Sermon on Isaiah 49:1-7, The Mission of the Servant of Yahweh

Have you ever been commissioned? You know, formally chosen by someone to carry out a specific work or job. Maybe it happened to you in the military. You were commissioned as an officer. Maybe you were commissioned by your employer to a particular task. When we had short-term mission teams going from our church, we asked each person going to come down front and we commissioned them to this service. Of course, we might say we’ve all been commissioned by Jesus when he said, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe all I’ve commanded you” (Matthew 28:19,20).

How seriously do we take this commission? It would seem that at the beginning of the church it needed a boost to take the commission of the Lord Jesus seriously. The boost was persecution that caused the church to disperse from Jerusalem, and then, through a vision, Peter was moved to preach the gospel to a Gentile. The church in Antioch sent Paul and Barnabas to lands filled with Gentiles. The word Gentiles means “nations.” Go and make disciples of all nations.

The history of taking this commission seriously has waxed and waned. At times there was very little effort to reach the nations of the world, and at times great groundswells of energy. Today, the Great Commission is being fulfilled dramatically.

“According to the Center for the Study of Global Christianity (CSGC) at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Christians sent out approximately 400,000 international missionaries in 2010. The U.S. sent out one out of every four missionaries—-127,000 of the world’s estimated 400,000 missionaries.”

Avery Willis distinguishes mission from missions. “By mission I mean the total redemptive purpose of God to establish his kingdom. Missions, on the other hand, [as contrasted with mission] is the activity of God’s people the church to proclaim and to demonstrate the kingdom of God in the world. Mission, therefore, is conceived as the total redemptive purpose of God to establish his kingdom, and missionaries are those agents who carry out God’s redemptive purposes through the church in a variety of contexts. The mission is therefore God’s. He sends to accomplish his mission — the redemption of his whole creation. Jesus consistently spoke of himself as being “sent” in John’s Gospel and subsequently commissioned his disciples for this same purpose.  As the “sent” people of God, the church is the instrument of his mission (John 20:21). Missions flows from the mission of God.  The church is a network of ambassadors for Christ.”

Where does Jesus say he was sent?

John 5:30 I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.

John 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

John 20:21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.

So, Jesus was commissioned. And I want to look with you at this commissioning in Isaiah 49:1-6.

¹ Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born Yahweh called me; from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name.

² 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.

³ He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.”

⁴ But I said, “I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing at all. Yet what is due me is in Yahweh’s hand, and my reward is with my God.”

 

⁵ And now Yahweh 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 Yahweh and my God has been my strength—

⁶ 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 my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”

⁷ This is what Yahweh 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 stand up, princes will see and bow down, because of Yahweh, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

 Did you notice who the servant of Yahweh addresses, asking them, telling them, to listen? The islands and the distant nations. Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, Corsica, Crete, Rhodes, Chios, Corfus, Hvar, Kos, Malta, Elba, Mykonos, Patmos, etc. There are 191 islands in the Mediterranean. And the distant nations, Italy, Spain, Asia, Greece, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Ammon, Arabia, and on and on. He does not only want Israel to listen. He wants all the nations to listen. They all matter to him.

The Unique Calling of the Servant of Yahweh (49:1)

¹ Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born Yahweh called me; from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name.

He wants them all to know that Yahweh has chosen him from his mother’s womb, that from his mother’s womb Yahweh has spoken his name. What does that suggest to you? Jeremiah spoke of being called from God’s womb, as did the apostle Paul. John the Baptist was called from the womb. This is not an afterthought of God. The servant’s purpose and role in the world is critical to the world. God has been speaking his name. What is that name?

The Unique Preparation of the Servant of Yahweh (49:2)

² 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.

The servant wants Israel and all the nations to understand how uniquely he has been equipped. Yahweh has made his mouth like a sharpened sword. His words cut to the core. His words disrupt and yet deliver. His words dismantle and yet define. His words destroy and yet build up.

And he is hidden in the shadow of Yahweh’s hand. He comes out of the blue. His appearance on the scene is a surprise. And he is protected by Yahweh. Nothing can harm him that Yahweh does not permit.

He is a polished arrow concealed in Yahweh’s quiver. He is finely honed for God’s purposes, to accomplish God’s will. I asked Bing, which is now powered by artificial intelligence, whether polishing an arrow could have any benefits. It replied, “Yes, polishing an arrow can have benefits. Polishing an arrow can make it more aerodynamic and reduce drag, which can help it fly faster and straighter. It can also make the arrow more durable and less likely to break.” It got this information from Indiana Precision Grinding and Rapid Direct, one comment being, “a polished…part is prevented from contamination and oxidation. It also creates a reflective surface while deterring corrosion to keep the surface in excellent condition.”

Have you ever felt like that? Have you felt finely honed for your work? I remember getting an email from some missionary friends in which they described themselves as spiritual ninjas. And my first thought was, “That’s kind of arrogant,” but then I thought, you know, I’ve felt that way also. I’ve felt like a polished arrow in God’s quiver, someone He can use effectively. I’m betting you have too. The servant of Yahweh felt that way. He was uniquely prepared to be Yahweh’s servant.

The Unique Goal of the Servant of Yahweh (49:3)

³ He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.”

The servant is called and prepared to bring honor to Yahweh, to “display,” he says, Yahweh’s “splendor.” Yahweh is telling the servant that He will use him to glorify Himself. It’s all about God! It’s all about bringing Him honor and glory. And that is not selfish on His part, it is necessary. He is everything. Nothing is more important than Him or more crucial for our existence or joy.

And we learn the name of the servant here, Israel. But as you have learned this isn’t the nation, per se. Yes, Israel is elsewhere the servant of Yahweh, and it is the nation that is intended, not an individual. But here, in this context, it is an individual. The commentators Keil and Delitzsch remark, “Israel was from the very first the God-given name of an individual. Just as the name Israel was first of all given to a man, and then after that to a nation, so the name which sprang from a personal root has also a personal crown. The servant of Jehovah is Israel in person.”

Israel the nation is formed to bring glory to Yahweh, but Israel the nation, as Isaiah and the other prophets declare, has failed in this purpose. But “Israel in person” will not fail. “Israel in person” will accomplish what Israel the nation could not. Though, “Israel in person,” the Messiah, does initially feel like a failure.

The Seeming Failure of the Servant of Yahweh (49:4)

⁴ But I said, “I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing at all. Yet what is due me is in Yahweh’s hand, and my reward is with my God.”

Verse 3 was Yahweh speaking to the servant, of how he would glorify Yahweh. Yahweh is very high on the servant. But the servant speaks of his own failure. “I have spend my strength for nothing at all.” It seems like a failure to him. He has spent his strength, or as we would say, he has done his best. And we would not consider that a failure. And we will see, neither does Yahweh.

What would make the servant feel like he failed? When we look at the ministry of the Lord Jesus we see him speaking about how he was sent to the lost sheep of Israel. He talks about how he longed to gather Israel like a mother hen gathers her chicks. We can easily see that most of Israel did not receive Jesus as Messiah. As the apostle John says, “He came to his own, and his own did not receive him” (John 1:12). Paul tells us that “What the people of Israel sought so earnestly they did not obtain. The elect among them did, but the others were hardened” (Romans 11:7), so that basically, there is only a remnant of Israel who have been saved by faith in Messiah. We know that this is not the end of things. Paul tells us that “all Israel will be saved” in the future and Jesus’ mission will be successful. But in the meantime, look at how many Gentiles have been saved. And that is what Yahweh points to next for the servant.

The Unique Addition to the Commission of the Servant of Yahweh (49:5,6)

⁵ And now Yahweh 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 Yahweh and my God has been my strength—

⁶ 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 my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”

His commission is still to “bring Jacob back to Him,” back to Yahweh. In fact, Yahweh honors him for this and strengthens him for this. But it is not enough. As important as Israel is to Yahweh, the whole world is important to Him. Yahweh adds to his commission the reaching of all the nations. Yahweh will make him a light to the Gentiles so that His salvation can reach all the way to the ends of the earth. That’s you and me. That’s why we got saved. He has reached Europe and Asia and Africa and South America and North America. He has reached Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Vietnamese, Australians, New Zealanders, Mexicans, Guatemalans, Peruvians, El Salvadorians, Innuits, Canadians, Chileans, Brazilians, Americans (norte americanos) and even New Englanders. It wasn’t too small a thing for Jesus to reach Israel because Israel isn’t important, it was too small a thing because God loves the rest of the world so much.

The Unique Honor for the Servant of Yahweh (49:7)

⁷ This is what Yahweh 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 stand up, princes will see and bow down, because of Yahweh, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

Jesus was rejected, despised, and abhorred by Israel, “the nation” Isaiah calls them. He still is, though for the most part it is our fault now that he is so despised because so-called Christians have been so hateful, historically, to the Jews. Jesus was a servant, not just of Yahweh, but of human rulers, submitting himself to the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council, to Herod, and to Caesar. But that has changed and will continue to change as the nations come to faith in the Messiah Jesus. They will stand up for him, then they will bow before him. They will do this because Yahweh was faithful in supporting him for this commission He gave him, and simply because Yahweh chose him.

I’m a huge fan of the trilogy The Lord of the Rings. And there are a couple of places that really get me emotional, and one in particular at the end of the story, when the rightful king of Numinor, Aragorn, who has been instrumental in leading all of middle earth to victory over the evil Sauron, with, of course, incredible help from four small Hobbits, is installed as king of Gondor. As he comes before the people he faces the Hobbits, who at that moment bow deeply to Aragorn. But he corrects them, and looking lovingly and graciously at them says, “My friends, you bow to no one,” at which point the entire crowd bows to them.

That’s what’s happening here, or will happen here, when every knee bows to Jesus, and every tongue confesses that he is Lord. But may I suggest that this is also what is going to happen for us. Jesus has been given the commission to reach Israel and the nations for Yahweh, but he has turned around and given us the same commission. “Go and make disciples of all nations.” The early church recognized that this commission of the servant of Yahweh was our commission as well. In Acts 13, in a city of Asia Minor, modern day Turkey, when the Jews of the city got upset with Paul and Barnabas because so many Gentiles were coming to hear them and were believing, they responded,

We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. 47 For this is what the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’

They take the commission given to Jesus, the servant of Yahweh, as a commission given to them as Jesus’ representatives, as Jesus’ servants. Is it right for Jesus to “palm off” on us his commission? Are you kidding? Would you really want it any other way?

There is nothing more exciting, nothing more fulfilling, than leading someone else to Jesus, than bringing someone back to God, than gathering them to Him. There is nothing for which people will be more grateful than for you bringing them to Jesus, the lover of their soul, the one who gives them eternal life. And there is nothing more frustrating when the ones we long to bring to Jesus refuse to come.

It is a hard job. We cannot deny that. It requires that we become a polished arrow in Yahweh’s quiver. We learn the gospel, we learn human beings and how to reach them. It requires that God be our strength, which means we trust in Him, depend upon His guidance and help, and leave what is due to us, as the servant of Yahweh said, in His hand.

I’ll never forget the first person I led to Jesus. I was in high school, sitting in study hall, not studying but talking with a friend, Paul White, about Jesus. A fellow Christian was there praying silently the whole time I talked to him. I remember after school walking by his bus and seeing him sitting there as if he was in deep thought. And I remember calling him a day or two later and finding out he had indeed accepted Christ as his Savior and Lord. I remember also making a fairly feeble attempt to follow up with him in training or discipling.

I can’t forget the guy many years later who was the dad of some young men in my young adults ministry group. He had a bad diagnosis of cancer. He was dying. They wanted me to speak with him. I recall he had some objections to Christianity, which I was able to contradict, but he was ready, because he prayed with me to receive Christ. He died not long after that.

What a privilege! We may feel like a failure, as the servant of Yahweh did, but, as he said, “what is due me is in Yahweh’s hand, and my reward is with my God.” You have a polished arrow in your congregation, do you not, Tony Ragusa. As the church we must be reaching the nations, but as individuals we can reach people as well. What can you learn from Tony about reaching the person who comes to repair your dishwasher, or the person who waits on you at the store, or your neighbor or relative? How can you become more of a polished arrow, a sharpened sword in the shadow of God’s hand? Jesus’ commission is our commission, by the grace of God. He wants to use us to bring about what He longs for, His salvation reaching the ends of the earth.

Maybe it begins with your being a polished arrow in His hand in your profession. C. S. Lewis told an audience that he felt the most effective witness we had to unbelievers was Christian authors writing about secular subjects with expertise. His thought was that the consistent exposure of unbelievers to Christian assumptions would have a powerful effect against the constant dripping of non-Christian assumptions present in most communication. But I think by extension, we may also say, when we have expertise in something, and seek to witness to those who are the recipients of our expertise, we have more credibility.

Lewis has some other ideas on polishing ourselves for evangelism. I’m pulling this from his address to a gathering of Welsh Anglican priests and youth workers on the subject of Christian apologetics (by which is meant, defense of the faith), found in the book God in the Dock.

I am not sure that the ideal missionary team ought not to consist of one who argues and one who (in the fullest sense of the word) preaches. Put up your arguer first to undermine their intellectual prejudices; then let the evangelist proper launch his appeal. I have seen this done with great success.

Do not attempt to water Christianity down. There must be no pretense that you can have it with the supernatural left out. So far as I can see, Christianity is precisely the one religion from which the miraculous cannot be separated. You must frankly argue for supernaturalism from the very outset.

I cannot offer you a water tight technique for awakening the sense of sin. I can only say that, in my experience, if one begins from the sin that has been one’s own chief problem during the last week, one is very often surprised at the way this shaft goes home. But whatever method we use, our continual effort must be to get their mind away from public affairs and “crime” and bring them down to brass tacks–to the whole network of spite, greed, envy, unfairness, and conceit in the lives of “ordinary decent people” like themselves (and ourselves).

Another resource for becoming a sharpened sword is Tactics, 10th Anniversary Edition: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions, by Greg Koukl. The hype on the book says you’ll learn to:

• Meet challenges, questions, and provocations with poise and conviction.
• Effortlessly start your own evangelical conversations.
• Present the truth clearly, cleverly, and persuasively.
• Graciously and effectively expose faulty thinking and logical fallacies.
• Most important, you’ll learn how to get people thinking seriously about Jesus.

But you know what, I think the hype is well-deserved in this case. The book is brilliant.

The point is, Jesus, the servant of Yahweh, was a skilled weapon in the hand of Yahweh, and he is calling us to be the same thing. And if we do, watch out “islands and distant nations,” because we’re coming!