Online Archives

Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11
I Thessalonians 5:16-24
John 1:6-8, 19-28

The Lord has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord?s favor.

This Scripture is equivalent to a to-do list in our world. Jesus used Isaiah?s words to draw a picture of what God sent him to accomplish.

Jesus? purpose was to tell the good news of God to the poor; comfort those with broken hearts; bring freedom to the imprisoned; and proclaim God?s time of happiness and God?s time for punishment towards the evil. Jesus was to bring joy to those who were in sorrow and rebuild the cities that laid in ruin.

It?s not a simple mission but it is something that is more possible with the Lord?s help.

This Scripture is what we, the church, should also be striving for. But how many of us are doing this?

It concerns me sometimes to see that we can talk on and on about helping our neighbor and caring and comforting them, but all we do is look at them from afar.

Most of the time in our churches our words are not in line with our activities.

On Sunday mornings, we all go to church and preach to the healthy, the rich and the ones who are not held captive. Once we get out of those four walls what will we do?

Are we practicing during the week what we preach on Sundays? Or are we just saying nice things on one day? Many people say they are concerned for the poor and the imprisoned but yet they have never said two words to them.

When we see someone who is not well-dressed or looks like a bad person in our minds, we immediately reject them. Are we sad for the hungry and the sick? If we are, then why is it that we will not share our resources with them or at least pay them a visit? What are we doing to help the people around us, and not just the people who we prefer to help? Jesus fulfilled his duty, now it is our turn.

How did Jesus do it, is a question I ask myself many times. He did not have magic powers. He did have one thing that we should all ask God for. This is said in the beginning of Isaiah 61: 'The sovereign Lord has filled me with his spirit.'

Is that not what we need to help us fulfill this mission? We need to go to God on a daily basis and ask him to fill us with his Holy Spirit. Without this, we cannot do anything.

Our own strength and will power will not get us anywhere if we don?t have the Holy Spirit in us. My challenge to you is to do just that.

Vanessa Rocha is a member of Camino de Vida in Gaithersburg.