St Theodore's

Wattle Park

Sermon of the Week
Look up the passage

20/11/05

God's plan for the nations
Isaiah 49:1-7

The nation of Israel is about to be destroyed. By all outward appearances God's choice of Israel as his chosen people seems to have been a failure. What's more, the idea that all the nations of the world would be blessed through the descendants of Abraham seems to have gone by the wayside.

Yet God's sovereign. He's Lord of history; Lord of nations. So he sends his prophet Isaiah, with a message of hope. Yes, it appears that hope is lost. But God is about to send someone to save his people. Someone is coming who will be a conquering king, who'll restore the kingdom to Israel. Yet at the same time there's an enigma in the way this person is presented. As Isaiah presents this saviour, this Messiah, this anointed one, the title he's given isn't 'Lord' or 'king'; rather it's that of 'Servant'.

The Servant of the LORD

   The people are lost, without hope, but God says he'll send one among them who will be his servant to bring them justice, salvation and renewed hope; and what's more, we discover in ch52, one who'll be a suffering servant.

   So let's look at this, the second of the so-called 'Servant Songs' to see what God has to say about the way he'll bring salvation to all people through this suffering servant.

We begin with the servant's experience of God's call. God called him before he was born. This isn't a fallback situation, a plan B thought up by God when his main plan failed. He hasn't looked around to see if he could find someone who might solve the situation the Israelites have got themselves into. No, God had planned this from before the beginning of the world. He'd chosen this servant before he was born.

This servant is someone special. God has put his word in his mouth so that what he says will bring results. He says God has made his mouth like a sharp sword. He's been set apart to bring God's revelation to the world.

And notice that it's not just Israel to whom he speaks. It's to the coastlands and to the peoples from far away. Up until now God's blessing had fallen on his chosen people alone, but now the servant has come to bring God's message of salvation to all people. As v6 says he's to be a light to the nations that salvation may reach to the end of the earth.

The pictures are piled one on top of another aren't they? He's a sharp sword. He's a polished arrow hidden in God's quiver. Now that probably doesn't mean a lot unless you know something about archery. It's modern equivalent might be a marksman's rifle. The polished arrow is the one kept aside for the situation where you can't afford to miss.

So he's someone very special; someone set apart for one essential task. But then he says something quite strange: "³He said to me, 'You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.'" Not only is this the servant, but he's also Israel.

Now let me suggest that there are 2 truths hidden in this brief statement. First of all, the task of the servant is also the task of Israel, the nation. We'll see in a moment what that task is to be. But notice here that there's an ambiguity in the identity of the servant. He's a particular person as we'll see in a moment. But he also stands for the nation as a whole. His task is their task.

But secondly, there's a sense in which this particular person will incorporate within his own being, his own person, all that the nation of Israel stands for and was meant to be. If you look over to v8, you'll see that he's going to become a new covenant for the people to restore the land to the way it was at the beginning, and to bring freedom and prosperity back to God's people.

And just as Israel was meant to show the surrounding nations how great God is, so now this servant will show God's glory to the nations.

The Servant's Despondency

But then the servant replies: "⁴I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;" It all seems to have been a waste of time. He's worked as hard as possible yet as he looks around nothing seems to have been accomplished.

This is a word for all of us who get disappointed or despondent when our efforts don't seem to bring the results we hoped for. In a little church like ours we can expend a tremendous amount of effort between us and at the end of a year like this we look back and our numbers are down by 15%, we're thousands of dollars behind budget, we don't seem to have made much of an impact on the community around us, and we can so easily think, what a waste of time and effort. "I've labored in vain, I've spent my strength for nothing and vanity."

The Remedy

So what's the remedy when we start to feel like that? Well, there it is in v4: "Yet surely my cause is with the LORD, and my reward with my God." (Reward here BTW has the idea of the outcome of my work.) My response, when I'm feeling discouraged, is to remind myself that God is sovereign; that I can trust him to bring about the positive results that he desires.

But then I need to open my eyes to see how he's been doing that. We can come to the end of a year like this and be discouraged, or we can open our eyes a bit more, or turn our focus a little to the right or left and we discover those people who are growing in their faith; we see those young people who are learning to exercise their gifts of ministry in our children's program. We see those young people whose faith has grown so much in the past year that they're willing to stand up before their family and their peers and declare their love for Jesus Christ. We might even see how a door of opportunity that we thought we'd closed has been pushed ajar by God so that we've had to rethink our future plans all over again.

If our cause is truly with the Lord then we can be confident that he'll bring us the results he desires.

God's response

But if that's the servant's response, how does God respond? He reminds him that God is the one who calls him to this task of restoring the nation to unity once more, and, who strengthens him for the task. What does he say? Look at v6: God says your vision is too small, let's broaden it. "It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth."

Suddenly we see what God intends for the world. What God has intended from the beginning in fact. "You'll be a light to lighten to the nations." Why? "That my salvation may reach to the end of the earth." The salvation foreshadowed in the call of Abraham is about to come about. Do you remember the promise God made to Abraham when he called him to leave his home and go to Canaan, back in Gen 12? He said: "I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. ³I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." All the families of the earth. And now he tells his servant that the salvation he's about to bring will reach to the ends of the earth.

So how will this take place? Well, there's a bit more detective work to do isn't there? The main clue though is in v7: "⁷Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nations, the slave of rulers, 'Kings shall see and stand up, princes, and they shall prostrate themselves.'" There is one who is coming who will be deeply despised, abhorred by the nations. He'll appear to be of little account. Yet we discover a couple of chapters on that the one who was despised will be raised up and kings will shut their mouths because of him as they suddenly see him for who he is. Here the kings will stand up from their thrones because a greater has entered their midst. They'll prostrate themselves before him as a sign that he deserves their obedience and allegiance. And again, why does he deserve that allegiance? Because he's the one chosen by the LORD. The LORD, notice, who's described as the kinsman redeemer of Israel. That is, this servant, Israel, is God's next of kin.

The Servant Revealed

Do you see that this description of the servant, who's despised by the nations, is actually a description of Jesus Christ, the son of God? He's the one who Phil 2 describes as having emptied himself, humbled himself to death on a cross, but to whom God has now given a name that's above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow.

Well if that were all there was for us in this passage it'd be very interesting, but it probably wouldn't move us very far. But let me suggest there is one important piece of information that makes a huge difference to us.

The New Israel

Do you remember how I pointed out earlier that this servant is described as Israel. The task given to the servant is also a task for God's people. And who are God's people now? Well, we are, aren't we? We're the new Israel. So if we've now taken over from Israel in God's plans what should we be doing?

Isn't this our mission in the world: "I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth." Isn't that what Jesus said to his disciples as he was about to leave them? "As the Father has sent me, so I send you." "Go into all the world and preach the gospel." "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

Our task is to continue the work of the Servant of the LORD. That is, to take the news of God's salvation to all those who haven't yet heard of it. In our second reading today we read "We are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us."

As we come to our Annual General Meeting here is our main task, our prime directive: to be a light to the nations, to bring God's salvation to the ends of the earth and to show forth God's glory in our life together. Does that sound like our Parish mission statement? I hope it does. God's assurance to us is that he'll be with us, he'll bring about the results he desires, he'll strengthen us and guide us. What we need to do is to make sure that we follow where he leads, that we respond when he calls; that we trust him to do what's right. "All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation." (2 Cor 5:18)



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	Sermon of the Week	Look up the passage
	20/11/05
	God's plan for the nations	Isaiah 49:1-7

	The nation of Israel is about to be destroyed. By all outward appearances God's choice of Israel as his chosen people seems to have been a failure. What's more, the idea that all the nations of the world would be blessed through the descendants of Abraham seems to have gone by the wayside.
	Yet God's sovereign. He's Lord of history; Lord of nations. So he sends his prophet Isaiah, with a message of hope. Yes, it appears that hope is lost. But God is about to send someone to save his people. Someone is coming who will be a conquering king, who'll restore the kingdom to Israel. Yet at the same time there's an enigma in the way this person is presented. As Isaiah presents this saviour, this Messiah, this anointed one, the title he's given isn't 'Lord' or 'king'; rather it's that of 'Servant'.
	The Servant of the LORD
	The people are lost, without hope, but God says he'll send one among them who will be his servant to bring them justice, salvation and renewed hope; and what's more, we discover in ch52, one who'll be a suffering servant.
	So let's look at this, the second of the so-called 'Servant Songs' to see what God has to say about the way he'll bring salvation to all people through this suffering servant.
	We begin with the servant's experience of God's call. God called him before he was born. This isn't a fallback situation, a plan B thought up by God when his main plan failed. He hasn't looked around to see if he could find someone who might solve the situation the Israelites have got themselves into. No, God had planned this from before the beginning of the world. He'd chosen this servant before he was born.
	This servant is someone special. God has put his word in his mouth so that what he says will bring results. He says God has made his mouth like a sharp sword. He's been set apart to bring God's revelation to the world.
	And notice that it's not just Israel to whom he speaks. It's to the coastlands and to the peoples from far away. Up until now God's blessing had fallen on his chosen people alone, but now the servant has come to bring God's message of salvation to all people. As v6 says he's to be a light to the nations that salvation may reach to the end of the earth.
	The pictures are piled one on top of another aren't they? He's a sharp sword. He's a polished arrow hidden in God's quiver. Now that probably doesn't mean a lot unless you know something about archery. It's modern equivalent might be a marksman's rifle. The polished arrow is the one kept aside for the situation where you can't afford to miss.
	So he's someone very special; someone set apart for one essential task. But then he says something quite strange: "³He said to me, 'You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.'" Not only is this the servant, but he's also Israel.
	Now let me suggest that there are 2 truths hidden in this brief statement. First of all, the task of the servant is also the task of Israel, the nation. We'll see in a moment what that task is to be. But notice here that there's an ambiguity in the identity of the servant. He's a particular person as we'll see in a moment. But he also stands for the nation as a whole. His task is their task.
	But secondly, there's a sense in which this particular person will incorporate within his own being, his own person, all that the nation of Israel stands for and was meant to be. If you look over to v8, you'll see that he's going to become a new covenant for the people to restore the land to the way it was at the beginning, and to bring freedom and prosperity back to God's people.
	And just as Israel was meant to show the surrounding nations how great God is, so now this servant will show God's glory to the nations.
	The Servant's Despondency
	But then the servant replies: "⁴I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;" It all seems to have been a waste of time. He's worked as hard as possible yet as he looks around nothing seems to have been accomplished.
	This is a word for all of us who get disappointed or despondent when our efforts don't seem to bring the results we hoped for. In a little church like ours we can expend a tremendous amount of effort between us and at the end of a year like this we look back and our numbers are down by 15%, we're thousands of dollars behind budget, we don't seem to have made much of an impact on the community around us, and we can so easily think, what a waste of time and effort. "I've labored in vain, I've spent my strength for nothing and vanity."
	The Remedy
	So what's the remedy when we start to feel like that? Well, there it is in v4: "Yet surely my cause is with the LORD, and my reward with my God." (Reward here BTW has the idea of the outcome of my work.) My response, when I'm feeling discouraged, is to remind myself that God is sovereign; that I can trust him to bring about the positive results that he desires.
	But then I need to open my eyes to see how he's been doing that. We can come to the end of a year like this and be discouraged, or we can open our eyes a bit more, or turn our focus a little to the right or left and we discover those people who are growing in their faith; we see those young people who are learning to exercise their gifts of ministry in our children's program. We see those young people whose faith has grown so much in the past year that they're willing to stand up before their family and their peers and declare their love for Jesus Christ. We might even see how a door of opportunity that we thought we'd closed has been pushed ajar by God so that we've had to rethink our future plans all over again.
	If our cause is truly with the Lord then we can be confident that he'll bring us the results he desires.
	God's response
	But if that's the servant's response, how does God respond? He reminds him that God is the one who calls him to this task of restoring the nation to unity once more, and, who strengthens him for the task. What does he say? Look at v6: God says your vision is too small, let's broaden it. "It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth."
	Suddenly we see what God intends for the world. What God has intended from the beginning in fact. "You'll be a light to lighten to the nations." Why? "That my salvation may reach to the end of the earth." The salvation foreshadowed in the call of Abraham is about to come about. Do you remember the promise God made to Abraham when he called him to leave his home and go to Canaan, back in Gen 12? He said: "I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. ³I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." All the families of the earth. And now he tells his servant that the salvation he's about to bring will reach to the ends of the earth.
	So how will this take place? Well, there's a bit more detective work to do isn't there? The main clue though is in v7: "⁷Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nations, the slave of rulers, 'Kings shall see and stand up, princes, and they shall prostrate themselves.'" There is one who is coming who will be deeply despised, abhorred by the nations. He'll appear to be of little account. Yet we discover a couple of chapters on that the one who was despised will be raised up and kings will shut their mouths because of him as they suddenly see him for who he is. Here the kings will stand up from their thrones because a greater has entered their midst. They'll prostrate themselves before him as a sign that he deserves their obedience and allegiance. And again, why does he deserve that allegiance? Because he's the one chosen by the LORD. The LORD, notice, who's described as the kinsman redeemer of Israel. That is, this servant, Israel, is God's next of kin.
	The Servant Revealed
	Do you see that this description of the servant, who's despised by the nations, is actually a description of Jesus Christ, the son of God? He's the one who Phil 2 describes as having emptied himself, humbled himself to death on a cross, but to whom God has now given a name that's above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow.
	Well if that were all there was for us in this passage it'd be very interesting, but it probably wouldn't move us very far. But let me suggest there is one important piece of information that makes a huge difference to us.
	The New Israel
	Do you remember how I pointed out earlier that this servant is described as Israel. The task given to the servant is also a task for God's people. And who are God's people now? Well, we are, aren't we? We're the new Israel. So if we've now taken over from Israel in God's plans what should we be doing?
	Isn't this our mission in the world: "I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth." Isn't that what Jesus said to his disciples as he was about to leave them? "As the Father has sent me, so I send you." "Go into all the world and preach the gospel." "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
	Our task is to continue the work of the Servant of the LORD. That is, to take the news of God's salvation to all those who haven't yet heard of it. In our second reading today we read "We are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us."
	As we come to our Annual General Meeting here is our main task, our prime directive: to be a light to the nations, to bring God's salvation to the ends of the earth and to show forth God's glory in our life together. Does that sound like our Parish mission statement? I hope it does. God's assurance to us is that he'll be with us, he'll bring about the results he desires, he'll strengthen us and guide us. What we need to do is to make sure that we follow where he leads, that we respond when he calls; that we trust him to do what's right. "All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation." (2 Cor 5:18)