Isaiah 49:1-7
49 Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born the Lord called me; from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name.
2 He made my mouth like a sharpened sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me into a polished arrow and concealed me in his quiver.
3 He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.”
4 But I said, “I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing at all. Yet what is due me is in the Lord’s hand, and my reward is with my God.”
5 And now the Lord says—he who formed me in the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel to himself, for I am[a] honored in the eyes of the Lord and my God has been my strength—
6 he says: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”
7 This is what the Lord says— the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel—to him who was despised and abhorred by the nation, to the servant of rulers: “Kings will see you and stand up, princes will see and bow down, because of the Lord, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”
Lighthouses are fascinating; they're picturesque, standing tall against the elements, offering a beacon of hope in the darkest night to a lone ship seeking a safe harbor. A lighthouse is a symbol of hope against all odds. A light on a distant shore signals safety and salvation even in the hour of one's most desperate need. You look to the lighthouse in times of struggle or need. Sometimes I struggle with pastoring. I desire to be the absolute best at everything I try. When I take personality and psychological evaluations, they all have some sort of language that says I rate high on competition and am a competitive person. Before my first evaluation, I recall several other pastors telling me that the assessment would come back saying that I pay excessive attention to detail, would have a high need for affirmation, have trouble with authority, and would have high competition.
The pastors told me this because they all had similar results and explained why those results made them good pastors. The problem with authority meant they were leaders and would hold other leaders accountable. Being detail-oriented meant working to ensure things were right in the church and having a high affirmation score meant that I cared for the people and wanted them to care for me. The challenge comes with competition. I want to see tangible results whenever I do something. If I want to be a video editor, I will compare myself to other video editors; if I want to be a singer, I will compare myself to other singers; I want to know where I stand compared to others doing the same thing even if it the results hurt my feelings. I want to be good at everything, and I want to be good at everything yesterday.
I am not the only one; we are saturated with the image of the American dream to be greater than we currently are. We all have something to aspire to, and when we don't achieve that goal, we can feel down. Social media does not help the matter either. Activity on social media puts a carefully crafted image up for people to aspire to that is not accurate. Even before social media, people called this phenomenon "keeping up with the Joneses," people spending money they don't have to buy things they don't need to impress people they don't like. We have set our sights on the wrong lighthouse. Our priorities are in the wrong place. Some people get seriously depressed because they feel like a failure in their current situation. We come across a prophet feeling like a failure in scripture, according to Isaiah chapter 49.
Isaiah chapter 49 is part of what scholars call the "Second Isaiah" we are transitioning into a new work. Isaiah 49:1-7 is one of the so-called "(Suffering) Servant Songs" in the book of Isaiah. The others are Isaiah 41:1-2; 50:4-9; and 52:13–53:12. Isaiah 61:1-3 is regarded by some scholars as a fifth servant song, although the word "servant" is not in that passage. The unifying element in these passages, first isolated by Bernhard Duhm in his 1892 commentary on Isaiah, is a description of the Lord's servant, who sometimes suffers significantly due to that divine calling.
Isaiah is talking to the crowd about a conversation he had with God. This crowd is suffering a disaster on two fronts, their homeland has been destroyed, and they are in exile, trying to make due in a foreign land. These people feel like God has abandoned them, and here is a man who has not been successful in trying to talk to them.
Isaiah is worried that he may not be cut out for this work that God called him to. Isaiah has tried and failed to get the people of God to do what God wants and is beginning to think that he is not cut out for the prophet's life. I have said in other sermons that while the people of God were in captivity, prophets were telling them that the Babylonians would not keep them enslaved for long. Those prophets were popular; the prophets that told the people they were responsible for their problems were not popular. The people did not want to hear that it would take a long time and hard work to get out of this situation.
Because the people initially did not want to hear Isaiah's message, Isaiah began to wonder if his labor was in vain. Isaiah said he had tried what God told him to do, and in Isaiah's mind, he failed. Where is God when the people are suffering? Where is God when the people are captured, exiled, or enslaved?
"Even before birth, God knew this unborn Servant, and God named, called, and equipped this one so that the tasks of restoration and salvation may be accomplished." God says that Isaiah's mouth will be like a sharp sword and that God made him like a polished arrow in God's quiver. A polished arrow goes through a process before it is useful, and God is taking us through a process so that we can be useful to him. We must be ready and willing to be used by God for his purpose.
God told Isaiah I will restore you just like I restored Israel before. God is still concerned for Isaiah, and God is still concerned for you. No matter how insignificant we may feel, we are never insignificant to God. God says all nations will see his glory; when we serve God, our actions will reflect His glory and will be a testimony to His goodness and grace. God chose Isaiah to be a light to the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, and to free the captives. And just like Isaiah, we, too, have been called to share the light of the gospel and proclaim freedom to those in darkness and captivity.
A lighthouse has one function: to be a light in the darkness. If it can't do that, it's as useless as a flashlight without batteries. A lighthouse cannot do anything but shed light and has no emergency tools or equipment and no life vests. In fact, modern lighthouses generally aren't even inhabited by people.
You won't find many lighthouses 100 miles away from water or on soft and comfortable terrain surrounded by deep, calm water where a lighthouse is not needed. Instead, lighthouses are usually located in high-risk danger zones like rocky headlands or unstable beaches where every wave threatens to undermine the foundation. For that reason, a lighthouse is always a message to a ship's captain that the vessel is entering treacherous water.
The sole purpose of a lighthouse is to be an aid to navigation. Sailors need to "see the light" to avoid danger. A lighthouse exists to facilitate navigation by broadcasting light in a sweeping beam across a vast and restless sea. If one can safely navigate past or through the dangers revealed by the lighthouse, it can mean preserving life and property.
While sailors need to see the light, Christians need to be the light. Jesus made this clear in his Sermon on the Mount: "You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:14-16). "May we see our lives and the life of the world in the light of the glory of God, in which all our aspirations are lifted up and returned to us in forms we never would have imagined."
See the light and know that God is still faithful; we can trust God because God loves us.
No comments:
Post a Comment