For the Display of His Splendor

Tonight I'm short on words. Or I should say I'm short on coherent words. I suppose if I keep typing, a great deal of words will actually end up on this page, but my thoughts are a jumbled, tangled swirl like a drawer of yarn that several cats have gotten into. 

The news is overwhelming. There is so much bad news. 

My laundry is overwhelming. There is so much laundry.

How in the world can these things coexist in my mind? The weighty and the absolutely mundane hanging out together in that space seems ludicrous. Vying for my attention, each with legitimate claims, they confuse and then sucker punch me!

This morning, our worship leader read from Isaiah 61. I think he read just the first two verses in relation to Jesus' first sermon in Luke (in which Jesus quotes the first verse of Isaiah 61). But I want to share the first three:

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
    to proclaim freedom for the captives
    and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
    and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
     and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
    instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
    instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
    instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
    a planting of the Lord
    for the display of his splendor.

I often read these verses and mainly think of how Jesus came to save the spiritually lost. The poor, the brokenhearted, the captives, the blind in spirit are the ones that come to mind.

I forget how Jesus walked mile after dusty mile and fed the hungry bellies, as well as the hungry spirits!

I forget how Jesus smiled and gently lifted up, touched, or even just looked at the sick with the most compassionate eyes that have ever seen, and healed them, made them whole!

I forget how Jesus sent a legion of demons out of a man with one word, freeing him from literal chains, as well as from slavery to those evil spirits!

I forget how Jesus stopped to restore a man's eyesight, for his Father's glory and so that this man could see, really see!

It becomes all too easy to forget that these are also the things that Jesus came for today. In my time. In my city. In my world. Yes, he has secured our eternal salvation with his victory over death, but he has also sent his people into the world to proclaim a message: good news, freedom, release! These are very real needs in our world today. I am excited about an opportunity I have to be involved in this mission of Jesus'. I hope to share more about it soon.

May it be for his glory and for his splendor.