Sunday, January 26th: "Gifts: The Gift of Purpose"
The First United Presbyterian Church
“Gifts: The Gift of Purpose”
Rev. Amy Morgan
January 26, 2025
Luke 4:14-21
14 Then Jesus, in the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding region. 15 He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.
16 When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
18 “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 set free those who are oppressed,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
20 And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”As Alice wandered through Wonderland, she encountered a Cheshire Cat. Alice, who was feeling a little lost, asked the cat which way she should go. The cat replied, “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.” Alice admitted she didn’t care where she was going. And the cat concluded sagely, “Then it doesn’t matter which way you go.”
Jesus has wandered through the desert. He’s roamed around the Galilean countryside. And he returns to his hometown to figure out which way to go next. He doesn’t ask the priests and rabbis or even his parents which way he should go. Instead, he turns to the word of God in the ancient prophesies of Isaiah. This prophesy tells him, and everyone in the synagogue listening, where he is going.
I often refer to this as Jesus’s mission statement. Everything he does for the rest of his earthly life can be traced back to this moment. Jesus has been anointed, a practice that, in ancient Israel, was used to make someone a king or a priest or somehow elevate their status. But Jesus’s anointing is for a very different purpose. It isn’t for his own power or prestige. Instead, he is anointed to lift others up, to bring good news to the poor…proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. This “year of the Lord’s favor” was the year of Jubilee, which was mandated in Jewish Law to happen every 50 years. Debts were forgiven, land was returned to its original owners, enslaved people were set free, and even the land was given time to rest.
Jesus’s mission is to liberate people from poverty, prison, impairment, oppression, and productivity. He knows where he is going. He knows his purpose.
Jesus is given this gift of mission and purpose when the scroll of Isaiah is placed into his hands. But most of us don’t discover our purpose so easily. We may spend years wandering through different studies, various jobs and even careers, volunteering in a variety of ways, and exploring new hobbies and interests. And even then, we may have no idea where we’re going. It doesn’t matter which way we go next, because we don’t know where we want to go.
Leonardo da Vinci advised, “Make your work to be in keeping with your purpose.” Instead, most of us work and work and try to figure out from all our work what our purpose must be. Thoreau wrote “It is not enough to be industrious; so are the ants. What are you industrious about?”
What are we industrious about? What is our “why?” What is our destination?
There are at least a million self-help books that will give us methods to answer these questions. We can participate in workshops and webinars to try to figure our purpose out and bring our life and work into alignment with our personal mission.
But for Christians, it’s actually not that complicated. Because, as the body of Christ, as the ears and eyes and hands and feet of Jesus, his mission statement is ours, too. We were given the gift of mission and purpose when we were anointed by the Holy Spirit in baptism.
We know our purpose. We know where we’re going. Our purpose is to liberate people from poverty, prison, impairment, oppression, and productivity. So now we just have to figure out the way to get there.
And for that, Jesus has gifted us with the church. You see, unlike all the gurus and coaches encouraging us toward self-actualization, helping us to define our unique, individual purpose, Jesus gives us a purpose that can only be fulfilled in community and as a community. We are not Jesus, all by ourselves. We are, as Paul said, the body of Christ and individually members of it.
As the body of Christ, we all belong, we are all essential, we are all different and serve different functions. But we all suffer and rejoice together. And we all can only fulfill God’s purpose together.
Through the last year, the many parts of this body at First on Fourth have worked together for God’s liberating purpose in a variety of ways. We have advocated for our unhoused neighbors and shared our resources through the MEND fund and generous mission offerings. We brought Easter baskets to children living in an impoverished area and provided laptops to unhoused youth graduating from high school. We opened our eyes to the sacred spaces all around us through our summer storytelling series. We offered comfort and nourishment and medical equipment to those who were grieving or injured or ill. We offered rest and renewal and connection through prayer and recreation and fellowship.
Each part of the body contributed in unique and important ways. We have organizers and bakers, communicators and crafters, folks who are handy around the building and folks who will walk to end world hunger. We have folks who are great with tech and folks who are better with people. We have musicians and multi-taskers, teachers and talkers. We have folks who are great with numbers and folks who are great with words. We are many members of one body, and this is how we continue to participate in Christ’s mission.
And this mission could not be more critical than it is today. More than 12% of the U.S. population lives below the federal poverty line, including 9 million children. The United States has the highest rate of imprisonment in the world. African-Americans represent 13% of the overall population in this country, but they make up 40% of our prison population. The most recent data from the CDC shows over 70 million adults reported having some kind of disability.
The Greek word used by Jesus that is translated as “the oppressed” literally means “the ones who are crushed, shattered, or broken.” In that sense, oppression is rampant in our society. People are crushed by debt, families are shattered by violence, and spirits are broken by structural injustices. We have government authorities, corporate leaders, and even grassroots organizations advocating for policies that oppress our neighbors. And our nation worships at the altar of productivity, at the expense of human thriving and environmental health.
We have work to do, church. This body needs to exercise our strength to continue the mission of Jesus, to fulfill our God-given purpose.
Now, we’re not going to end poverty immediately or open up all the prisons. We’re not going to heal every disability or restore everyone to wholeness who has been broken by the yoke of oppression. We are not going to immediately halt unsustainable agricultural practices.
In fact, it may feel like we’ve been at this forever, and nothing’s changed. It may feel like all our efforts don’t make a lick of difference. But we need to remember that the one we are following was literally crucified for living into this mission. There will be times when our eyes are tired, our hands are worn out, when this body feels more dead than alive.
And that’s a sure sign that resurrection is coming.
When Jesus said that the prophesy of Isaiah had been fulfilled, he didn’t mean that all the things he was anointed to do have been accomplished. He meant that the one anointed to do them had arrived. God sent him into the world to counter these destructive influences. In his life, he lived out this purpose. In his death, he showed how far he will go – even to the grave – to continue this mission. And in his resurrection, he promised that this dream will never die, that nothing – not even death – can deter the mission God gave him. And in his ascension, Jesus commissioned us to continue this work until God’s reign on earth is complete, until all things are made new, until we live in a world where all can thrive, all are free, all are well and whole, including the earth itself. That is the reality God designed and desires for creation. That is the reality he sent Jesus to inaugurate. And that is the mission we are invited to participate in together.
In our 150th year as a congregation, we will celebrate all the ways this body has lived into the purpose given to us in Jesus Christ. But, much more importantly, we will commit to continuing to follow that mission, imagining and implementing new ways to participate in this work, and building up this body, and all its parts, for however many generations will continue after us.
We are each and every one of us essential to this body, indispensable to the mission of Christ as it is lived out here on the corner of 4th and Jefferson and everywhere our light shines in the world. Whether your part is to run the sound system or run a committee meeting, you are needed. Whether your part is to sing or to pray, you are needed. Whether your part is to fix things or to listen, you are needed. All of us are needed.
May each of us, and all of us together, claim the mission of Jesus, and do the part that is ours to do. And, God willing, we will see glimpses of that new creation, moments of liberation, and rejoice as one body.
To God be all glory forever and ever. Amen.
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