“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4:18-19
“The core of the preaching both of Jesus and his early followers was the Kingdom of God. Such preaching had both political and economic implications. On the political side, it is clear that anyone proclaiming the coming Kingdom of God is at least by implication criticizing the present kingdom… It is the economic side of the preaching of the Kingdom of that interests us here. In the Gospel narratives, the preaching of the Kingdom does indeed have a strong economic or socioeconomic component. It relates to both the justice that the Kingdom requires and the need for drastic action in view of its impending reality.”
Justo L. González in Faith & Wealth: A History of Early Christian Ideas on the Origin, Significance, and Use of Money (Eugene: Wipf & Stock, 2002) 75.
In today’s Scripture we see Jesus proclaim justice and drastic action. His design for us is to live according to the values of the kingdom.
When we do that, it naturally brings justice, not by political force, but by everyday action in the public by ordinary people.
This brings into view my radio interview yesterday and my preaching today.
Proclaiming the Kingdom is saying that we need to live differently. Again, when we do it brings about justice. And that different living appears as drastic action.
Lest this sound to theoretical, think of it this way. Panama is a country of 4.2 million people, crying “foul” because of systemic corruption.
Is the answer to point fingers and fight for agendas in the political realm? No! So what do we do? We get our model of what to do by watching Jesus and following His example.
He charted a new way forward. He proclaimed good news. We did the same thing on radio yesterday and I will do so in my preaching today.
God wants His people to announce a new way of living that reflects biblical standards.
Pray for receptive hearts here. And wherever you are, proclaim good news. And call people to live according to the kingdom values. When we do, we change our world.
And when we mobilize a nation to do this, like we will with events in three key cities, we can shape the future of ministry in a nation.