The Jesus Manifesto - Good News for the Poor

  Kenya Boy 
  Originally uploaded by dream awakener.

This is a picture I took of a boy in Kenya this past year.  And here are some words from Luke.

"Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.

He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

     "The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
       because he has anointed me
       to proclaim good news to the poor.
       He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
       and recovery of sight for the blind,
       to set the oppressed free,

       to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."  Luke 4:14-21

GOOD NEWS FOR THE POOR
Noelene Martin, A Franciscan monk in Australia was assigned to be the guide and “gofer” to Mother Theresa when she visited New South Wales.

Thrilled and excited at the prospect of being so close to this great woman, he dreamed of how much he would learn from here and what they would talk about.  But during her visit, he became frustrated.  Although he was constantly near her, the friar never had the opportunity to say one word to Mother Theresa.  There were always other people for her to meet.

Finally, her tour was over, and she was due to fly to New Guinea.  In desperation, the Franciscan friar spoke to Mother Theresa:  If I pay my own fare to New Guinea, can I sit next to you on the plane so I can talk to you and learn from you?

Mother Theresa looked at him and asked, “You have enough money to pay airfare to New Guinea?

“Yes”, he replied eagerly.

“Then give that money to the poor,” she said.  “You’ll learn more from that than anything I can tell you.”  Mother Theresa understood that Jesus’ ministry was to the poor and she made it hers as well.  She knew that they, more than anyone else needed the good news.

The title of this series was inspired by Mark Van Steenwyk's blog by the same name.  I'm looking forward to his upcoming book.

Comments

[Aaron G]

cool picture!