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robnaomi@oceana.net
Isaiah 42:1-5
December 3, 2000 am
Yesterday I awoke with the runny nose and itchy eyes kind of thing. I headed into town to get some relief. Since I tend to be cheap I decided that I would go to D&D’s and get some dollar store medicine. I crawled out of my car and walked confidently to the door. Closed. Rats! So, I decided, I will pay the extra and go over to the Pharmacy. I tugged on the pharmacy door. Closed. What was a man suppose to do in my predicament? Here I was, miserable and had a runny nose. My body craved relief from this affliction. what would save me from this demise? The bakery. Two chocolate covered donuts would buy me some time until the doors to the medicine would be unlocked.
Have you ever found yourself in a similar predicament? You want relief from the itchy eyes and headache of life’s distresses. You long for relief but like a bad dream the recurring issues from times past keeps breaking loose all over you. There are circumstances that are suddenly sprung upon you. You feel overwhelmed. You are frustrated. What must you do? Wherever you turn it seems that the doors are closed.
We encounter people everyday with issues that they must deal with. There are three levels of problems:
1) Surface Issues. These are the issues from day to day that we come up against. Usually they are not long term. Perhaps you overdraw your checking account by accident or have a flat tire or maybe get a speeding ticket. These issues come and go. If they occur over and over then there is a deeper issue and perhaps you need to get an accountant or buy new tires or slow down. All of us face these types of problems from time to time. We survive and go on.
2) Sub-surface Issues. These are the more personal dilemmas. An aunt has cancer. Tests from the hospital are less than perfect. You didn’t get the raise you wanted. You get bad news. These issues tend to consume our thoughts and can cause frustration especially when they are long term. Despite the bad endings to any number of these problems we endure, we survive and we go on.
3) Personal Issues. These are in the depths of your heart. Quite likely, these are the issues nobody else knows about. Perhaps there has been abuse in childhood that you have kept to yourself, or a sin addiction. Maybe there is guilt from the past that has pained someone ever since. Maybe there are unresolved conflicts between someone and God. Yes, good godly Christians can hold grudges even with God Himself. They misunderstand a tragedy and have had a hard time of coping. So they blame God. And then they never really deal with it. Maybe there is strife between relatives or what used to be good friends. Words are exchanged and a blow-up ensues. Nobody else knows but the joy of the Lord has been stolen from their life. Many go to the grave with these “hidden in the heart” problems.
4) And then, of course, would be the issues of sin. A person who does not know Jesus Christ will find their life is full but not fulfilling. They have the money and the means but not the merriment that they believe they should have. They believe there is a God but yet have not had a face to face encounter with Jesus Christ.
Here in Isaiah the prophet foretells of a Servant of the Lord who will see the needs of His people. We have a hope in this prophecy because it reaches and touches our soul. This is prophecy about the coming Savior- Jesus Christ.
“A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not snuff out.”
I believe that among us are many bruised reeds. There are those within the family circle of this congregation whose life could be summed up as a bruised reed. You have put down and hurt by others. And within your heart- where nobody sees- there is a bruised reed. A reed that is near being broken.
Perhaps there are others here whose cup is dry. You have endured some tough times and with the holiday season you wonder what there is to rejoice about. You hurt with the kind of hurt that no medicine can cure.
Maybe the joy of the Lord has been stolen from you. Maybe the enemy of your soul has heap coals upon you. But I am here to say that there is a God who is there. A God who sees who you are and knows you by name. A God who is personal and very real.
There are three points I want to make this morning that will give us a glimpse into this prophetic passage of scripture.
1. Jesus Came to Serve
There is something refreshing in the Christian religion about its centerpiece. Jesus on the cross goes completely against all that is worldly. No religious leader has ever had to suffer as Jesus did to start a new religion. Truly, as CS Lewis noted, Jesus is either a liar, a lunatic or Lord. Either he perpetrated the greatest hoax in history, or He is just a crazy man who deceived the world or He is Lord and then we must fall down at His feet and worship Him.
We all love the conquering heroes. Many of us remember John Wayne. He was a man’s man. One time he refused to do a scene where he snuck behind a man and shot him. “No way,” said John Wayne. “I never shoot a man in the back.” And so the director had to rewrite the scene so that John Wayne could take out his enemy face to face. We love those guys who have stared down death whether in the movies or real life.
But Jesus is different. Rather than Jesus being a revolutionary or conqueror He is cast as a servant. A lowly, foot-washing servant. The prophet Isaiah shares this in verse one:
“Here is my Servant, whom I uphold, my chosen One in whom I delight.”
In chapter 41, King Cyrus is shown as a righteous conqueror. Not that he was a righteous man but that he was an instrument of God’s use to bring His people back to Himself. By using his powerful resources he was able to defeat his enemies by force and conquer other nations. Cyrus was no servant because he had worldly ambitions in mind.
In chapter 42 Isaiah shows that the Messiah will come as a servant. Somehow those who saw Christ and even knew Him best expected some kind of hostile takeover of Israel and Jesus ascending to the throne. Instead they saw Him arrested, put on trial, publicly flogged and then put to death on a cross just as though he were some kind of criminal. He showed His disciples that He came as a servant to all.
Jesus showed us his obedience. In the Garden of Gethsemane he said: “Not my will but yours.”
Jesus also showed us His humility. Paul writes in Philippians that “he made himself nothing.”
And then Jesus proved His love. 1 Peter records that Jesus was the Lamb slain at the foundations of the world.
Isaiah wrote of the coming Messiah as a Servant. And Jesus came truly to serve. And in serving brought judgement.
2. Jesus Came to Bring Justice
The first verse ends by saying “he will bring justice to the nations.” And then in verses three and four Isaiah writes: “In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his law the islands will put their hope.”
Because Jesus comes to earth and offers eternal life he is setting up justice in this sense: Each person will be given the choice to either choose the way of salvation through Jesus Christ or reject this salvation. You will be either a follower or an enemy. And you have the right to say no to God. Justice is brought because there is now equality among everyone. And this equality gives every human being at least one opportunity to accept God’s way or reject it. The islands refers to the peripheral places of the known world. Jesus is the light that lights every man who comes into the world.
Despite the carnal opposition in our world and even Satan himself, He will not falter or be discouraged. Of course, God becomes disappointed in our behavior. I have no doubt that when that rooster crowed the third time and Jesus looked at Peter what an overwhelming sense of disappointment Peter experienced. He had failed his Master. But Jesus was not discouraged and did not falter in reaching into Peter’s life.
And something else: Jesus does not use the pomp and circumstance of the news media to execute this justice. Verse two is simply a wording that tells us that what Jesus does is a private affair between Him and the world. He doesn’t need to go into the streets and get on TV to bring forth justice. Just as we have issues we deal with in the privacy of our own house so does the Servant deal with each of us.
Jesus offers hope to the Gentile nations. Because of Jesus Christ we have as much right to the Holy of Holies to pray as anyone else. We have access to all the blessings of being a child of God as those who are of the Jewish race and name the name of Christ.
Jesus came to serve and to bring justice.
3. Jesus Came to Save
First of all, Jesus came to revive those who are spiritually dead. His death brings a salvation from sin. Any of us, as we are drawn and empowered by the Holy Spirit through God’s prevenient grace, can accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our life. When we do we will be saved from our sins: saved from the penalty of sin which is separation from God and saved from the punishment of sin which separation for eternity. Jesus came to save.
Secondly, Jesus came to restore those who are bruised by sin. We are all victims in some way because of sin. For starters, we inherited a sin nature from Adam. We make choices that damage our spirit whether it is done purposely or in ignorance. We may have been abused in some way and we wear the scars of what occurred. There are people we encounter regularly who have been bruised by sin.
What can you do if you have a friend who has been bruised by sin? What do you say to someone who shares a serious problem of abuse.
1. Make sure that they are safe from the abuser. Seek help if need be.
2. Pray. What other greater resource do we have for someone who is in trouble?
3. Seek counsel. Advise your friend to either contact a pastor or check out some Christian agencies. Bethany Christian Services in Fremont or Love, Incorporated are Christian based and will be able to make referrals.
4. Share Jesus Christ with them. Ultimately, in order for the problem to be resolved they need to have first things first. And that is they need Jesus Christ in their life. They need to experience God’s love first-hand.
Not only will Jesus revive the spiritually dead and restore the bruised reed, but He will rekindle the smoldering wick.
Do you feel as though the candle has burned down in your life? So often the weight of troubles can douse our flame. Many times we carry burdens far too long. We need to be rekindled.
We all face stresses from life. We see a loved one suffer or experience a loss. The pressure builds as we try to go on about life but we see our flame begin to smolder.
Maybe this morning you are one of those who has brought with you a smoldering wick. The flame just isn’t there any more. The fire is gone and God seems so far away.
“A bruised reed He will not break and a smoldering wick He will not snuff out.”
Hold up your candle and let Him rekindle your spirit.
