'The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.' (Isaiah 61:1)
Christmas is just around the corner. The decorations are beginning to go up, the shops are getting busier. A twinkling reminder that the Christmas cake still needs making, the cards need writing and there are yet more presents to buy for your ever-growing family!
It’s a time when our focus is often on others: after all, it is the season when it’s 'better to give than receive'. We often feel drawn to help those who are less fortunate than ourselves.
Isaiah 61 reminds us of the importance of helping poor people, fighting against injustice and seeing lives transformed, spiritually and materially. However, the writer of this passage reminds us that through our faith in Christ, we are the ones empowered to make a difference in this world. It is easy to feel overwhelmed sometimes by the scale of the problem. But remember, the Holy Spirit is on your life for this time.
Sometimes in life we can distance ourselves from the needs. However, there is a switch which takes place in our hearts when we replace the word 'them', to 'my'. When the faceless millions living in abject poverty become individuals. If it were our daughter or our grandfather would we pray differently, would we act differently?
In Luke 10 we are presented with the story of the Good Samaritan. In verse 33 it says, 'when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him.' (NLT). It was this that moved him to cross the road that day. Perhaps he asked himself the question, what if it were my relative? Would I walk on by? He felt moved to act. He allowed himself to be inconvenienced and interrupted. But he also knew that he had the resource to help him. He had a donkey the man could travel on; he had money that could pay the innkeeper for his room and medical care.
As we head into the Christmas season with a sense of excitement and celebration, let us remember Jesus came into this world so that our lives could be transformed. Let us live out that transformation day to day and remember that like the Good Samaritan we already have the gifts and resources we need to extend our hand to those in need.
We serve a God who has 'unsearchable riches': we don’t need to worry about what we haven’t got. Let’s just use what we have in our hands already and let God do the rest. Explore new ways of speaking out against injustice and make choices that stand up for fairness. Let’s pray with renewed vigour for those suffering around the world. As if it were our own friends and family.
Just imagine the possibilities if we allowed ourselves to be moved by true compassion this Christmas. If we walked in the transforming power of Christ and realised that we are the ones who are anointed for his work.
Maybe, just maybe, we could change the world.