At the ripe old age of twelve, I remember the Sunday I went forward at my church, hearing the call of the Holy Spirit to dedicate my life to becoming a preacher of God's Word. At age 16, I along with another young man at my church who was going to become a preacher, we received the blessing of our pastor to start Youth Church each Wednesday evening at our church, Midwood Baptist in Charlotte, NC. We were so blessed to have an active youth group and wonderful leaders that encouraged us. I remember my first Wednesday night sermon that dealt with the Parable of the Talents...I was a wreck leading up to that night, stepping behind the pulpit for the first time. But the calming work of the Holy Spirit filled my trembling body and somehow calmed my nerves so that I could share what God had laid on my heart...and I have been doing that now for over 60 years, in person and in the written word. As I think of Jesus and His first sermon, I wonder if He felt as I did? Probably NOT....for He already had the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in His live, so....
When Jesus returned to his hometown of Nazareth in the early days of his ministry, he did what all Jews did on the Sabbath... he went to the synagogue. But that day was unlike any other when he was handed the scroll of Isaiah and he read the prophecy about himself, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim the good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." Luke 4:18-19 And with every eye in the place on him, he rolled up the scroll and sat down...but not before telling the attendees that "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."
At this point in His new-fledgling ministry, Christ let the hometown folks know what He was all about, in no uncertain terms...but better than that, He told them who was in charge. With the Spirit of the Most High anointing Him, he would be conducting himself accordingly.
Which leads me to my questions...what is your ministry and who is in charge? For us as followers of Jesus, we too have been anointed with the same Spirit and set apart to accomplish the same work....to proclaim the good news that the bonds of sin and the death that follows have been broken and that Jesus saves....and He saves eternally!
We can proclaim to those held captive by a drug habit or a sexual perversion that they are no longer bound, but through Christ there is release and forgiveness. Anyone who is enslaved to work and status can find love, rest and acceptance through the Spirit that comes to indwell in the heart of a new believer. Those blinded by the allure of sin and its temporal pleasure can find everlasting joy at the feet of the Savior and forevermore there is freedom in the forgiveness and redemptive power in the shed blood of Jesus...there is a new life that awaits in the power of the Holy Spirit. We each have been anointed to share our good news and to tell others that we are His children...warts and all....not because of anything that we have or might do, but all because of what Jesus did for us while we wallowed in our own sin and destruction. We are filled with His Spirit, anointed to share and proclaim...and even more, we are empowered to be more like our Savior by resisting the wiles of the devil and living as one anointed to preach.
The message is simple....the congregation is enormous....and the time is short! We must get busy while it is light, for the darkness is coming when no man can work. Take time to day to speak the name of Jesus to someone in darkness and share with them, Jesus...The Light of the World.
Anointed....preaching...sharing what He has done for me,
WPQ
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