THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD

Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11

December 21, 2008 – Rev. Jerry Duggins

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me….” So begins the prophet who spoke to the faithful in exile a little over 500 years before the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ. According to Luke, they are the same words Jesus read in Nazareth as he began his ministry. When he sits down after reading these first two verses from our text today, he says to the hometown crowd, “Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Jesus heard these words from Isaiah as though they were speaking of him. “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me… because the Lord has anointed me… and sent me to bring good news to the poor… sent me to bind up the brokenhearted… sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and release to prisoners… sent me to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

These were words that Isaiah’s audience could almost believe. The empire had recently changed hands from the Babylonians to the Persians and there was a new king on the throne. Cyrus was thought to have a more enlightened attitude toward the previously conquered peoples that included the Jews from Jerusalem. The rumor, soon to be verified, was going around that they would be allowed to return to their homes in Jerusalem.

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me…,” words that sound strangely appropriate in the mouth of the prophet who has lived with the people through hard years of exile, less strange perhaps if they refer to the new king who has it in his power to make these wonderful things happen. But in the mouth of a new rabbi, whom they had watched grow up from a little boy, they must have sounded a bit pretentious. And when you consider that the hope for such things were so remote in the Roman empire, you have to wonder what Jesus was thinking in appropriating these words for himself.

There are some scholars, both Jewish and Christian, who suggest that “me” in fact refers to the people, that the people. collectively are the bearers of good news. This fits the long tradition that the nation, the descendants of Abraham and Sarah, existed for the purpose of blessing the whole world. So the church understood very quickly that discipleship in the school of Jesus centered in both loving God and loving neighbor. But we would never make this claim today, would we? “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me….”

Christians of today are a more modest sort. We might be led or guided by the Spirit, though hardly ever on the scale implied by Isaiah. We are content to have the word of God on our hearts, hardly ever believing that such a word might be active in the world.

But what if we did believe it? What would happen if we understood ourselves as sent by God for some purpose? What if the spirit of the Lord God were upon us and God had anointed us in order to accomplish some purpose? Advent is the perfect time to explore these kinds of questions. In this season we anticipate the birth of one sent by God, who in turn will send his disciples, the church.

If we claim to be followers of Christ, then the Spirit of the Lord is upon us. The question remains as to whether we are paying attention to the urgings of the Spirit, whether we in fact recognize the presence of the Spirit of the Lord among us. Theologians who study the church refer to this as the “missional” nature of the church. Mission comes from a Latin word meaning “to send.” These theologians are not talking about the church sending “missionaries” but of the need for each congregation to understand its purpose, what it is being sent to do.

Today’s reading provides the perfect opportunity for the church to reflect on how well it is holding to its missional nature. We might use the text to reflect on where we have strayed from our mission or consider it as a challenge to reclaim that mission. Scott Bader-Saye writes:

Being missional, in light of this passage, means profoundly challenging all forms of cultural Christianity that would make “church” an end in itself, a community of the saved devoted to maintaining a building, a set of programs, and a fellowship of the like-minded. (p.52)

“Mission,” he says, “is not something that goes out from God’s people – by sending away money or sending missionaries – but something that defines God’s people, as existing for the sake of the oppressed, brokenhearted, imprisoned, and mournful” (p.52).

There is so much in our world that needs the touch of God’s grace. We are either too overwhelmed by the enormity of the problems or we retreat to our own little world where such problems do not exist, or if they do on a scale much more manageable. But if the cross that Jesus took up means anything, it means at the very least that we cannot escape the world’s pain by fleeing to eternity. There are “conditions closeted in the human heart and made acute by the culture’s merriment” that must occupy the church’s concern. According to Cynthia Jarvis, we see these conditions close to home in “relationships severed… addictions hidden… violence barely domesticated… depression denied… affairs raging… self-loathing cut deep into the flesh… greed… hatred… and fear.” We see it on a grand scale in “those peoples refused a room at the inns of privilege. the elderly poor, children without healthcare, refugees of Darfur, and the homeless schizophrenic” (p.52). We might add to Professor Jarvis’ list the many in foreclosure, the unemployed and those in danger of losing jobs. So many in our world live in exile under conditions of oppression. It is for these that the Spirit of the Lord God rests upon those sent by God. It is for their sake that we bear the good news, seeking relief for the oppressed, encouragement for the brokenhearted and comfort for those who mourn. Were it not for the Spirit of the Lord, we could not hope to make any difference.

But this is not all. Isaiah reminds us not only of our mission, but of our character. What sort of people are we? What kind of community have we formed? What values are evidenced in our life together? Here we must have courage to face the hypocrisy present in the church and to seek God’s grace for ourselves. Again, Professor Jarvis urges the church to deeper reflection. “What if,” she writes, “we went on to name those who are oppressed, brokenhearted, captive and imprisoned not only by the world but particularly by the church’s narrow take on God’s wide mercy: the gay uncle, the unwed mother, the woman who has chosen to abort the pregnancy, the non-Christian, tortured enemy combatants, the illegal immigrant, and the hapless in a hospital waiting room” (p.54).

What if the Spirit of the Lord were upon us? What if we should become aware of this and began paying attention to the urgings of God’s Spirit? It is only a few days before we celebrate again the birth of Jesus into our world, a birth that bridged heaven and earth. Jesus knew for whom he had been sent. He was clear about his purpose. It didn’t always sit well with everyone. The hometown crowd tried to run him off a cliff. The powers of the day eventually nailed him to a cross. But neither of these things changed his mind about God. He still healed the sick, fed the hungry, offered good news to the poor, forgave the sinner and even raised the dead.

I’m not suggesting this morning that you work on developing a “messiah complex,” nor that you cultivate excessive pride in what you can do. I am suggesting that you say these words to yourself over the next couple days: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me….” And then ask yourself: “What difference does it make in how I see myself and what I do?” And then, figure out for whom you have been sent. They are waiting for the good news that you have to share. And please, remember, they cannot wait forever.

Somewhere hope is fading. A door is closing. Life is ebbing away. But the Spirit of the Lord is moving about the world replacing ashes with a garland, offering a mantle of praise in place of the faint spirit. As Isaiah says, “As the earth brings forth its shoots and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.” And you are invited, indeed privileged to be a part of it.

Amen.

Resources:

“Isaiah 61:1-4,8-11, Pastoral Perspective” by Cynthia Jarvis. In Feasting on the Word, Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year B, vol. 1 Advent through Transfiguration. Edited by Bartlett, David and Taylor, Barbara Brown. Westminster John Knox Press: Louisville KY, 2008

“Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11, Exegetical Perspective” by Scott Bader-Saye. In Feasting on the Word,Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year B, vol. 1 Advent through Transfiguration. Edited by Bartlett, David and Taylor, Barbara Brown. Westminster John Knox Press: Louisville KY, 2008.