Good Grief, Don't Miss the Good News

S - Luke 4:17-21 (NLT): "The scroll containing the messages of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him, and he unrolled the scroll to the place where it says: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has appointed me to preach Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the downtrodden will be freed from their oppressors, and that the time of the Lord's favor has come." He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. Everyone in the synagogue stared at him intently. Then he said, "This Scripture has come true today before your very eyes!""

O - This event in the life of Jesus and the life of planet earth took place in his hometown … a topic he would address just a little while later.  The issue here is both fulfillment and timing.  We can certainly speak in terms of the broad and far reaching strokes of God's will and purposes, of messianic promises and larger theological contexts.  But if this is all we do we have missed the essential point.  The point is all about "your very eyes." The Isaiah passage is always true about Jesus and his activity … it’s the "stuff he does." But the fulfillment and timing is less about the big universal picture and more about everyone present experiencing the activity Jesus wants to engage them with.  Jesus wants into every life and his "agenda" is clearly stated from the first day to our last on this planet: Good News, release of captives, blind eyes opened, freedom from oppressors and the Lord's favor.  In the power and relentless love of the Lord he pursues this "agenda" in each life that welcomes him.  Today is the day of salvation … today while it is called today.

A - In view of the awesome scope of the Isaiah passage and the one reading it, its universal application to every human being and the faithfulness of God to all his promises … Jesus wants this to be true for me this day and every day … I want it too!  Each day I wake up I see men walking like trees, am subject to forces and powers far beyond me, am vulnerable to missing the point, failing the moment and discovering that thinking I was doing well I have done so very  poorly.  The Good News remains that Jesus' agenda for me and for my world has not changed and he is able to fulfill the work he set out to do - very good news.

P - Dear Lord who wants completely in,

I want you completely in … in all of me and through me according to all that you've planned and dreamt and purposed.  You are life and there is no life apart from you.  So Lord, I beg (about my need not your recalcitrance) for you to heal me, save me, rescue, protect and engage me that I would be your friend, your son and you would be glorified in me and through me.  Lord, I love you back.  Thank you for letting me pray in Jesus' name,

Steve