The Spirit of the Holy One is upon me,
because God has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.
God has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of God’s favor.
—Luke 4.18-19
It sounds like an inauguration speech:
economic policy, legal reforms, medical advances,
a liberation movement.
But it’s not public policy; it’s God’s grace.
Jesus has no political office or power or plans.
He lives, in fact, under brutal oppression
that will stay brutal for generations.
He’s not launching a campaign, but a ministry.
An insurrection of gentleness, a revolt of kindness.
It’s something you’re anointed for, not elected.
Even under the thumb of Caesar,
we live in the Empire of Grace.
It is we, not the emperor, who will do justice and love mercy.
Surely we will lobby, we will vote and advocate,
but we will not wait.
We ourselves will embody the coming of God’s favor.
Like Jesus, we may soon be hauled to the edge of a cliff;
like him, we will survive.
Those baptismal waters have anointed us
to be good news to the poor, to be release,
to be new sight, to be freedom,
to be God’s grace.
But not on our own: it is God who anoints us,
who does this work through us: the Spirit bears us on.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
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