Isaiah 49: 1-7; John 1: 29-42
by Rev. Carson Overstreet
Van Wyck Presbyterian Church
January 15, 2017
pay attention, you peoples from far away!
The Lord called me before I was born,
while I was in my mother’s womb he named me.
He made my mouth like a sharp sword,
in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me a polished arrow,
in his quiver he hid me away.
And he said to me, ‘You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will be glorified.’
But I said, ‘I have labored in vain,
I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;
yet surely my cause is with the Lord,
and my reward with my God.’
And now the Lord says,
who formed me in the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him,
and that Israel might be gathered to him,
for I am honoured in the sight of the Lord,
and my God has become my strength—
he says,
‘It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to restore the survivors of Israel;
I will give you as a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.’
Thus says the Lord,
the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One,
to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nations,
the slave of rulers,
‘Kings shall see and stand up,
princes, and they shall prostrate themselves,
because of the Lord, who is faithful,
the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.’ - Isaiah 49: 1-7
The next day John the Baptist] saw Jesus coming towards him and declared, ‘Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, “After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.”
I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.’ And John testified, ‘I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.
I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, “He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.’
The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, ‘Look, here is the Lamb of God!’ The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, ‘What are you looking for?’ They said to him, ‘Rabbi’ (which translated means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?’
He said to them, ‘Come and see.’ They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which is translated Anointed). He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas’ (which is translated Peter). - John 1: 29-42
No matter how young or how old we are - uncertainty is a fact of life that always has some effect on us. It usually leaves us questioning things, therefore planting seeds of doubt. I always love when the facts of life come through the eyes of a child. They have a way of transcending our life situations with a light heart and a good laugh.
During snack time, a kindergartner asked the teacher this question: Why are some raisins yellow while others are black? The teacher didn’t know the answer off the cuff, so she walked down the hall and asked her friend if she knew; the friend was a first-grade teacher. “Yellow raisins are made from green grapes, and black raisins are made from red grapes,” her friend explained.
The teacher reported her findings back to her classroom. And you can probably guess that one of her students had something to say about that. One little boy suggested, “Maybe that’s why she teaches first grade, because she’s just a little bit smarter than you.”[1]
Today we are looking into Isaiah’s second Servant Song. Even before the Servant was a witty child – like that kindergartner - having a mouth sharp as a sword – he was chosen by God for the sole purpose of glorifying God. And in doing so, Israel would be drawn back to God.
And yet Isaiah gives us a priceless dimension of the Servant. We are allowed into the Servant’s internal dialogue. The Servant says: I have labored in vain. I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity (Isaiah 49:4).
Did you hear that? The Servant allows himself to be vulnerable and honest with himself and also with God. The Servant second guesses and doubts his ability to fulfill his God given purpose and mission in life (Working Preacher). His words capture the deep recesses of the human heart when we wrestle with our perceived limitations, inadequacies, and weaknesses. We question ourselves when we are faced with great change, or added stress, or when we sense the expectation of working at a higher performance level.
I sense that John the Baptist had some second guesses related to performance anxiety. John the Baptist grew up with the prophetic calling of preparing God’s people for the coming of the Lord (Luke 1: 13-17). John’s father, Zechariah, was in complete disbelief with this news, saying, “How will I know that this is so?” (Luke 1:18). I can imagine John’s childhood was filled with stories of his prophetic calling and Zechariah hoping it would all work out as God said.
Always pay attention to repeated words of Scripture. According to John’s Gospel, the Baptizer is quoted two times saying, “I myself did not know him” (John 1: 31, 33). He kept baptizing for the reason of pointing to the Messiah but he did not know exactly who he was looking for. I wonder if John the Baptist questioned his ability to bring about God’s purposes like the Servant did in Isaiah?
The disciples certainly wrestled with their questions and doubts. Nathaniel second-guessed Jesus’ credentials, “Can anything good, much less a Messiah, come from Nazareth?” (John 1:46). Simon was the third disciple Jesus met and called. He was chosen and claimed with the new name of Peter which means Rock, for Christ would build his church, the body of Christ, through Peter (Matthew 16:18). And yet Peter allowed fear and uncertainty to second guess his calling from Christ. The cock crowed as Peter denied being Jesus’ disciple three times and Peter wrestled with that (John 13:38; 18:17; 18:25-27; 21: 15-19).
Second guesses and doubts are familiar to you and me because they are part of the human story in Scripture. They are a part of our stories. And sometimes it seems that second guesses and doubts get the best of us.
We second guess our effectiveness when our work does not bear fruit.
We doubt our qualifications when God points us in a new direction.
We doubt our uniqueness when we compare ourselves to others.
We second guess our parenting when life gets hard and we are just trying to survive.
We doubt that healing will truly come based on the logic of the situation at hand.
We second guess God’s timing to close the gaps with that opportunity we are praying for.
And yet no matter what direction our questions take us, God is on the move to speak into our internal dialogue.
God spoke to the Servant calling him to remember that above all else God’s steadfast love would equip him for God’s purposes.
God spoke to John the Baptist calling him to keep preparing the people for the Lamb of God; God would open John’s eyes to see God’s timing.
God spoke to the disciples calling them to come and see what God is doing through Jesus Christ.
And God speaks to you and to me calling us to focus on God’s actions over and above our abilities, limitations, and weaknesses.
God’s Word reveals that it is not by our own efficacy to succeed; it is not by our own actions that bring change; it is not by our own merit that we are delivered.
What a reassuring word that God alone is the One who qualifies our calling; God alone is the One who changes the course of history; God alone is the One who saves us from our doubts and despair.
We are to lean into a deeper trust of relying on the source of God’s grace, strength, and transformation. And that source is none other than God’s Servant and our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Brian found himself in a spiritual season of second guesses and doubts. He began questioning his life and faith. So Brian called a mentoring friend as he scrambled to hold on.
"My faith in God has been like a walk on the beach. I’ve taken off my shoes, and as I stand at the water’s edge, the tide rolls across my feet. It feels wonderful. Up to this point, my spiritual journey has been incredible but in the last six months doubt has begun to paralyze me.
It’s like when the water goes back out to the ocean. It is washing away the sand beneath me and my feet keep sinking lower and lower and lower. If this keeps up there won’t be anything left to stand on."
Without hesitation the mentor replied:
"Brian, I have stood where you are standing. I’ve felt the water cascading across my feet. And it is wonderful as you say. But I’ve also had the water go back out to sea and I have felt the sand getting washed out from my feet. But listen to me when I say this. When it feels like the last grain of sand is finally gone, you’re going to discover that you are standing on a rock."[2]
No matter what you may be second guessing – no matter what you may be doubting today – I want you to consider this.
There are two things in life that guide us during the times when we are the most vulnerable. Fear or trust.
Fear will tempt us to believe that our life situations hold us captive. Fear will paralyze us with our second guesses and doubts. It is like we are sinking down into a pit and everything is closing in on us. Fear makes it seem there is no escape, there is no way out.
But trust is different. Trust will guide us to a broad place where we gain a new perspective by naming our fears. Trust allows us to explore and discover the source of our strength. The source is not in our ability to rise above our vulnerabilities. The source of our strength is God in Jesus Christ – our rock and our refuge, our strong tower and deliverer.
When Christ’s strength works through our vulnerability then our questions and doubts become spiritual spaces for us to grow through the changes, the challenges, and the trials of life. Our second guesses and doubts are not the problem - it is what guides them. If God is for us and with us in Jesus Christ then what can be against us (Romans 8:31)?
Trust becomes a spiritual map that encourages us to press on even when we do not see God’s plans. As the Spirit moves us to trust God’s guidance then that broad space will open to God’s possibilities. God’s timing will allow us to see past the crest of our insecurities. We will see God connecting pieces of our lives to reveal God’s plans for the well-being of ourselves and others secured by a future with hope.
When we trust that we can do all things through the One who strengthens us - it will bring glory to God.
May it be so for you and for me.
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Sources Referenced:
[1] “Those Kids Said What? Twenty-Eight Hilarious Real-Life Teachers’ Stories,” by Readers’ Digest Editors http://www.rd.com/funny-stuff/funny-teacher-stories/
[2] Brian Jones, “Second Guessing God: Hanging on When You Can’t See His Plan” (Cincinnati: Standard Publishing, 2006), p. 15.
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