The Harris Poll did a survey in an Article entitled "Teens Set New Rules of Engagement in the Age of Social Media" The article focuses on the use of the Internet and expanding the social circle. However, one paragraph caught my attention:
"Friendships play an increasingly important role in young people’s lives as they grow up. While more tweens (ages 8 to 12) prefer spending time with their parents than with their friends (58% vs. 31%), by the teen years (ages 13 to 17), this preference has dramatically reversed. More than twice as many teens say they prefer spending time with their friends than with their parents (56% vs. 22%)."
I would venture to guess that the influence a friend would have, compared to that of a parent for a teenager, probably favors the friend. I know a majority of time in high school, especially when I got my car, was spent with friends and their influence on things did strengthen, warp, distort, activate, my thoughts on life. The concept of friendship is neat. You meet someone and you believe that you two, three, four, five could get along, and you do. You have similar interests that draw you together, friends normally have something in common with one another, that how most friendships begin.
Writing about friendship from a Christian perspective is difficult, especially using the Bible as a reference, because you only really get a couple of good stories out of the Bible on friendship. The only real good story is the story of Jonathan and David from the Book of Samuel (1 Sam. 18). Even if we were to use the Gospels as a guide, the friends Jesus make, are not the greatest of friends. The Bible as a reference or a guide to a perfect friend relationship can be very misleading. There is not a real perfect friendship in the Bible. You get imperfect relationships because the Bible is about imperfect people.
The best way to deal with friendship bonds as they relate to the Bible (just shy of reading the entire Bible), is looking at the way Christ deals with friendship. Dr. Scott Spencer, who is the New Testament professor at Baptist Theological Seminary, wrote a book entitled what What Did Jesus Do? a nice little take on the once popular "What Would Jesus Do" quote.
In chapter 3, Spencer explores three possible friendship ties: (1) John the Baptist, (2) the inner circle (James, Peter, John, and the mysterious beloved disciple in the fourth gospel), (3) the sisters Mary and Martha. We will explore all three individually, but for now let us stick with setting up what Christ thought about friendship.
There is no doubt that Christ valued friendship, in a majority of the parables in Luke, he recognizes the social significance of friendship (Spencer, pg 52). One story in particular highlights the duty of friends to share their goods and provide hospitality at inconvenient times (11. 5-13). Jesus is never against friend circles, but he is opposed to the narrow application to an exclusive clique. Ah...that clique word.
Here is where all the Jesus focus gets dangerous. Jesus is so radical and independent in his thinking that what he believes to be friendship differs from our understanding of friendship. I remember my youth pastor, pastor, and teachers always making sure I chose the right kind of friends. This choice, when I was entering the years of Jr. High, was to be based on reputation, "Who were the good kids and who were the bad kids," in other words, who were Christian and who were not. My parents eventually changed the position and reputation became irrelevant, what matter was who cared about me as much as I cared about them.
This exclusivity that Jesus refers to is something we will explore further, but for now just know that all we know about friendship changes when we encounter Christ.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Thursday, October 25, 2007
But Who Do You Say I Am
"But Who do you say I am?"It was a question Jesus asked his disciples one day. Curious of what others thought of him, he asked, "Who do people say I am?" The disciples one by one answered, "John the Baptist, Elijah, or some kind of prophet." I am sure Jesus paused and then asked, "But who do you say I am?" The responses weren't as quick but eventually Peter spoke up and said, "You are the Christ."
This story asks us an important question. It is a question each of us have to answer for ourselves. Look at the picture on the left. Study it, look beyond the painting and find yourself hidden inside. uestion to is simple: Who is Jesus to you?
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Being Kind Equals Responsibility
When was a time that you felt kindness from someone else? Think about that for a moment. How did that make you feel? Did you find confidence in yourself? Did you discover something for the first time about yourself and life? Overall, what impact did it have on you?
The concept behind the commandment for kindness towards strangers in Leviticus is a result of the questions asked above. Israel expreinced liberation and freedom from Egypt after years of enslavement. This liberation, led by Moses and ordained by God, showed Israel the need for kindness to strangers. Because they experienced such grace and love, they were expected to return that grace.
There is a commercial for liberty mutual that constantly airs in which one person performs a random act of kindness and it passes on contaguiously causing a chain reaction and impact in the lives of others. The ad ends with the word ‘responsibility’. It is expected in the Hebrew community to be responsible for others and it is a responsibility of us who are Christians.
In the movie Evan Almighty, God asks Evan, “How do we change the world?” to which Evan responds, “One single act of random kindness at a time” and God smiles and carves the word Ark saying, “One Act of Random Kindness.” Showing kindness is a small way we can change the world. While changing policies, rules, and structures help; changing other’s attitudes helps alittle more.
Kindness is a gift from God and is closely associated with compassion, love, friendship and hope. Those things cannot exist without kindness and kindness comes from spending time in the presence of God. But for a true example of this, we must look at the kindness Jesus often showed others.
In the story of Zaccueus, Jesus reaches out to someone (not really well liked) and told him that he (Jesus) was going to have dinner with him (Zaccueus). And the most amazing part of the story was that Jesus chose to have dinner with Zac at Zac’s house. And it is the invitation to dinner that is the true extent of kindness. The difference between love and tolerance, between niceness and kindness is that kindness and love involves having dinner with someone in your/their home.
Remember this during this week: Be kind to others for you know not their struggles.
The concept behind the commandment for kindness towards strangers in Leviticus is a result of the questions asked above. Israel expreinced liberation and freedom from Egypt after years of enslavement. This liberation, led by Moses and ordained by God, showed Israel the need for kindness to strangers. Because they experienced such grace and love, they were expected to return that grace.
There is a commercial for liberty mutual that constantly airs in which one person performs a random act of kindness and it passes on contaguiously causing a chain reaction and impact in the lives of others. The ad ends with the word ‘responsibility’. It is expected in the Hebrew community to be responsible for others and it is a responsibility of us who are Christians.
In the movie Evan Almighty, God asks Evan, “How do we change the world?” to which Evan responds, “One single act of random kindness at a time” and God smiles and carves the word Ark saying, “One Act of Random Kindness.” Showing kindness is a small way we can change the world. While changing policies, rules, and structures help; changing other’s attitudes helps alittle more.
Kindness is a gift from God and is closely associated with compassion, love, friendship and hope. Those things cannot exist without kindness and kindness comes from spending time in the presence of God. But for a true example of this, we must look at the kindness Jesus often showed others.
In the story of Zaccueus, Jesus reaches out to someone (not really well liked) and told him that he (Jesus) was going to have dinner with him (Zaccueus). And the most amazing part of the story was that Jesus chose to have dinner with Zac at Zac’s house. And it is the invitation to dinner that is the true extent of kindness. The difference between love and tolerance, between niceness and kindness is that kindness and love involves having dinner with someone in your/their home.
Remember this during this week: Be kind to others for you know not their struggles.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Finding Our Self Image of God
Finding Our Self Image in God
My favorite character in the Narnian Chronicles is Eustace Clarence Scrubb. Eustace is the cousin of the Pevensies-Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy. Scrubb is my favorite character because of his experience in the stories. Scrubb is a main character in final three books of the series. I like him because the reader gets to see him as the nasty little cousin, witness his encounter with Aslan, and then we watch him grow into an important character in the final two books including the final Narnian tale.
I like Eustace because he is a real character, meaning, there is a connection I can find in his story. His encounter with Aslan is completely different from his cousins, excluding Edmund’s. Eustace’s Aslan experience is affirmed through Edmund who identifies, lifts up, forgives, and welcomes Eustace’s experience. Eustace’s and Edmund’s separate experience with Aslan are very similar in the regards that they each see a side of Aslan the other three characters in the books before don’t encounter personally.
Eustace and Edmund experienced Aslan’s transforming, forgiving, life changing, and self image in Aslan.
The story of Eustace and Edmund is important to our conversation on the body because they experience the worth of being made in God’s image (God being Aslan). As it has been stressed time and again this past month, we have been made in the image of God; however, that wondrous fact does no good if one does not believe it.
It is hard to actually believe it when one has constantly heard it. To be told that you are a child of God means that you have to believe it in spite of all that you are. Eustace and Edmund had to look past their faults, one being a jerk and the other a traitor. We too have to look past our own self image and see that we belong to God.
Everyday we encounter some form of judgment from someone on who we are. We are graded on our knowledge, judged on our appearance, told we are smart or stupid, beautiful or ugly, athletic or slow. Someone somewhere has highly influenced some feeling of who you are and most likely, when you look into the mirror, you do not see what they see. For whatever reason, our own self image is different from what others see.
However, we must strive to see what God sees, to see some self worth in who we are; beings created in the image of God. In order to do that, it takes peeling way the layers of doubt, selfishness, unworthiness, and seeing what is that is deep down in your heart. It is discovering your soul, your being and how close it is to God. This process is painful and it involves you allowing the power of God’s spirit to pierce your skin.
Eustace’s conversion is an example I often draw on, it takes place in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. At this particular part of the story, Eustace has found an old dragon’s cave filled with gold. He puts on a gold bracelet and in the morning awakes to find that he himself is a dragon. Then one night Aslan comes to him and this is what happens:
“Then the lion said—but I don’t know if it spoke—‘You will have to let me undress you.’ I was afraid of his claws, I can tell you, but I was pretty nearly desperate now. So I just lay flat down on my back to let him do it. The very first tear he made was so deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart. And when he began pulling the skin off, it hurt worse than anything I ever felt. The only thing that made me able to bear it was just the pleasure of feeling the stuff peel off.”
After this conversion Eustace was changed for the better and this change affected the way he treated others. Before he was a horrible, dreadful person to be around and was always the first to bully or put some one down. Afterwards, he became a person who respected others because he saw who he really was in the eyes of God.
Our treatment of others has to do with how we see ourselves. Most bullies do not care about themselves, or see little worth in their life. They pick on people because somewhere deep inside is a struggle to figure out who they are.
When you begin to see yourself as a child of God, you realize that everyone around you is a child of God. And suddenly, you start treating everyone around you with respect, love, courtesy, and compassion. You begin to treat others like Jesus treated others.
In John 4, Jesus meets a woman at the well of Samaria. Now this woman was not a Jew, so just talking with her, meant that Jesus was reaching across social boundaries. He began to talk with her and he knew all about her past. But he saw a child of God, as he did with everyone he met, and chose to show a love to her that she had never seen before. This encounter with Jesus made her realize that she was a child of God and she ran to her own people with joy and told them that Jesus was outside the city because she wanted them to know they were a child of God.
When we look in the mirror, we can see all our negative or positive features. We can look into our own eyes and see the devils within our hearts. But if we look hard enough, we can see we are a child of God and that one revelation could change this world.
My favorite character in the Narnian Chronicles is Eustace Clarence Scrubb. Eustace is the cousin of the Pevensies-Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy. Scrubb is my favorite character because of his experience in the stories. Scrubb is a main character in final three books of the series. I like him because the reader gets to see him as the nasty little cousin, witness his encounter with Aslan, and then we watch him grow into an important character in the final two books including the final Narnian tale.
I like Eustace because he is a real character, meaning, there is a connection I can find in his story. His encounter with Aslan is completely different from his cousins, excluding Edmund’s. Eustace’s Aslan experience is affirmed through Edmund who identifies, lifts up, forgives, and welcomes Eustace’s experience. Eustace’s and Edmund’s separate experience with Aslan are very similar in the regards that they each see a side of Aslan the other three characters in the books before don’t encounter personally.
Eustace and Edmund experienced Aslan’s transforming, forgiving, life changing, and self image in Aslan.
The story of Eustace and Edmund is important to our conversation on the body because they experience the worth of being made in God’s image (God being Aslan). As it has been stressed time and again this past month, we have been made in the image of God; however, that wondrous fact does no good if one does not believe it.
It is hard to actually believe it when one has constantly heard it. To be told that you are a child of God means that you have to believe it in spite of all that you are. Eustace and Edmund had to look past their faults, one being a jerk and the other a traitor. We too have to look past our own self image and see that we belong to God.
Everyday we encounter some form of judgment from someone on who we are. We are graded on our knowledge, judged on our appearance, told we are smart or stupid, beautiful or ugly, athletic or slow. Someone somewhere has highly influenced some feeling of who you are and most likely, when you look into the mirror, you do not see what they see. For whatever reason, our own self image is different from what others see.
However, we must strive to see what God sees, to see some self worth in who we are; beings created in the image of God. In order to do that, it takes peeling way the layers of doubt, selfishness, unworthiness, and seeing what is that is deep down in your heart. It is discovering your soul, your being and how close it is to God. This process is painful and it involves you allowing the power of God’s spirit to pierce your skin.
Eustace’s conversion is an example I often draw on, it takes place in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. At this particular part of the story, Eustace has found an old dragon’s cave filled with gold. He puts on a gold bracelet and in the morning awakes to find that he himself is a dragon. Then one night Aslan comes to him and this is what happens:
“Then the lion said—but I don’t know if it spoke—‘You will have to let me undress you.’ I was afraid of his claws, I can tell you, but I was pretty nearly desperate now. So I just lay flat down on my back to let him do it. The very first tear he made was so deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart. And when he began pulling the skin off, it hurt worse than anything I ever felt. The only thing that made me able to bear it was just the pleasure of feeling the stuff peel off.”
After this conversion Eustace was changed for the better and this change affected the way he treated others. Before he was a horrible, dreadful person to be around and was always the first to bully or put some one down. Afterwards, he became a person who respected others because he saw who he really was in the eyes of God.
Our treatment of others has to do with how we see ourselves. Most bullies do not care about themselves, or see little worth in their life. They pick on people because somewhere deep inside is a struggle to figure out who they are.
When you begin to see yourself as a child of God, you realize that everyone around you is a child of God. And suddenly, you start treating everyone around you with respect, love, courtesy, and compassion. You begin to treat others like Jesus treated others.
In John 4, Jesus meets a woman at the well of Samaria. Now this woman was not a Jew, so just talking with her, meant that Jesus was reaching across social boundaries. He began to talk with her and he knew all about her past. But he saw a child of God, as he did with everyone he met, and chose to show a love to her that she had never seen before. This encounter with Jesus made her realize that she was a child of God and she ran to her own people with joy and told them that Jesus was outside the city because she wanted them to know they were a child of God.
When we look in the mirror, we can see all our negative or positive features. We can look into our own eyes and see the devils within our hearts. But if we look hard enough, we can see we are a child of God and that one revelation could change this world.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Bodies of Service
God is the owner of the whole human. Soul, body, and spirit are God’s. God gave God’s only begotten Son for the body as well as the soul, and our entire life belongs to God, to be consecrated to God’s service, that through the exercise of every faculty God has given, we may glorify God[1].
In English, the above quote simply means “we belong to God and our entire life belongs to God.” While that might be oversimplifying the statement above, the truth is we were created in the image of God. God took the time to create human beings, to breath into the body, to form it from the ground. God counseled with others before he made humanity and afterwards they all thought it was very good. God’s decision to create us, gives God some ownership in who we are and what it is we are to do.
Now if you are anything like me, you have already shut yourself off because you don’t believe in being owned or controlled. Please do not mistake the words as authoritative in the sense of strict and unbending. We do belong to God in the sense that all creation is God’s. God created the world, therefore it is God’s and God is allowed to do with it as God wishes. Just like you belong to your parents because you are their child, we are the children of God. However, we have the freedom to make our own decisions and live how we wish. Within that freedom is the hope that each of us will choose to use our gifts, our bodies, and our lives to the service of God.
The service of God is a limiting phrase because one automatically thinks they have to be involved in some type of ministry or work in a church. The truth is you don’t. You don’t have to work in a church, surrender to the ministry, or be a missionary. Using our bodies for God’s service in the simplest way is putting God’s will before yours. Using your life to do God’s service is using it in a way that is good. When we use our lives to change a corrupt system, feed the poor, clothe the naked, open our homes to strangers, we are using our bodies to God’s service. We allow God to move through us.
Part of doing God’s service requires an imagination; it requires us to be creative. Being creative, my friend Milton once said, means giving life. Whatever it is we do with our lives, we are meant to be creative in a way that gives life to others. A few years back I was (and somewhat am today) on a journey to discover what it meant to be Christlike. I asked a pastor once that question and I told him to answer me honestly and he did. He said, “To be Christlike means choosing every single morning to live as Christ did. Each morning when you wake up and allow Jesus to come down from the cross and out of the tomb, and allow him to live out through you. That is what it means to be Christlike. You take yourself out and put Jesus in.”
I didn’t really get it. I understood parts of it but there was a cryptic message that didn’t make sense to me. How in a selfish world am I supposed to be unselfish? That was my question. The searches to answer that question lead me to another question that has become my daily question. A question that I have failed to fully answer time and again, but I still try.
In Mark 8:27-30 Jesus and his disciples are at a place called Caesarea Philippi and Jesus begins to ask them a question. The question isn’t a tough one or a loaded question; it was simply a question of wonder. Jesus asks, “Who do people say I am” and they answered, “Some say John the Baptist, Elijah, or a prophet.” But Jesus turned the question to them, “Who do you say I am?”
That is the question that we are to ask every day. When we ask that question and seek to answer it as Peter did, “You are the Messiah” our daily lives, vocations, jobs, hobbies, lifestyle, words, language, actions, and deeds will reflect that answer.
That question is a question we all have to answer for ourselves. It is a question that must seek into our lives and each day we attempt to live our answer out. Being created in the image of God has given an imagination, a will to be creative, a way to bring life, and if we seek to find God in the question, “Who do you say I am?” we just might be using our bodies for Christ’s service.
“Who do you say I am” is an important question because Jesus reflects perfectly who we think God is. Jesus is the depiction of God that God’s creation has wanted to see. When we wonder who God is and what God looks like Jesus is the image we turn to. But if we answer that question with the statement, “You are the Messiah”, then we too can become an image that depicts the character of God; and after all, isn’t that what living/using our bodies for God’s service all about?
[1] Inspired Healthy Living
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
A Light to the Nations
Isaiah 49:1-6 Listen to me, O coastlands, pay attention, you peoples from far away! The Lord called me before I was born, while I was in my mother’s womb he named me. He made my mouth like a sharp sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me;he made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me away. And he said to me, ‘You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.’ But I said, ‘I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my cause is with the Lord, and my reward with my God.’ And now the Lord says, who formed me in the womb to be his servant,to bring Jacob back to him, and that Israel might be gathered to him,for I am honoured in the sight of the Lord, and my God has become my strength. He says,‘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.’
The voice of the servant now speaks aloud, crying out to the coastlands to hear his voice. This particular song focuses on two parts: the first focuses on the servant’s calling (49:1, 2) and the second focuses on the servant’s formation (49:3-4, 5, 6).[1] Westermann develops three stages of the servants call: First (v1b-3) the election, call, and equipment of the servant; Second (v4) his despondency; Third (5-6) his new task.[2]
The servant declares to the nations, ‘God said to me, “I will make you a light to the nations.”’ ‘God called to me to be his servant that he might perform a work on behalf of his chosen people through me. I, however, became despondent, and regarded the work as in vain. But then—in spite of this—God extended the scope of my commission to include the Gentiles, in order that his salvation might reach to the ends of the earth.’[3]
The speaker is addressing the far away coastlands, those being other nations, and we know the speaker is the servant from Isaiah 42. The words addressing the foreign nations are built around three sentences: Listen to me, you coastlands (v1); and now the Lord says (to me) (v5); I will give you as a light to the nations (v6). Therefore, exposition of the song has to remember that everything it says has reference to the nations.[4] The servant speaks to all nations; he has a word from God and wishes to speak it to them. The second part of verse one indicates that the Lord called the servant from birth. The words, “while I was in my mother’s womb he named me” (v1) shows us that before the servant’s birth, while still being nourished by his mother, God had named him. God had chosen him from the beginning to be God’s servant to all nations.
But who is this servant. In lesson one I mentioned that we should not allow that question to control us; however, in verse 3 and 5 add a dilemma. Isaiah 49:3 reads, “And he said to me, ‘You are my servant, Israel’.” Clearly verse 3 is stating that the servant is Israel herself; but verse 5 claims that servant is going to bring back Jacob to God. So, how can the servant be Israel and have a mission to Israel? There is discussion in scholastic circles that try and answer this question. Some believe that Israel was the servant until she failed and then a prophet became the servant. Others claim that is God speaking in verse 1-3 and then in verse four the prophet begins to speak.[5] However, Barry Webb makes a statement that I would have to concur with greatly, “It seems that at this stage we have to be content with knowing what kind of person the servant is.”[6] What is important, beyond knowing who the servant is; is what the servant embodies.
The servant embodies God’s justice. He is a figure that embodies all that the nation of Israel should look like and was called to be and therefore one who is truly worthy of the name—“God’s perfect Servant. As such he is far greater than Jeremiah, or any other Old Testament prophet for that matter. He is the prophet par excellence.”[7] If that does not satisfy us then we shall have to wait. What matters more than the identity of the servant is that the servant is to be a light to all nations. Whether it is because Israel failed to assume the role of the servant[8] or God truly provides salvation for the nations, does not matter. Either way, God has extended God’s servant to shine for all nations.
The second servant song’s purpose is to extend God’s salvation to the ends of the earth; God has given this servant to others as a beacon to guide them. In the conclusion of the second servant song, the servant receives two assignments. The first is to, “raise up the tribes of Jacob” (v6a) and the second is to be a bearer of light to the nations (v6b). One may read this as the servant teaching missions to the house of Jacob and then they go forth to teach others[9]. Still, isn’t there more to it than that?
From birth, the servant was called to bring justice to the nations. He was called to be a beacon of light that would lead all to the one true God. Is that not our call today? If it is, how do we shine before the nations? Israel’s light didn’t come from their power, it came from God. The servant’s ability to endure, to speak with truth all came from God. It is through the weak that God’s light shines to all not the powerful. The light is shown through those who endure more than they should and at the end of the day be able to pick themselves up. To stand before life’s arrows and refuse to back down; through our suffering and our ability to hang on, will give life to those hanging by their fingertips at the edge of the cliff.
Father, please give us the strength to hang on. Give us the strength to shine. Give us the strength to raise ourselves up from being beaten. Give us the courage to stand. Amen.
[1] Friesen, Ivan pg 67
[2] Westermann, Claus pg 207
[3] Westermann, Claus pg 207
[4] Westermann, Claus pg 207
[5] Linafelt, Tod. Speech and Silence in the Servant Passages pg 204
[6] Webb, Barry. The Message of Isaiah pg 193
[7] Webb, Barry pg 194
[8] Linafelt, Tod pg 205
[9] Friesen, Ivan pg 68
The voice of the servant now speaks aloud, crying out to the coastlands to hear his voice. This particular song focuses on two parts: the first focuses on the servant’s calling (49:1, 2) and the second focuses on the servant’s formation (49:3-4, 5, 6).[1] Westermann develops three stages of the servants call: First (v1b-3) the election, call, and equipment of the servant; Second (v4) his despondency; Third (5-6) his new task.[2]
The servant declares to the nations, ‘God said to me, “I will make you a light to the nations.”’ ‘God called to me to be his servant that he might perform a work on behalf of his chosen people through me. I, however, became despondent, and regarded the work as in vain. But then—in spite of this—God extended the scope of my commission to include the Gentiles, in order that his salvation might reach to the ends of the earth.’[3]
The speaker is addressing the far away coastlands, those being other nations, and we know the speaker is the servant from Isaiah 42. The words addressing the foreign nations are built around three sentences: Listen to me, you coastlands (v1); and now the Lord says (to me) (v5); I will give you as a light to the nations (v6). Therefore, exposition of the song has to remember that everything it says has reference to the nations.[4] The servant speaks to all nations; he has a word from God and wishes to speak it to them. The second part of verse one indicates that the Lord called the servant from birth. The words, “while I was in my mother’s womb he named me” (v1) shows us that before the servant’s birth, while still being nourished by his mother, God had named him. God had chosen him from the beginning to be God’s servant to all nations.
But who is this servant. In lesson one I mentioned that we should not allow that question to control us; however, in verse 3 and 5 add a dilemma. Isaiah 49:3 reads, “And he said to me, ‘You are my servant, Israel’.” Clearly verse 3 is stating that the servant is Israel herself; but verse 5 claims that servant is going to bring back Jacob to God. So, how can the servant be Israel and have a mission to Israel? There is discussion in scholastic circles that try and answer this question. Some believe that Israel was the servant until she failed and then a prophet became the servant. Others claim that is God speaking in verse 1-3 and then in verse four the prophet begins to speak.[5] However, Barry Webb makes a statement that I would have to concur with greatly, “It seems that at this stage we have to be content with knowing what kind of person the servant is.”[6] What is important, beyond knowing who the servant is; is what the servant embodies.
The servant embodies God’s justice. He is a figure that embodies all that the nation of Israel should look like and was called to be and therefore one who is truly worthy of the name—“God’s perfect Servant. As such he is far greater than Jeremiah, or any other Old Testament prophet for that matter. He is the prophet par excellence.”[7] If that does not satisfy us then we shall have to wait. What matters more than the identity of the servant is that the servant is to be a light to all nations. Whether it is because Israel failed to assume the role of the servant[8] or God truly provides salvation for the nations, does not matter. Either way, God has extended God’s servant to shine for all nations.
The second servant song’s purpose is to extend God’s salvation to the ends of the earth; God has given this servant to others as a beacon to guide them. In the conclusion of the second servant song, the servant receives two assignments. The first is to, “raise up the tribes of Jacob” (v6a) and the second is to be a bearer of light to the nations (v6b). One may read this as the servant teaching missions to the house of Jacob and then they go forth to teach others[9]. Still, isn’t there more to it than that?
From birth, the servant was called to bring justice to the nations. He was called to be a beacon of light that would lead all to the one true God. Is that not our call today? If it is, how do we shine before the nations? Israel’s light didn’t come from their power, it came from God. The servant’s ability to endure, to speak with truth all came from God. It is through the weak that God’s light shines to all not the powerful. The light is shown through those who endure more than they should and at the end of the day be able to pick themselves up. To stand before life’s arrows and refuse to back down; through our suffering and our ability to hang on, will give life to those hanging by their fingertips at the edge of the cliff.
Father, please give us the strength to hang on. Give us the strength to shine. Give us the strength to raise ourselves up from being beaten. Give us the courage to stand. Amen.
[1] Friesen, Ivan pg 67
[2] Westermann, Claus pg 207
[3] Westermann, Claus pg 207
[4] Westermann, Claus pg 207
[5] Linafelt, Tod. Speech and Silence in the Servant Passages pg 204
[6] Webb, Barry. The Message of Isaiah pg 193
[7] Webb, Barry pg 194
[8] Linafelt, Tod pg 205
[9] Friesen, Ivan pg 68
The Call of Justice
Isaiah 42:1-4 Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights;I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. 2He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; 3a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. 4He will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his teaching.
In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. marched on Washington DC and in front of the Lincoln Memorial addressed the crowd. “I have a dream” he said. That dream was justice; justice for all no matter their creed or color. There before thousands he called for others to take up that cause. Justice is a call for all to live out; to bring justice to others is to live as a servant for God.
Isaiah 42 is the beginning of four servant songs found in the Book of Isaiah. It is here we find the Lord of hosts calling for a servant to carry forth God’s mission. The servant is called by God to bring justice to all. These songs (Isaiah 42:1-4, 49:1-6; 50:4-9; 52:13-53:12) represent a special strand within the book of Deutero-Isaiah.
The opening line of Isaiah 42 reads, “Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom I have delight (v1)” this statement ponders the question, “Who is the servant?” Claus Westermann states that “on principal the exegesis must not be controlled by this question”.[1] I agree with Westermann for if our intention was to solely concentrate on who the servant is, we will miss the heart of the message. The identity of the servant is still up in the air, we will see later on the role of Israel; however the servant does not have to be anyone in particular. The text does not intend to answer that question; however, the question that should control our thought is “What is about to transpire between the servant, God, and the people?”
God has a servant and this servant has been bestowed with the Lord’s spirit (v1b). This first song emphasizes the spirit of the Lord as a gift. This gift of the spirit works itself out as a mandate to bring justice and to foster God’s teaching among the nations.[2] In other words, the spirit of God brings about justice and when bestowed upon the servant, the servant’s task becomes to bring justice. The word justice isn’t being used as we normally think of it. In the Book of Isaiah, justice means something rather big and not our normal understanding.[3] Westermann writes, “If we examine Isaiah for instances of justice with reference to the Gentiles…They all turn upon justice and result in the Gentiles’ gods claim to being declared to be nothing: God alone is God.”[4] While that might make sense, I would dare to say that it means something more. The servant is to bring justice to all nations, to those who are bruised, who are weak and tired. God’s spirit alone can endure for others and when compared to the other gods, Westermann is correct, the Lord alone is God. This servant is a human agent of God. The servant is acting on God’s behalf but is still filled with God’s spirit; therefore, one might say, the servant is a depiction of God.
The servant’s character comes into play in the latter verses. The servant is not to follow custom and cry aloud in public.[5] The servant is humble and does not bring about selfish attention. The servant brings attention to those suffering; the servant brings attention to justice. The servant shows mercy to the bruised and empathy with the faint. The servant moves about with gentle poise and humility, unhurried in the pursuit of justice.[6] As stated before, the objective of the servant’s mission is to bring justice to the world. Justice meaning equality, ending oppression, and easing the suffering. It also needs to be stated that the servant is bringing hope. The nation of Israel has endured an exile and those who have survived are desperately seeking hope. They need this servant, not for salvation alone, but to show them how to live out justice. Through the servant, God’s justice prevails in such a way that the servant’s actions contradict the harsh law of the world, which says the broken and battered inevitably perish.[7] It is the lifestyle and the teachings of the servant that will bring about this change.
The servant will be able to endure everything the world will do to him. Verse 4 states, “He will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his teaching.” The servant’s mission will not end until justice is brought forth to all nations. The coastlands might serve as a reference to alien nations. Thus making servant’s mission to all people, not a select few. It is here that God’s justice to the nations will be seen through the servant’s teachings (v4). But the servant engages in the teaching as well. This servant acts as God’s agent to lead the way to justice in the earth. He does not teach about justice in the usual sense of teaching but models justice by his own behavior and personality.[8]
What does that mean for us today? As believers, we have inherently been given the duty to bring forth justice to the world. We bring forth justice to others through our teachings and our actions. Our churches should be the initiators of justice, showing fairness and equality to all who surround their walls. At times the church has done a wonderful job; however more times than not, the church has been the bearer of the injustices of this world. We should take a close look at our lives, at our churches, and at our social groups and see where it is we have gone wrong. Then we should attempt to correct such mistakes, knowing God’s spirit will be upon us, and we will never grow weary.
By God’s grace, may we bring forth justice. Amen
[1] Westermann, Claus pg 93
[2] Friesen, Ivan. Beautiful upon the Mountains pg 65
[3] Webb, Barry. The Message of Isaiah pg 171
[4] Westermann, Claus pg 95
[5] Westermann, Claus pg 95
[6] Friesen, Ivan pg 65
[7] Westermann, Claus pg 96
[8] Friesen, Ivan pg 66
In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. marched on Washington DC and in front of the Lincoln Memorial addressed the crowd. “I have a dream” he said. That dream was justice; justice for all no matter their creed or color. There before thousands he called for others to take up that cause. Justice is a call for all to live out; to bring justice to others is to live as a servant for God.
Isaiah 42 is the beginning of four servant songs found in the Book of Isaiah. It is here we find the Lord of hosts calling for a servant to carry forth God’s mission. The servant is called by God to bring justice to all. These songs (Isaiah 42:1-4, 49:1-6; 50:4-9; 52:13-53:12) represent a special strand within the book of Deutero-Isaiah.
The opening line of Isaiah 42 reads, “Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom I have delight (v1)” this statement ponders the question, “Who is the servant?” Claus Westermann states that “on principal the exegesis must not be controlled by this question”.[1] I agree with Westermann for if our intention was to solely concentrate on who the servant is, we will miss the heart of the message. The identity of the servant is still up in the air, we will see later on the role of Israel; however the servant does not have to be anyone in particular. The text does not intend to answer that question; however, the question that should control our thought is “What is about to transpire between the servant, God, and the people?”
God has a servant and this servant has been bestowed with the Lord’s spirit (v1b). This first song emphasizes the spirit of the Lord as a gift. This gift of the spirit works itself out as a mandate to bring justice and to foster God’s teaching among the nations.[2] In other words, the spirit of God brings about justice and when bestowed upon the servant, the servant’s task becomes to bring justice. The word justice isn’t being used as we normally think of it. In the Book of Isaiah, justice means something rather big and not our normal understanding.[3] Westermann writes, “If we examine Isaiah for instances of justice with reference to the Gentiles…They all turn upon justice and result in the Gentiles’ gods claim to being declared to be nothing: God alone is God.”[4] While that might make sense, I would dare to say that it means something more. The servant is to bring justice to all nations, to those who are bruised, who are weak and tired. God’s spirit alone can endure for others and when compared to the other gods, Westermann is correct, the Lord alone is God. This servant is a human agent of God. The servant is acting on God’s behalf but is still filled with God’s spirit; therefore, one might say, the servant is a depiction of God.
The servant’s character comes into play in the latter verses. The servant is not to follow custom and cry aloud in public.[5] The servant is humble and does not bring about selfish attention. The servant brings attention to those suffering; the servant brings attention to justice. The servant shows mercy to the bruised and empathy with the faint. The servant moves about with gentle poise and humility, unhurried in the pursuit of justice.[6] As stated before, the objective of the servant’s mission is to bring justice to the world. Justice meaning equality, ending oppression, and easing the suffering. It also needs to be stated that the servant is bringing hope. The nation of Israel has endured an exile and those who have survived are desperately seeking hope. They need this servant, not for salvation alone, but to show them how to live out justice. Through the servant, God’s justice prevails in such a way that the servant’s actions contradict the harsh law of the world, which says the broken and battered inevitably perish.[7] It is the lifestyle and the teachings of the servant that will bring about this change.
The servant will be able to endure everything the world will do to him. Verse 4 states, “He will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his teaching.” The servant’s mission will not end until justice is brought forth to all nations. The coastlands might serve as a reference to alien nations. Thus making servant’s mission to all people, not a select few. It is here that God’s justice to the nations will be seen through the servant’s teachings (v4). But the servant engages in the teaching as well. This servant acts as God’s agent to lead the way to justice in the earth. He does not teach about justice in the usual sense of teaching but models justice by his own behavior and personality.[8]
What does that mean for us today? As believers, we have inherently been given the duty to bring forth justice to the world. We bring forth justice to others through our teachings and our actions. Our churches should be the initiators of justice, showing fairness and equality to all who surround their walls. At times the church has done a wonderful job; however more times than not, the church has been the bearer of the injustices of this world. We should take a close look at our lives, at our churches, and at our social groups and see where it is we have gone wrong. Then we should attempt to correct such mistakes, knowing God’s spirit will be upon us, and we will never grow weary.
By God’s grace, may we bring forth justice. Amen
[1] Westermann, Claus pg 93
[2] Friesen, Ivan. Beautiful upon the Mountains pg 65
[3] Webb, Barry. The Message of Isaiah pg 171
[4] Westermann, Claus pg 95
[5] Westermann, Claus pg 95
[6] Friesen, Ivan pg 65
[7] Westermann, Claus pg 96
[8] Friesen, Ivan pg 66
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