Let Justice Roll Down

January 19, 2020 Isaiah 49:1-7 2ns Sunday after Epiphany Let Justice Roll Down Year B Announcements Remember Martin Luther King weekend – Invited to be a part of the leadership conference. Will be one of the presenters – along with pastor of New Lenox, workshop on racism – living together in harmony. Children’s Time Object: A pillow. Good morning, boys and girls. How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? You've heard that old rhyme, haven't you? I don't know the answer to it, but I do know that woodchucks don't chuck wood this time of year. You know what they are doing? They are hibernating. A woodchuck normally has a pulse rate of about eighty beats per minute--about the same as you and me. But when it goes into its long winter's nap, that pulse rate slows down to about four beats a minute. And he lives off of the fat cells he has stored up. He is patiently waiting for springtime. I brought my pillow with me this morning. Sometimes when I have lots of problems or the weather is miserable outside, I would like to be that old woodchuck, and just hibernate and wait for spring when things will be better. But God didn't create us to live in a cave. God created us to love one another and serve one another. God is not hibernating and God didn't create us to hibernate either. Dynamic Preaching, Collected Sermons, by King Duncan Stewardship time ." People say "charity should begin at home," and that is surely correct. Our problem is that so often it ends there. The person or the church with the world view, with the cosmic view, is so filled with compassion for others, that the people close at hand end up being beneficiaries of that same compassion. The task of the servant in our world today is to be a giver. Let me encourage you, in spite of the high cost of giving and the small number of servant models you may see around you, to determine to be different. We are never more Godlike than when we give. Shortly after World War II, Europe began picking up the pieces. Perhaps the saddest sight of all was that of the little orphaned children starving on the streets of war-torn cities.Early one morning an American soldier spotted a little lad with his nose pressed against the window of a pastry shop. Inside the baker was kneading dough for a fresh batch of doughnuts. The hungry boy stared in silence. His eyes glued to the glass as he watched those mouth-watering morsels being pulled from the oven, piping hot. The soldier's heart went out to the nameless orphan. Hurrying inside he quickly purchased a dozen hot doughnuts and took them outside to the hungry boy. "Would you like these doughnuts?" he asked. As he turned to walk away, the soldier felt a tug on his coat. He looked back and heard the child say, "Mister, are you God?" We are never more like God than when we give. The glory of being God's servant is the opportunity to do what God did in Jesus Christ our Lord. "For God so loved the world, that he gave...." Scripture The servant speaks up 49 Listen to me, coastlands; pay attention, peoples far away. The LORD called me before my birth, called my name when I was in my mother’s womb. 2 He made my mouth like a sharp sword, and hid me in the shadow of God’s own hand. He made me a sharpened arrow, and concealed me in God’s quiver, 3 saying to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I show my glory.” 4 But I said, “I have wearied myself in vain. I have used up my strength for nothing.” Nevertheless, the LORD will grant me justice; my reward is with my God. 5 And now the LORD has decided— the one who formed me from the womb as his servant— to restore Jacob to God, so that Israel might return to him. Moreover, I’m honored in the LORD’s eyes; my God has become my strength. 6 He said: It is not enough, since you are my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the survivors of Israel. Hence, I will also appoint you as light to the nations so that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth. 7 The LORD, redeemer of Israel and its holy one, says to one despised, rejected by nations, to the slave of rulers: Kings will see and stand up; commanders will bow down on account of the LORD, who is faithful, the holy one of Israel, who has chosen you. Common English Bible (CEB) Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible Sermon Some years ago in Chicago, a parish minister sent out hundreds of questionnaires to people in every walk of life. He received a surprisingly great response, all of which he carefully indexed and tabulated. In each questionnaire only one point was raised: What is the outstanding problem or question you face daily in your thinking or living? Twenty-two percent named their family. Forty-eight percent mentioned personal living: the seemingly loneliness, general failure and futility of it all. On the bulletin board of an Ivy League university, this item appeared: "WANTED - a young couple to care for an elderly millionaire who has been taking tranquilizers for twenty years. The need is desperate in order to give him meaning to life. He has nothing to live for." Have you ever felt discouraged? All of these instances have a common factor that can be expressed in one word: futility. This mood is reflected again and again in our human story, and the Bible is no exception. In the fourth verse of Isaiah 49, we hear a cry of discouragement from this great prophet: "I have labored in vain. I have spent my strength for nothing...." Now, for more than a half-century the people of Israel had been exiles in pagan Babylon. But God had not abandoned them, for a new chapter of their history was beginning to emerge: out of the north came Cyrus, the Persian warrior, whose pressures on the Babylonian Empire eroded its strongholds and set the captives free. What a tremendous hour for the prophet! Now his hopes were being fulfilled and his prophecies vindicated. God had intervened and opened up a highway for the exiles to return to Jerusalem and rebuild their Temple as a free nation. Well might he sing: "Lift up your voice with strength ... fear not. Say to the cities of Judah, ‘Behold your God!’ " (Isaiah 40:9). In life, in service even in the church it is easy for us to ask the question what is the point in what I am doing? If we ask that question, we are in good company. Question asked by many in the bible, Elijah, Moses, Job. Question asked by many people in scripture for today. Question asked by the suffering servant. This is the second of stories told of a servant who has been encouraged to do do things – bring the exiles back to Israel to rebuild and then to become a light to the nations. This suffering servant admits that they have been called by God from birth, and that they have followed God to this point. They will do anything, but right now they don’t see the point. No one is listening, things are not changing, and his mission is filled with one disappointment after another. Kathy dropped by her pastor's study one Saturday morning on her way to her last university class before graduation. Pastor noticed that Kathy's left arm was wrapped in a towel. In her right hand, Kathy held a straight razor. The towel dropped from her left arm revealing a long, open, bloody gash. Holding up the razor, with tears in her eyes, Kathy pleaded, "Convince me not to finish this." With a gulp and a silent prayer, Pastor Michael said, "I don't know if I can, but let's take a memory walk first." Together they strolled through the church building, pausing to share stories of nursery school, confirmation classes, and youth group activities. Kathy recalled how her clinical depression kept coming back, reminding her how empty and meaningless her life had become. Even though she was on the dean's list, she felt stupid. Even though she had received a superior rating for her student teaching, she believed that she would be a disaster as an elementary school teacher. Even though her parents had chosen to adopt her while she was still in her birth mother's womb, Kathy could only see that she did not live up to their expectations. Just like God's servant in our text, Kathy believed: "I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity" (Isaiah 49:4). "Come on, Kathy," urged Pastor Michael, "we have one more stop on our memory walk. Let's go into the sanctuary." Together they stopped at the baptismal font. "Here is where your mother and father promised to introduce you to an enormous family who would support you always. Here is where God named and claimed you and chose you as a child in God's forever family," said Pastor Michael. Kathy remained silent still clutching the towel around her arm. Yet she allowed the pastor to lead her down the center aisle toward the altar. "Look at the cross, Kathy. Here is where Jesus suffered and died so that you might have life. Here is the altar where Jesus gave his own flesh and blood for you." Kathy dropped to her knees and began sobbing uncontrollably. After a few minutes, just when Pastor Michael was planning to call the emergency squad, Kathy stood up. Placing her bloodstained towel and straight razor on the altar, Kathy announced, "Okay, I remember. Let's go get some help now." And they did. "Yet, surely," remembered the servant, "my cause is with the Lord" (Isaiah 49:4). Surely, remembered Kathy, servant of God, there is still work to be done; a life to live, and a baptismal commission to fulfill. At first the task of God's servant was limited to restoring the scattered children of Israel ... no simple job, but the servant knew that he was honored and strengthened by God to carry it out. "I am honored in the sight of the Lord and my God has become my strength" (Isaiah 49:5). At first, the task of God's servant, Kathy, was to begin to heal and to graduate. At first, the task of God's servant, Harold, was to provide driving lessons for his daughter. Each of these servants of God experienced failure and discouragement. What about us? What failures confront us? What dreams seem futile? Yet, surely, just as the Lord refreshed the memory of God's servants with reminders of God's forever love, God reminds us, as well. Not only did the servant in our text receive the necessary strength to complete his first mission, God expanded it. God said: "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" (Isaiah 49:6). Wow! Not only did God's servant, Kathy, graduate with honors from college, she became Third Grade Teacher of the Year in her elementary school. Today she is principal of that school and serves as a youth advisor in her congregation. Wow! Not only did God's servant, Harold, renew a relationship with his daughter, he now volunteers as part of a ministry team working with youthful gang members. Recently, some of these young people presented Harold with a cross, made from melted down pistols, knives, and chains. Wow! These servants of God could not remain faithful to doing any of these things by their own efforts. They could only carry out their tasks in God's word to them, "... because of the Lord, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you" (Isaiah 49:7). Kathy was able to find hope in her memories and her relationship with God. When you are discouraged, where do you find hope. Where do you look for hope? Where do you find it? Scripture says that the suffering servant found hope in two words – yet nevertheless. Friends, pay attention to the turning point in our text. The next two words in verse 4 are decisive for the complaining servant and for God's discouraged people. They are decisive words because they announce that God is about to transform our perception of reality from failure and futility to promise and possibility. With these two words God gets our attention. God is about to reverse our self-definition from weak, depressed, and exhausted to named, claimed, and commissioned. For the servant and for God's people, it's not all about us. It's all about God. What are these two transforming words? They are, "Yet, surely." In the middle of the servant's exhausted complaining, he declares, "Yet, surely my cause is with the Lord, and my reward is with my God" (Isaiah 49:4). Yet, surely, in his discouragement, Harold had a vision of God's renewal as he remembered the plaque given by his students. Yet, surely, in the midst of our own frequent failures and depleted energy, God gives us visions of renewal. Look around you right now. Look at the cross, the font, and the altar. See the scriptures opened. See God's gathered people around you. Yet, surely, right here, among us, God is naming, claiming, and commissioning us. Yet, surely, right here, God is reversing reality for all splashed and nourished sinner servants of the Lord. Yet, surely, with the servant, today we remember, both God's claim of us and God's commission to us. Celebrates God has been with him, but God named him. In culture the name of a child was not only something to be called, it was also a purpose to live into. Interesting thing – we never learn the name of the suffering servant. As a matter of fact, there is debate is it Jesus? It is the nation of Israel? Is it the church. Many think the ambiguity is on purpose. It is all of those things – but the suffering servant could be any of us in this room. Anyone who has become discouraged in their service to God. The point is being discouraged in not an excuse to give up. We are not let off the hook. Yet nevertheless, God is still with us, still loves us – still asks us to serve. I've always been intrigued by the story, supposed to be true, of a man who was so discouraged by his poor health that he decided to end it all by running until he dropped. So, he got his things in order and one day started to run until he dropped. He ran and ran and ran and ran, and, while he got exhausted, he didn't "drop." So he decided he'd do it again the next day, but this time he absolutely wouldn't stop until he dropped. Perhaps you can guess the end of the story. The man ran and ran, pushing himself to his limit instead of pampering himself in an armchair popping pills, and his body became strong and the man had a new life Servants are people of God to serve and to give. God wants to build into our lives the same serving and giving qualities that characterized the earthly life and ministry of our Lord. To me, it is always inspiring when someone in the public spotlight remembers this basic call of God to be a servant. Many of you will recall the name of Colonel James B. Irwin who was a part of the team of astronauts who made the successful moon walk. When Irwin returned, he spoke of the thrill connected with leaving this planet and seeing it shrink in size. He mentioned watching earthrise one day, and thinking how privileged he was to be a part of this unique crew. And then, as they were en route back to earth, he began to realize that the experience he had shared with his crew in space would make them overnight international celebrities. It was then that James Irwin, a person of deep faith in God, made a decision. In his own words, he said: "As I was returning to earth, I realized that I was a servant, not a celebrity. So I am here as God's servant on planet Earth to share what I have experienced that others might know the glory of God." That is still our calling from God - to be servants The late John A. Mackay once remarked: "We become related to Christ singly, but we cannot live in Christ solitarily." Commitment to God in Christ directs our lives ever outward to work his purpose for all people. And when we are so engaged, the thrill of our enthusiasm outstrips any assault by futility. At one time in Africa David Livingstone felt his work was hopeless, futile and in vain, but it was then that he fell back on Christ’s promise, "Lo, I am with you, even unto the end of the world." And later he wrote in his diary, "These are the words of a man of the most sacred and strictest honor." There is a point in living! How happy we can be if and when we find it. Let us pray……. Additional illustrations Who is the servant? Is it Jesus? Is it the Church? Is it your congregation? Is it you? Is it all of these and more? Preaching task - To tell the story of how God’s work is being opened to all, and then bring it back down to the local level. In other words, this passage is about a relatively small group of people being used to bring justice to the world, and opening up God’s love to all people. How can this message be transposed to another group of people? The good news isn’t our good news. It isn’t news for this party, or this nation, or this race. It is for all. The Good News isn’t just for this church or this neighborhood - but it also IS for this church and this neighborhood. A senator, a clergyman and a Boy Scout were passengers in a small plane that developed engine trouble. "We'll have to bail out," the pilot announced. "Unfortunately, there are only three parachutes. I have a wife and seven small children. My family needs me. I'm taking one of the parachutes." And he jumped. "I'm the smartest politician in the world," said the senator. "The country needs me. I'm taking one of the parachutes." And he jumped. "I've had a good life," said to the clergyman to the Boy Scout," and yours is still ahead of you. You take the last parachute." "Don't need to," shrugged the youth. "There are two parachutes left. The smartest politician in the world jumped with my knapsack!" There are some of you here today who are feeling totally overwhelmed by life right now. I know that. And the issues for some of you are not light ones, they are bona fide heavy ones. Only you know the application in your life of the truth that Isaiah and Jesus were preaching. All I know is that God is sure to bless with new energy and new options and new vigor and new joy the persons or the church that chooses to dare great things for people beyond themselves, to be, as Isaiah said, "a light to the nations" out of commitment to and gratitude for God's great love for us which we have seen and known in Jesus Christ. Focusing only on ourselves and on easily reachable goals is simply too light a thing. It leads to un-health, dis-ease, and plugs up the flow of God's Spirit and power, so that even the "easy goals" are found to be unattainable. What this might mean for you and me and this church might make great dinner conversation, church committee discussion and prayer time contemplation this week. May we be open to what God would speak to us. All of these instances have a common factor that can be expressed in one word: futility. This mood is reflected again and again in our human story, and the Bible is no exception. In the fourth verse of Isaiah 49, we hear a cry of discouragement from this great prophet: "I have labored in vain. I have spent my strength for nothing...." Now, for more than a half-century the people of Israel had been exiles in pagan Babylon. But God had not abandoned them, for a new chapter of their history was beginning to emerge: out of the north came Cyrus, the Persian warrior, whose pressures on the Babylonian Empire eroded its strongholds and set the captives free. What a tremendous hour for the prophet! Now his hopes were being fulfilled and his prophecies vindicated. God had intervened and opened up a highway for the exiles to return to Jerusalem and rebuild their Temple as a free nation. Well might he sing: "Lift up your voice with strength ... fear not. Say to the cities of Judah, ‘Behold your God!’ " (Isaiah 40:9).