For Further Reflection and Discussion
1. How do you sense the Spirit’s presence in your inner life and in your relating to others? What affirmation and encouragement do you receive when you listen to the Spirit? Where is the Spirit leading you?
2. How does reflecting on your own poverty equip you to help abolish others’ poverty? How has generously extending yourself to help someone in poverty resulted in your own growth or healing?
3. Spend time in discernment to discover ways you are held captive. What did you learn about yourself? How does this help you release others from captivity?
4. Consider ways that you are blind to what is around you. Review Matthew 7:1−5 to prompt your reflection. How does acknowledging your own blindness help you bring restoration of sight to others?
5. Where do you see oppression most evident in the world? In your own nation or community? How can you help free the oppressed?
6. What are your hopes for the world? How do your hopes express what you understand as God’s vision for creation? How can you help bring about “the year of the Lord’s favor”?
7. If Christ’s mission is your mission, how do you and your congregation need to rearrange your priorities? How will this result in your congregation more faithfully reflecting the church’s enduring principles and more completely pursuing the mission initiatives?
The Spirit of the Lord Is upon You!
by PETER A. JUDD
consultant to Integrated Formation Ministries
In his April 2011 address to the church, President Steve Veazey held up Luke 4:18−19 for guidance and understanding of Christ’s mission. The NRSV text reads:
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.
Here Jesus recites a vital passage from Isaiah, claims the mandate as his own, and says the time for its realization is now. If Christ’s mission is our mission then we must understand what Jesus was about. Understanding how Luke 4 applies to us today can empower us for the mission initiative Invite People to Christ.
The Spirit
By asserting “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,” Jesus was laying claim to the Spirit’s presence to which Luke already had testified (see 1:35, 3:16, 3:21−22, 4:1−2, and 4:14−15). For Luke, the Spirit’s presence and work is foundational to who Jesus was and what he did.
The Spirit’s presence at Jesus’ baptism is particularly important. Luke says, “the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased’” (3:22). Here Jesus was told that God loved him and assured that God was pleased with him. From this assurance, Jesus was able to risk safety and popularity and even give his life on behalf of others.
As those who claim to be Jesus’ disciples, we must understand this divine affirmation of belovedness is God’s gift to all people. Recognition that each human being is a beloved child of God is the means whereby we come to know ourselves and all others as persons of infinite worth. This is affirmed in the enduring principle Worth of All Persons.
When we live out of this gift we are motivated and empowered to help others realize their own worth and belovedness. We become the bearers of God’s image in Christ to those we meet; more truthfully we help others discover that image already resident within them. This is at the core of the mission initiative Invite People to Christ.
The assurance of God’s love gave Jesus his identity. As we assume this same identity we can give up selfish pursuits and fear-based actions. We allow the Spirit to ground us in selfless giving and generous offering of ourselves for others. The Spirit told Jesus who he was so that he could do what God required. Likewise the Spirit tells us who we are so we can faithfully pursue Christ’s mission.
The same Spirit that formed Jesus as he was in prayer on the mountain stayed with Jesus as he reached out to those who society rejected. So it is with us. The same Spirit we enjoy when practicing the internal spiritual disciplines accompanies us in action on behalf of others.
The Poor
The next four phrases of the Isaiah text Jesus reads in the synagogue identify those to whom Jesus is called to reach out. The first is “to bring good news to the poor.” In Jesus’ time and in ours poverty is assumed to be mostly about a lack of material things. In most nations large gaps exist between the rich and the poor. A small percentage of the population controls or uses a large proportion of available goods.
The bringing of good news to the poor represents the hope of a better life and access to things of which they are deprived. This infers a greater equity in the distribution of resources. In most casesT the rich will need to make sacrifices and lower their standard of living so the poor can benefit.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus declared, “Blessed are the poor in spirit…” (Matthew 5:3). This type of poverty extends beyond the lack of material things; it has more to do with the lack of hope, meaning, and love. Many people who have few material things experience much hope and joy. Conversely, many rich people find their wealth does not bring them lasting happiness.
Community of Christ holds the abolishing of poverty as one of its mission initiatives. As we consider this part of our discipleship we must look at our own poverty as well as that of others. By reaching out to the poor, we will find our own poverty exposed and receive the healing Christ offers to all.
The Captive
Jesus read from Isaiah that he was to “proclaim release to the captives.” The people of Jesus’ day knew what it was like to be captive. Their history was one of enslavement and bondage. But Jesus did not bring freedom from this kind of captivity. Rather he spoke to how some people of his day were held captive by others and by systems of society. Jesus’ ministry was one of compassion.
Today, in most countries, people are held captive. This may not be physical restraint. Rather some may be excluded from the opportunities others have or are deprived of life’s necessities. Some people are held captive by tradition; others by fear of the unknown or of being rejected, unloved, different, or wrong.
The notion that freedom can be assured by the accumulation of huge stockpiles of weapons is a form of captivity. Resources used for this purpose are diverted from providing all people with adequate food, shelter, clothing, and health care.
Community of Christ is called to help end suffering. We are disciples of the One who gave his life to end suffering inflicted on people by others. As we generously share our resources with others, we help people to move from suffering to joy.
The Blind
Jesus claimed the call in Isaiah to bring “recovery of sight to the blind.” He healed some who were physically blind, allowing them to take their place in society free of what previously had encumbered them. Jesus also spoke of blindness in a metaphorical sense. He chastised the Pharisees (see, for example, Matthew 23:1−36) for judging others according to their own limited understandings.
Blindness of some sort afflicts most people. We each focus on what is important to us and neglect the unfamiliar. We may spend much energy defending the correctness of our own views and thus remain blind to truth available from others. We easily form opinions about other people and make judgments about their worth and value. This creates wedges between us and prevents the formation of true community.
The hymn, “Open My Eyes, O Lord” (Hymns of the Saints, 454) is a prayer of confession of our blindness and of trust in God’s power to give us enlarged sight. In Matthew 7:1−5 we find Jesus admonishing his hearers to first consider what is obstructing their own sight before they try to help others to clearer vision. This is good advice for us today as we attune ourselves spiritually to be faithful disciples.
The Oppressed
Jesus heard God’s call in Isaiah to “let the oppressed go free.” Oppression in Jesus’ day was a significant barrier to peace; it remains so in ours. Much oppression emerges from the lack of self-worth and security on the part of the oppressor. Happiness and fulfillment are seen to depend on the ability to exert power over those who are different. Rather than being seen as opportunity for mutual enrichment, diversity is considered a threat.
Community of Christ’s mission initiative Pursue Peace on Earth requires that we challenge and dismantle all oppressive forces. This can happen as we proclaim and live the meaning of life as God intends and as shown in Christ. This is the life of community that stands against individualism and selfish pursuit at the expense of others’ well-being.
It is past time for people to recognize they have more commonalities than differences. All need to work together for survival, not only of humanity, but of the Earth, which is being gravely exploited. As a church we have been counseled to be in the forefront of those who work against all forms of destruction.
The need for freedom from oppression is evident also on a much smaller scale. Unintentionally we often treat others in less-than-respectful ways. Some are discriminated against for their age, gender, color, sexual orientation, class, race, physical appearance, and religion, to cite a few examples. Community of Christ enduring principle Worth of All Persons affirms everyone’s dignity and value.
The Year of the Lord’s Favor
The last phrase Jesus reads from Isaiah is an affirmation of God’s reign over all the Earth. Here the four previous ministries are summarized in a dramatic concluding proclamation. The “year of the Lord’s favor” refers to life as God wills. But this is not some far-off hope. By declaring (Luke 4:21), “today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing,” Jesus is asserting the urgency of this mission—his mission. God’s way cannot be delayed; its time is now.
Bringing good news to the poor, releasing the captive, restoring sight to the blind, and freeing the oppressed may seem like separate mandates. However, they are parts of one vision: God’s vision.
Some students of this text say Jesus was suggesting the principle of Jubilee, familiar to his listeners from Leviticus 25:4, 10. Jubilee was a once-every-50-years correction of inequities and injustices that had accumulated over the years. It was a time for the reestablishment of God’s order, affirming the equal worth of each person. Here, however, Jesus is declaring a once-for-all-time Jubilee. For when God’s reign is fully realized it will be permanent.
Integral to God’s vision for creation is that all elements are connected. We no longer see only others as poor, captive, blind, or oppressed. Rather we see everyone, including ourselves, as in need of the good news and of release, restoration of sight, and freedom. As we reach out to be God’s instruments of healing in others’ lives we find ourselves being healed.
This text from Luke 4 serves as a vital foundation for Community of Christ identity, message, mission, and beliefs. It informs our enduring principles and gives focus to our mission initiatives.
As we open ourselves to the same Spirit Jesus claimed was upon him, we learn a new, countercultural way of relating to each other. No longer is the other “other”; we are all part of God’s wonderful creation, made for community. As we understand Christ’s mission and how he lived it, we will better discern and faithfully pursue our own mission. For Christ’s mission is indeed our mission.