February 29, 2004
Title: Servant Songs #3: Obedience of the Servant
Text: Isaiah 50:4-9
Introduction
1. Today is the first Sunday during the Lenton season.
But, actually, Sundays aren’t counted as part of the season of Lent...
Lent consists of the 40 days leading up to Easter...minus the Sundays...
Lent is a time of self-denial...
prayer...fasting...
and meditation...
many times, people will "give up something" for Lent.
They may give up chocolate...
or coffee...
or they may fast lunch...
or whatever they feel that God would lead them to do.
2. I certainly encourage people to participate in Lent in some way or other.
I’m not going to tell you how...
I just encourage you to do something...
Lent is a time to focus our attention upon Christ...
focus upon His life...
His love...
His suffering...
and as we focus our attention more and more on Christ...
we hope to draw closer to Him...
and as we draw closer to Him...
hopefully we become more like Him in the way we live...
and act...
and behave.
2. We have looked at several of the "Servant Songs of Isaiah"...
so far, we’ve looked at the Introduction of the Servant...(Is 42:1-4)
And we’ve looked at the Mission of the Servant...(Is. 49:1-6)
And today, we will look at the Obedience of the Servant...(Is. 50:4-9)
a perfect segue into the Lenton Season.
Read Text: Isaiah 50:4-9
Body
1. Obedience in speaking Vs. 4
A. First of all, the Servant was obedient in speaking.
Our text says, "the Sovereign Lord has given Me an instructed tongue".
God had a message for Christ to share with the world...
and that message wasn’t always received with welcoming arms...
In John chapter 6, Jesus was teaching with very strong words of commitment...
Scripture says, those followers said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?" John 6:60 (NIV)
And John 6:66 tells us, "From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him." John 6:66 (NIV)
Jesus knew that the message He came to bring was a difficult one...
He knew that this message would ultimately demand His life...
But, even still...He refused to sugar-coat it...
It didn’t take the edge off to make it easier to swallow...
He was very open and honest with what would be required...
He said, "anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me" Matt 10:38 (NIV)
He said, "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it" Matt 10:39 (NIV)
He said, "blessed are the meek"
He said, ""You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ’Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment" Matt 5:21-22 (NIV)
He said, "You have heard that it was said, ’Do not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart" Matt 5:27-28 (NIV)
He said, ""You have heard that it was said, ’Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" Matt 5:43-44 (NIV)
Tough teachings...
But Christ knew what God wanted Him to do...
He know what God wanted Him to say...
and He didn’t back down from saying it.
Jesus said, "I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me" John 8:28 (NIV)
He was obedient
B. He was also encouraging with His words...
In our text, the Servant knows "the words that sustains the weary"
Jesus knew how to encourage the downtrodden with His Words...
He had a way of sharing the message with love...
He had a way of taking people who were burdened down with the cares of life...
and lifting their load...
In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus says, ""Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matt 11:28-30 (NIV)
And He continues to minister to the weary...
the burdened...
the hurting...
the sad...
the discouraged...
and perhaps He is even doing that this morning...
here in this service...
2. Obedience in Listening vss. 4-5
A. Not only was Jesus obedient in speaking...
He was obedient with listening...
Isaiah 50:4 says, "He wakens my ear to listen..."
And verse 5 says, "the Sovereign Lord has opened my ears"
This is in contrast to the Children of Israel...
who often refused to listen to God...
Isaiah 48:8 says, "You have neither heard nor understood; from of old your ear has not been open" Isaiah 48:8 (NIV)
But Jesus listened...
B. And...not only did He listen...
He was OBEDIENT in listening...
In our text, the Obedient Servant says, "I have not been rebellious"
C. There is a great listening deficit in our world today...
listening is a rare thing...
people just don’t listen anymore...
and...if we do actually get people to listen...
it is even more rare to get them to follow through...
One of our children has a difficult time keeping up with her homework...
she will sit down and do the homework...
but she will leave it laying around the house...
maybe on the floor...
or on the kitchen table...
and we have certainly tried to tell her to keep her homework picked up...
because we realize that she will not be able to find it...
well, that happened this week...
she couldn’t find her homework...
and...yes, we had told her to pick it up and put it away...
and she may have heard us...
but she certainly didn’t follow through...
and she lost her homework...
she spent the last moments before leaving for school...
rushing through the house...
crying...
in a bad mood...
and it all could have been avoided...
if she had only listened and obeyed...
D. I’m sure that ONLY happens in my family ;)
No...that is a very common problem...
people don’t listen to each other...
and they certainly don’t take the time to listen to God...
But...not the Obedient Servant...
Jesus listened...really listened...
He listened to God...
He listened to other people...
He listened to lepers crying out for mercy...
when everyone else turned a deaf ear...
He listened to protitutes...
He listened to tax collectors...
He listened...
E. Teenage prostitutes were interviewed in a study in San Francisco.
as a part of the study...they were asked: ...
"Is there anything you needed most and couldn’t get?"
Their response, given with tears and great sadness...
almost without exception, was: "What I needed most was someone to listen to me....
Someone who cared enough to listen to me." Jim Reapsome, Homemade.
Jesus listened...and people’s lives were changed...
You will never know the impact you can have on someone’s life...
simply by taking the time to listen to them
3. Obedience in Suffering vs 6
A. Jesus was obedient....
even though it meant suffering...
In Isaiah 50:6, the Servant says, "I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting." Isaiah 50:6 (NIV)
This was written about 750 years before Christ actually suffered these same things...
B. The Servant says, "I offered my back to those who beat me"...
Matthew 27:26 tells us that Pilot, "had Jesus flogged" Matt 27:26 (NIV)
The Servant says, "I offered my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard"
When Jesus said, "Turn the other cheek"...(Luke 6:29)
He may have meant it figuratively...
but for Christ...
He fulfilled it literally...
The Servant says, "I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting." Isaiah 50:6 (NIV)
Matthew 27:30 says, "They spit on him" Matt 27:30 (NIV)
4. Obedience in Purpose
A. Not only was Christ obedient in speaking...
Not only was He obedient in listening...
not only was He obedient in suffering...
But He was obedient in PURPOSE...
The Servant says, "I have set my face like flint"
He had a strong sense of His purpose...
He knew what God wanted Him to do...
and He determined that He would not turn to the left or the right...
B. We tend to "set our faces"...not like flint...
but more like spaggheti noodles...
you know what spagghetti noodles are like...
they start out hard and firm...
but when the heat is on...
they turn limp...
People tend to be the same way...
we will remain firm and committed...
as long as it is comfortable...
as long as the way is easy...
but if the path grows difficult...
we turn limp...
and we look for an easier way around.
C. We need to realize what the obedient Servant realized...
The Obedient Servant said, "God helps Me" (Is 50:9)
Even though people will try to subvert His purpose...
Even though people will accuse and charge Him...
He is obedient with His purpose...
because He KNOWS that God will help Him...
Conclusion
1. Here...during the Lenton Season...
we turn our focus upon Christ...
but we also must reflect upon ourselves as well...
We have been called, like Christ, to be obedient...
2. Just like Christ was obedient in speaking...
We are to be obedient in speaking...
do we speak to people?
do we share the Gospel message?
do we encourage others with our words?
Or do we use our words to criticize?
and judge?
and tear down?
3. Just like Christ was obedient in listening to God and others...
We too are to be obedient in listening to God’s voice and to other people...
During our prayer time...
do we pray..."God help me with this...
Help me with that...
Help me get more money...
help me ...me...me...me..."
Or do we actually close our mouths for a moment...
and open our ears...
so that we can hear what He wants to tell us?
Do we listen to others...like Jesus did?
Or when people talk to us...
do we just kind of look in their general direction...
and let our eyes glaze over...
while our minds are thinking about everything else BUT listening to that person?
4. Just like Christ was obedient in suffering...
we are to be obedient if we face suffering for our faith...
When we start talking about crosses...
and criticism...
many people will turn away...
but Christ was obedient...
even though it meant the most horrific suffering...
worse than we can imagine...
5. Just like Christ was obedient in His purpose...
We are to be obedient in our purpose...
Our purpose to spread the Gospel...
our purpose to "each one win one"...
Our we obedient to that purpose?
Or are we more concerned about what WE want?
6. God told the disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration...
"This is My Son, Whom I love; with Him I am well please...LISTEN TO HIM" Matthew 17:5
I’d like us to take a few moments...
and actually listen to Jesus...
Is He speaking to you?
Is He trying to tell you something?
If so, LISTEN TO HIM...
Listen...then OBEY...
