Sermon "Gently Urgent"
Lord, grant us your mercy, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Maybe you've been in a situation where someone has directed you to do something right away. You've been brought to a stop or re-directed by a police officer. Or maybe someone has had you take a step to the side and you then saw you were in a place which was dangerous in some way but you are now safe. As someone who has worked in music, theater, and ballet productions, I know that when the person dressed all in black grabs you by the elbow and moves you somewhere you want to go there without complaining.
Our Lord and Savior is a little like that stage hand or that police officer. He has a purpose for his people. He is working diligently toward that purpose. He will not give up until it is accomplished. And this purpose is, in fact, a matter of life and death. We, on the other hand, normally don't have a very clear grasp of the overall picture. We are haplessly standing in the way, ready to be run down by a truck, closed into the lion's cage, or have a piece of scenery lowered onto our head.
We see our Lord Jesus here in Isaiah 42. He is God's "servant." As we look at the passage it becomes quite clear that he is none other than the very God who saves us.
Jesus is the one who will be coming again in judgment. He's the one that everyone will look to for salvation, for a righteous decision. He's the one who, being the very righteousness of God, is able to give a righteous judgment. He's the one who, being truly man, is able to live and die in our stead.
Jesus, like the servant of God in Isaiah, is the one who overthrows sin, death, principalities and powers with no army, no revolutionaries, no riots or explosions. In fact, a movie about most of Jesus' work could hardly be considered an action film. It seems more like an inaction film. Jesus teaches some people. He walks here and there. People try to do things to him. He doesn't actually seem to be doing anything. He eventually ends up being put to death and buried. One author compares Jesus' saving work to the lifeguard who sees a drowning girl. He walks into the water, swims over to her, and drowns along with her. Then three days later he walks out of the water all alone and says the girl is fine. This doesn't seem like a salvation story to us. But by faith we believe, teach and confess that Jesus has accomplished salvation by his death, burial and resurrection. He didn't have to blow up the temple. He didn't have to kill all the people who opposed him. There isn't even a good chariot chase in the Gospels. No, Jesus doesn't create a stir, he doesn't raise his voice. He just saves us.
Jesus, like the servant in Isaiah 42, is the one who rules over all the earth. See how verse 4 is very universal in its scope. We see him bringing "justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his law." He doesn't seem to limit himself. No, Jesus Christ is the savior of the world. He has come with his promise which is for you, for me, and for all who are far off, as many as he will call. And that call is extended to everyone. All who believe Jesus has died for their sins, all who trust that Jesus is the savior, all those people are called and redeemed.
So what is our status in all of this? In verse three we see "a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench." In verse seven we see he came "to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon."
The picture of the reed is a picture of a lamp and its wick. The oil lamps used throughout history have used rushes or reeds for wicks. That was actually common up into the nineteenth century. What happens when the wick is broken? What happens to a candle with a broken wick? We've seen it many times. That's why we remind acolytes to just hold the snuffer over the candle and let the candle go out. We don't want to break the wick because then the candle is really difficult to light. But wicks get broken. Reeds get bruised. And when they are bruised they are about to break. The reed breaks and the light goes out. What is Jesus' attitude toward us when we are bruised, battered, even broken and about to burn out? Jesus will not quench that faintly burning wick. He came to give life, abundant life at that. Jesus came to give us his light, the light of the world. He came to heal and restore. Jesus cares about us when we are downtrodden.
What if we're wandering around in darkness? We are prisoners, blind prisoners, who couldn't find the way out of the prison even if it were unlocked. What has our Lord done? He himself is the key. Just as we heard when we were looking at the O Antiphons during Advent, Jesus is the one who has unlocked forgiveness. He is the mighty king, the one who rules on the throne of David. He is the one who has come to deliver his people. He is the one who releases us from prison, from death.
So what are we to do with this servant of God? What's our part to play? How are we to throw off our shackles? Are we to clean ourselves up to present ourselves to our Lord? No, not at all. Not that we sin so God's grace can abound. But we who have been purchased by our Lord have already been moved from death to life. We don't make ourselves holy. Only God can do that. We whose eyes have been opened, the redeemed of the Lord, those he has set free from prison now walk in the light. He grabs us by the elbow and moves us. We go where he puts us. It brings us no glory. It brings us no honor. There is no power sharing. Remember Isaiah 42.8. Salvation is by God's glory and by his glory alone. No, there is no other name given by which we should be saved. We call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, God's servant, who has called us to himself.
This is our hope. Jesus has come. He has been baptized as one of us. He who washes our sins away has himself entered into the dirty water of humanity. He who brings us life has shown himself to us. He has come to suffer as one of us. And in his suffering he sets us prisoners free. Yes, Jesus, God's servant, has come to move us from death to life by placing himself into our death and giving us his life. This he has accomplished by himself. And like the man who comes to Jesus with a demon-possessed son, we say, "Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief."
Thanks be to God. Amen.
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Dave Spottsblogging at http://capnsaltyslongvoyage.blogspot.com
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