The Scope of the Servant’s Role.
Isaiah 42: 1 – 9 Matthew 3: 13 – 17
Isaiah 42: 1 – 9 Matthew 3: 13 – 17
The book of Isaiah provides a rich insight into God’s purposes and into the role of God’s Servant or Servants. It is global in its perspective and perception.
Our reading today is one of a set of poems about God’s servant or servants. When you read these poems the Christian cannot help but think of Jesus the Christ – our Lord and Saviour. The servant is spoken of in the singular and then the plural; that is there is both the Servant and servants. That’s not surprising. If God gives one person a task God gives all a task. That is, if Jesus came to show us the way to God then Jesus’ followers show others the way to God. The one becomes the many. That’s the way it is in God’s purposeful plan.
I want to talk about being God’s Servant(s) by talking about the Servant in our reading of Isaiah 42: 1 – 9. The poem begins with God introducing the servant.
Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen,
in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him;
Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen,
in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him;
The first thing we learn is that the Servant is chosen and blessed with the Holy Spirit. At Jesus’ baptism Matthew tells us that when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” [Mt 3:16,17] To be given God’s spirit is to be endowed with the power and the character of God. Of course we can never completely replicate God’s character and power. We can only do that in part with God’s blessing. The important thing is that God is willing to give us the Holy Spirit. God is willing to let us reflect his power and character. We are ambassadors of God in Christ Jesus says Paul [2 Cor 5:20].
The first Christians displayed God’s power and love. And they stayed true to what Jesus taught even at the cost of death, such as the first Christian martyr, Stephen. These weren’t people acting out of the ordinary-ness of humanity, but ordinary people acting out of the extraordinary-ness of God’s gifting. We believe that the Spirit is given to us in our baptism. However I believe and understand that we have to invite God’s Spirit to enter our lives again and again. Why? Well we are human and we are sinners. By that I mean we fall into thinking more of ourselves than God. The fact that we have to invite the Spirit into our lives many times is not a reflection on God but a reflection on us. If we are struggling to receive the Holy Spirit it is most likely we have a spiritual plumbing problem! Many years ago a writer used the image of a pipeline to illustrate how the Holy Spirit comes to us. The idea is that God’s Spirit comes to us through a pipeline like water through a water pipe. Now the Spirit’s flow to us, so to speak, is either not coming through, messy or just a trickle. If that were happening to our water supply we would think that the water pipeline was broken, damaged or blocked. The point of this metaphor is that the flow of the Spirit to us will be affected by our attitude, our sinfulness and how open we are to receiving God into our lives. We can so easily block God’s Spirit by disbelief, by not being open to God’s promptings or by our sinfulness. We have ways of shutting God out or at least limiting God’s action in our lives. Our inviting of God’s Spirit into our lives is not about persuading God, but persuading ourselves to let God give us what God wants to give us.
Three times this poem speaks of the Servant bringing justice. The Gospel of Luke presents Jesus in the Synagogue in Nazareth reading from the Isaiah scroll. In our edition of Isaiah that would be chapter 61:1-4, which is very similar to chapter 40. There the notion of justice incorporates a well-being in the community where there is an equal access to resources, responsible neighbourliness, compassion for the needy, liberation for those in bondage and a right relationship with God. Justice is much more than a set of good laws carried out and policed. Justice is about right relationships and right practice. In Isaiah 40:6 God speaks through Isaiah saying; ‘I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you’. To be taken in righteousness by God does not mean we are taken when we are perfect. Righteousness in the Bible is a rich concept that includes a right or good relationship. Righteousness means we have entered an intimate relationship. This intimacy is suggested by the image of being taken by the hand and kept by God. That’s a beautiful image. God holds our hand and we walk the bumpy road of life together. You see, when we enjoy that kind of relationship and then pursue justice, the resulting justice will be far more like God’s justice.
God’s servant will have empathy. A lovely picture is given of God’s servant. He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench … . [42:2,3] A bruised reed will not be broken! A dimly burning wick will not be extinguished! I see the Servant here approaching us when our spirits are troubled and bruised by life’s woes and ills and holding us. I see the Servant drawing next to us re-igniting the dying embers of our spirits when we have lost hope or feel overwhelmed. The Servant comes as one who too has been bruised and whose spirit has been tested. Here we have a picture of how our ministry as Christians is to be carried out. Approach others listening to and empathising with them. Approach others and walk with them and encourage them. Help them regain their courage and hope.
God’s servants are faithful. Isaiah writes that the servant will faithfully bring forth justice and he will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth … [42:3,4]. What is different in the Servant’s ‘job description’ is that faithfulness is more important than achievements. Even when I met with your representatives 7 and a bit years ago I was asked what I had achieved in my last position, not whether I had been faithful. It is a very different concept isn’t it? It’s much easier to list what we have achieved or not achieved. But with God it is different. Firstly it is God the Holy Spirit who accomplishes the ministry. Yes, God is the author and the finisher of ministry. The question is not whether we have achieved but have we been faithful? The practical aspect of faithfulness is perseverance. Indeed the Church has had to have patient perseverance over the centuries as it has faced opposition and persecution. I feel dreadfully sad about those Christians facing persecution today. I stand in amazement as I realise they gather to worship under threat. We gather as it suits us. We complain about whether the tea or coffee is hot enough, not whether anyone saw us coming to worship. There is no threat. We are free to worship when and where it suits us. It is the faithfulness of past Christians that has won them the day. We need to discern what faithfulness might mean to us today.
The surprises in this passage continue to come. The scope of the task is global. God gives the Servant as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations. [42:6] One of the amazing things about the writings of Isaiah, more properly speaking the school of Isaiah, is that the perspective is global. What we do locally has a global affect. The adage ‘think globally and act locally’ applies to the Church. Again and again we see that God has chosen Israel to be a light to the nations. However in their failure to be faithful the task has been given to the Servant and the servants of the Servant. In reading this text today I wondered whether we should not be cultivating a more global vision of God’s work. I feel embarrassed and challenged by this insight. I get so caught up in the local scene. Maybe that is part of our failure in being God’s partners and servants. Our focus is too local.
The final verse reminds the Servant and the servants of God that the future belongs to God. God the Creator holds this world together and breathes life into it. It is God’s. As our history unfolds the justice of God has slowly unfolded and influenced our sense of justice. The servants of God have followed their leader, Christ Jesus the Servant, who has brought a gentleness and compassion to this world. The future is slowly unfolding, so be faithful and be patient. God’s future requires us to be proactive not reactive. We are called to see what God’s future will be like and live it out today.
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Peter C Whitaker, Leighmoor UC: 08/01/2017
pgwhitaker@tpg.com.au
/ www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au
pgwhitaker@tpg.com.au
/ www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au
