Annointed - Your New Year's Good News
because the Lord has anointed me;
he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,
to bind up the broken-hearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and release to the prisoners;
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour,
and the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all who mourn;
3 to provide for those who mourn in Zion—
to give them a garland instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord, to display his glory.
4 They shall build up the ancient ruins,
they shall raise up the former devastations;
they shall repair the ruined cities,
the devastations of many generations. Isaiah 61:1-4
Anointed. Have you been anointed? Set aside by and for God. Had the Spirit of God come into you. I don't remember my baptism, probably my father and one of his first when I was under one. I was never confirmed, because I said no to the requirement and just joined the church as a teenager. So no one laid on hands for me at 13. I don't remember ever having an affirmation of my baptismal vows, it wasn't done when I was growing up, that would have been a little to high church for us Congregationslists. I picture my anointing at my ordination 14 years ago in Willimantic Connecticut at my family church. Surrounded by friends, cousins, aunts and uncles, son, father, sister, friends, strangers, and pastors. Everyone was invited to come forward, but it was mostly my family, my son. As I knelled there on the step where my family worships, my son and my father, my sister and my cousins placed a hand on me. A prayer was read and then the spirit clunked into me. Those hands which were lightly on me, became the weight of the world on me as the spirit entered me. I was anointed. The Spirit of the Lord was upon me.
I would love to say they asked me the above from Isaiah, that they asked me to bring good news to the oppressed, bind up the broken-hearted, proclaim liberty to the captives, release to prisoners, to comfort those who mourn. It was a little more churchy - I promised to serve faithfully, to hear the word of God, to pray, read scriptures, perform the duties of the office, to preach the truth of the gospel, maintaining the peace of the church, faithful in preaching and teaching the gospel and administering the sacraments, faithful in pastoral care and leadership, be impartial, keep confidences, and accept the UCC and the faith of others. I know that Isaiah is covered in those vows in that I am to hear the word. Luckily the vow is with God's help.
Isaiah's anointing speaks more powerfully to my soul, to my yearning. Isaiah is speaking of God's desire for the anointed to bring Good News to the oppressed. What does that look like bringing the Good News. We often speak of it as that Friday through Sunday salvation ark. But for the oppressed, is that Good News or is that Marx's opiate for the masses. Because Good News for the Oppressed is to no longer be oppressed. To bring the Good News would be to actually work for the liberation, freedom, release from those places where life has kept us down, For the poor this means struggling for work, housing, healthy food, decent healthcare, transportation, water. For those who are left out of complete citizenship because of race or ethnicity it means changing the structures of institutional racism, to fight alongside and walking behind those who have been left out and left behind. To be the church for the oppressed means taking seriously our role to create a world where all of us are seen as beloved children of God.
Isaiah's anointing calls through the Spirit to bind up the broken-hearted. We are to be with those whose hearts have been busted open and be with them there in the pain. We are to break open our hearts for them so that we can walk through the brokenness of their hurt with them, We are to do more than comfort, we are to help repair, to help them find their way through. Isaiah goes on to ask us to comfort those who mourn, to provide for those who mourn. We are to walk with those who are experiencing loss and to do something - to provide, to give, to comfort.
Isaiah's anointing calls us to proclaim liberty to captives. When was the last time you thought about our political prisoners. Those we have housed at Guantanamo who have been there for years and years, for Leonard Peltier, and for those we don't know about, have forgotten about, never knew existed. But we also think about captivity as addiction. How we will we work to help those who are caught up in drugs, alcohol, prescriptions, anger, gambling, food, porn, video games, so many addictions. There is so much we do to escape. And we are called to proclaim liberty. To shout freedom. To struggle to free those who are captive.
Isaiah's anointing calls us to release the prisoners. What does that mean for us in the country that supports the prison industrial complex, that has put away so many people for so long. A system that is inconsistent and counter productive. What role do we have as a church to play in challenging law and order to create a place where people can feel safe, be safe, and be held accountable for their actions.
When we accept this anointing, when we accept this gift of the Spirit, the world will begin to repair. The brokenness will begin to heal, the devastation will be restored, the breaches will be repaired, the ruins will be rebuilt. This new year will you seek your anointing. Will you let the Spirit move you, guide you, push you, pull you, drag you toward the inbreaking of God into the world.
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