Today’s Old Testament passage is the
third of the four so-called "servant songs" in the second part of
Isaiah, which we’ve been looking at recently.
Written around 680 BC the “Suffering
Servant” which these passages speak about, point to Jesus, the Messiah - the
one foretold in many Old Testament passages – who would save God’s people –
both Jews and Gentiles.
We see this particulalry clearly in the
fourth song of chapters 52-53 where the servant is wounded for our transgressions
and crushed for our iniquities – which points to Jesus offering himself upon
the cross for our sins.
And today’s passage prophesies Jesus’
suffering in the run up to his crucifixion – being flogged and insulted and spat
at.
However this morning I’d like to talk
about three things which I think we see clearly in this passage as the servant
fulfils his God given role.
And they are things which we as
Christians need to emulate if we are to fulfil our God given roles. These three
things all begin with the letter R – and the first one is Relationship.
The servant clearly has a very close
relationship with God – who wakens him morning by morning and teaches him – so
that he in turn will be able to teach others.
Having a relationship with God – is
at the very core of what it means to be a Christian. As I said a few weeks ago
– God isn’t looking for us to come to church and perform religious rituals.
God wants a relationship with us. He
is looking for people who recognise their need for Him and who want to live
their lives with Him – His way.
Who will freely come to Him and offer
Him their time and their love and their service. Who will talk to Him during the
day and share the ups and downs of life with him.
Coming to church is then just an
extension of that ongoing relationship – and an opportunity to worship Him and
to offer Him ourselves and our service.
We’re currently looking at the
subject of prayer in the Thursday house group at Duncan and Kerry’s and the
course gives links to some useful on-line video clips.
I watched one of these and it was
about a man who had become a Christian – but who had quite a demanding job and told
his pastor that he simply didn’t have the time to pray much.
His pastor told him that if he didn’t
spend time praying, his Christian life would remain stunted – and that he should
try and make this a priority – and really that this should be something which
wasn’t a chore but which was enjoyable.
The man took his pastor’s advice
seriously. He decided that he’d set his alarm clock half and hour early and he
bought himself a rocking chair – because he’d always liked them – and he
positioned it in his favourite spot in the house with a view of his garden.
He then spent this half hour every
morning sitting in his rocking chair with a nice cup of coffee reading his
bible and talking to God.
The pastor said he met this man again
a few months later and he couldn’t believe the change in him. He’d always
looked a bit stressed but he looked much more relaxed and happy – and clearly
his relationship with God had deepened enormously.
And the man’s wife said that he had
become much calmer and more patient with the children.
Sometime later this man decided that
he’d give up his day job – and work as an administrator for his church. He
became a real pillar of the church and was much loved.
Several years later when he died –
his wife said that right up until he’d gone into hospital - he was still
getting up and spending time each morning with God in his rocking chair.
Isaiah tells us that morning by
morning God wakens his servant who listens to him. Perhaps there is a lesson
for us here?
And our relationship with God is so
important – because it will determine our fruitfulness.
The deeper the soil of our
relationship with God – the more fruit we’ll produce. If our relationship with
God is shallow – like shallow soil – our fruitfulness will be limited.
Isaiah 40 verse 31 says – “those who
wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings
like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”
Like the man with the rocking chair
we need to choose to put time aside to simply be still in God’s presence – and
talk to Him.
So my first R is Relationship. My
second R is Reliance. The servant in this passage is totally reliant on God.
The Lord God helps me he says therefore I know that I shall not be put to
shame.
And of course Jesus was totally
reliant on God the Father to guide him and God the Holy Spirit to empower him.
Paul tells us in his letter to the
Philippians that Jesus – although he was God - made himself nothing by taking
the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
As God – before he was confined to a
human body – Jesus was omnipresent (he was everywhere) - he was omniscient (he
knew everything) – and he was omnipotent (he was all powerful).
But when he was born into this world
as a human baby – he let go of these things. He was confined to a human body.
He knew only what he learned and what His Father revealed to him, and he relied
on the Holy Spirit to empower him.
He then modelled for us – a life of
faith – a life lived in reliance on
His Father to guide him and the Holy Spirit
to empower Him to do the miracles he did.
And we too need to rely on God in
order to live as Christians. We need to rely on God to help us live rightly –
and to help us to love and reach out to others.
Jesus said – apart from me you can do
nothing. Apart from him – relying on our own strength - we will continue to sin
and to find that we repeat the same patterns of behaviour that we don’t like.
But as we acknowledge our weakness
and cry out to him to help us to change – he will then help us.
And of course apart from Him we can’t
bear fruit. We can’t open people’s eyes to believe in him. We can’t touch
people’s spirits and lift them.
We can’t heal people or remove fear
from them or drive away the evil spirits that oppress them.
But Jesus can – and he can work
through us to do these things if we will offer ourselves to him in faith.
I like praying with people who are
seeking God’s help – but there is nothing useful I can say or do – unless God
works through me to touch the life of the person I’m praying with in some way.
And as I’ve said before, when
Campbell and Ayline and I pray for people to be healed at the communion rail –
we of ourselves have absolutely no power to heal anyone.
Only God can do this – so if you do
experience healing please realise that God has touched your life because He
loves you – and give your thanks to Him.
And Campbell and I are totally reliant
on God to touch people’s lives as we preach. We can come up with all sorts of clever
or entertaining words to say – but unless the Holy Spirit takes these words and
imparts life to them – they will fall to the ground like dust.
So as Christians – like the servant
in this passage who relies on God - we need to ask God each day to fill us with
his life and His love – so that with His help we can live rightly and seek to
impart that life and love to others.
So my first R was Relationship. My
second was Reliance, and my third is Resolve.
The servant in today’s passage is not
rebellious and doesn’t turn backwards; rather he sets his face like flint – and
is utterly resolved to do God’s will – whatever it costs him.
And of course we see this resolve
with Jesus particularly in the Garden of Gethsemane – as the time of his
crucifixion approaches.
As I said at the start of this sermon
- today’s passage is a prophecy about the suffering that Jesus will endure and
humanly speaking of course he doesn’t want to go through the agony of the cross
– so he prays “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my
will, but yours be done.”
Jesus is being totally honest with
his father. He knows that his journey to the cross is inevitable – but he also
knows that a time of terrible suffering is about to come upon him – so he
prays.
But he has resolved in his heart to
do God’s will – “not my will but yours be done.”
And we as Christians need to be
determined and resolved to continue to walk with God – whatever life throws at
us.
All Christians go through times of
testing when life goes pear shaped and God seems very distant. And these times
can be really awful and we can be at a complete loss to understand what’s going
on – and why God is allowing it.
In his first letter Peter says these (trials)
have come so that your faith - of greater worth than gold, which perishes even
though refined by fire - may be proved genuine and may result in praise,
glory
and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed.
So when as Christians we go through
hard times – our faith is being tested to prove that it is genuine – and if we
persevere and continue to trust in God - we will eventually come out on the
other side.
All we can do is follow Jesus example
– and be honest and pray – but at the same time be resolved to keep trusting in
God.
And rather than becoming downcast and
negative – although it’s much easier said than done – ideally we should try to
remain positive and thankful to God.
And we can thank God because we know
that He loves us and will never leave us or give up on us. We know that in all
things He is working for our good and we know that He won’t allow us to be
tested beyond what we can bear.
We can pray - ‘Lord I don’t
understand what’s going on and why I am going through this – but I thank you
that you are always with me and that you understand everything.
‘I thank you because you love me and
because you are working for my good and for the good of those I love. Lord help
me to get through this as I continue to trust in you.’
So to conclude, in today’s passage
from Isaiah about the suffering servant – we see a little portrait of Jesus –
and we see something of his Relationship with God the Father, his Reliance on
God the Holy Spirit and his Resolve to fulfil his God given mission to lay down
his life for mankind.
And these 3R’s are key ingredients
for all Christians –
Relationship, Reliance and Resolve.
