Sustain the Weary (2-14-2021)

Sustain the Weary 2-14-21 Opening Scripture: Isaiah 42:1 “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations.” Today I am departing from our scheduled Sunday School lesson to share with you some reflections based on the prophet Isaiah. There is a section of this book that speaks of an “inspired servant.” It is unclear who this servant is. According to professor Jack Levison, it might be anyone, even Moses, but others think he is Jesus the Christ. What is important is the way this servant is described or unfolded in this part of the book of Isaiah beginning with my opening Scripture. The servant will not faint or be crushed but will be an instrument of justice on the earth, a light to the nations, will open the eyes of the blind and release prisoners of darkness. (Isaiah 42: 1-9) This description could certainly apply to Jesus. The servant is to be a teacher who is inspired and who has a way with words. Listen to these verses Isaiah 50:4-5. The Sovereign LORD has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed. The Sovereign LORD has opened my ears; I have not been rebellious, I have not turned away. So, this teacher sustains the weary with a word. This is the part of these verses that struck me as I was reading. I asked myself if that is what God wants of us these days. Oh how weary we are! This virus is breaking the backs and hearts of so many. We are tired. We’re sick of it even though we might not have the virus ourselves, many of us are worn down and worn out. With the vaccines we are beginning to hope that we can see the light at the end of this long horrible dark tunnel. But people still need more light. They still need someone to sustain them. Even if there was not a virus, we all need someone to sustain us, to lift us up out of our troubles and difficulties, for it is true that life is difficult, is it not? Note that in these passages Isaiah’s description of the servant teacher also pairs the essential ingredient of inspired prophesy or teaching, and that vital ingredient is: learning. Professor Levison makes the point that both teaching and learning require repetition and sites Deuteronomy 11:19: “Teach them (my commands and words) to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” This teaching that God is giving is not so much a result of fiery charisma, as of repetition. It is not really so much about a divine and flaming gift of speaking and healing as it is about a persistent determination to learn. If I am not driven and if I am not resolute and relentless in my learning about God and listening for him in Scripture, my reading, my conversations, what I watch and pay attention to, if I am not regularly looking for some nugget of inspiration and enlightenment, some encouragement and even correction, I will quickly fall away from my beloved Father. And soon I will turn my back on him and run away into the world which is always there enticing me into its snares. I can get caught up in the hustle and bustle of life, shopping, fixing stuff around our old house, going to doctors appointments, watching TV, reading the news, dealing with computer or other technological problems – which seem regular if not constant – just taking care of business, so to speak. And if I do this for even a few days without lingering with some spiritual or inspirational touchstone, I can quickly drift away from what God calls me to do and to be. This month we are emphasizing stewardship. We are the Body of Christ. We are in a covenant relationship with God and Christ. We have a covenant with God to be part of this community, to use our gifts to sustain the Body of Christ. My dear friends, I think God is calling us to sustain the weary in numerous ways each according to our gifts and resources. As Isaiah said, we are to persistently learn about God in Scripture and other inspirational sources, and then to teach it to others - bring those lessons, those resources, to the Body, to nourish it. Each of us has to decide the best way we can respond in this covenant relationship. Each of us has to ask God for guidance and has to decide how we can be prophetic, how we can be that inspired servant of which Isaiah speaks so eloquently. Remember what was said of the servant: The servant will not faint or be crushed but will be an instrument of justice on the earth, a light to the nations, will open the eyes of the blind and release prisoners of darkness. I think this is what God is calling us to be. I think it is fair to say that part of our covenant relationship and our stewardship of our personal resources is to be his inspired servant, to sustain the weary. Questions and Challenges • Do you persistently and determinedly seek to learn? How do you do so? • What is God calling you to do to become his inspired sustainer of the weary? • Write down what you have done this past week to be both a learner and a teacher of the Word of God. Keep a record of which days you have done so. • Start becoming conscious of the spans of time you spend in the busyness of this world and away from inspiration. • How is being an inspired servant an aspect of your covenant relationship with God, your stewardship? Prayer Father help me, help us to discover how you want us to be your inspired servant, how you want us to lift up and sustain the weary. Father, remind us in our busyness to remember your son, how he sought out meditation and inspiration, how he studied and learned Scripture and passed it on to others by his Word and by his actions. We pray these things in the name of your son Jesus Christ, our precious Lord and Savior. Amen.