk, and to the oppressed. This mission to the poor, the captives, the blind and the oppressed could be summed up as a mission of justice and compassion. It is very practical and down to earth. It s personal, and political. It is also spiritual. And it is rooted in God. Let s look more closely at each phrase of this text: First, he says, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. His mission to the poor and oppressed is from God. It s not something that he has chosen, something that the likes. He s not talking about his personal values, as we so often say today. Justice and compassion are not just human values or preferences, as though we like justice and compassion, and decide to value them. No, he s saying justice and compassion are rooted in God. They come to us from our Creator. They are founded in eternity. Today we might put it this way: Justice and compassionate love are the highest and most wonderful things ever to evolve in God s good creation. They are not merely our values because we like them. No, they are REQUIRED of us. Justice and compassionate love are COMMANDED. If we fail in justice and compassion, we fail fundamentally. We miss the very meaning of our humanity. If we do not love well, our lives are a failure. In many places, Jesus speaks of judgment. Jesus says we will be judged. According to what standard? According to our practice of love and compassion.

4 Now our secular society misses this point. According to the dominant secularism of our time, God has nothing to do with it. God is irrelevant. We can choose to be just and compassionate if we like. These may be our values if we choose them. But for Christian faith, we don t really have a choice. God has created us to live in justice and compassion. Now, to fill out what this means, Jesus speaks of the poor, the captives, the blind and the oppressed. First, he proclaims good news to the poor. And who are the poor? In our own time we can describe them as the hungry and the homeless; or people who lack access to education, medical care; and also, of course, access to transporation, not to mentin foreign travel, music and entertainment, to comfort, status and respect. Since most of us here are not poor, as Jesus disciples, we continue his mission: we are commanded to care about the poor, to look after them as far as we can, to assist them in practical ways. That may mean charity, simply giving to them whether directly and personally, or through charitable institutions or organizations. Supporting Wesley Urban Ministries is one organized way that we try to care for the poor. Also, our Agape program, here at East Plains, which reaches out to people in need (as we ve heard this morning from Mary), and more generally, the benevolent fund. We might also mention support for the Tekere school in Uganda. Supporting refugees is another. And all the compassionate ministries we support through Mission and Service. Besides that, in a modern democratic society like ours, caring for the poor means taking sides with them politically for more just and compassionate social systems. But then there is also spiritual poverty. We can be very rich materially, but spiritually poor. If, for example, the main thing we care about are our possessions and our money, getting more and more, that is spiritual poverty. If someone has no deep sense of meaning or purpose in life, that is spiritual poverty. A kind of spiritual emptiness.

5 Jesus, and we who are his disciples, bring good news to the poor: yes, food on the table; but also deep meaning and purpose in life. Then Jesus speaks of release to the captives. Who are the captives he s speaking of? Well, keep in mind that he lived in a slave society. The Romans typically carried off citizens of conquered nations and made slaves out of them. Hard labour, with no pay, no freedom. Today, after centuries of struggle, we are mostly rid of slavery, but human trafficking is still real in our time. And political prisoners languish in jails all over th world. Members of Amnesty International work constantly in support of political prisoners around the world. When Jesus spoke about judgment, in the parables of the sheep and the goats, he mentioned those in prison, who need to be visited. He said that when we visit prisoners, we visit him. That could include shut-in people, people stuck in hospitals, in nursing homes. But then there is also a spiritual meaning of captivity. We can be captive, of course, to alcohol or drugs, or to gambling, or even to sex. Being a disciple of Jesus means release from such captivity, because as Jesus disciples, our lives take on deeper meaning. I know very well that addiction is no easy thing to overcome. But God s Spirit and God s grace offers forgiveness and unconditional love. God s grace can empower people to self-control and a better life. Then Jesus goes on to speak of recovering of sight to the blind. I m sure he means literally the blind, people who can t see and other kinds of actual physical disability as well. If we read through the gospels one of the main things we hear about Jesus is that he healed the sick and disabled, people who were blind, lame, mentally ill. You may find these miracle stories hard to believe, because we don t usually see things like that happening around us.

6 But maybe we shouldn t dismiss the healing narratives too easily. There are so many healing stories in the gospels. It appears that Jesus healings were the main thing that attracted the attention of the crowds. And the healing stories are remarkably vivid and detailed. As in the case where Jesus is inside a house, and a great crowd of people have brought their sick and disabled to him to be healed. The crowd outside is all pushing to get in the door, but one family manages to get up on the roof, to remove some tiles and to lower their loved one down into the presence of Jesus for healing. That s just one of the many vivid, detailed memories of Jesus healing that has been passed down to us. Consider that something very special, something unique was happening in the life of Jesus truly a revelatory inbreaking of the eternal Spirit into history. As disciples of Jesus, we don t work miracles as he did, but we continue his compasson and care for the sick and disabled. That s why we have medical missions. That s why we support publicly funded medical care. That s why we visit the sick and disabled, assist them where we can, and pray for them. But there is also a spiritual dimension to blindness. It refers to people who cannot, or will not, see the truth that stares them in the face. Like in the hymn Amazing grace, I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see. Probably we are all blind to some extent. We can all be self-deceived. (Probably I am self-deceived in some way, but I have no idea what it is!) Paying attention to Jesus should probably open our eyes about a few things in our own lives. Finally, Jesus goes on to talk about setting at liberty those who are oppressed. As I ve already said, Jesus knew well what oppression was. He was himself oppressed.

7 He also stood up courageously for oppressed people; he defended a woman about to be stoned for adultery; he befriended the tax collector, Zacchaeus, because he realized that he, too, was an oppressed person. He ate and drank in public with sinners. Wherever Jesus was there was joy, so much affirmation, and, I daresay, lots of laughter. But anger too. Remember how he protested about poor folks being cheated by the money changers in the Temple. No doubt that s why the local elite hated him, and the Romans crucified him. He was a. disturber. Down through history, oppressed people have often flocked to Jesus in large numbers. The apostle Paul tells us that most people in the early churches were poor folk, probably many of the first Christians were slaves. Centuries later, black slaves in America also responded warmly to Jesus as their master. The black church was a huge support, spiritually, for the slaves, and for black people after slavery as well. Jesus brought joy to the slaves. Don t we associate the black church with celebration and joy? But this text from Luke 4 has been a favourite text for oppressed aboriginals in North America, but also people in Latin America. It tells them that God is on their side in their struggle for liberation. Faith in Jesus gives to oppressed people great dignity, hope and encouragement, and, yes, joy. It s no surprise that oppressed people usually love Jesus. He gives them joy! So I ve said that Jesus mission was a compassionate outreach to victims of injustice, the poor, the captives, the blind and disabled, the oppressed. And that we, as disciples of Jesus, have the task of extending that mission in our own time, in any way we can. And of course, none of us can do all of these things. But we can do some of them, or maybe one of them. And in carrying out this mission, we find joy.

8 However, I hasten to add: the good news that Jesus spoke of was not just these moral exhortations to be good. It s not that Jesus was a good man, who just told us go out and be good. Jesus is not just a moralist, who pep talks us about being good. That s not good news. That s just a moral obligation, which may just make us feel guilty or helpless. So where is the good news that the prophet spoke of, and that Jesus announced? Two things to remember (and I can make these points very quickly): First, Jesus is not just a moralist; he is filled with the Spirit of God, so much so that he is one with God, and God is one with him. That s why we call him Emmanuel. God with us. He embodies the divine presence in the world. That means that Jesus care for the poor, the captives, the blind and the oppressed, is God s care for them. Jesus suffering and death on the cross, is God s own suffering and God s own death. So that, in all our struggles, in life and in death, God is with us and within us, suffering and struggling alongside us. The other thing to remember is that Jesus, having suffered and died, was raised from the dead. His resurrection, which we will celebrate at Easter, is our sign and promise that poverty, captivity, blindness and oppression are not the end of the story. Indeed, death is not the end of the story. The resurrection tells us that finally God s purposes will be fulfilled. There will be justice for the dead. As we struggle with the hardships and tragedies of life, we know, in light of the resurrection, that something wonderful still lies ahead. What we see here and now is not all there is. What we experience here and now will not be forever. Rather, God gathers up all our little efforts to make a better world, and finally God s Kingdom will come, and God s will will be done, in ways that we cannot begin to imagine. Because, in spite of all appearances, Jesus is Lord. That s why we sing, at Christmas, and at Easter, Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Amen.

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