Experiencing The Spirit: Oil - Isaiah 61:1-4
It’s not something that Anita
and I use or even own. Anita and I didn’t even register for a set or request
any when we became engaged and married.
We were moving into a mobile home and didn’t really know where we would
put any. For those of you who were here eleven
years ago on my first Sunday, y’all probably already know this, remembering
that I told you that if you came to the parsonage you would most likely be
eating on the finest china that you can purchase at Walmart and dispose of
afterwards. I don’t know when the last
time my parents used their china (they didn’t remember either). What I do remember about china, other than so
many couples registering for sets when they get married, is from my
grandmother’s house. That’s where I
learned there was something special about the china. It was not kept in the same cabinets as the
other dishes. The china was a special
set of dishes, along with the special set of silverware, and the special set of
glasses. The only time that I can
remember (and I verified this with my parents on Friday) that the china was
used was for Sunday lunch (and maybe for Thanksgiving lunch or a special
Christmas meal. On Sundays, when she got
home from church my grandmother would warm up and put out the large spread she
had prepared on Saturday. When she said
that it was ready, first the adults and then the children (with the help of an
adult) would file through the buffet line (she always prepared more than we
would have ever been able to set on the table and pass around). The adults would pick up their china plate,
serve themselves, and then find a seat in the dining room (unless they were the
token adult relegated to the children’s table on the back porch). The children didn’t use the china—there were
other plates for them. After lunch, the
women (I’m not being sexist, just stating the facts) would wash the dishes, and
those special dishes, glasses, and silverware were not only had washed, but
hand dried and carefully put back in their special drawers and cabinet. Most everyone that I know treats their china
the same way. If it is used at all, it
is set apart and only used on special occasions.
We are in our third week
of “Experiencing the Spirit” as we prepare for the celebration of the pouring
out of the Spirit on Pentecost. We began
this journey considering our experience of the Holy Spirit as wind. We acknowledged that both in Hebrew and in
Greek, the same word is used to indicate, not simply Spirit, but also wind and
breath—so that when we read of an account of the Holy Spirit coming upon someone,
we can understand that they are filled with the very breath of God, just as
when Jesus breathed out upon the disciples in that upper room and they were
filled with the Holy Spirit.
Last week we considered
our experience of the Holy Spirit in terms of water and fire. In particular, we considered the experience
of baptisms of water and fire. It is easy to think of baptism in terms of
water, that is our traditional symbol of baptism, and when we baptize someone
here, we either sprinkle them with water or immerse them in water. Water
cleanses…water symbolic of how the Holy Spirit washes away our original sin and
joins us to Christ so that God sees us not in our own sinfulness but through
the righteousness of Christ.
So what about the baptism
of fire? We do not light a fire pit and
have folks walk into it. While our water
may be a literal symbolic thing that we use—the fire is purely symbolic. The talk of fire represents the heat that the
Holy Spirit applies to our lives to move us beyond being seen as righteous and
towards becoming righteous—it is the Holy Spirit’s work to make us more holy,
to refine us and shape us through the heat of our experiences in much the same
way a glassmith, a blacksmith, or a goldsmith, uses fire to burn away the trash
in their medium, and makes malleable.
The heat becomes the ways, through confronting us with our sin, forcing
us to deal with and enabling us to over come temptation, or giving us the
strength to endure any hardships that may fall upon us.
Today we come to try and
understand our experience of the Holy Spirit as “oil.” This is not the kind of oil you put in your
car, or that leaks from you car, where even a drop or two spreads out into a
nice concrete covering stain. Though
that oil is necessary for the engine to run smoothly, and without the presence
of the Holy Spirit in our lives, the church would not run smoothly, or run
roughly, or run at all. No, I’m not
talking about 10W-30 or any other petroleum based oil product. When considering the work of the Holy Spirit
in our lives, we need to think more in line with olive oil. Why olive oil? While olive oil is common now for cooking, in
Biblical times, olive oil took on an much different role. It may have been used for cooking then, but
when mixed with certain spices (myrrh, cinnamon, and others), it became sacred anointing
oil…used to anoint the altar and other tools of the worship space, to anoint
priests, to anoint kings, along with anything or anyone else so designated by
God.
What was the purpose of
anointing someone or something?
Anointing an object or a person signified that they were set apart,
marked as holy, and having a special significance. For example, the altar in the tent of meeting
was a table that was set apart, marked as holy, and was to be used only for the
making of sacrifices to God. A priest
was set aside from the rest of the people, marked as holy, and served as the one
who would mediate between God and His people.
A king was set aside, considered holy, and served to represent God and
lead God’s people.
As we come to Isaiah, the
prophet declares that he has been anointed by God, this anointed marked by the
presence and movement of the Spirit of God in his life. He acknowledges that he has been marked by
God, set aside, and made holy, and given a purpose. What is that purpose?
He is to “bring good news
to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the
captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s
favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to
provide for those who mourn in Zion—to give them a garland instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a
faint spirit.” God has set Isaiah apart
as one to speak to the people of God who found themselves oppressed and in bondage…grieving
and brokenhearted. Their sin had left
them in exile and separated from God, and now God is declaring through Isaiah,
that forgiveness and restoration is at hand.
This declaration of being
anointed to proclaim forgiveness and restoration on behalf of God is taken up
by Jesus in the Gospel of Luke:
When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he
went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to
read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled
the scroll and found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is
upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the
captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to
proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” And he rolled up the scroll, gave it
back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were
fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been
fulfilled in your hearing.”[1]
Jesus declared to those
in the synagogue that day that He had been anointed by God to represent God
before the people, just as Isaiah had, and that God had set him apart and made
Holy and tasked Him with the responsibility of bringing good news, free the
prisoners, give sight to the blind, and declare that God’s forgiveness was at
hand. Jesus spent the entirety of His
ministry on earth doing just that, to the point of offering His own life for
the forgiveness of all our sin.
How does this come to us?
Through our Baptism we
have been bound to Jesus. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon each of us, as
individuals and as the church, becomes anointing oil poured over our
heads. Through this, God redeems us,
marks us, sets us apart, makes us holy, and sets before us a special calling to
represent Him before His people and the world.
Isaiah’s declaration which became Jesus’ declaration, now becomes our
declaration. God sets before us, His
Spirit-anointed ones, the task of “[bringing] good news to the oppressed, [binding]
up the brokenhearted, [proclaiming] liberty to the captives, and release to the
prisoners; [proclaiming] the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance
of our God; [comforting] all who mourn; [providing] for those who mourn in
Zion—[giving] them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of
mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.”
Maybe we do this as we
reach out to those who are bound by addictions, coming alongside of them and
walking with them to help free them from those chains that bind them, whether
it be drugs, alcohol, pornography, sex, food, gambling, or some other
addiction.
Maybe it is surrounding
those who have experienced loss, reminding them that they are not alone.
Maybe it is coming along
side those who have been oppressed because of their gender, their ethnicity, a
language barrier, being born into poverty, or a physical handicap, and helping
them overcome those limitations and experience life as each of us experience
it.
Maybe it is responding to
tragedies like Nepal’s earthquakes, Illinois’ tornado, or even a neighbor who
may have experienced flooding after all the rain Friday.
Maybe it is seeking to be
peacemakers in the midst of tense times in our nation and communities—not being
voices of doom and gloom, not being voices of judgment, not being voices of instigating
arguments, but being voices of God’s peace, love, forgiveness, and grace in the
face of trouble and violence.
Whatever it may be…above
all we are reminded that God has set us apart…not to be like the world, but to
be different than the world…being made holy and being called to represent Him
before all.
Sometimes we forget that
we are anointed by God’s Spirit and called to be different, called to be holy,
called to represent God to others…this morning, as each of us come to receive
Holy Communion, after you receive the bread and the cup, we will have the altar
to come before the altar and be anointed with oil as a reminder that we have
been set aside, set apart, we are special, and God has a special part for each
of us.
In the Name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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