Sermon Archive

Anointed With the Spirit

© by the Reverend Dr. Byron E. Shafer
(Rutgers, December 12, 1999;  3rd Sunday of Advent, Year B; Holy Communion)
Isaiah 61:1–4, 8–11 (OT, pp. 767–768);  John 1:6–8, 19–28 (NT, pp. 94–95)

Inquirer's Classes are often contexts in which one or more of the
fundamental questions of the Christian faith are asked + explored.
And last Tuesday's session was no exception.
As we looked together at our denomination's most recent state-
ment of faith and, in particular, at the concept of the Trinity,
the question arose, "What's the Holy Spirit?"

My response that evening went on too long, and included,
I'm sad to say, too many lapses into theological jargon,
but my remarks can be boiled down to this one sentence:
"The Holy Spirit is God acting here and now
to transform persons and, through persons, the world,
so that God's will is done on earth,
so that joy abounds." (repeat a second time)

This is the third Sunday of Advent, the Sunday of the Christian year
traditionally called "Rejoice" Sunday. 
The first two Sundays of Advent have been characterized
by a quiet, penitential mood.
Today, however, we allow ourselves a flurry of rejoicing,
in anticipation of the even deeper joy to come
on Christmas Eve.

So we bring into the sanctuary the subdued greens of trees + wreaths,
although we don't yet set out the glorious red poinsettias.
And we add a bright pink candle and upbeat pink flowers
to Advent's penitential purple.
And we voice songs of hushed joy, even as we
hold back from the full-throated Alleluias of Christmas.

Today's Second Lesson, from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, is quite
apropos both of the brighter mood of this Third Sunday of Advent
and of that question about the Holy Spirit asked last Tuesday.
For Isaiah 61 is all about the transforming work of the Spirit,
mediated by one who is anointed to bring joy to the world.

Isaiah proclaims that the same Spirit, who, at the beginning of time,
blew across the waters of chaos to create the ordered world,
the same Spirit, who later parted the waters of the Sea
to liberate the Hebrew slaves from captivity in Egypt,
that same Spirit is now to come into the world
through one who is anointed to transform society,
to transform society by—now listen to this amazing list of
tasks—by bringing good news to the oppressed,
binding up the brokenhearted,
proclaiming liberty to the captives,
releasing the prisoners,
comforting the mourners,
and proclaiming a year of jubilee in which
all slaves are freed,
all debts are cancelled,
and all misfortune is reversed.

It is the amazing Christmas affirmation of the Christian faith
that this longing expressed in Isaiah, this longing for the coming        
of an anointed agent of the Spirit, of a Messiah, of a Christ—
you see, "Messiah" is the Hebrew word for "Anointed One,"
and "Christ" is the Greek word for "Anointed One"—
so it is Christians' amazing Christmas affirmation
that this longing for an Anointed One, a Messiah,
a Christ, found its fulfillment
in the surprising birth and life of Jesus,
who became a source of joy for all the world.

It is the Gospel of Luke that makes this affirmation most 
straight- forwardly, for in that gospel, at the beginning of Jesus's ministry,
Jesus comes to a sabbath service in the synagogue at Nazareth
reads this morning's passage from Isaiah 61 (Luke  4:16–21),
+ then proclaims to those of his hometown assembled there,
Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."
In other words, I am the Anointed One;
I'm the one anointed to do these tasks.

So today, amidst this pink candle and flowers, the church rejoices;
the church rejoices over the decisive transformation of the world
inaugurated by the Spirit through the person of Jesus,
the Anointed One, the Messiah, the Christ.

But also, amidst purple candles and hangings, the church remembers
that the transformation of the world inaugurated by the Spirit
through Jesus is not yet complete,
and that for completion to occur many others must
follow after Christ and be anointed with the Spirit,
transformed by the Spirit for the work of liberation.

So during Advent, we Christians remind ourselves
of the purposes for which the Messiah, the Christ, came,
for these must be our purposes as well.
And during Advent, we seek to draw on the same resources
of the Spirit as did Jesus,
for the transformative power of the Spirit
is available to us as well.

You see, at baptism, God bestows the gift of the Holy Spirit, and
at baptisms + baptismal renewals in many congregations, including
ours, persons are also anointed with oil, as the minister traces
a sign of the cross on each forehead and proclaims these words:
"N., Child of God, you have been sealed by the Holy Spirit
in baptism and marked as Christ's own forever."
Yes, baptism is, among other things,
God's anointing of us with the Spirit
into the transformative work of Christ in the world—
the work of   bringing good news to the oppressed,
binding up the brokenhearted,
proclaiming liberty to the captives,
releasing the prisoners,
comforting the mourners,
and proclaiming a year of jubilee
in which all slaves are freed,
all debts are cancelled,
and all misfortune is reversed.

Now, this ongoing work of the Christ, and of all those anointed with
God's transformative Spirit, is radical stuff
that challenges the established powers of the world!
It's so radical that Jesus was put to death for it.

Next week, I'll talk, among other things, about the radical social 
transformation that's being worked for by those Christians
who believe the year 2000 should be designated a year of jubilee,
Jubilee 2000, a time
for cancelling the international debts of many nations.

And, in the brief time remaining to me this morning, I want
to lift up for our attention a more local, though no less radical,
transformation of society that many believe God is asking us
to help effect—we who seek to follow in Christ's footsteps,
we who've been anointed with that same Spirit.

As reported by Evelyn Nieves in last Tuesday's New York Times,
"At [this] richest time in [our] nation's history,
housing that the poor can afford is at an all-time low,
fueling an increase in homelessness"
That's certainly true in New York City, particularly
here on the Upper West Side, where hundreds, perhaps
thousands, of units in single-room occupancy hotels
have been lost to conversions, conversions either
to tourist hotels or to upscale apartments,
and where the rents of apartments are skyrocketing
beyond the reach of most people.

At the same time, society's attitudes about homelessness
have changed for the worse.
We used to see homelessness for what it is—
a complex systemic societal problem.
Now people prefer to oversimplify the issue—seeing homelessness
more as a problem of "those people.,"
a problem, as the Daily News might put it,
of "messed-up crazies."

But, as Mary Ann Gleason of the National Coalition for the Homeless,
said succinctly just last week:  "It's not rocket science to figure out
that people become homeless because of the lack of affordable
housing and [because of the lack of] support services
for those who are mentally ill or addicted."

Amidst the controversy in our city and nation over homelessness,
what Christians need most to do, I believe, is to undertake the
transformative task of working to provide affordable housing and
support services for those who are mentall ill or addicted.  
And if we are to do that then we must also undertake
the task of fostering hope and trust.

First, we need to foster hope + trust among homeless persons—
hope that their situations can, in fact, be changed for the better,
and trust that other people really do want to help them,
rather than hurt and punish them.

And second, we need to foster hope + trust within our society—
hope that this systemic problem can be resolved positively
by committing the proper resources to it,
and trust that the institutions of society will prove to have
the will        and the capacity to accomplish this.

These twin tasks—
(1) fostering hope + trust both among homeless persons themselves
and within society-at-large
and (2) providing affordable housing and support services—
these twin tasks will be difficult to accomplish,
particularly since the mayor's office seems to have given up
on solving the seemingly intractable problem of homelessness,
and to be focused instead on substituting punitive policies
for constructive ones and on blaming the poor
rather than undertaking the more difficult task of reme-
dying the root causes of their poverty + homelessness.

It seems Mayor Giuliani is not opposed after all to big government;
it's just that the big government he wants is made up of
police, prosecutors, and correction officers.

As for me, I'd much prefer that the payroll of government would be
heavy instead with social workers and service providers committed
to constructive, hope-filled, trust-inspiring outreach
to homeless persons.

Hope and trust—these are fundamental
to the good news of the Christian faith.

And fostering hope and trust in others so that we can go on to provide
affordable housing and support services—this is fundamental 
to the transformative task to which we who've been anointed
with God's Spirit are called,
the transformative task of bringing real joy to the world.

Let us pray: 
O God, in baptism, You have anointed us with Your Spirit
and called us to transform the world.  

May we accept that call and respond to it by the power of Your Spirit.

In the name of Christ, we pray.  Amen.

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