Jesus' Mission Statement

Jesus’ Mission Statement January 27, 2013 I Corinthians 12:12-31a Luke 4:14-21 3rd Sunday after Epiphany Year C The Opening Moments of Jesus’ Ministry Every four years the new president of the United States gives his inaugural address. In it, he articulates his program or his plan of action for his term of office. See if you recognize the President who made the following remarks: "With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations." - Abraham Lincoln, 1865. "This great nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself--nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance." - Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1933. "And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man." - John F Kennedy, 1960. Today's Scripture is Luke's version of the opening moments of Jesus' public ministry. We might call this his inaugural sermon. Mickey Anders, Jesus' Mission and Ours When the president tell what his intent is, what his mission is, and he tells us what he expects of us who are listening. Here are a few paragraphs of President Obama’s recent inauguration speech….. Each time we gather to inaugurate a president, we bear witness to the enduring strength of our Constitution. We affirm the promise of our democracy. We recall that what binds this nation together is not the colors of our skin or the tenets of our faith or the origins of our names. What makes us exceptional – what makes us American – is our allegiance to an idea, articulated in a declaration made more than two centuries ago: That is our generation’s task – to make these words, these rights, these values – of Life, and Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness – real for every American. Being true to our founding documents does not require us to agree on every contour of life; it does not mean we will all define liberty in exactly the same way, or follow the same precise path to happiness. Progress does not compel us to settle centuries-long debates about the role of government for all time – but it does require us to act in our time. We are expected to live out the tenents of the constitution- that all men are free as it applies to the current age. When Jesus gets a chance to speak to his fellow Galileans – he says much the same thing. Galilains are known to be a strong people, people who can stand on their faith. They are from the north country – and have always been challenged by the presence of other faiths. Galilee means circle – it is a city that is circled all around by other nations, yet they have held onto their Isrealite heritage. So when a favorite son returns to them and reminds them of the verses of their heritage – they cheer him on. The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he had anointed me to bring good news to the poor, he had 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. They are excited, because he is quoting from Isaiah 58 and 61. But what they don’t realize that he is doing so much more for them. There was a certain old recluse who lived deep in the mountains of Colorado. When he died, distant relatives came from the city to collect his valuables. Upon arriving, all they saw was an old shack with an outhouse beside it. Inside the shack, next to the rock fireplace, was an old cooking pot and his mining equipment. A cracked table with a three-legged chair stood guard by a tiny window, and a kerosene lamp served as the centerpiece for the table. In a dark corner of the little room was a dilapidated cot with a threadbare bedroll on it. They picked up some of the old relics and started to leave. As they were driving away, an old friend of the recluse, on his mule, flagged them down. “Do you mind if I help myself to what’s left in my friend’s cabin?” he asked. “Go right ahead,” they replied. After all, they thought, what inside that shack could be worth anything? The old friend entered the shack and walked directly over the table. He reached under it and lifted one of the floor boards. He then proceeded to take out all the gold his friend had discovered over the past 53 years – enough to have built a palace. The recluse died with only his friend knowing his true worth. As the friend looked out of the little window and watched the cloud of dust behind the relative’s car disappear, he said, “They should have got to know him better. Jesus words are gold for us – if we understand that they are more than just words. They are the gift of life for us. Harry Houdini, the famed escape artist issued a challenge wherever he went. He could be locked in any jail cell in the country, he claimed, and set himself free quickly and easily. Always he kep his promise, but one time something went wrong. Houdini entered the jail in his street clothes; the heavy, metal doors clanged shut behind him. He took from his belt a concealed piece of metal, strong and flexible. He set to work immediately, but something seemed to be unusual about this lock. For 30 minutes he worked and got nowhere. An hour passed, and still he had not opened the door. By now he was bathed in sweat and panting in exasperation, but he still could not pick the lock. Finally, after laboring for 2 hours, Harry Houdini collapsed in frustration and failure against the door he could not unlock. But when he fell against the door, it swung open! It had never been locked at all! But in his mind it was locked and that was all it took to keep him from opening the door and walking out of the jail cell. Sometimes, our thoughts and understandings of life can be like a prison. They keep us stuck where we are. The chains that we imagine to be on our lives, is all in our head and out thinking. We don’t know that we are free. Sometimes the past can be like a prison, and the freedom of Christ is at our doorstep. In the story of Jesus ministry – he does everything that he says – he heals those who are blind, he heals those who have illnesses that have held them back, he preaches the good news, and he encourages us to give to the poor. But his most important healing still comes in our lives. As he frees us, heals us, and helps us to understand the gift of life as we listen to his word. There is one thing that President Obama said that stuck out to me a important, when he talked about change, and the need of us to adapt to change. He said….. But we have always understood that when times change, so must we; that fidelity to our founding principles requires new responses to new challenges; that preserving our individual freedoms ultimately requires collective action. For the American people can no more meet the demands of today’s world by acting alone than American soldiers could have met the forces of fascism or communism with muskets and militias. No single person can train all the math and science teachers we’ll need to equip our children for the future, or build the roads and networks and research labs that will bring new jobs and businesses to our shores. Now, more than ever, we must do these things together, as one nation, and one people. In order to stay alive, anything that is alive has to adapt to its current circumstances. Jesus was trying to help his own people understand that concept when he told them that today this scripture has been fulfilled in your presence. They had been listening to these same words all of their lives, but to them they were just words. They were waiting for a messiah to to all of these things – but never expected it to really happen in their lifetime. Jesus wanted his people to know that it was time to stop waiting and to start living. To put belief into action. Love Is an Action Newspaper columnist and minister George Crane tells of a wife who came into his office full of hatred toward her husband. "I do not only want to get rid of him, I want to get even. Before I divorce him, I want to hurt him as much as he has me." Dr. Crane suggested an ingenious plan "Go home and act as if you really love your husband. Tell him how much he means to you. Praise him for every decent trait. Go out of your way to be as kind, considerate, and generous as possible. Spare no efforts to please him, to enjoy him. Make him believe you love him. After you've convinced him of your undying love and that you cannot live without him, then drop the bomb. Tell him that you're getting a divorce. That will really hurt him." With revenge in her eyes, she smiled and exclaimed, "Beautiful, beautiful. Will he ever be surprised!" And she did it with enthusiasm. Acting "as if." For two months she showed love, kindness, listening, giving, reinforcing, sharing. When she didn't return, Crane called. "Are you ready now to go through with the divorce?" "Divorce?" she exclaimed. "Never! I discovered I really do love him." Her actions had changed her feelings. Motion resulted in emotion. The ability to love is established not so much by fervent promise as often repeated deeds. J. Allan Petersen Scripture is fulfilled in what we do today. Finally we have to remember – that we too have a job to do in our lives. We are saved by the words of Jesus..but we have to save others also. In warfare, there is always an objective. In many wars, the objective is land. For example, in the Middle East, Israel and the Palestinians are fighting because they both want to have the same land. In Afghanistan we’re fighting because we want to destroy the power base of terrorism. Hitler fought because he wanted to create a “superior” race. The Southern states fought the Civil War because they wanted to be free from the oppression of the Northern States. The Gulf War was fought because the U.S. wanted to end the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, so they could have access to oil. I mention all of these wars, not because I want to say who was right or wrong, but to show that in every war, there is an objective. There is a reason we are fighting the war. And the same is true with spiritual warfare. If we are going to wage war on Satan’s kingdom, we have to know what our objective is. Our objective, our mission is to rescue people from Satan’s grip. To free them from his control. Just as Jesus said at the start of his ministry. We too have a purpose, and it is to fulfill the words of Jesus for the world today. The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he had anointed me to bring good news to the poor, he had 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. The church proclaims the good news, ministers to the needs of all people, and sets the captives free. The same spirit that was in Jesus, is in us today. How is this scripture being fulfilled in your life today? How is the Holy Spirit alive and well in life of our church today? Let us pray……