Tidings of Comfort and Joy (Isaiah 61)

 [Welcome. And may the peace of Christ be with you. My name is __________ My pronouns are _______. And I’m ________ of Bixby Knolls Christian Church.] 

Two weeks ago, I mentioned that I sometimes like to read the scriptures out loud, to help gain a better understanding, and allow the meaning to penetrate deeper into my soul.

I did that this week, with our scripture from Isaiah 61.

Reading out loud forced me to slow... down. 

When I read silently, I sometimes race through the words. But these words from Isaiah cannot be raced through.

As I read through these words out loud, I didn’t just go through them at a slower pace. At times, I stopped completely... 

I didn’t mean to, but as I realized just how powerfully these words speak to our current situation, my own emotions forced me to pause.

Because I found them overwhelming.

“The Lord has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed… to bind up the broken-hearted… to comfort all who mourn…” 

That right there… it’s a lot…

The Lord has sent me to bring good news…

How the world longs for good news today!

How many of us have been afraid to watch or listen to the news in recent months? The pandemic… a month ago, when 1,000 people were being diagnosed every day in L.A. County, officials started getting worried. That’s a lot! 1,000 people every day. 

Then that number reached 2,000. Then 4,000. New restrictions were added, but the numbers kept rising. 5,000. 10,000. On Friday it reached almost 14,000. 

And the hospital beds filled up. Now, people who have surgeries scheduled are being told, sorry, there’s no room for you. People suffering from trauma, rushed to the emergency room by ambulances, are not allowed in, because the beds are all full with COVID patients. 

Because we’ve been ignoring the science. Despite knowing how to stop the virus from spreading, people have chosen to gather together, without wearing masks, to watch sporting events, to celebrate Thanksgiving...and to share germs.

Now we have Christmas coming up. We know that getting together with all our family and friends at Christmas is not going to happen - not if we love them. Indoor gatherings with food and lots of people are just too risky. We can’t say we love our family and friends and then take risks with their health…

We’re being told to not even gather outdoors - my sisters and I had been planning to gather on Christmas day by spreading our families out in one of their large backyards, with our jackets on, but now we’re thinking even that is not wise.

Yes, it’s disappointing. It’s not what we want.

What kind of Christmas is that?

This Christmas, many will be mourning - mourning the almost 300,000 Americans who have died from Covid-19 since March. 

This Christmas, doctors and nurses and hospital workers will be working overtime, trying to care for all those Covid-19 patients that are overwhelming their hospitals, doing their very best to keep them from dying. 

This Christmas, many will be struggling with unemployment and loss of income, and the accompanying fear and anxiety.

With today being the third Sunday of Advent, the Sunday of joy, we certainly can use some tidings of comfort and joy right now...

The prophet Isaiah says that God brings good news to the oppressed, healing to the broken-hearted, and comfort to all who mourn.

When Jesus began his ministry, he took these words of Isaiah, and applied them to himself. It was his very first public statement. It served as a sort of mission statement for all that followed.

As told in the third chapter of Luke’s gospel, Jesus entered the synagogue, where he was handed the scroll containing the writings of Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll, until he came to this passage. And then he read it:

‘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.’

And then Jesus rolled up the scroll and handed it back. And he sat down (which is what preachers did in those days; if this were happening today, he would have handed the scroll back and then moved into the pulpit).

And then Jesus said: “Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

For Isaiah, these words were a promise - a promise that comfort and joy were coming.

For Jesus, these words were a promise fulfilled - comfort and joy were now present.

The one whose birth we celebrate on December 25 is the one who comes into our lives, proclaiming good news. He’s the one who proclaims release to the captives, sight to the blind, freedom to the oppressed. He’s the one who binds up the broken-hearted, the one who comforts all those who mourn.

And all the rebuilding and all the restoration that Isaiah talked about, all that is happening today.

We’re mourning. We’re broken. We’re tired. 

We need this good news today.

Six years ago - that was the last time I preached on this passage from Isaiah during Advent. I went back and read my sermon from six years ago, and guess what?

Six years ago, the world was mourning. The world was broken. The world was tired.

Six years ago, we were mourning the recent deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown, victims of police violence and injustice. Six years ago, we needed tidings of comfort and joy just as we do now. 

The violence and injustice that lead to their deaths is still present in our world today. Today we mourn the death of Casey Goodson, an innocent 23 year-old Black American shot to death last week by police who, it turns out, had mistaken him for someone else.

That’s yet one more reason why the world needs tidings of comfort and joy today. That’s yet one more reason why we need to hear some good news.

The comfort and joy that come from God are more than just happy thoughts and well-wishes. God’s comfort and joy are more than just a pat on the shoulder or a meaningless platitude. 

That comfort and joy that come from God - through Jesus - exist only because God loves justice. 

That is also a part of Isaiah’s message.

In today’s reading, God says through Isaiah: “I the Lord love justice; I hate robbery and wrongdoing… and the Lord will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.”

Righteousness and praise. Justice, and joy. We do not take comfort in the suffering of the world, and we do not rejoice at the injustice of the world, but we do rejoice at the justice God brings to the world, and the comfort God brings to the world.

Because without justice, there is no comfort. Without justice, there is no hope, peace, joy, or love. 

And God is working that justice into our world today.

God’s justice is working into the world through movements like the Poor People’s Campaign and Black Lives Matter and the Sunrise Movement and so many others.

God’s justice is working into the world through people who vote for justice-minded leaders, those who will work to bring good news to the poor and to the oppressed.

God’s justice is working into the world through you and through me, every time we not only comfort someone who is mourning, but also ask why they are mourning, and whether or not their mourning could have been prevented. 

That’s why we comfort and provide aid to hurricane victims, but also ask why hurricanes are getting more frequent and more intense.

That’s why we comfort those who have lost loved ones to gun violence, but also work to keep guns out of the hands of those who shouldn’t have them.

That’s why we comfort and feed those who are hungry, but also ask why we have an economic system in which so many are hungry while so many others are drowning in wealth.

This is how God’s comfort and joy work. 

This is how the broken-hearted find healing.

This is how those who mourn find comfort.

And this is something we can rejoice in: that our God cares, that our God is present, that our God is actively working in our world (through those who are willing) to make right all that is wrong.

Comfort and praise are coming.

Comfort and praise are here.

Joy and justice are coming.

Joy and justice are here.

God is bringing good news to the oppressed…God is binding up the broken-hearted… God is comforting all who mourn…

"Release to the Captives" (Luke 4:14-21)

Jesus goes into the synagogue, opens the scroll, and reads from Isaiah. Specifically Isaiah 61. “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.”

And then he says “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Today. This scripture has been fulfilled.

Today!

More than one person has said to me that the New Testament is about grace and love, while the Old Testament is about punishment and vengeance, and that the New Testament overturns the Old Testament.

But look and listen to what Jesus does in the synagogue. He reads from the prophet Isaiah, then says, “Today, this scripture has been fulfilled. Jesus not only affirms what was said in Isaiah; he says: “What you read about in Isaiah, that is what I’m here to do.”

In Luke’s gospel story, this is how Jesus introduced himself to the world. We know from our reading last week that in John’s gospel story, Jesus introduced himself to the world by… changing water into wine. But in Luke, Jesus reads from Isaiah, and adopts what Isaiah said as his own personal mission statement. In Luke’s gospel, that’s how he introduces himself and what he stands for.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives.

He has sent me to proclaim recovery of sight to the blind.

He has sent me to set the oppressed free.

Now if you were a first century person hearing Jesus read these words in the synagogue, you would recognize them. If you were in the synagogue listening to Jesus, you would know, even if he didn’t say so, that he was reading from Isaiah. And you would know that Isaiah wrote during a very troublesome time.

The people in Israel had been in exile: captured, and made to live in a foreign land. In exile, their one great longing was to return home.

By the time we get to this part of Isaiah – chapter 61 – they had already returned home. The events that are described in Isaiah’s earlier chapters are now long since passed. In fact, this part of Isaiah wasn’t even written by Isaiah. It was written years later by someone else.

If you’ve seen the movie The Princess Bride, think of the Dread Pirate Roberts, a pirate of near-mythical reputation, feared across the seven seas for his ruthlessness and swordfighting… Except that he’s not really the Dread Pirate Roberts.

As he says, he inherited the title. And the man he inherited it from was not the real Dread Pirate Roberts, either.

As he says: “The Dread Pirate Roberts had grown so rich, he wanted to retire. He took me to his cabin and he told me his secret. 'I am not the Dread Pirate Roberts' he said. 'My name is Ryan; I inherited the ship from the previous Dread Pirate Roberts, just as you will inherit it from me. The man I inherited it from is not the real Dread Pirate Roberts either. His name was Cummerbund. The real Roberts has been retired 15 years and living like a king in Patagonia.'”

There are at least two – and probably three – Isaiahs writing in the book of Isaiah. Only the first 39 chapters belong to the real Isaiah. By chapter 61, we’re probably reading the writings of the third Isaiah.

And by the time of the third Isaiah, the exile is over, and the people of Israel are back home.

You might think that, now, back home, all their hopes and dreams would come true. But their return wasn’t all they had hoped or imagined.

Their return didn’t quite live up to their expectations.

They were home, but they weren’t really in charge.

They were home, but most of their land was now owned by someone else.

They were home, but they were oppressed by the powers in charge and by the people who now owned the land on which they lived.

Many of them lived in poverty. And they were still very much captive – captive, now, in their own land.

And as third Isaiah makes clear: poverty and captivity are unacceptable to God. Poverty and captivity are not a part of God’s vision for the world.

It is in this context that Isaiah says: “the Spirit has sent me to proclaim good news to the oppressed, freedom to the captives, release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor [the year when all this will be made right], so that all those who mourn will be comforted.”

The people who heard Jesus read Isaiah’s words would have recognized that Jesus was comparing their current situation to the situation of people in Isaiah’s time. Because in Jesus’s time, the people still lived in an oppressed state.

The Romans were in charge.

Their rule was corrupt.

The way the Romans ruled penalized the poor and benefited only a few elites.

The people were kept in poverty, and most were not able to own land.

They were taxed heavily, but benefitted little from the wealth that went to the government.

Rebellions came and went, each one crushed violently by the Roman army…

This was not what God had in mind when God created the world.

So God sent Jesus to the world, to save the world from the mess it was in, to save the people, to bring good news to the poor, release to the captives, sight to the blind, and freedom to the oppressed… to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, the time when all things will be made right.

So now that we see the similarities between Isaiah’s time and the time of Jesus, what about our own time? How does our own time compare to those times, the time of Isaiah, and the time of Jesus? Is there a need today for the Spirit? Is there a need for a proclamation of good news to the poor release to the captives, freedom to the oppressed?

In other words, are people still being economically oppressed – are they still being held captive – in our time? We need to know the answer to this, because if the answer is yes, then we – the body of Christ – clearly have our work cut out for us. After all, poverty and captivity are unacceptable to God. After all, the one we claim to follow declared it his mission to end oppression and poverty and captivity.

Are people today economically oppressed?

Today, the gap between the rich and the poor is at record levels. The Walton family which founded and controls Walmart, has as much wealth as the bottom 40% of American people. That’s one rich family with as much wealth as 128 million Americans.

Yet somehow, they – and other wealthy business owners – have convinced our government that they – and not the poor – are most in need of tax breaks.

So our government gives huge tax breaks to corporations, so that companies like Walmart pay very little in taxes. And a number of major corporations even have a negative tax rate, meaning they receive more in subsidies from the government than they give in taxes.

Meanwhile, the Walton family uses their considerable influence to fight against things that would help their workers, like increases to the minimum wage.

Here’s another example of how current laws oppress the poor. Last year, Martin Shkreli, the CEO of a big pharmaceutical company, raised the price of Daraprim by over 5,000 percent, from $13 to $750. Daraprim is a lifesaving drug that thousands of people with AIDS depend on, but that didn’t matter to Shkreli. And what he did was perfectly legal.

A few months later, Shkreli was arrested for securities fraud. This time, his victims were Wall Street executives. For that, he was arrested.

This shows that, in this country, you can cheat the American public, no problem, just don’t cheat the people with money.

We live in a system that economically oppresses the poor.

Almost one hundred years ago, we had a similar situation. The Roaring 20s were a remarkably good time for wealthy business owners. But the economy could not sustain such a huge gap between the wealthy and the poor that existed then, and it all came crashing down in October of 1929.

Is our own economy sustainable? History teaches that it’s only a matter of time before it crashes down once again. Unless we can fix it.

And we need to fix it, not just to avoid another crash, but because Jesus calls us to proclaim good news to the poor, to end economic oppression in our time.

Jesus also calls upon us to proclaim release to the captives. In Jesus’s time, many were imprisoned unfairly by the Roman government because they challenged the government’s policies, because they stood up to Roman oppression. And even those who weren’t in prison were captive to the unfair and unjust treatment they received from Rome.

In our own time, we know that African-Americans are incarcerated at a rate more than six times their representation in the general population. Clearly, Black lives don’t matter in this country, which is why the church needs to proclaim that Black Lives do matter.

And speaking of incarceration, our laws allow a person to be put away in prison for using marijuana, but not one major Wall Street executive has been prosecuted for unethical practices that led to the near collapse of our economy in the last decade.

In addition, many prisons are now being run by for-profit companies, which use their influence in the courts to maintain a certain number of prisoners simply because they need those prisoners in order to remain profitable. People thrown in prison for corporate, economic gain.

Clearly, the need is great for people who recognize the Spirit’s presence, people who recognize the Spirit’s anointing upon them, to preach good news to the poor, freedom to the oppressed, and release to the captives.

Jesus read the words of the prophet Isaiah, and adopted them as his own. The prophet, in making his declaration, is uncharacteristically bold and self-affirming. He affirms the Spirit’s presence within him. He declares what the Spirit has called him to do.

That’s what Jesus did, and it’s what we need to do as well.

We need to recognize and affirm the Spirit’s presence among us. We need to declare, boldly, what it is that the Spirit is calling us to do. We need to put before our world the vision of the prophets, the kingdom of shalom described by Jesus.

Finally, if we read just a little further in Isaiah 66, we discover that the prophet then goes on to give praise to God. The prophet’s final word is a word of praise.

The same needs to be true for us. We give praise to God, because in the face of oppression, inequality, poverty and injustice, our God is not silent. Our God demands a more just society. Our God insists that everyone gets to share in the benefits of a growing economy.

We give praise to God, because God does not look the other way when people are being mistreated or abused.

We give praise to God, because the words of the prophets are fulfilled in Jesus.

We give praise to God, because the words of the prophets are fulfilled in us.

Finding Joy (Isaiah 61)

Waking up Monday morning, I thought back on the first two Sundays of Advent: the Sunday of Hope, and the Sunday of Peace.

Prior to those two Sundays, the news had been anything but hopeful or peaceful. It’s been said that a preacher is supposed to preach with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other. Well, the headlines I was metaphorically holding in my hand (and my heart) had been anything but hopeful or peaceful.

The deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner. Two unarmed black men killed by white police officers who ultimately were not indicted.

Yes, the incidents are not as simple as they are presented to be. I do not know all the details, and it’s probably not right to judge or condemn the individual police officers or the grand juries that decided not to indict.

But what I have heard does make it hard to not judge or condemn.

What is clear is that there is a larger problem here. The names of Eric Garner and Michael Brown join a much-too-long list: Tamir Rice. Tanesha Anderson. Amadou Diallo. Sean Bell. Deshawnda Sanchez. Anthony Baez. Trayvon Martin. Jordan Davis. John Crawford. Lennon Lacy.

The recitation of names could go on all day.

It’s too many names to speak of an isolated incident. There is racism in our society, and it is, literally, killing us.

Today is the Sunday of joy.

Yeah.

Monday morning, I woke up and decided that, this week, after two weeks of focusing on the fragmentation of our world, I was going to find the joy.

I was going to search the headlines for joy.

I was going to keep my eyes open for joy.

I was determined to find joy.

If there was anything joyful to be found in a world of dismal headlines, I was going to find it.

And guess what?

I did.

It began (Monday morning) when I heard the news commentators talking about the Los Angeles Galaxy’s victory the day before, making them the Major League Soccer Champions.

Now I’m not really that into sports, but there is something else to this story, something that was the focus of the commentators conversation. One of the Galaxy players, Robbie Rogers, is the first openly gay athlete in major professional sports.

And why is this a cause for joy?

For the answer to that, we look to Justin Fashanu, who became the only top-level player to come out as gay while playing in England in 1990. Fashanu received appalling treatment from fans, fellow players, and his coach, and eventually hung himself.

So when Robbie Rogers came out as gay, he simultaneously announced his retirement. No way could he be a major league soccer player who was gay.

Shortly after his announcement, he was invited to train with the Galaxy, and then invited to join the team. Skeptics said it would never work. Team morale would not survive an openly gay player in the locker room, and without team morale, team spirit, the team would not be able to succeed.

The Galaxy proved the skeptics wrong.

Robbie Rogers found acceptance among his fans, friendship among his teammates, and now, a championship.

Clearly we have made progress in justice, equality, and human rights. We have not arrived at our destination, but we have made progress on the journey.

And that fills me with joy.

So that was how my search for joy started Monday morning. But my search wasn’t done yet. In fact, it was just beginning.

It just so happened that an hour later, I found myself sitting in a crowd of people on the playground of Bobbie Smith Elementary School, behind rows and rows of students in their navy blue Bobbie Smith Elementary School t-shirts.

Yeah!

The school renaming ceremony began, and after a few words from dignitaries, Bobbie Smith [BKCC member] spoke about her upbringing in Mississippi, attending school during “separate-but-equal,” and receiving support from family and friends as she made her way to college and to the Long Beach school board.

You know, when I woke up Monday morning and made the decision to start searching for joy, I didn’t expect it to be so easy!

Yes, there is a lot wrong with the world. Yes, injustice occurs on a daily basis. Yes, God calls us to continue the struggle for equality and justice and peace in our world.

But we can’t ever forget to stop and experience joy. That’s easy to do when we’re caught up in the struggle. I know some people who get so caught up in the struggle, that they have lost the joy. They’ve lost the alleluia. They’ve lost the doxology.

We can’t do that. In the midst of everything, we have to remember the joy.

Now, despite how Monday went, the search isn’t always easy, and Tuesday morning I got off to a rough start.

The newspaper headlines Tuesday included the Senate Intelligence Committee Report chronicling years of torture and abuse carried out by the CIA. I read a few excerpts from the report summary, and found them deeply disturbing.

In fact, every person of faith, every person who cares about human rights, and every person who cares about the reputation of America should find it disturbing, what we have done.

So now we have police officers choke holding unarmed men, ignoring their repeated cries of “I can’t breathe;” and we have the CIA inflicting interrogation techniques that are cruel and atrocious.

But I’m searching for joy. And I found it, Tuesday evening, in downtown Long Beach.

You couldn’t imagine a more diverse group of people. I estimate there were at least 150 of us, even though the Press-Telegram said only 100. (Just look at the picture!)

We gathered peacefully, to demonstrate our unity, and to let the world know that how we treat people is important. It’s always important to treat people right, to not deny them their rights, and certainly not deny them their life, even if they are suspected or accused of committing a crime.

We affirmed the good practices of our Long Beach Police Department and the positive connections it has with the community; at the same time, we recognized that structural, systemic, and institutional racism still has too strong a hold in too many places in this country.

150 of us, from different religions, different races, different ages, different sexual orientations and gender identities… and we held hands and prayed and sang. We made a statement for peace and for unity.

And when it was over, we were filled with joy.

OK, we had to work to make it happen. But we weren’t working by ourselves, we were united with each other, and united with God. And when you’re united with God, well, there is always joy to be found.

In fact, we are called to be the ones who bring joy to the world. I know that it’s Jesus who we recognize as bringing joy to the world at Christmas, but as followers of Christ, his task is our task.

And the Spirit of the Lord is upon us, and the Lord has anointed us, to give those who mourn a reason to rejoice. Because God says that those who are oppressed, brokenhearted, and held captive, they are to possess a double portion of blessings, and everlasting joy shall be theirs.

The prophet says “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my whole being shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He has covered me with the robe of righteousness. The Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.”

I kept up my search for joy throughout the week. But I think I’ll stop here. I think the point is made. There is joy in the world. United with God, we can live with joy, and we can bring joy to a world that is so desperate for good news.

Good News (Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11)

The book of Isaiah is certainly one of the most fascinating books of the Bible. It is actually the work of not one, but two or possibly even three different prophets. The first 39 chapters were written primarily to help Israel make sense of its destruction. The nation had been invaded; the people, captured, and sent into captivity.

How could this happen? How could God let this happen? Isaiah—the first half of Isaiah—attempts to answer that question.

The second half of Isaiah (starting in chapter 40) was written near the end of this period of exile and captivity. It was written at a time when the people were daring to hope that maybe—just maybe—this dark period would soon be over.

Such hope was hard to come by. For more than a generation, the people had been oppressed and brokenhearted. To be able to reclaim their home and rebuild their nation was a dream few thought would be fulfilled. It’s like the way many in Europe—and indeed, the world—felt during the Cold War. Few dared to believe that they would live to see the fall of the Berlin Wall. It’s like the way many African-Americans felt; few dared to believe that they would ever see an Africa-American elected as president of the United States.

Second Isaiah—that portion that begins in chapter 40—was written to provide hope, to let the people know that the future that they could barely dare to dream about could happen; that it will, in fact, happen. There is good news for those who had been oppressed. There is hope. The captives will be released. The brokenhearted will be healed. Those who mourn will be comforted. The ruined cities will be rebuilt, and the devastation of many generations will be no more.

All this will happen, Isaiah says, because God’s anointed one—the “messiah”—will come to power, and will restore Israel to her former glory. And indeed, Cyrus, the king of Persian, soon comes into power, overtakes Babylon, and allows the Israelites to return home. In the eyes of many Israelites, he was the one chosen and anointed by God to bring about their freedom and liberation.

Many centuries later, the Israelites are still in their homeland. Jewish life is centered in Jerusalem, the city of David, the city of Zion. But the people are not free.

Israel is now part of the Roman Empire. There is a strong military presence; Roman soldiers are everywhere. The image of Caesar, drawn as if he were a god, is everywhere, even on the coins that are supposed to conduct business transactions. To support the military and the empire, heavy taxes are placed, especially, on the poor. There is no pulling oneself out of poverty in Caesar’s empire. The poor, indeed, will always be present.

Different groups reacted differently to the omnipotent, omnipresent hand of Caesar. Some, like the Essenes, escaped to the desert, withdrawing as much as possible from Caesar’s influence.

Others, like the Zealots, wanted to raise an army to fight against Rome. They didn’t have a chance, of course… and yet, they believed that if God could help little David defeat the giant Goliath, then perhaps God would help them defeat Rome as well.

And then there were the Pharisees, who believed that God had allowed Rome to occupy Israel because the Jewish people had strayed from following God’s law. They strictly practiced the law—and strictly enforced it upon others—because only then, they believed, would God free them from Caesar’s rule.

Other groups, like the Herodians and the Saducees, thought that the Pharisees and Zealots were hopelessly naïve. “Come on, people,” they said. “Rome is here to stay. There’s no fighting it. Caesar isn’t going anywhere, so you might as well learn to live with it.” And they did. Some even became tax collectors for Rome, figuring, “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.”

As different as all these groups were, they all defined themselves in relation to Rome. They either lived within, or reacted against, the Roman worldview, the Roman Empire, and the kingdom of Caesar. They were movements of fear, violence, accommodation, or withdrawal, and as such, there was very little hope coming from them, and very little good news.

Into this scene comes Jesus. Jesus didn’t define himself as either for or against Caesar. Jesus didn’t define himself in relation to Caesar at all. Jesus defined himself in relation to God.

God’s rule could not be defined in relation to Caesar’s rule, because God and Caesar were nothing alike. God’s kingdom could not be defined in relation to Caesar’s empire, because the two were completely different.

At the beginning of his ministry, Jesus went to the temple. Many of the usual groups were there—Pharisees, Saducees, etc. They handed Jesus a scroll, and he opened it and read a passage from Isaiah—the same passage we read this morning—promising good news and hope and restoration. Over the centuries, the passage had been altered slightly—as Jesus read it, it mentioned good news to the poor as well as the oppressed, and included a line about the recovery of sight to the blind.

Languages change over time, scriptures were of course copied by hand in those days, and each generation looked to see how the scriptures could apply in changing times. Such changes to scripture were bound to occur. But the gist remained the same.

When Jesus finished reading, he handed the scroll back to the attendant. Then he announced to all who could hear him: “Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Notice that Jesus didn’t say that freedom from oppression is coming; he said that it’s here today. Notice how he didn’t say that good news to the poor is coming; good news is here today. Release isn’t just coming to the captives; it’s here today.
The kingdom of God is at hand. It is present. It is available to all those who choose to stop defining themselves in relation to Caesar. It is available to all those who stop defining themselves according to the prevailing worldview. It is available to all those who repent, who turn away from the crazy, self-destructive ways of the world, and who choose to live in a world that is defined by God.

After all, who says that the rich and powerful are more blessed than others? Everyone who subscribes to the prevailing worldview, that’s who.

And yet, wealth and power do not give life meaning. The wealthy and powerful are still beset by anxiety and dissatisfaction with life. They get depressed, they lie awake at night, and they even commit suicide. Their wealth and power does not keep such tragedies from them. What’s more, they suffer from the resentment of those around them, they must constantly be on guard against those who would seek to take their wealth for themselves, and they face the pressure of having to maintain their status in society.

The weak and poor are blessed because they are just as important and valuable to God as the rich and powerful are; they just don’t know it. Jesus lets them know—that’s part of the good news he proclaims.

But there is good news for the rich and powerful as well. Often, those who are rich and powerful in this world are the poorest in the kingdom of God. Spiritually speaking, they are among the poorest of the poor—as Mother Teresa pointed out in her life.

The challenge is to look upon each person as Jesus would, to not look down upon others, but to recognize each person as a beloved child of God, to learn to love ach person and recognize their value and worth… to recognize that the baby in Africa dying of AIDS is just as valuable to God as your own child; that the homeless person on the street corner is just as important as the mayor or governor; that the telemarketer who interrupts your dinner is just as worthy of respect as a Hollywood celebrity; that even a suicide bomber is loved by God just the same as you or I.

That’s what it takes to live in the kingdom, to follow the way of Christ. It’s seeing the world through God’s eyes; and once you do that, the world changes. It becomes something new. And you can’t help but be filled with love for the world, and all of the world’s people.

If enough people start thinking this way, start believing this way, start living in the kingdom… then hunger will end overnight. The thought that some stuff themselves with way too much food while others starve will become so repulsive, that the people of the world will make sure that everyone has enough.

If enough people start thinking this way, then poverty will be eliminated. It is a great shame and embarrassment that in the world’s richest nation, people beg on street corners. God is offended by this. If enough people follow the way of Jesus, this will not happen.

If enough people start believing, then every person on earth will have access to health care. Diseases that are easily treatable currently kill thousands of children every day. That won’t happen in the kingdom Jesus proclaims.

If enough people start living in the kingdom, there will be no more wars. How could there by, when every person, every child of God, is a brother or sister? No; the kingdom is a kingdom of peace.

The kingdom proclaimed by Jesus is most definitely good news. It’s good news to the poor who live in hunger and poverty, and it’s good news to the spiritually poor. It is good news of great joy for all the world’s people.

Thanks be to God!