The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
(from Luke 4:14-21)
A preacher often says this before preaching: "May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord" from Psalm 19:14. It's a prayer for the Spirit of the Lord to rest on the preacher.
Luke 14:18 has the same meaning.
The Man
The man, of course, is Jesus.
After 40 days in the wilderness, Jesus returned home to Galilee. While in the wilderness has been tested and overcome temptations.
Jesus, filled with the Spirit, begins teaching on the Sabbath in the synagogue. One Sabbath, he's the reader. He's handed the scroll, opens it, and reads Isaiah 61:1-2.
This is Jesus’ manifesto.
The Message
Empowered by the Spirit, Jesus begins his ministry of proclaiming good news to the poor, freedom for prisoner's, recovery of sight for the blind, setting the oppressed free, and proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favor.
The Spirit is Jesus' empowerment for ministry.
The Plan
Our era needs good news.
The era we live in needs Spirit empowered Christians, to proclaim good news to the poor, the economically disadvantaged, and the marginalized of our society.
The plan works like this. The doctor treating my skin cancer asked what I do for work. I told him I was a pastor. The Spirit moved him as he asked about my congregation, where it was, how many people attended.
The Spirit energized him as he said, repeatedly, "You do good work caring for people! We need pastors caring for people in today's world! You do good work. Keep doing good work.!"
After the surgery and during each follow-up, he kept saying, "You do good work caring for people. Keep doing good work!!
As a Christian, you are Spirit empowered, keep doing good work!!!
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