Loving God, you continue to work through your people by the power of your Spirit, bringing good news to those who need it the most.  Help us to experience the Holy Spirit at work, deep within us, drawing us into the joy of your presence; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

    The message that we heard from Isaiah today is actually a Hebrew poem.  It is a poem that was addressed to people whose hearts had been broken and whose homes had been destroyed.  They had been in exile in Babylon for almost 50 years when finally some of them were allowed to return to Judah.  While they had high hopes for what life would be like now that they had been set free, what they actually found when they reached Jerusalem was a pile of rubble.  Everything had been destroyed – their homes, their livelihood, and Solomon’s Temple.  Where do you even begin, and how do you manage to find food to eat while you’re rebuilding?

    It is into this situation that Isaiah speaks those well-known words:

The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn (Isa. 61:1-2).

    As is true with a lot of poetry, there are many things in this chapter of Isaiah that have multiple meanings.  This passage is familiar to us as Christians because Jesus adopted it as his mission statement as he read from the scroll of Isaiah in the synagogue in Nazareth.  However, the same words could have applied to Isaiah himself, or to the nation of Israel, or even to us.

    We’ll return to that idea shortly, but first - did any of you notice today that the passage quoted by Jesus in Luke is a little bit different from what we read in Isaiah?... In Luke there is “good news to the poor” and “recovery of sight to the blind” (4:18).  In this passage there are Hebrew words that can be translated in more than one way.  For example, the same word can mean oppressed or afflicted or poor.  At the same time, there is a phrase that in Hebrew is literally “proclaiming the opening to those who are bound” (Isa. 61:1).  This can be the opening of the prison, or the opening of the eyes.  Not only can things get rather complicated if you are a translator, but even to study this poem, you need to go slowly, verse by verse.

    While we could certainly do that today, it probably doesn’t make for the most interesting sermon that you have ever heard.  And so today I’d like to focus on the introduction and conclusion of the poem, while summarizing some of the message that is in between.  All in all, this is a message of freedom and hope to those who have been oppressed and have had their hearts broken.  For those who had returned to Jerusalem and had seen the piles of rubble, Isaiah’s message goes something like this (beginning at verse 4):

    All of the ruins and the devastation that they see will be rebuilt (v. 4).  In fact, Gentiles will no longer be their masters, but instead will come to work for them as shepherds and farmhands (v. 5).  The Israelites will have a special, priestly relationship with God and will enjoy the wealth of the nations (v. 6).  Because they have paid double for their sins, they will be doubly honoured and will have everlasting joy (v. 7).  For God is a God of justice, and will compensate them for their suffering, and will make an everlasting covenant with them (v. 8).  And all the nations will know that God has blessed them and will know their descendants (v. 9).  For those who had been devastated, these would have been some pretty amazing promises!

    Yet, this is not a passage that is only for the time after the exile.  It is also for the time of Jesus, and for today.  I’m going to invite you to read with me verses 1 and 2 from Isaiah 61, and as we read them together, imagine them as your own words - as if you are the one speaking:

The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn (Isa. 61:1-2).

    Isn’t that an amazing mission?... It is not at all delusional to think of it as our mission as well, for God continues to anoint us with the Holy Spirit.  You may have noticed, though, if you’re really astute, that Jesus did not include the part about God’s vengeance when he quoted this passage.  For Jesus was all about proclaiming good news and setting the captives free and healing the brokenhearted.

    While, admittedly, we are not Jesus, we have been given the Spirit of Jesus and have been called to participate in God’s mission in this world.  And, as often happens, sometimes we are the ones who need to be comforted and set free, and sometimes we are the ones who are sent out by God and anointed with the Spirit.  And so, as we think about these verses, we also think about what this ministry that is described actually entails.

    Comforting those who mourn is fairly easy to understand, and binding up the brokenhearted means binding their wounds and stopping the bleeding.  Captives and prisoners could be those who are bound by addictions or those who are victims of human trafficking or those who are illegally detained around the world.  People can also be captives in their own home in cases of abuse or held captive by the power of sin that controls their lives.  Any time we can help to set such people free, it is an amazing gift. And for those who are oppressed, or poor, is it not good news when we treat them as if they matter and share the love of God in any way that we can?

    There is no denying that this is a really big mission, and yet these verses continue to reflect God’s purpose for us in this world.  In fact, take those first two verses from Isaiah 61 and compare them to the purpose & guiding principles that we adopted as a congregation.  You might discover a lot of similarities!

    In closing, though, we have not yet noted the rejoicing and the growth that happen at the end of Isaiah 61.  “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my whole being shall exult in my God” (v. 10).  This is almost exactly what Mary said - and Hannah - when the Spirit of God was at work within them.  The rejoicing comes from the gift of the Spirit and from the gift of God’s salvation.  And then it is God who gives the growth - and it is righteousness and praise that “spring up before all the nations” (v. 11).  Thanks be to God!  Amen.

Advent 3 (NL 3)                                Isaiah 61:1-11
December 11, 2016                            Luke 4:16-21
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor Lynne Hutchison

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