Missio Dei: WK2 - THU
JESUS READS THE ROOM
Luke 4:18-19 (NLT) “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 favor has come.”
Early on in my ministry, right around the time I got my first job, I went through a very formative experience. I had been to the post office for something routine and was walking back to my car when a man approached me. He was unhoused and desperate, and he asked me for a little money for food. Something in me closed off. I shook my head, got in the car, and drove away. Then, about half a block down the street, I pulled over. I sat there for a moment feeling something I can only describe as conviction and shame. So, I turned around and went back. I pulled up beside him and said: “let’s go”. He hesitated, after all I had just rejected him a few minutes before. He told me he smelled bad and had soiled himself, and I think he was giving me an exit. I told him its fine and I put down some newspaper on the seats. He got in the car anyway. We went to a Goodwill store. He picked out new clothes. Then we drove to a Denny’s and I told him to order whatever he wanted. He got a steak, fries, and a large Coke. Over that meal, slowly, he told me his story and a little of where he had come from. Before we left I told him I was a pastor. He thanked me. He thanked God. I drove home knowing that the half block I had driven before turning around was one of the most important half blocks of my ministry, because I had almost blown it.
Luke 4 is Jesus doing something similar, but of course so much better and larger. He stands up in a synagogue, with a scroll, finds the place in Isaiah, reads it aloud, sits down, and says: today this is fulfilled. It’s the announcement of good news aimed at specific people: the poor, the captive, the blind, the oppressed, people with no hope.
And Crosswalk, these are not rare people. They are everywhere and they tend to be invisible to us, not because there are few of them but because the systems around them are designed to render them so. But, Jesus names them. He purposely does not address the powerful first with the gospel and hope the news filters down, instead He goes to where the need is, and aims the whole weight of the kingdom at it.
The man in the car park did not ask me into his life. I had already driven past him once. What changed was a turn of the car. A small reversal. Mission that looks like Jesus will require the same: being present to the specific, particular, uncomfortable need that is actually in front of us, rather than the abstract need we feel comfortable caring about from a distance.
Luke 4:18-19 (NLT) “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 favor has come.”
Early on in my ministry, right around the time I got my first job, I went through a very formative experience. I had been to the post office for something routine and was walking back to my car when a man approached me. He was unhoused and desperate, and he asked me for a little money for food. Something in me closed off. I shook my head, got in the car, and drove away. Then, about half a block down the street, I pulled over. I sat there for a moment feeling something I can only describe as conviction and shame. So, I turned around and went back. I pulled up beside him and said: “let’s go”. He hesitated, after all I had just rejected him a few minutes before. He told me he smelled bad and had soiled himself, and I think he was giving me an exit. I told him its fine and I put down some newspaper on the seats. He got in the car anyway. We went to a Goodwill store. He picked out new clothes. Then we drove to a Denny’s and I told him to order whatever he wanted. He got a steak, fries, and a large Coke. Over that meal, slowly, he told me his story and a little of where he had come from. Before we left I told him I was a pastor. He thanked me. He thanked God. I drove home knowing that the half block I had driven before turning around was one of the most important half blocks of my ministry, because I had almost blown it.
Luke 4 is Jesus doing something similar, but of course so much better and larger. He stands up in a synagogue, with a scroll, finds the place in Isaiah, reads it aloud, sits down, and says: today this is fulfilled. It’s the announcement of good news aimed at specific people: the poor, the captive, the blind, the oppressed, people with no hope.
And Crosswalk, these are not rare people. They are everywhere and they tend to be invisible to us, not because there are few of them but because the systems around them are designed to render them so. But, Jesus names them. He purposely does not address the powerful first with the gospel and hope the news filters down, instead He goes to where the need is, and aims the whole weight of the kingdom at it.
The man in the car park did not ask me into his life. I had already driven past him once. What changed was a turn of the car. A small reversal. Mission that looks like Jesus will require the same: being present to the specific, particular, uncomfortable need that is actually in front of us, rather than the abstract need we feel comfortable caring about from a distance.
- When have you sensed conviction to stop and truly notice someone in need?
- What “small reversal” might God be asking you to make in your daily life?
- How can you become more attentive to the people society tends to overlook?
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