Introduction
How did Jesus come to understand the
nature of his calling by the Father? The
texts of the Old Testament were no doubt formative in his childhood, youth and
early adulthood. Perhaps some of the
most influential of those texts were those found in Isaiah; the ones that have
come to be known as the Servant Songs.
We’ve been reading this songs for the last three weeks in an attempt not
only to understand how Jesus came to his calling, but in so doing that we may
also come to understand our calling in Christ.
In
the first song the servant is called to ‘bring justice to the nations’ and he
will do this not by lifting his voice in the streets, rather through compassion
for the ‘bruised reeds and smoldering wicks of the world. In the second song the servant is tasked with
salvation to the ends of the earth and he will do this not through literal
swords, but by allowing God to form his mouth into a sword that will ‘cut us to
the heart’ and lead us back to God. Last
week we read that the servant received ‘an
instructed tongue to know the word that sustains the weary…’ This word that sustains the weary is not a
magical word, it is a way and it is a person.
The servant invites us to be wakened morning by morning to come to know
that Word that we might be sustained through our weariness.
We
come now to what it is undoubtedly the climatic song of the servant. The three previous songs were each an act
setting up the climatic finish to the concert.
They were songs, this is an anthem.
It is rich. It is deep. It is full of faith. Brothers and sisters, it is morning again,
listen now for the word of the Lord that sustains the weary and startles the
complacent.
Psalm 52:13-53:12
13 See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted. 14 Just as there were many who were appalled at him--his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness-- 15 so will he sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of him. For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand.
53:1 Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. 9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. 10 Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. 11 After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Beginning with the end in mind
Isaiah begins with the end of the
story in mind. Just so we won’t worry he
lets us know that it all works out in the end.
Ultimately, the servant will act wisely and will be raised and lifted up
and highly exalted. The servant ends his
journey as a hero. This is
wonderful. Yet, in each of these
elements there is a double meaning. In
each of these exaltations there is a story and it is a tough one. The next verse reveals that this raising
lifting and exalting will not come in the typical way.
Many were appalled at him…his
appearance was disfigured…his form marred beyond human likeness? This doesn’t sound like the kind of
exaltation I would want. This doesn’t
sound like a good start, yet there must be some power in this servant despite
his appearance because of what we read next.
Sprinkle or Amaze?
“So
will he sprinkle many nations and kings will shut their mouths because of him.” Though I don’t want to go too deep into a
word study, I feel it is important to pause and look at this word
‘sprinkle.’ In Hebrew the word is hz"n" and it is used in Leviticus 16:24[1]
as instructions for the priest to sprinkle the blood of an animal sacrifice
upon the atonement cover as a way of making restitution for the sins of the
people. On the other hand, the Greek
version of the Old Testament, called the Septuagint uses the word qauma,zw
which
means to startle or amaze. This was a
word that the New Testament authors often used to speak of Jesus. He amazed the disciples by calming the wind
(Mat. 8:27), driving out demons (9:33), the mute speaking, cripple made well,
the lame walking and the blind made to see (15:31). And perhaps most relevant to our passage, it
was the response that Pilate had when he asked Jesus to defend himself and he
said nothing. Matthew writes, “But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single
charge-- to the great amazement of the governor.” (17:24).
So
which is it, sprinkle or amaze? Perhaps
there is room for both. Whatever the
case, we know that what the servant does will be very impressive because look
at its effect. “…kings will shut their mouths because of him.” In the days of Isaiah and Jesus no one
ran for President or Governor, but this did not mean there were not
politicians. Kings were the politicians
of their day. Now think for a minute
about what you see politicians doing most of the time; talking. Of course you know this if you watch any
television and things are only going to get worse as we move toward
November. In light of that, imagine what
it would take to get the politicians to ‘shut their mouths.’ That would be quite impressive would it
not? Of course, I must confess that the
same could be said of pastors. An act
that could get us to close our mouths might be equally impressive. What could do such a thing?
“For
what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will
understand.” Hmmm, think about that
for a minute. The negatives both regard
hearing. How can we understand things if
we don’t hear them? We see them. I can here my
preaching professor from seminary saying, ‘It is far better to show than to
tell.’ Missouri
is the ‘show me state.’ St. Francis
said, “preach the gospel always, use words if necessary.” Author Jen Hatmaker wrote, “I am at a place
where ‘well done’ trumps ‘well said.’”[2]
What
we learn here is that the servant is going to startle and shut the mouths of
kings not by speaking, but through showing.
What kind of show could accomplish such a feat? Fasten your seatbelts passengers because the
plane is about to encounter some severe turbulence that may amaze us.
Humble beginnings
Who has believed our message and to
whom has the message been revealed? Who
has it been shown to? Who gets it? Who?
Do you? Do I? Do we?
Listen to the radical tale.
“He
grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground.” Shoots aren’t very appealing, neither are
roots. Apparently such was the case for
the servant who had ‘no beauty or majesty
to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.” What kind of world changer isn’t
attractive? Television tells us that
anyone hoping to make a difference must, almost before anything, be
attractive. Yet, the servant starts his
showing by not seeming like he has anything worth showing. But things get even worse.
Despised and Rejected
“He
was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with
suffering. Like one from whom men hide
their faces he was despised and we esteemed him not.” Not only is this servant not attractive,
he is full of suffering so much so that people hid their faces from him. This should come as no surprise but humans
don’t like to suffer. In fact, we hate
it so much that we tend to turn away from it in others. Who among us likes going to funerals? Who likes going to the hospital? Who likes visiting the nursing homes? We would much rather be with happy, hopeful
and healthy people than with those who are suffering. Yet, here was the servant a man of sorrows. How in the world could such a person amaze
the nations and shut the mouths of kings?
But wait, it gets even worse.
By God or By Us?
“…we
considered him stricken by God, smitten by him and afflicted.”
In John 9 the disciples encounter a man born blind and ask, “Who sinned,
this man or his parents?” Their question
reveals a common thought of the day; that sickness and sorrows were caused by
God because someone did something wrong.
They were unfaithful which led God to punish them.
But
is this the case with the servant? Did
he suffer because of something he did that was wrong? And here is where things turn. Here is where the plane really starts to
shake. Notice the cause of the servants
sorrow. “He was pierced for our
transgressions, he was crushed for our
iniquities; the punishment that brought us
peace was upon him, and by his wounds we
are healed.”
Does
anyone remember the cartoon strip “Pogo?”
In one of the more well known episodes, Pogo comes across his Everglade
homeland that is covered with trash and he says, “We have met the enemy and he
is us.” The servant did not suffer
because God smote him or because he did anything wrong. The servant suffered because of us. This is a painful thing to realize, I know.
Erin
and I were driving I-75 from Atlanta to Athens. It was a Friday and traffic was horrible,
normally it is bad, but it was even worse than bad. It took us an hour to move a mile. Finally we came to the scene of an accident
but it was not in the road, but off to the side. There was nothing actually blocking traffic,
the only reason for the congestion was because people were looking at the
accident. Of course I am appalled at
this and say so, “What?” I say to Erin, “Do
you mean we were stuck for over an hour just because people were
rubbernecking.” As I said this, the car
was moving forward but I was looking at the wreck. At this Erin
just started to laugh and I realized my hypocrisy. We have met the enemy and he is us.
How are we complicit in violence? From them to us
Do we believe this? Before you agree let me draw some
implications. Over the last month, 3
children have died from handguns. In the
first, a 3rd grade boy brought his mother’s boyfriends gun to school
and it went off in his backpack severely wounded a classmate. In the second, a child got his father’s
handgun in the car and accidently shot and killed his sibling and in the most
recent right out here at the Shell on 56th
street a 3 year old boy found the gun that his
mother’s boyfriend had a concealed weapons license a shot himself. Senseless deaths. Why did these happen? We can point to faults by these parents, but
if we take this song seriously we have to ask, what about us? Are we complicit in some manner?
Who
can escape the news of the horrific acts of Ft. Lewis
soldier SSG Bales. In an act of
incredible horror, he took his military issued weapon and killed 16 Afghan
villagers; mostly women and children.
Perhaps most shocking about this rampage is they military can find no
compelling reason why he would do this.
Yet, the fact that this was his fourth tour in Iraq or Afghanistan does raise some
flags. Who are we to send a man into
such danger so many times? Are we in
some way complicit?
You
may bristle and even reject these suggestions that we play a role in violence
done by others and I’ll admit there is a case to be made. Yes, there are decisions these folks made and
consequences they will suffer. But, I
think the song of the suffering servant pushes us to ask if they are not in
some way us?
Listen
to the words of poet and pastor John Donne,
No
man is an island entire of itself; every man
is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;
if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe
is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as
well as a manor of thy friends or of thine
own were; any man's death diminishes me,
because I am involved in mankind.
And therefore never send to know for whom
the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;
if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe
is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as
well as a manor of thy friends or of thine
own were; any man's death diminishes me,
because I am involved in mankind.
And therefore never send to know for whom
the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
“No man is an island entire of
itself.” We are all connected Donne is saying and if
one of us is lost, it affects the whole.
“Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind. And
therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.” In Donne’s day, deaths were announced not in
the newspaper, but by the ringing of the church bells. People would send their children to find out
who died. Donne invites us to imagine
that their death is in part ours as well.
They are we. We have met the
enemy and he is us.
The way out…
“We all, like sheep, have gone
astray, each of us has turned to his own way.”
In light of
this revelation, that we are all complicit, that we have all gone astray, that
the they is in fact us, that we have met the enemy and he is us; in light of
such revelation what can be done? The
answer to that would shock the nations and shut the mouths of kings. The answer comes from the word that sustains
the weary, through the one we call savior and Lord, but this is an answer we
will explore more fully next Sunday for a song this long and rich to attempt to
engage in one message. But what of
today?
Here
is a simple invitation. Pray. As a way to remember they are in fact we, I
invite you to read the newspaper or watch television with an eye towards both
the suffering and those causing the suffering.
Each day name someone and then pray.
Pray for those who suffer. Pray
for those who cause the suffer and pray for yourself. As we hear the bell toll may we ever become
aware that it also tolls for me.
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