When Jesus began his public ministry, full of the Holy Spirit, his reputation quickly spread as he went from synagogue to synagogue, teaching. And when he came to his home in Nazareth, he showed all his cards. Reading from Isaiah, he sat back and said, “This prophecy is fulfilled in me. Today.”
“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.”
Anointed to bring good news. To those most in need of it – the poor, the captive, the blind, the oppressed. This, he was saying, is what God is up to, has always been up to, is doing among us even now. Today. We who bear the name and life of Christ share in this anointing, whether or not we choose to live it out.
Today we celebrate the life and ministry of one who did not shirk that anointing, but embraced it, gave himself to it even unto death, in the footsteps of his Lord Jesus Christ. Martin Luther King, Jr. knew that the Good News hadn’t gotten around to everyone yet. There were still plenty of poor people who needed to hear it; plenty of people blinded by greed and power and lack of insight; plenty of people still oppressed by injustice and cruelty and the legacy of slavery; plenty of people held captive in systems of racism and white privilege that hold resources and opportunities for the few.
And so he went with his anointing and preached Good News, not only proclaiming release but working tirelessly to bring it about. He worked and proclaimed and wept and dreamed until he was silenced. His dream is not fully realized – the last few years have made that abundantly clear. God’s dream is not yet fully realized in our world. We are invited to use our anointing to help bring it to fullness for all people.
Today I invite you to read that prophecy of Isaiah that Jesus claimed in the synagogue so long ago, and ask the Spirit to renew this anointing in you, to allow the Spirit to work through you to bring to visible completion the Good News Jesus proclaimed and won for us. Can we open ourselves to God’s dream of wholeness for all of creation, of blessing for every child of every race in every place?
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.” Today this scripture is fulfilled in our hearing. Join Jesus in making it so.
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