“A mission statement describes the overarching purpose of the organization, faith community, [individual] or entity – the reason it exists, stated as succinctly as possible.” *
In the reading from Luke this week, Jesus is finally getting to work. Right before this section, Jesus was baptized then spends 40 days in the wilderness, facing various kinds of temptation. He overcomes, then heads back to his home region of Galilee. On the sabbath, in the synagogue where the people have gathered for prayer and worship, he reads from the prophet Isaiah, choosing these specific verses: “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.” (Luke 4:18-19) Then, as everyone looks at him, Jesus says: “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Using the words of the prophet, Jesus declares what God has sent him to bring, his overarching purpose. Good news for those who are struggling to survive. Release for those who are held captive. Recovery of vision and health. Freedom for those who are oppressed. Jesus brings hope, healing, and freedom (in in both literal and figurative ways) to a hurting and broken world.
In a powerful passage from the prophet Isaiah, Jesus lays out his mission as he begins this work. Through the gospels, we will see that everything he does is shaped by that mission. His actions and interactions, his conversations and his teaching/preaching, his death and resurrection.
When Jesus tells the people at the synagogue that Isaiah’s words are fulfilled “today,” he isn’t saying that was the one day it was fulfilled and now that’s finished. The words he used meant that the fulfillment of Isaiah started then and continues and continues and continues. Today and every day, from now on.
No matter what other missions we have in life, as followers of Jesus, his mission shapes our lives. The purpose that undergirds our lives is bringing hope, healing and freedom to the hurting and broken world around us. Jesus has invited us into his mission that we share with God and each other. In the same way the mission shapes all that the gospels tell us about Jesus work and ministry, this mission shapes our lives, too.
Peace,