By Christopher Dryden
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,
that the blind will see,
that the oppressed will be set free,
and that the time of the Lord’s favour has come.
Luke 4:18-19 NLT
You’ll not necessarily think of a mission statement when you consider businesses and other organisations. Yet that phrase can underpin and help define everything that shapes and defines what it does. For example, Nike’s mission statement is, To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world." (If you have a body, you are an athlete.) That phrase sums up what it is to work for them and what they aim to accomplish.
After undergoing His first temptations, Jesus established a reputation for what His wonderful acts of service and words of encouragement about God’s Kingdom. When He returned home and took His place in the synagogue on the Sabbath, the home crowd were eager to see what He would say and do. He did not disappoint, using that occasion to zoom in on one part of the scroll He was given that outlined His mission succinctly.
It helped that His mission was something etched in eternity past, expressed through God’s man in time and that would echo for eternity to come. The mission is simple – anointed to deliver the rule of God expressed in wrong made right, low exalted ushering righteousness, justice and peace. God had the idea of how things should be. Humanity messed up that plan, but God’s plan would stand through His Son.
Each aspect of the mission statement informs us about the mission and the rule of God.
Good news to the poor – something to be declared and expressed, reaching those looked down on and downtrodden. It’s good news that those days of being forgotten are over because the Most High reaches them.
Captives will be released – whether physically or emotionally, in whatever way the enemy of this world has closed them in; God proclaims those days are over because He unlocks the doors.
Blind will see – living in the shadows of darkness as the rule of the wicked one distracts and demoralises; God says those days are over as His light will bring about sight for what’s real.
Oppressed will be set free – those chains of misery, those iron-clad restrictions to mediocrity, those handcuffs of dehumanising habits and addictions from pride and selfish ambition to physical abuse and depraved behaviour are smashed to smithereens; those days of limiting yourself to your vices are over as the conquering King liberates.
As we hear the mission statement again, are we challenged by it? Are we challenged by the impulse to reach those yet to experience the year of the Lord’s favour? Are we challenged to arrange our lives around the call to extend liberty, deliverance and good news to those who need it?
Those who follow Jesus the Way have no greater mission statement than the one He expressed to His people and lived out in His earthly ministry. That mission remains the same and is good news to a world impoverished, imprisoned, blinded and oppressed.
Ask: Why were Jesus’ words in Luke 4:18-19 so startling for the hearers?
Seek: How has Jesus’ mission statement impacted your life?
Knock: Look at the different parts of Jesus' mission statement. List four ways each part can make a difference in your local community. Pray that God would deliver that change and work through you to see it come to pass.
