"It's a MISSION STATEMENT!"

"The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim lierty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the LORD'S favor..."

(Isaiah 61:1-2)

Many of us will remember that this is the passage Jesus preached on when he came back to his hometown of Nazareth, early in his ministry (it was also the sermon that caused his townsfolk to want to throw him off a cliff!).  Isaiah 61.  God's servant gives his "mission statement":

• Bring good news to the oppressed
• Bind up the brokenhearted
• Proclaim liberty to the captives
• Proclaim release to the prisoners
• Proclaim the year of the Lord's favor

So this got me thinking... how does this match up with my "mission statement" (and I hear Tom Cruise's voice, from "Jerry Maguire," saying, "It's not a memo, it's a MISSION STATEMENT!!!")?  Well, since I was instrumental in shaping the vision/purpose/journey statements of Aiea UMC, I'll use those:

• PURPOSE: Knowing, Loving & Serving God
• JOURNEY: Building a life-changing community that follows Jesus through worship, relationships, spiritual growth & service.

As I pondered the two, I noticed a big difference.  Isaiah 61 is focused squarely on people who are suffering (oppressed, brokenhearted, captives & prisoners)... while ours at AUMC only tangentially mentions a "life-changing" community (which should minister to the suffering, granted).  Hmmm... that got me thinking some more... how much of my focus (or our focus as a church) is on those who are suffering?  The first 2 categories (oppressed & brokenhearted) may be internal conditions that are harder to see than captivity & prison.  I'd hope our worship & ministreis meet some of the needs that oppressed & brokenhearted have.  But are we doing anything for the captives & priosners?  Not really.

I don't necessarily think the prophet Isaiah was making a universal mission statement for all of us to adopt.  However, it does give us all an opportunity to focus more on those who are suffering.  Bart Campolo has talked about allowing our hearts to break from the things that break God's heart!  So may it be!

PRAYER: Give me eyes to see a world in pain... a heart to feel compassion... and strength to go to those in need with grace, hope & good news!  AMEN.