Isaiah 40:21-31, Psalm 147:1-11, Psalm 147:20, 1 Corinthians 9:16-23, Mark 1:29-39
A). WITH WINGS LIKE EAGLES.
Isaiah 40:21-31.
When Isaiah was first commissioned (Isaiah 6:8-9), he saw the LORD ‘high and lifted up’ (Isaiah 6:1). Now at his second commissioning (Isaiah 40:6), he sees the LORD ‘sitting above the circle of the earth’ (Isaiah 40:22).
I call this the ‘second commissioning’ because, in his role as court prophet, Isaiah had already warned good king Hezekiah of the inevitability of the exile in Babylon (Isaiah 39:6). With the death of king Hezekiah, sometime supporter of the Revival, it would no longer be safe for Isaiah to continue at court. In bad king Manasseh’s forty year reign the Revival would become just a memory, cherished by an ever-diminishing remnant of the prophet’s supporters. Isaiah himself is said to have been ‘sawn in two’ during this period (cf. Hebrews 11:37).
Now Isaiah’s ministry turns from warnings of doom to prophecies of encouragement, written down for posterity, foretelling everything from the Restoration under the patronage of the king of Persia (Isaiah 44:28), to the days of Messiah.
In a string of rhetorical questions, the prophet reminds his hearers that:
1. The word of our God will not fail (Isaiah 40:8);
2. The LORD God will come with a strong hand, and feed His flock like a shepherd (Isaiah 40:10-11).
[‘If God be for us, who can be against us?’ (Romans 8:31)];
3. Our God ALONE is the Creator of the Universe (Isaiah 40:12-14);
4. The nations are no threat to Him (Isaiah 40:15-17);
5. Idolatry is futile (Isaiah 40:19-20).
As we come to our present passage:
1. the prophet scolds the fearful for not understanding (Isaiah 40:21);
2. in an echo of his first commissioning (cf. Isaiah 6:1), the prophet sees God sitting above the circle of the earth, beholding men and their petty princes as so many grasshoppers (Isaiah 40:22);
3. The LORD blows upon them, and they come to nothing (Isaiah 40:23-24).
In case we are overawed by the Other-ness of the Holy One (Isaiah 40:25), we are reminded that:
1. the same God who has brought out the host of heaven, calling stars and constellations into existence so that not one is missing (Isaiah 40:26),
2. has never stopped watching over His own people (Isaiah 40:27-28).
[‘He neither slumbers nor sleeps’ (Psalm 121:4)];
3. He is the all-knowing, all-powerful eternal Creator of the ends of the earth, who gives power to the weak and strengthens those who are without might (Isaiah 40:28-29).
In exile, even the youths would faint and be weary, and the young men would utterly fail (Isaiah 40:30): but “those who wait upon the LORD” (Isaiah 40:31) -
1. “shall renew their strength” (Isaiah 40:31). Passively, God’s strength is made perfect in their weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).
There is a time to wait, to ‘stand still and see the salvation of the LORD’ (Exodus 14:13), and a time to ‘move forward’ (Exodus 14:15).
2. Now they move from the passive to the active, from waiting to moving, and in doing so their strength is renewed: they “mount up with wings like eagles, they run and are not weary, and they walk without fainting” (Isaiah 40:31)!
Why are we fearful, when ‘the Captain of our salvation’ (Hebrews 2:10) is in the vessel (Mark 4:38-40)? Let us be strong in the LORD, in the power of His might (Ephesians 6:10). Wait, stand, be still: then move forward as the mighty church that we are before whom the gates of hell shall not prevail (Matthew 16:18)!
‘The people that do know their God shall be strong - and do exploits’ (Daniel 11:32).
B). LOOK UP AND PRAISE THE LORD.
Psalm 147:1-11, Psalm 147:20c.
Why “Praise the LORD” (Psalm 147:1)? There are two possible readings of the answer: “For it is good/ pleasant/ delightful to sing praises to our God” (cf. Psalm 92:1); or “For He is good/ gracious/ beautiful” (cf. Psalm 27:4). It could be both (cf. Psalm 135:3). Whichever way, a song of praise to the LORD is a fitting/ comely/ beautiful response to who He is, and who He is to us.
It is He who builds up/ rebuilds Jerusalem (Psalm 147:2). Remember what Jesus said, too: ‘I will build my church’ (Matthew 16:18). He gathers the outcasts (cf. Isaiah 56:8; John 10:16).
He heals/ binds up the broken-hearted (Psalm 147:3; cf. Isaiah 61:1). This also speaks of the work of Jesus (cf. Matthew 11:5), saving to the uttermost all who come to God by Him (Hebrews 7:25).
Yet who is this God? Well, look up! It is He who counts the number of the stars, calling them by name (Psalm 147:4; cf. Isaiah 40:26). We are reminded of the LORD God’s covenant encounter with Abraham: ‘so shall thy seed be’ (Genesis 15:5)!
He is great. He is mighty. Even His understanding is “without number” (Psalm 147:5; cf. Psalm 139:17-18).
There is hope, too, when we stand in awe before this mighty God. The Cross has taught us that the God who is ‘high and lifted up’ (Isaiah 6:1), is the same God who condescends to be ‘God with us/with us the God’ (Matthew 1:23). “He lifts up the humble, and casts the wicked to the ground” (Psalm 147:6).
There is a second summons to praise (Psalm 147:7). [And, incidentally, a third (Psalm 147:12), and a fourth (Psalm 147:20c).] The songs are joined with the gentle music of the harp.
Now we are looking up again: not now to the stars, but to the clouds. And from them to the rain, and from the rain to the growing grass (Psalm 147:8). The stars spoke of the on-going work of Creation, whereas the cycle of nature speaks of God’s unerring Providence over all things.
His care knows no bounds. He gives food to the beast (Psalm 147:9; cf. Psalm 145:15). He hears the cry of the raven’s young (cf. Job 38:41) - how much more will He hear the cry of His own (cf. Exodus 3:7). ‘Consider the ravens,’ says Jesus, ‘…how much better are you than the fowls?’ (Luke 12:24).
The LORD does not delight in the strength of the horse: He takes no pleasure in the legs of man (Psalm 147:10). Both of which He made: but the warning here seems to be not to trust in horses for might (Psalm 20:7-8), nor in our own supposed prowess (2 Corinthians 1:9). Without Him we are nothing.
He wants us to ‘be strong in the Lord, in the power of His might’ (Ephesians 6:10). ‘His strength is made perfect in our weakness’ (2 Corinthians 12:9). And even that strength is not an end in itself, to serve our own petty purposes: but is renewed for His service as we wait on the LORD. Then we shall run, and not grow weary: then we shall walk and not faint (cf. Isaiah 40:31).
Perhaps that is the definition of waiting on the LORD: holding Him in awe, and hoping in His mercy. When we do this, then He takes pleasure in us (Psalm 147:11). Praise the LORD (Psalm 147:20c)!
C). A MODEL OF MINISTRY.
1 Corinthians 9:16-23.
The Apostle Paul has argued that, as their minister, he had every right to expect a wage from the church in Corinth (1 Corinthians 9:14). However, and somewhat surprisingly, he then turns the idea on its head:
‘Nevertheless, we have not used this right, but endure all things lest we hinder the gospel’ (1 Corinthians 9:12);
‘I have used none of these things… for it would be better for me to die’ - than not to preach the gospel (1 Corinthians 9:15)!
We must stress at the very start, that Paul’s position is the exception, not the rule. There may not be many of us who are so impassioned about our vocation that we share in his sense of necessity. Yet share it we do: for “woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!” (1 Corinthians 9:16).
To preach the gospel is perhaps one of the greatest of privileges. Yet Paul sees nothing to boast of. When all is said and done, and the dust settles, and the final roll call is read out: we can only say, as the servant in Jesus’ parable, ‘We have done what was our duty to do’ (Luke 17:10).
After all, if we are called by Christ to do anything - whether preaching, serving as a deacon, singing, greeting, ushering, visiting, giving; whether house-building, home-making, community service, governing, ruling; or even working on a production line like so many cogs in a wheel - all of this comes from the grace of God. If we are willing, we have our reward, says Paul (1 Corinthians 9:17).
And even if we are dragged into the ministry ‘kicking and screaming’ (as one brother termed it), it is the stewardship the Lord has entrusted to us, and carries its own reward, whether we like it or not. (What a shame to have such an attitude, and not rather to enjoy the reward NOW, instead of waiting for the reward hereafter!)
Paul’s “reward” is the added privilege of “presenting the gospel of Christ WITHOUT CHARGE” (1 Corinthians 9:18).
This, in turn, reinforced Paul’s authority, contrary to what his would-be paymasters might expect: for, if they did not pay him, they could not muzzle him; and if they could not muzzle him, then he was free to speak forth the word of God rather than what their itching ears might desire to hear (cf. 2 Timothy 4:4)!
Of course, in any church, there must be checks and balances. A discerning leadership to sift out the ambitious would-be manipulators from the truly called. But Paul’s authority lay, no doubt, in the gospel itself.
In a familiar metaphor, the Apostle spoke of his “freedom” to become everybody’s “bondman” in order to “WIN/GAIN” the more (1 Corinthians 9:19).
We are reminded of how the Son of Man came, ‘not to be ministered unto’ (to be served), but ‘to minister’ (to serve), and to ‘give’ His life as a ransom for ‘many’ (Mark 10:45).
To the Jews, Paul became “as a Jew” to WIN/GAIN Jews for Christ (1 Corinthians 9:20). Not that Paul had forsaken his Jewishness, but rather that he met them on common ground (without, I am sure, violating his own conscience).
“Those under law” may be another name for “Jews” - or perhaps a name for those (of all ethnicities) who were struggling on the boundaries between law and grace. Whichever way, Paul was willing to meet them, too, where they were, to “WIN/GAIN” them for Christ.
Furthermore, Paul was willing to find common ground with those outside the law of God - not as himself outside the law of God, but as one “within the law of Christ” - to WIN/GAIN even these free-thinkers to Christ (1 Corinthians 9:21).
The Apostle would no doubt have considered himself as one of the ‘strong’ in the ongoing debate about meat sacrificed to idols (cf. 1 Corinthians 8:13); but he was willing to become “as weak” to WIN/GAIN the “weak” (1 Corinthians 9:22).
Indeed, Paul, as every good minister of Christ, was willing to become “all things to all men” that he might indeed SAVE some. Notice the change of verb here. That must ever be our pastoral goal: to GAIN souls for Christ, or to WIN souls to Christ, so that they might be SAVED by Christ.
Now Paul did all this for the gospel. It was an unselfish act, but would have its reward in the harvest of souls to, not Paul, but to our Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle looked forward to enjoying the fruits of his labour with those who had been the recipients of his labour (1 Corinthians 9:23) - not only in the hereafter, but in the here and now. (cf. Psalm 126:5-6).
May this stand as an encouragement to us, as we labour with Christ in the gospel. And to His name be all the praise, and all the glory.
D). THIS IS WHAT I CAME TO DO.
Mark 1:29-39.
1. The first Deacon (Mark 1:29-31).
After the synagogue service in Capernaum, Jesus and His four companions went to the home of Simon and Andrew (Mark 1:29). Was this the first after-church fellowship - or perhaps even the formation of the first spontaneous house-church of the new era? Jesus would later promise that where two or three are gathered together in His name, there He is in the midst of them (Matthew 18:20).
Having conducted an exorcism in the synagogue (cf. Mark 1:25-26), Jesus now confronted the fever that had taken hold of Simon’s mother-in-law, which was making her sick (Mark 1:30). No stern words here, but just a gentle lifting up by the hand (Mark 1:31). “Immediately” (one of Mark’s favourite words, giving his whole narrative momentum) the fever left her.
Simon’s mother-in-law got up (healed) from her sick-bed, and served (ministered - see Mark 10:45). In this, she was the first ‘deacon’ of the fledgling church (Mark 1:31).
# By way of contrast, those whom Jesus named ‘apostles’ (Luke 6:13) would later argue about ‘who was the greatest’ (Mark 9:33-34).
2. The people at the door (Mark 1:32-34).
As the sun set, the Sabbath drew to a close, and a crowd gathered around the door of the house where Jesus was to be found (Mark 1:32-33). Having no doubt seen or heard about what had happened in the synagogue, they brought to Him other sick folks. Jesus healed them, and conducted more exorcisms (Mark 1:34). As before, Jesus would not permit the demons to speak, or to identify Him prematurely (cf. Mark 1:24-25).
3. The place of prayer in Jesus’ ministry (Mark 1:35-37).
It is quite exhausting to preach and to teach, and then to minister well into the night to address people’s individual needs. However, this does not mean that Jesus treated the next day as an opportunity to have a long lie. Instead, He got up early in the morning - perhaps anticipating the interruption - found a solitary place, and there prayed (Mark 1:35).
# If Jesus felt the need to nurture communion with His Father, how much more should we?
Yet Jesus was not allowed to enjoy His solitude for long. Simon and those with him had their own idea about what Jesus should be doing, and pursued Him (Mark 1:36). Men’s agendas, however well-meant, do not always coincide with what God wants. Apparently “everyone” (the whole world?) was now seeking after Jesus (Mark 1:37)!
# The pressure of the crowd must never be allowed to take precedence over a right relationship with God.
4. Mobilising mission (Mark 1:38-39).
Jesus had already shown His concern for someone within the synagogue (cf. Mark 1:25-26), someone in the house (Mark 1:31), and for the crowds who gathered around the door (Mark 1:32-34). However, the preaching and teaching, healing and exorcisms must now continue in the towns beyond Capernaum, and throughout Galilee (Mark 1:39). It was for this that Jesus came (Mark 1:38).
We must never become so parochial that we only minister to our own, without a care for the perishing millions beyond our doors, or the doors of our church or denomination. Jesus told His disciples that the fields are already white to harvest (John 4:35), and calls upon us all to pray that the Lord will send forth labourers into His ripe harvest field (Luke 10:2).
# The example of Isaiah, as well, informs us of the need to be willing to play our part in answering our own prayers (Isaiah 6:8).
