Why He Sent Me
Luke 4: 14-21
There is perhaps one question that has plagued human beings more than any other, one quest that if left unresolved can eat a soul until it is nearly hollow and it is the question of why we are here. For most of us this seeking for purpose does not begin until adolescence and even then when the question emerges, “What am I supposed to do with my life?” the answers are often about making a mark on the world or achieving success in a particular field or satisfying a parent’s hopes. And when we reach the beginning of adulthood and the process of differentiating ourselves from our parents, the question can change and become a question of what would make us happy. “Who am I?” “What would give me the greatest joy?” And when we marry or partner and life seems to move more quickly, in a flash our purpose becomes about caring for our children or our spouse or our aging parents. Our purpose can easily turn into something we feel obligated to do because of circumstances. Our purpose can be twisted so much that it is hard to know the difference between scrambling to keep up with life and discerning what unique mission each of us has been given for our time here on earth.
Philosophers, theologians and seekers alike have spent lifetimes upon lifetimes wrestling with this age old question, “What is the purpose of life?” Bertrand Russell, one of the founders of analytical philosophy and a prominent atheist once wrote, "Unless you assume a God, the question of life's purpose is meaningless." And while I think that those without faith, those without God, can carve out a good life, a life full of great experiences and family, it seems to me that he is right. “Unless you assume a God, the question of life’s purpose is meaningless.” And not because like existentialists philosophers have argued, that life only has the meaning we give it, but because without God, we human beings begin our seeking from the wrong place. Without God, we toil and toil and feel that it is entirely up to us to carve out a mission for our life. Without God, we struggle and fight and often feel frustrated when we discover that it is nearly impossible to leave this earth with anyone noticing what we did with our lives.
In his bestselling book, The Purpose Driven Life, pastor Rick Warren writes, “The search for the purpose of life has puzzled people for thousands of years. That’s because we typically begin at the wrong starting point- <which is> ourselves. We ask self-centered questions like What do I want to be? What should I do with my life? What are my goals, my ambitions, my dreams for my future? But focusing on ourselves will never reveal our life’s purpose. The Bible says, “It is God who directs the lives of his creatures; everyone’s life is in his power.” (Romans 12: 2) And Warren goes on to write, “You didn’t create yourself, so there is no way you can tell yourself what you were created for!”
If this idea is difficult for you, if the notion that your purpose is not ultimately up to you, makes you squirm, you are not alone. To our independent, work-driven, success oriented American minds, the suggestion that our purpose in life comes from someplace other than our own desires, the notion that our mission is grounded in something other than our own personal whims, can feel like nothing less than shocking and maybe even insulting. Many of us have been taught from a young age that our worth and our purpose comes from what we do and how much we do and how much we make doing it, but our faith tells us something different. This is another one of those countercultural Christian tenets that stands in stark contrast to the world around us. Are you ready to hear it? According to what we read throughout our scriptures, our purpose in life comes from our God and our mission in life is to serve God using the gifts that God has given to each of us. Let me say it again, our purpose in life comes from our God and our mission in life is to serve God using the gifts that God has given to each of us.
And as followers of Jesus, the purpose of his life, leads us to ours. In the Book of Ephesians, we hear, "In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory.” That is a First Century way of saying that “It is in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for…(Ephesians 1:11, The Message).
And in the Gospel of Luke Jesus boldly lays out his purpose. We find him in the Synagogue with a crowd gathered and we are told that he is filled with the power of the Holy Spirit and we get the impression that he is on a roll, that he is on fire for God, that he is on a mission. The scripture says that he went to the Synagogue on the Sabbath, as was typical for him, but this time he does something unusual. This time he grabs a scroll, unrolls it in front of the faithful that had gathered there, and he reads it aloud. The crowd might have known it by heart, they might have heard it when they were little, they might have etched it into their journey with God because these words come from the Prophet Isaiah. Jesus grabs the scroll and looks at the people in front of him and sings out these words:
“The Spirit of the Lord us upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He 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 the Lord’s favor.”
We don’t know if the room grew silent. We don’t know if the back row started whispering amongst themselves. We don’t know if they were shocked or if they were expecting him to say something else. But then Jesus rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. And the scripture tells us that, “The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.” Before Jesus sits down, before he goes on his way, he says, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” As of today, you know why I am here, as of today you know what I am about, as of today; you know why he sent me.
“The Spirit of the Lord us upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He 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 the Lord’s favor.”
And if it is true that it is in Christ we find out who we are and what we are living for, Jesus’ proclamation on that day in the Synagogue is for us. These words spoken to the frightened eyes on that day are words we cannot ignore. Like the crowd gathered before him, we have searched and studied and sought a purpose for our lives and Jesus says, listen up, as of today, you know why I am here, as of today you know what I am about, as of today; you know why he sent me. And if we really want to follow him, then we know why He sent each of us as well.
What if our focus in life is to use whatever gifts God has given us to bring good news to the poor, the poor in spirit, the poor in hope, the poor in community, the poor in love? What if our purpose as people of faith is to use our gifts to proclaim release to the captives, release to those in bondage to debt or bad relationships or bad decisions, release to those in bondage to fear or the past? What if our mission is to use our gifts to recover the sight of the blind, recover the sight of those blind to homelessness, poverty, and recover the sight of those blind to the real stuff of this world?
What if our purpose is to search ourselves enough to know exactly what gifts God needs in order for us to do what Jesus did, wherever we find ourselves? William Sloane Coffin wrote, “…the power of God is lodged in the very marrow of our substance and is pressing, constantly pressing for release in order to permeate every fiber of our being. And the demand is not for self-denial as is so often preached, but rather for self-discovery and self-realization, which includes the commitment to God that is the final fulfillment of human life.”
So what is the purpose of your life? What is your purpose for being here? Why are any of us here on earth? For us as Christians, the answer isn’t easy, but it is clear: we are here to serve God; we are here to join what God is doing and to continue what Jesus started. So the question for us is not what is the purpose of my life? The question is where does God need me in particular? Where does God need me to do what I do best? How can I fulfill this call and make it my own? In the words of Frederick Buechner, "The place God calls you to, is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet." If this is Jesus’ purpose, then it must be part of ours as well. “The Spirit of the Lord us upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He 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 the Lord’s favor.” May this be so. Amen.
Rick Warren. The Purpose Drive Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? (Zondervan, 2002) 18.
William Sloane Coffin. Credo. (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2004) 122.