"The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me.”
Isaiah 61:1

As I read the start of this chapter I can’t help but wonder if this is true of me? I can see it clearly for those around me – the pastor of the local church; the missionary in a foreign land; the elderly volunteer at the local homeless shelter. But has the Lord anointed me to live my day-to-day life as I catch the morning rush hour train; work alongside my colleagues in my office; as I cook my evening meal and watch TV in the evening? “The Lord has allowed me” feels more accurate.

Isaiah 61 is the pinnacle of a larger poetic piece (chapters 60-62) where the author welcomes us into a wider narrative of God’s ultimate redemptive plan. I’d encourage you to stop and take time to read through these three chapters as a whole. I believe doing this could shift our perspective on what it means to be anointed by the Lord.

Isaiah 60:1 says “Arise, shine for your light has come and the glory of the Lord shines over you for look, darkness covers the earth in total darkness of peoples”. For context, this passage is written during exile where the population of Israel has dropped from 250,000 to 20,000 due to either disease or murder, including the death of many of their key leaders. Jerusalem is destroyed and there is nowhere to call home. There is no hope for the Israelites, only despair. Yet “Arise, shine for your light has come”. It feels almost cruel to command this of such a broken people. However, the Lord’s glory is about to fall on Jerusalem and even though that doesn’t instantly change how things physically look in the moment, the Lord is making them aware that when His glory falls it impacts absolutely everything.

It is in the midst of the Lord’s glory falling on His creation that Isaiah 61 starts “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me”. No longer does His glory stay outside of His people but Isaiah prophesies that His glory will then take up residence inside us and this residency comes with a call – to redeem; to comfort; to bring freedom; to execute justice. But these are an extension of what has already taken place externally in Isaiah 60. This is an invitation to participation.

Do you live in Isaiah 61 like the glory from Isaiah 60 doesn’t exist?

Do you hear the first verse of Isaiah 61 as a burden; something you need to conjure up or as a beckoning into the redeeming work of God’s glory?

Come and join us at NavNetwork on Monday 19th February from 7.30pm as we continue to explore what it means to be an Isaiah 61 person.