What a joy it was to sit in community at Belmont on Wednesday evening and engage scripture.
This week's scripture passage is Isaiah 42:1-9 (found below), and it speaks of God's servant as one in whom God delights and whose call is to bring forth justice as a result of God's spirit being placed upon him.
As I initially read this passage and as we discussed it on Wednesday, a couple of questions arose, "Can we apply this passage to Jesus?" Or, "Is Jesus the servant that Isaiah foresaw?" To be sure, we see Jesus as one who brings forth justice, and Jesus does seem to tell a lot of people not to talk about him, however, we also know that Jesus
was crushed by the principalities and powers and injustice still seems to have plenty of sway in the world.
So, what if we, as people of faith, are the servant that Isaiah describes? What if it is our job to bring forth justice? What if it is our job to preach the gospel always and use words when necessary? What if it is our job to keep pursuing faithful following of the Triune God, even as people try to crush us? This is one of those times when we gain insight by holding onto a both/and theology, rather than an either/or dichotomy.
Finally, I'm grateful to Allison Connelly, a relatively new UKIRKian, for pointing out the movement in this passage from darkness to light. God offers Israel, and all God's faithful people, as a light to the nations and calls us to reach out to those who sit in darkness. Allison wondered aloud what it must be like for those who have sat in darkness for so long to finally be "in the light." It might be painful at first. We might need to be patient with those who have sat in dungeons of despair. Encountering the new things that God is accomplishing might just be overwhelming for some of us, and so we might need some time to adjust our eyes/hearts and minds.
As always, I welcome your thoughts, questions, concerns, insights, etc.
Isaiah 42:1-9
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.
He will not cry or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
a bruised reed he will not break,
and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.
He will not grow faint or be crushed
until he has established justice in the earth;
and the coastlands wait for his teaching.
Thus says God, the
Lord,
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people upon it
and spirit to those who walk in it:
I am the
Lord, I have called you in righteousness,
I have taken you by the hand and kept you;
I have given you as a covenant to the people,
a light to the nations,
to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
from the prison those who sit in darkness.
I am the
Lord, that is my name;
my glory I give to no other,
nor my praise to idols.
See, the former things have come to pass,
and new things I now declare;
before they spring forth,
I tell you of them.
