St Luke's Church Eccleshill - Articles from "The Link"

For weddings and a funeral?

"I'd like to book a wedding, a funeral, and a christening please."

"That's a pity - I'd like to interest you in righteousnesss, justice, peace, the love of God, and care for the planet."

Dear friends,

In the world of retail and service it is now normal for companies to produce statements of their aims and objectives, their purpose and “vision”, and what they are trying to do. I suppose the church has been excused this for many years, partly because its product is more difficult to put your finger on, and partly because vicars and church members are not hired and fired on their “productivity.”

Not nowadays, maybe. But in bible times it was fairly clear that if the church did not get its message across then it would soon close, and if Jesus had not had an idea of what he was trying to do he would not have lasted very long. In fact the bible tells he was constantly under pressure from people to come and do healing miracles, whereas he wanted to preach the good news of God’s kingdom. Luke’s gospel shows this clearly, particularly at the end of chapter 4.

So Jesus needed some way of keeping on track with what he thought his purpose was. Sure enough, Luke 4:16-21 shows us that Jesus’ did have a statement of purpose. He took a passage from Isaiah as his “manifesto”:

The Spirit of the Lord is on me
to preach good news to the poor,
freedom for the trapped,
sight for the blind,
and the year of God’s favour”.

It is a sad reflection on today’s church that many folk can’t see any link up of these words with the organisation which Jesus founded. Is that their blindness or is it our failure?

Maybe some of it is their blindness, because Jesus is not just talking of the physically blind in this quotation from Isaiah. It is possible for us to live for many years without realizing that there is more to life than the here-and-now.

But maybe a lot more of it is to do with the church’s life. Have we offered seats in pews instead of the specialness of God’s favour? Do our services set people free from whatever is trapping them in modern life, or do they just trap people into churchgoing? Do we need to return to Jesus’ manifesto?

John Hartley

	*St Luke's Church, Eccleshill - The Link* magazine** The Link is published monthly at 40p (Senior Citizens 35p), and we deliver free within the parish and post copies (at the reader's expense) to those who request it. Please contact us if you would like a free copy for a trial period. February 2001, Page 1.
Home Page. Index of articles. Vicar's Letters: index, What for? Pilgrims, Christmas, Old dog, Purpose, Racism. Vision & direction: index, Catch a vision, Why vision? I want to be... In this issue: (February 2001) Vicar's Letter, The PCC, Confirmation, Question.	For weddings and a funeral? "I'd like to book a wedding, a funeral, and a christening please." "That's a pity - I'd like to interest you in righteousnesss, justice, peace, the love of God, and care for the planet." Dear friends, In the world of retail and service it is now normal for companies to produce statements of their aims and objectives, their purpose and “vision”, and what they are trying to do. I suppose the church has been excused this for many years, partly because its product is more difficult to put your finger on, and partly because vicars and church members are not hired and fired on their “productivity.” Not nowadays, maybe. But in bible times it was fairly clear that if the church did not get its message across then it would soon close, and if Jesus had not had an idea of what he was trying to do he would not have lasted very long. In fact the bible tells he was constantly under pressure from people to come and do healing miracles, whereas he wanted to preach the good news of God’s kingdom. Luke’s gospel shows this clearly, particularly at the end of chapter 4. So Jesus needed some way of keeping on track with what he thought his purpose was. Sure enough, Luke 4:16-21 shows us that Jesus’ did have a statement of purpose. He took a passage from Isaiah as his “manifesto”: The Spirit of the Lord is on me to preach good news to the poor, freedom for the trapped, sight for the blind, and the year of God’s favour”. It is a sad reflection on today’s church that many folk can’t see any link up of these words with the organisation which Jesus founded. Is that their blindness or is it our failure? Maybe some of it is their blindness, because Jesus is not just talking of the physically blind in this quotation from Isaiah. It is possible for us to live for many years without realizing that there is more to life than the here-and-now. But maybe a lot more of it is to do with the church’s life. Have we offered seats in pews instead of the specialness of God’s favour? Do our services set people free from whatever is trapping them in modern life, or do they just trap people into churchgoing? Do we need to return to Jesus’ manifesto? John Hartley
Top of page.	This web page was last updated on 26th June 2002.