The day was special. Jesus was in town. The people asked him to read the scripture and he accepted. He read: “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted” (Luke 4:18). Jesus had a target audience. The poor…the brokenhearted. This is my mission statement, Jesus declared.
The Nazareth Manifesto. Shouldn’t it be ours, as well? Shouldn’t it look something like this: Let the church act on behalf of the poor and the broken-hearted. No one can do everything, but everyone can do something. The ultimate solution to poverty is found in the compassion of God’s people. Poverty is not the lack of charity but the lack of justice. Righteous anger would do a world of good.
