Vocational Calling 1.19.25 Luke 4:16-30 Sermon by Keith

It happens at the beginning of every year: There is a big push for change, or at least attempted change, in one’s life and behavior. This can include New Year’s resolutions. But if you haven’t kept the resolution or resolutions you made by this third week of January, regaining the traction and motivation can be hard that came with that January 1st, “I’m going to lose 10 pounds,” or “I’m going to call those long distance family members more.” It can be easy to say, “Next year” already if you have fallen behind. But if you have kept your resolutions thus far, awesome, keep at it!

Realistically though, resolutions are hard to keep. They require changes in habits and changing habits can be a challenge. That’s why I think we are seeing a movement away from resolutions to “personal mission statements,” or picking that one word that will guide and inspire you through the year. Overall, I think this is a good thing, this movement away from resolutions. With a personal mission statement, if written correctly, it can focus more on who you are instead of an image that may be unobtainable. They can help you grow into who you were created to be instead of the image the culture is trying to tell you to be. With a resolution, you either fail or succeed. But with a personal mission statement, change and growth can happen in light of who you are. There are even books and websites out there that can help in discerning a short, succinct personal mission statement or a word that can guide someone. There are also entire church campaigns to help church members find that word of guidance together.

And you might be surprised that Jesus even had a personal mission statement. Here in Luke, we are presented with that statement as Jesus gives it not only to the members of his home synagogue, but to the world. Jesus presents these verses from the prophet Isaiah as a description of who he is and what he is about. Just before this scene in Nazareth, Jesus had been baptized by John in the river Jordan. The heavens were opened, God’s voice declared that Jesus is the beloved Son, and the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus like a dove. And the reason God’s Spirit came crashing down on him at his baptism was to empower him to do precisely this: bring good news to the poor, release to the captives, recovery of the sight to the blind, let the oppressed go free, and usher in the year of Jubilee, the year slaves are free and debts are forgiven, and God’s justice would reshape society.

Now, as you read the gospel of Luke, you will discover that Jesus lived into his personal mission statement. Everything that follows in his life amounts to the living out of these words he claimed as his own from the prophet Isaiah. He keeps doing these things: he heals, he frees, he proclaims God’s loving favor every chance he gets until it finally gets him killed. Some people welcome what Jesus does and proclaims, but others do not, like those listening to this first proclamation of his purpose. His words and actions upset their advantage, question their complacency, and push them to action outside of themselves. Those who disagree with him find their discomfort increasingly intolerable. The good news that Jesus proclaims and expresses to the world is at odds with the powers of the world, and Jesus’ mission leads him to a cross. But that good news he proclaims is stronger than the cross as God raised Jesus from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. That same Spirit that was with Jesus in his baptism, his ministry, and his resurrection is with him still today as he works in the world in and through his church.

Friends, we live in a time when it is popular to lift up the importance of knowing and clarifying one’s purpose, one’s mission, and consciously working toward fulfilling that purpose. And I think that is a good thing. Now, every couple of years I like to read the Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. I’ll probably read it during Lent this year. It is a good book, and speaks some deep truths, but I’ve discovered that in the 100’s of Bible passages quoted in the book, Luke’s passage of Jesus giving this powerful purpose statement is never quoted. For me, an understanding of an individual Christian’s purpose for their lives, and the church’s understanding of its purpose and mission, should be informed by Jesus’ understanding of his purpose and mission. And the reason his mission informs our mission as individual Christians and as his church is because that same Spirit that was upon Jesus in his baptism came upon us in our baptisms. That same Spirit that was with him in worship that morning in Nazareth is with us as we glorify God this morning in this sanctuary in La Grande. That same Holy Spirit that was present with Christ through his life, death, and resurrection is ever present with us as we live our lives and will be present with as we await the day we are resurrected to be in the eternal presence of God in Christ. That same, ever present Spirit invites us to participate with Jesus in his life-giving, world-changing mission of love and grace.

What does it look like to participate with Jesus in his mission? Well, for every individual and church it is going to be a little different. Paul in his letters, especially Galatians and 1 Corinthians, stresses the point over and over that we are all given different gifts to make participating with Jesus happen, no exclusions based upon age, race, occupation, or income, and no gift over and above other gifts of others. Thank goodness we aren’t clones of one another. And God through the Spirit will use each and every one of us differently and collectively and our gifts to make his mission come to life in the world. We start by asking questions like: Through us, individually and as church, how do the poor gain hope, whether it is their souls or their bodies that are starved? Through us, how do the captives experience freedom, whether they are prisoners in a jail or prisoners in a mansion? Through us, how is the Holy Spirit giving sight to the blind, whether it is cataract surgery or the scales of prejudice falling off the eyes of a bigot so racial reconciliation can be known and experienced? Though us, how are our gifts being used to free the oppressed, whether oppression is by a political regime or oppression from chemical dependence. How do we, collectively and at an individual level, share the good news of God’s jubilee to a world in deep need of rest and restoration?

So my invitation to you today is to think about your personal mission statement in light of Jesus’ personal mission statement. Make sure it is filled with joy to lift you up versus a great big ‘should’ that will wear you out and bring you down. Maybe it could start with, “Because I am a beloved child of God, my mission is…” or “Because I follow Jesus, my purpose in life is…” And think about how you are or will share God’s love to the world based upon how you have been uniquely made and how you have been given distinctive gifts to share with that world. Because following this Jesus means accepting his mission, knowing that the Holy Spirit will guide us out into a world in deep need of God’s love, grace, and freedom. Jesus went forth in the power of the Spirit as an agent of God’s mercy to the world, and so do we. Amen.