Lent 2: Servant Song for Salvation

(Preached on March 4, 2012)

            In this season of Lent we are looking at the stories that shaped Jesus.  Perhaps more than any other passages it is the servant songs of Isaiah where we find the description of how Jesus would be the Messiah.  Last week we read how the servant was the one whom God chose and delighted in.  The task of this servant was to bring justice to the earth, but he would do this not through force or violence or coercion, rather he would do it through compassion to the broken reeds and smoldering wicks. 

            This morning we hear the 2^nd servant song in which the servant is given what is perhaps an even bigger task.  Listen now for the word of the Lord

Isaiah 49:1-7

Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born the LORD called me; from my birth he has made mention of my name. 2 He made my mouth like a sharpened sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me into a polished arrow and concealed me in his quiver. 3 He said to me, "You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will display my splendor." 4 But I said, "I have labored to no purpose; I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing. Yet what is due me is in the LORD's hand, and my reward is with my God." 5 And now the LORD says-- he who formed me in the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel to himself, for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD and my God has been my strength-- 6 he says: "It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth." 7 This is what the LORD says-- the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel-- to him who was despised and abhorred by the nation, to the servant of rulers: "Kings will see you and rise up, princes will see and bow down, because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you."

            What is the task God gives the servant in this song?  The answer comes in three parts, each part larger than the other. 

The Call

            Unlike the last song in this one we hear the servant speaking about his calling and childhood.  We learn that the servant was called even before he was born and from his birth the Lord made mention of his name.  Then we learn how God shaped the servant.  In the last song the servant dealt with instruments of the Lord; a reed flute and a candle.  But in this song we read that the servant was shaped into a weapon.  “He made my mouth like a sharpened sword… he made me into a polished arrow…”  For a pacifist like me this pushes the envelope a little.  I don’t like to think of God’s servants as swords or arrows.  But here it is nonetheless.  Hold that thought and we will return to it.

The first mission – display God’s splendor

            Moving a little further we hear the task the Lord has given the servant.  He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.”  Okay, this isn’t too difficult a task, right?  The task of the servant is to display or reflect the splendor, that is the glory of God.  This reminds me of the question, “What is the chief end of humanity?”  And the answer?   “To glorify God and enjoy God forever.”  How does this happen?  I think of a work of art, like a painting or a sculpture.  The Mona Lisa displays the splendor of Leonardo Da Vinci.  Or perhaps it is more like a son or daughter.  When our children do well at school, make a basket or play well with others we tend to feel like it reflects upon us.  What is it parents often say to kids before they go away to school?  Make us proud.  Or perhaps their expectations are a little lower and they say “At least don’t embarrass us.”  Here, God is telling the servant that he was created and formed to be God’s art work, to be God’s child in whom his glory will be reflected.  And how does the servant respond?

Glory and Labor

            To this the servant replies, “I have labored to no purpose; I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing.”   I’ve tried to reflect your glory the servant replies, but it hasn’t worked.  I am a painting that no one purchased or even looked at.  I am a song that no one hears.  I am a child whose efforts and accomplishments no one notices.  I have tried to reflect your glory, O Lord, but it has all been for nothing.   

            Have you ever felt this way?  Have you ever felt like all your labors were for nothing?  I hate this feeling.  A couple of years ago we started getting a cooking magazine called Cooks Illustrated.  I found this recipe for Chicago Deep Dish Pizza and decided to make it.  I told Erin that dinner was on me and she didn’t have to worry about a thing.  I made the dough, I put the yeast in and then set it on the counter to rise.  An hour later, it was as flat as when it started, so I waited longer, but no change.  When I told Erin about this she asked if I’d activated the yeast with warm water.  Um, that wasn’t in the directions.  Unfortunately, no one told the yeast that.  By this time it was 5:00 and there was no way I could remake the dough.  And so I had to throw the whole batch away and we had grilled cheese for dinner.  All that labor for nothing.  I hate that.

            This was the servant’s feeling.  He’d been called.  He’d been equipped and he’d been on his mission of displaying the Lord’s splendor but to no avail.  Every batch he made he had to throw away.

            Were this church to feel this way I would not be shocked.  Our mission states that we seek to glorify God by being a community of Jesus so rich, deep and faithful that it is worth sharing.  Like the servant, we are called to reflect God’s splendor, but do you ever feel like we’ve failed at it?  I mean if we were successful wouldn’t our sanctuary be fuller?  Wouldn’t our budget be balanced?  Wouldn’t we have more programs?  I will admit that there are times when I feel my labors are in vain, like I’m just kneading dough that won’t rise.  But what does God say to this?  He gives the servant another task.

Gather Israel

            “And now the LORD says— he who formed me in the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel to himself…”  The servant admits that he feels like a failure in reflecting God’s splendor so what does God do?  God gives him a greater task.  God tasks the servant with gathering the nation of Israel back to him.  This is like a child who comes in to tell his dad that he couldn’t finish mowing the yard because he ran out of gas only to have the Father say, “Oh, okay, I tell you what then.  Why don’t you just go ahead and mow the yards of everyone in the neighborhood.”  What?  This is like a waiter who admits to his manager that he’s having trouble serving the four tables in his area only to have the manager say, “Oh, okay, I tell you what, why don’t you just go ahead and serve the whole restaurant?”

            In this task, God pushes the servant to do what every prophet had tried but failed to do since the Exodus from Egypt.  Only David had established Israel as a nation and even his efforts lasted for only 70 years or so before the nation split.  Now it was the servant’s task to do what Elijah, Elisha and all the other prophets and kings could not.  This was a giant task, but wait, as the commercials say, there’s more. 

Salvation

            “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”   Was it enough to be tasked with displaying God’s splendor and to gather Israel back? No, this is too small, says God.  It is too small a thing.  While I’m at it, let’s just go all in.  I also want you to be a light to the Gentiles that my salvation may reach the ends of the earth.  What?  God did you not hear me?  I felt lost at displaying your splendor, but you keep giving me more.  Last week the servant was given the task of justice to the earth and now his task is to bring salvation to the ends of the earth.  At this rate I imagine the next song will task the servant with ending world hunger and the final song with establishing world peace. This is like telling the boy who couldn’t finish mowing the yard that now he had to mow the yards not only of those in his neighborhood but of those across the entire world.  The waiter is now called not just to serve all the tables in the restaurant, but also those of every restaurant in the city.  Salvation to the ends of the earth!? How in the world would this be possible?

Swords and Arrows           

            Now imagine Jesus reading this song.  If Jesus saw himself as this servant, which I think he did, what would he have thought?  We know that he ultimately embraced each of these tasks; displaying God’s splendor, gathering Israel and even salvation to the ends of the earth.  But how

And perhaps after coming to this point he went back through the song to get clues until he landed upon those weapons. “He made my mouth like a sharpened sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me into a polished arrow and concealed me in his quiver.”  Was God calling the servant to use swords and arrows to bring salvation?  Were it the case, it would not have been the first time.

            Think about the basic idea of salvation.  A rabid dog is chasing a child when a father saves the child by shooting the dog.  A woman is held at gunpoint by a robber when a man comes along and saves her by shooting the assailant.  A region of the country attempts to secede from the country and so the President uses his army to save the Union.  Over and over again salvation comes by means of force or the threat of force.  Israel was no stranger to this.

            A couple of centuries before Christ, a group called the Maccabees led an armed rebellion against Rome which was successful for a short time only to fall back again to Roman power.  And even, or especially, in Jesus’ day there were no shortage of Israelites advocating for another armed rebellion.  One of them even became Jesus’ disciples, his name was Simon and was always referred to as ‘the zealot.’              Was this, Jesus surely wondered, the way God was calling Jesus to be the Messiah?

            In each of those instances, when salvation was gained through the sword, it had to continue to be defended by the sword and ultimately it was defeated by the power of another sword.  First there was Babylon who was defeated by the Persians who was defeated by the Greeks who was defeated by the Romans who was defeated by the Barbarians who was defeated by the French and then the British and now we sit in a time of American domination that will likely soon give way to the Chinese.  Each of these nations has attempted to save others through the power of the sword.  From this, Jesus would ultimately tell Peter to put down his sword and say, “all who draw the sword will die by the sword.”  (Matthew 26:53)  No, Jesus concluded, this was not the way to bring light to the Gentiles.  But how?

            And then I imagine him re-reading the 5^th verse, “Is it too small a thing for you to be my servant…”  Just establishing a new human empire was too small a thing.   God wanted the servant to think bigger, much, much bigger.  Think back to those instances.  The robber, the rabid dog, the seceding nation; even if you kill these agents there will still arise another one.  Like trying to get rid of crab grass it just burrows under and spreads.  No, the robber, the dog and the nation are not the enemy and nor were the Gentiles.  The enemy sits behind them, under them, in them.  And what is this enemy?  Listen to how Paul answered that question in his letter to the Corinthians.

“ ²⁰ But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹ For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. ²² For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. ²³ But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. ²⁴ Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. ²⁵ For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. ²⁶ The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” – 1 Corinthians 15:20-26

Death, death is the enemy. That which separates humanity from life, that which separates humanity from God, that is the enemy that is not too small.  That, I imagine Jesus concluding, is the enemy I will take down.  And how?

Cross not a sword, but is

Last week Erin and I did the cross walk with the kids.  Each of them wanted to carry the cross so we let them.  Janie carried it straight, Benjamin needed a little help, and Will seemed to do just fine to the point we stopped paying attention to him as he walked behind us.  And then Erin said, “Look at your son.”  I turned around and Will had grabbed the cross with both hands and was swinging it around like a sword. 

Unfortunately our Christian ancestors have done this far too often.  The cross became a sword in the crusades, in the inquisition, to support slavery, during the reformation and on and on it has gone as we have used the cross to endorse our violence.  Immediately I corrected Will and showed him how we carry the cross. 

But as I got to thinking about it, he wasn’t completely wrong.  The cross is a sword, it just needed to be used on the right enemy.  And what did Jesus do?  He took that cross, the symbol of ultimate shame and suffering and used it as a sharpened sword not to defeat the Romans, but instead to defeat death and all its power.  And this, this is a task none too small for our Lord. 

Tasks too small

            I should likely end right there, but I can’t resist the opportunity to invite us to put ourselves in the shoes of Christ.  Have we settled for things too small?  We pray for our doors to remain open, but is this too small?  We pray for 60 people in worship, but is this too small?  We pray for a balanced budget, but is this too small?  We pray for healing from a surgery, but is this too small?  For the last 10 years I’ve been praying for 20 youth and a youth leader to disciple them, but now I am wondering if this is too small? 

            Is God big enough to keep the doors of every church and home in this neighborhood open?  Is God big enough to keep every family together, to end divorce, to end domestic violence, to end murders in South Tacoma?  Is God big enough to keep every family out of debt, to give everyone able a job and to ensure everyone has enough to eat?  Is God big enough to ensure that every child in this community of 26,000 has at least 3 adults who they know loves them beyond measure?  Is God big enough?  Oh Manitou, we may feel too small, we may feel too discouraged, we may feel too weak but make no mistake.  We belong to a God who is none of these.    

The way out…

            Salvation to the ends of the earth.   It may or may not be relevant, but while exploring the passage I took a look at the Hebrew word for salvation.  Anyone want to guess what it is?  h['Wvy> Yeshua. Does this sound like the name of anyone you know?  I have no way of knowing this, but maybe, just maybe, while reading or hearing this passage, Jesus heard salvation and he heard his name so that now when we hear Jesus name, we hear salvation.