Sermon Manuscript011806
Sermon Manuscript – 1/18/2006 Robert Hutcherson, Jr.
Sermon: “A Servant Heart”
TEXT
Isaiah 42: 1-7
Our theme for today is “A Servant Heart”…
In going from South Lincoln to North Lincoln (or vice-versa) – Traffic jams up at peak times. (To say NOTHING of “home game” days!) So they built the Expressway (Highway 77) to circumvent town. It is a beautiful, clean highway – Great concept, only one problem: it’s not quite done yet. At about Capitol Parkway it crowds us into a single lane of traffic for about 2 miles – It jams us up, slows us down, and often frustrates us.
Our lives are often filled with similar frustration. As discouraged as we can be with circumstances, we can be more discouraged with our own weaknesses. It may be our personal failure to live up to our standards.
It may be that there are so many demands on us, and we have so little strength. It may be the discouragement of growing old. Whether physically - bright and eager to come home after being hospitalized, then find ourselves straining for each breath in a hospital bed. Or mentally - checking which door you just came out of, and forgetting it immediately.
Where is God at such times?
God is there, and he offers hope and encouragement. God can make the hard paths easier.
Sometimes this requires us to have a change in perspective.
As we look at out text, we see that Isaiah’s perspective changes around chapter 40. Scholars see a break in Isaiah here. The vocabulary and style changes. The exile is referred to as in the past, not the future. Jesus and others quote from all sections of Isaiah, sometimes in the same breath.
And most important, it provides reassurance to the people in the face of imminent catastrophe. Isaiah 42 is about comfort to a broken people.
They couldn't even see how broken they would become, but the prophet did.
He also saw how God would come through in the end. Their "hard service" of exile is going to end.
Tough times DO come to an end. We may know exactly why we are suffering (and often deserve every second) but it doesn't go on forever.
God always disciplines for a reason, and only for a season.
It may help us to remember that in comparison to God's glory, humans are just like flowers. We can be beautiful, but only for a limited time. Eventually we fade and then we blow away. Think of some of the rock stars who are almost ready to start drawing Social Security. We are limited as people:
We have limited power to change things. We cannot change where we have come from - we can only change where we are going. We cannot see the long view, apart from faith.
Only the Word of God lasts. God's Word is stronger than our stubbornness. God made everything, so don't think we can "make" him. His ways are higher than our ways. So when the going gets rough, we have to remember this and trust in His care and His guidance.
God doesn't get tired, but we do A television documentary pointed out that the cheetah survives on the African plains by running down its prey. The big cat can sprint seventy miles per hour. But the cheetah cannot sustain that pace for very long. Within its long, sleek body is a disproportionately small heart, which causes the cheetah to tire quickly. So unless the cheetah catches its prey in the first flurry, it must abandon the chase.
Sometimes we as Christians seem to have the same problem as the cheetah.
We speed into projects with great energy, but, lacking the heart for sustained effort, we often fizzle before we finish. We vow to start faster and run harder, when what we need may be not be more speed but more staying power. And like the cheetah, that will only come from a bigger heart.
All our motion and busyness, no matter how great, will yield nothing unless we allow God to give us the heart…and in order for Him to give us the heart, HIS heart…first we have to give Him OUR heart
We must have a Change of Perspective…
We must have a “Servant Heart”…
The term “Servant” is terribly misunderstood today. We think of it as some beat-down, broke-down slave bowing and scraping…”Yessuh, Massa” or as we say it today, “Yes, Boss”. The Bible describes a servant as “One who occupies a special position in God’s royal administration of His Kingdom” –In the royal terminology of the ancient Near East it meant “trusted envoy” or “confidential representative” “Chosen to carry out God’s purposes” such as “My servant Moses” and “My servant David” or, “My servants the prophets” This term was in fact so significant that at the end of life little, if any other summation was used…“and Moses, the servant of the Lord, died as the Lord had said.” “After these things, Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of a hundred and ten.” Nothing about being a great statesman or a great warrior or great leader, though they were certainly all of those things. Nothing about “parting the Red Sea” or “leading the nation out of captivity and slavery, though they certainly did that. No extensive resume, no curriculum vitae, no long list of accomplishments…these were all summed up in the phrase, “the servant of the Lord” I only hope that, when my life ends, that’s what they’ll say…(Personally, I also kind of like the part about “at the age of a hundred and ten”, too!)
Here in our text (You wondered if I was ever going to get to it, didn’t you?), The prophet brings the Word of the Lord as He describes HIS servant who will “carry out His purposes”…His Son, Jesus Christ. And since we are called to be like Jesus, it behooves us to pay close attention to both the promises and the description. He promises to “uphold”, “put His Spirit in”, and “delight in”… He will do the same for YOU as well. And through “His servant”, past, present, and future, He will “bring justice”, “bring peace”, protect the weak, and not falter or be discouraged until justice is established on the earth. As His followers, we are called to do the same. God reminds us of His infinite power and calls us to righteousness. He promises to “take hold of our hand” and fulfill His promise to His people and be an inspiration to those who do not know Him…to “open eyes that are blind” to His truth and free captives from their prison, whether that “prison” is physical, mental. emotional, or spiritual.
Big job…awesome and incredible task…but as I said before, God will give us the heart…once we give Him OUR heart. Will YOU be His “trusted envoy”, His “confidential representative” today…
He delights in you…will you come?