Coming Soon: Too Small a Thing
*** Isaiah 49:1-7 ***
It is hard to conceptualize the relevance of God's thoughts towards man when God is an afterthought in our minds and culture. We want to relegate the divine to positive thinking and self-help programs, yet the problem is that He is so much more than a motivating force. He is the unique, independent, personal Creator of the universe who, out of His love for us, makes demands on our lives. Through the Scripture He is calling us back to relationship with Himself while placing preeminence on the purposes that He has for our lives.
Whether you are walking with Him presently or not, God had something in mind when he created you that was to be part of His redemptive plan for humanity and all of creation. Though we often sell out to lesser things, to throw off the shallowness of our daily living, we must ultimately consider the call of God, press through discouragements, and embrace the extent of Christ's salvation.
The Call of God
Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born the Lord called me; from my birth he has made mention of my name. (Isaiah 49:1 NIV84)
*** Life's struggles are a matter of identity and people's perpetual search for who they are outside of God. This is an incessant losing quest, because from the outset, God is the one who reveals Himself and gives His creation identity. If we try to base our identity on what we have, what we've accomplished, or what we have done, when those things are removed from us, our worlds crumble. Things will change in life - the tax rate, your portfolio, your health, your age, your relationships. If, however, we know to whom we belong, and to what He has called us, we pivot from a place of security and strength, because ultimately our value and reward are in His hands.
What was Jesus appointed to do? He was appointed by God the Father to bring His wandering people back to Himself. The question becomes for us, what have we been appointed by God to do with our days? There is no fulfilling the call of God if you are walking free of His direction or in rebellion to His commands in the manner in which you choose to live. Jesus was the example of consistent submission and perfect fulfillment of the call of God that we are to emulate. So many people have abundant resources in their life, but squander it in either selfish living or thinking that the value of their skills cul de sac with their personal enjoyment. Your call is to give to God, in service to others, as a part of His redeeming plan in the world. He made my mouth like a sharpened sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me into a polished arrow and concealed me in his quiver. (Isaiah 49:2 NIV84)
The message that you have to communicate and the contribution that you have to make of eternal worth is developed in the hidden place where you are seeking the face of God. It does not matter how old or young that you are; Moses began at 40 and stepped into his role of a deliverer at 80.
There is a process that all of us will have to endure to find ourselves fully immersed in the purpose of God. Much to the chagrin of our pride, like Christ, our road often begins in humble service and in obscurity. Though knowing that he was the unique Son of God, the 27th, 28th, and 29th years of Christ's life brought no relief to this process, but it was all in preparation for his three years that would turn the world upside down.
“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back-- Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth that ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.” ― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
A naturalist perspective would say that we are lucky mud waiting to expire when the last cells in our body degenerate. Yet we all, unexplainably outside of the call of God, long for something more, to be of value and to be able to contribute something of worth. To know God is to know your purpose. To follow Jesus is to be faithful to the divinely delegated tasks for which you were created as a part of His church.
The Enemy Named Discouragement
He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.” But I said, “I have labored to no purpose; I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing. Yet what is due me is in the Lord 's hand, and my reward is with my God.” (Isaiah 49:3, 4 NIV84)
Discouragement arrives when, on the surface, our circumstances look different than what we expected them to be. The only way to battle it is not with the placebo of fantasy and positive thinking but with a sincere confidence that your life is being led in such a way worthy of God's reward. Do you have that confidence?
*** Damaged trust in God and a discarded faith is the natural result of being in religious environments where there has been hypocrisy, abuse, or a lack of life-transforming power. Was there a reason for such impotency? Where is God in the midst of these institutions? Is He even there? The Son of God Himself had to wrestle with similar stuggles in the midst of life's trials, and so will we. The voices that you entertain during your years of hiddeness can make or break you, because discouragement will come. How do we recover after being exposed to such empty shells of spirituality? The answer is found in the models laid out in his Word.
As opposed to Western individualistic thinking, the call of God is not found in isolation where you are the end unto yourself. Rather in God, our destiny is found in the community in which He places us, and is fulfilled when we find the local expression of our part of the greater whole. This is the importance and value of the local church, where your presence is felt and you are both known and know others. This is why the company that we keep is so important and can make or break you in God. It is not only the danger of those who are outright rebellious, but the lukewarm attitudes of the religious, that prove to be lethal.
Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God–I say this to your shame. (1 Corinthians 15:33, 34 NIV84)
God wants and we want people to do life together in community. However, community isn't an end unto itself. We are to live life together, serving together to bring the Kingdom of God, making this world a better place until His return. Our relationship with God and our relationships with one another are functionally intended for us to become the body of Christ, the hands and feet of Jesus in the earth.
The Extent of Christ's Salvation
*** Let there be no doubt about it, God is in pursuit of those who are wandering and those that have been lost.
And now the Lord says— he who formed me in the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel to himself, for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord and my God has been my strength— he says: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.” (Isaiah 49:5, 6 NIV84)
When the text speaks of restoring the tribes of Jacob, the concept of restoration has a powerful connotation. Destruction was common because of both war and neglect. As was the divine assignment of the kings, Jesus comes to restore our devastated lands. He does this individually, in cities and in nations.
The reason God continues to extend His work, and why we as the church join Him, is because He wants to extend His family. Family was God's original idea for the church, and the work of Jesus provided the way for that family to be ultimately inclusive of everyone everywhere who would love Him as He's loved them. Healthy families have children who want to grow even as the family itself desires to grow.
This is what the Lord says— the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel— to him who was despised and abhorred by the nation, to the servant of rulers: “Kings will see you and rise up, princes will see and bow down, because of the Lord , who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.” (Isaiah 49:7 NIV84)
We need people, both young and OLD to be a part. In doing so, we will follow the adage to think globally while acting locally.
What does our participation in God's redemptive plan look like in action?
Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow. “Come now, let us reason together,” says the Lord . “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land; but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. (Isaiah 1:17-20 NIV84)
Understanding that all of creation was made through Him, we are free to consider how Jesus is applicable to the whole world, rather than being imperialistic.
If I found a key on the road, and discovered it fit and opened a particular lock at my house, I would assume most likely that the key was made by the lock maker. And if I find set of teachings set out in pre-modern oriental society that has proven itself of such universal validity that it has fascinated and satisfied millions of people in every century, including the best minds in history and the simplest hearts, that it has made itself at home in virtually every culture, inspired masterpieces of beauty in every field of art, continues to grow rapidly and spread and assert itself in lands where a century ago the name of Jesus Christ was not even heard; if such teaching so obviously fits the locks of so many human souls, in so many times and so many places, are they likely to be the work of a deceiver or a fool? In fact it is more likely that they were designed by the Heart Maker… —G.K. Chesterton
The importance of consistent community to model and build such lives is clearly demonstrated in Acts 2 and 4. It is what we invite you to now. If you have not, please get right with God today. If you are following Jesus already, please sign up for our listserv through which you can become a productive member of God's church with a tangible, local expression.
Second City Church – Coming Soon Sermon Series 2013