Good News

Isaiah 61:1-3
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news
to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, ^[a] 2 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.

Before I begin, I feel that it is necessary to state what these verses in Isaiah say over and over again which goes back to the very beginning of these verses; Good news to the poor. In the last several hundred years, the church has made great strides in providing for the "Spiritual" needs of individuals. The church saw that a person's well being is not as important as their spiritual life. To be sure, there have been small pockets of religious groups that have gone beyond and provided for the physical needs as well but they have been the exception not the norm. Large passages in Scripture have been ignored which warn the church of this danger. James says, "What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, 'Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." What would Jesus say to a generation that spends several million dollars in a building fund, while single moms, the uninsured, and widows are struggling to survive? For too long we have wished the hungry well and have left them hungry.

I have always been made aware of the global issues that are arising around the world. I have been encouraged by some of the organizations that work to make this right. Although we still need to provide for these poor globally, we as the Church need to know the poor in our neighborhoods and communities.

Tuesday nights a group of guys get together for intentional conversations that revolve around our lives as followers of God and the revolution. Philip a friend of mine mentioned that one of the ways in which he is actively participating in expressing love and listening to the Spirit of God is through gift cards. He said that what he does is he goes to the grocery store and buys a few gift cards and prays that he will meet a person to give them to that really needs them. I was amazed.