To Preach the Acceptable Year of the Lord, Luke 4:19

In the 4th chapter of Luke it is related that Jesus read the passage, Isaiah 61:1-3 in a synagogue, and then, while seated and expounding explained: "This day is this scripture fulfilled."

The Isaiah passage he read outlines the work he was anointed to do:

to preach the gospel to the poor

to heal the broken-hearted

to preach deliverance to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind

(that these are linked makes me think of the freedom that comes when one is finally and truly able to "see" truth)

to set at liberty those who are bruised

(makes me think of the captivity and damage that comes from emotional trauma as well as physical trauma and sin)

to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

Below is what Martin Luther King thought that last phrase meant, taken from a sermon he preached in 1966.  A good reminder of some personal guidelines as I start a new year.

. . And then the church, if it is true to its guidelines, must preach the acceptable year of the Lord. You know the acceptable year of the Lord is the year that is acceptable to God because it fulfills the demands of his kingdom. Some people reading this passage feel that it’s talking about some period beyond history, but I say to you this morning that the acceptable year of the Lord can be this year. And the church is called to preach it.

The acceptable year of the Lord is any year when men decide to do right.

The acceptable year of the Lord is any year when men will stop lying and cheating.

The acceptable year of the Lord is that year when women will start using the telephone for constructive purposes and not to spread malicious gossip and false rumors on their neighbors.

The acceptable year of the Lord is any year when men will stop throwing away the precious lives that God has given them in riotous living.

The acceptable year of the Lord is that year when people in Alabama will stop killing civil rights workers and people who are simply engaged in the process of seeking their constitutional rights.

The acceptable year of the Lord is that year when men will learn to live together as brothers.

The acceptable year of the Lord is that year when men will keep their theology abreast with their technology.

The acceptable year of the Lord is that year when men will keep the ends for which they live abreast with the means by which they live.

The acceptable year of the Lord is that year when men will keep their morality abreast with their mentality.

The acceptable year of the Lord is that year when all of the leaders of the world will sit down at the conference table and realize that unless mankind puts an end to war, war will put an end to mankind.

The acceptable year of the Lord is that year when men will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: and nations will not rise up against nations, neither will they study war anymore.

The acceptable year of the Lord is that year when men will allow justice to roll down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.

The acceptable year of the Lord is that year when we will send to Congress and to state houses of our nation men who will do justly, who will love mercy, and who will walk humbly with their God.

The acceptable year of the Lord is that year when every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain will be made low; the rough places would be made plain, and the crooked places straight; and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

The acceptable year of the Lord is that year when men will do unto others as they will have others do unto themselves.

The acceptable year of the Lord is that year when men will love their enemies, bless them that curse them, pray for them that despitefully use them.

The acceptable year of the Lord is that year when men discover that out of one blood God made all men to dwell upon the face of the earth.

The acceptable year of the Lord is that year when every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess the name of Jesus. And everywhere men will cry out, “Hallelujah, hallelujah! The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever. Hallelujah, hallelujah!”

The acceptable year of the Lord is God’s year.

These are our guidelines, and if we will only follow the guidelines, we will be ready for God’s kingdom, we will be doing what God’s church is called to do. We won’t be a little social club. We won’t be a little entertainment center. But we’ll be about the serious business of bringing God’s kingdom to this earth.