The mission statement
Devotional, week 10
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18-19, NIV)
Political parties have programs that inform everyone what they intend to do. Jesus also declared His program early on after He became a public figure.
It must have been a rare moment in the synagogue in Nazareth when Jesus was handed the scriptures and started reading from Isaiah: “The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the LORD’s favor has come.” (Luke 4:18-19, NLT)
The room must have been filled with expectations as He sat down. What comes now? How will this preacher interpret the text he just read? What new things can we learn today? Jesus just said, “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!”
A simple sentence, yet with a depth and profoundness that was difficult to comprehend. For hundreds of years the Jews had been waiting for the Messiah. Now Jesus indicated that the promises of Isaiah had been fulfilled.
The speech in Nazareth is like a declaration where Jesus shares His mission statement: Captives will be released, blind will see, oppressed will be set free and the Lord’s favor will be provided. In the 2000 years that have passed since Jesus walked the earth, we have seen this mission being lived out in practice. In cultures where the gospel has been deeply rooted, God has brought forth freedom, healing and grace through His followers.
However, sometimes the church itself has brought captivity and blindness. In some ways this applies to how work has been looked upon among Christians. In many churches the common understanding has been that if you want to serve God full-time, you need to work in a church or a Christian organization. Professional, non-Christian work has been seen as a way of financing your life. The real, divine service of the Lord is, however, what takes place in the church and its activities.
An average human being spends close to 100 000 hours at work in a lifetime. Most of the time we are awake is spent on work. It is sad to think about all the people who believe that God is not interested in this major part of their lives. The Bible does however tell us a different story. For Tent it has been a joy to share how God created us to work (Gen 2:8 and 15), how He urges us to work with excellence (Col 3:23) and how we will be allowed to serve Him in eternity (Rev 22:3).
Let us pray! Lord, lead us to walk in the power of Your Holy Spirit and through Your leading fulfil the mission you set before us.
