Jesus’ Mission Statement
“ It’s a pretty good summary of what Jesus is about - spiritual, physical, social, and economic healing, so that all people, no matter who they were or what they had done, could live as a child of God.”
I’m so grateful to God and to all of you for the privilege of serving as Pilgrim’s pastor. Worshiping with you on Sundays and visiting members of our congregation in their homes since last August has been a joy, and I’m excited to see what God will be doing through our community in the coming weeks, months, and years.
Before looking to the future, though, I’ve been reflecting yon these past few months, and one of the many things I’ve appreciated about our congregation has been the practice of saying Pilgrim’s Mission Statement together:
Inspired by Christ, we strive to create a reconciling community where ALL are welcome to seek, worship, and serve as individuals interwoven by God’s love. Our goal of spiritual wholeness encourages:
Open dialogue, Mutual respect, Spiritual quest.
A mission statement focuses our energies, time, efforts, and spirits around the most important goals and priorities of the group or person. I think Jesus had a mission statement, too, and that was the Sunday gospel reading during our Annual Meeting on January 26.
In Luke 4:14-21, Jesus is in the Nazareth synagogue to worship on the sabbath and to start his public ministry. Up until this point, Luke’s story has focused on Jesus’ preparation for his public ministry - his conception and birth, childhood, baptism by his cousin John, and temptation in the desert. After all that preparation, Jesus is now ready to start his public ministry, and the first thing he does is read from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah:
“‘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.’
...then he began to say to them, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’” (Luke 4:18-19, 21)
Luke actually takes a few different passages from Isaiah and combines them into Jesus’ words. The purpose seems to be to emphasize that the work of Jesus wasn’t just spiritual, it was also material. The poor, release to the captives, letting the oppressed go free are all images of the Jubilee year in the Jewish scriptures.
In the book of Leviticus, chapter 25, the scriptures lay out the Jubilee, which was to happen every 50 years. In that year, according to Leviticus, the land is to lay fallow and not be planted so it can rest. All debts are canceled. Slaves were set free. And everyone could return to their original, ancestral land. A general restoration of the economic and social life of the community was to take place, bringing it back to its original intent as the people and reign of God.
That’s quite a mission statement, isn’t it? Inspirational and powerful, and if you look at the rest of the story that Luke tells, it’s a pretty good summary of what Jesus is about - spiritual, physical, social, and economic healing, so that all people, no matter who they were or what they had done, could live as a child of God.
What would it look like if we were to take up that mission statement from Jesus? How would we live as individuals and as a community if people who are poor, in prison, sick, or suffering injustice saw in us “good news”?
I can’t help but contrast this with the “mission statements” I hear from many of our elected leaders, promising to take away protections for the vulnerable, to deport mass numbers of immigrants from this country, to imprison people who don’t agree with them, and to further elevate and promote those who are already wealthy and powerful.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said the church must be the “conscience of the state.” That means not only celebrating our nation’s gifts and joys but also critiquing our actions in light of Jesus’ mission statement. Another way of saying this is that the church must be a prophet.
As a prophet, it is not enough for the church to say where we as a people fall short. We must also lift up a vision of where we are headed, one that inspires, gives joy, and paints a vivid, real picture of love and justice. For me, this passage from Luke’s gospel does just that.
In the coming years, we will probably encounter increased threats to the well-being of those of us who already suffer from injustice ... folks on low-incomes, people who are immigrants, those who can’t afford decent health care or health insurance, people of color, members of the LGBTQ+ community... people who are us or are our brothers and sisters.
The Good News in Luke’s passage is that the Spirit of God is with us - just as the Spirit was with Jesus - to guide us, to help us act with love, justice, humility, and peace. May all of us together be about the same mission as Jesus, to be good news for a world struggling with injustice and longing for the love, justice, and peace of God.
Peace in Christ,
Pastor Dan
