THE BRUISED AND DIM
Text: Isaiah 42: 1 - 7
Someone (Dr. Thomas Long) reiterates how this passage of scripture illustrates who God is as someone who will neither break a bruised reed, nor quench a dimly burning wick but will bring justice. Beside these metaphors of compassion to those are weak and vulnerable he adds how most of us have in our “heart of hearts a quarrel with God” …. we are puzzled by how God chooses to behave in the world by what He chooses to do and how He chooses to do it”. (Gary W. Klingsporn. ed. The library of Distinctive Sermons. Volume 5. Dr. Thomas G. Long. “Bruised Reeds And Dimly Burning Wicks” . 1997, pp. 19 – 20). Where we are quick to speak and quick to react, God’s ways puzzle us. Where we might be too proud and too quick to consider aggressively taking charge, God in His infinite wisdom demonstrates His loving mercy, humility, and compassion in all His ways. His ways and thoughts are higher than our ways and thoughts (Isaiah 55:8). Matthew Henry pointed out that God in His “Infinite wisdom made the choice [of the servant] and then avowed [affirmed] it”. (Matthew Henry. A Commentary On The Whole Bible. Volume 4. Iowa Falls: Iowa, no date. p. 227). Only God in His infinite wisdom could absolutely see where things had gone astray from His will. Only God could see absolutely where His chosen people had succeeded and failed and why. Only God could absolutely see how his chosen people had missed opportunities to be a light to other nations (Isaiah 42:6) because of how they took control instead of letting God be in control! When the chosen nation---chosen people failed to be the light to other nations that God intended, God sent His only begotten Son to be the light! That is why Jesus cannot fail or be discouraged (Isaiah 4:6).
THE CHOSEN SERVANT
We are wayward sheep. 1) Wayward sheep: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way…” (Isaiah 53:6). 2) Our waywardness: We are no different than our spiritual ancestors we read about in the Bible. 3) The universal disqualifying factor: God had carved out their path---their race that He had set before them (Hebrews 12:1) but they disqualified themselves by getting “off track”. When they got “ off track” they could not succeed in doing the good works that God prepared in advance for them to do (Ephesians 2:10 NIV). How often have we disqualified ourselves because of how we have gotten “off track?”
Wayward sheep need a shepherd. 1) The Shepherd Priest: That is why Jesus came to us. He came not only to be our shepherd, He also came to be the sacrificial lamb who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29). Jesus came to be our priest as well as our sacrificial lamb to make us right with God! 2) The Shepherd’s help: Without the help of Jesus, we are slaves to the guilt our sin. A slave has no permanent place in the family (John 8:35). Without the help of Jesus we are held captive by the destructive power of sin. Jesus came not only to forgive us of our sins but to remove the power of sin and its guilt!
Jesus---the Good Shepherd helps the sheep to get back on track. 1) Band-Aids will not do: How many times have we gotten injured and “bruised” in our spirits when we got off track? Are we not all “bruised reeds and smoldering wicks?” We get “bruised” by our sin; we get bruised by life’s heartaches and heartbreak; we get by natural disasters; we get bruised by illness and losing our loved ones. 2) The Savior’s nurture: Compared to trees, reeds are fragile (like tooth picks) and easily broken. Jesus helps us, forgives us, heals us and nurtures us. As Martin Luther once put it, ‘He does not cast away, nor crush, nor condemn the wounded in conscience, those who are terrified in view of their sins; the weak in faith and practice, but watches over and cherishes them, makes them whole, and affectionately embraces them.’ (Albert Barnes. Barnes’ Notes). Jesus knows our every weakness and vulnerability.
Jesus rekindles our hopes and nurtures our weakened faith back to health. 1) The faint-hearted: As smoldering wick is symbolic of someone who is losing heart (Albert Barnes). 2) Help for the faint-hearted: William Barclay once said that there are three things that are necessary for a happy life which are “Something to hope for. Something to do. Someone to love.” (Denis Duncan. ed. Day By Day With William Barclay. Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 2003, p. 1). Jesus restores our hope because he heals us, forgives us reconciles us and renews our purpose and our joy. William Barclay also said that Jesus “… did not come to treat the weak with contempt, but with understanding; he did not come to extinguish the weak flame, but to nurse it back to a clearer and a stronger light. (William Barclay. The Daily Study Bible Series: The Gospel Of Matthew. Revised Edition. Volume 2. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1975, p. 34). Without Jesus the bruised reeds would eventually break and the smoldering wicks would go from dim to dark and die!
SERVANTS OF THE CHOSEN SERVANT
Today’s Gospel text Matthew 3:13-17 complements Isaiah 42:1- 7. 1) The Holy Spirit upon the Savior: When Jesus was baptized, God the Heavenly Father put His Spirit on Jesus so He could bring justice to the nations (Isaiah 42:1). 2) Jesus’s ministry following His baptism: After being tempted 40 days and nights in the wilderness, Jesus quoted Isaiah 61:1 – 2 when He read in the synagogue in Nazareth (Luke 4:18 – 19): Isaiah 61:1 The Sovereign LORD has filled me with his Spirit. He has chosen me and sent me To bring good news to the poor, To heal the broken-hearted, To announce release to captives And freedom to those in prison. 2 He has sent me to proclaim That the time has come When the LORD will save his people And defeat their enemies. He has sent me to comfort all who mourn, (GNB). Jesus came to defeat the enemies of sin, death and the fear of death and to give us an abundant life as well as the gift of eternal life! Jesus came to help the bruised and the dim with all of these things. Jesus came to help you and me with these things.
God knows about our problems---our bruises and our dimness and God wants to fix those problems. "Captain John Callender of the Massachusetts Militia was guilty of cowardice at the Battle of Bunker Hill. One of General Washington's first duties as he assumed command of the American forces at Cambridge was to order the court-martial of Captain Callender. This is an infamous crime to a soldier, the most humiliating of all, so the captain was stripped of his commission and expelled in disgrace. However, there was another side to this man. In the meanwhile, something happened. He observed Washington, and later Callender reenlisted in the army as a private. During the Battle of Long Island, Callender demonstrated such conspicuous courage that Washington publicly revoked the sentence and restored him as an officer in his army". (G. Curtis Jones. 1000 Illustrations For Preaching And Teaching. Nashville: Broadman Press, 1986, p. 311). God restores us through Jesus Christ.
We are saved and called to serve. 1) The King’s priests: Consider I Peter 2:9 – 10: “But you are the chosen race, the King's priests, the holy nation, God's own people, chosen to proclaim the wonderful acts of God, who called you out of darkness into his own marvelous light. 10 At one time you were not God's people, but now you are his people; at one time you did not know God's mercy, but now you have received his mercy” (GNB). 2) Called to proclaim: Just as God has called out of darkness, He has also called us to serve. Just as Jesus is our priest, we must remember that we are called to be His priests---the King’s priests. This honor means that not only are we in the priesthood of all believers, but it also means that we must be missionaries to those that are bruised and dim. That is a responsibility that we should not ever take lightly.
Jesus was baptized so that He could bring justice to the nations. 1) His Light: Jesus tells us that He is the light of the world (John 8:12). 2) His light in us: Jesus also tells us that we are the light of the world because of His light in us. Consider Galatians 3:28: “For as many of you were baptized into Christ did put on Christ. There can be neither Jew nor Greek, there can be no male and female , there can be neither bond or free, there can be no male and female; for ye are all one [man] in Jesus Christ” (ASV). 3) Unconditional love and service: If we have put on Christ, then how can we ever dismiss ourselves from being His servants? Like Captain John Callender, we have had our moments of cowardice when we were too weak to fight. 4) Sin is subtle and blinding: Sin can be a very demoralizing and discouraging enemy. Sin can bruise us or even make us lose the brightness of our spirit and make us start to lose heart and be as dim as a smoldering wick. But, when we ask Him to, Jesus forgives us and restores us. Someone (Dr. Thomas G. Long) has said that “… all human sin can be understood as an attack on creation, and it is God’s will to address human sin by mending the damage we have done, by repairing the creation” . (Gary W. Klingsporn. ed. The library of Distinctive Sermons. Volume 5. Dr. Thomas G. Long. “Bruised Reeds And Dimly Burning Wicks” . 1997, pp. 22-23)). Satan seeks to attack God by attacking us. Satan seeks to deceive us, tempt us. Satan wants to use sin as a weapon to bruise us, blind us and defeat us. Satan wants deceive us by to leading us to believe that we can be self-reliant and self-sufficient. This is the same spiritual mistake that our ancestors made. John the Baptizer who baptized Jesus said, “Jesus must become more and we must become less and less “(John 1:29). We must deny ourselves and follow in the footsteps of our Savior. We must take up our crosses and follow Him (Mark8:34). What makes us great (Mark 10:43) and what makes us shine (Matthew 5:14) for Jesus is the way that we serve as His as His disciples!
