...what we do...

you know what's funny? The last passage I wrote about ended up being the passage where we got our name for this new collection of disciples (or whatever we are calling ourselves). And I had thought about using something that came out of this passage in Isaiah...Sanctuary 61...not really funny though huh? more like, oh, that's cute...move on?...got it....

Anyway, Isaiah 61.1-2 is the passage Jesus quotes in Luke 4 to say, this is what I am going to be about. I'm going to be about preaching good news to the poor, setting people free from what entangles them, healing brokenness, and proclaiming the year of the Lord's Favor (Jubilee). The passage in Luke 4 lends itself to so many thing, so many thoughts, so much that I could and might write about. But since no one wants to read a blog post made of 2000 words...I won't, you can thank me now.

but one thing Jesus does, i feel is very important...in verses 23-27, Jesus tells of how the prophets of old, twice, went to people who weren't jews. they went to those nasty gentiles. why did he say that, what does that have to do with anything from the Isaiah passage...the Isaiah passage was hope written for the jewish people in exile, why talk about elijah and elisha helping out a woman from sidon or a syrain soldier? what's the point of Jesus bringing that up? what could have made those in the synagogue so angry they tried to chuck Jesus off a cliff...

maybe...maybe it was because Jesus was saying, the fulfillment of this passage of hope you all know sooo well from isaiah...it includes everyone...even those people you despise, even those outside the 'chosen tribe of israel'. let that sink in...even from the beginning the mission of God, the missio dei, included everyone...

we value this passage, because we believe we have been called to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim freedom for the addicted and imprisoned, to bring healing for the broken, and proclaim liberation for the oppressed and the year of Jubilee to anyone and everyone we meet. no matter who they are, what they've been through, what they've done, or how people would view them...we believe God has called us to be radical witnesses to the reality of the kingdom of God...

so what's that look like...i can't wait to find out...