Today, we have heard how Andrew and his brother Simon Peter found the Lord, left the service of John the Baptist, and followed Jesus Christ. And yet they didn’t change teams, they had been serving the Lord the whole time, its just that now after time maturing and growing under John, they are ready for an even deeper relationship in the Lord. Like them, our God grows us as we are able or willing, to more and more in and with Him!
You know it seems like some times in our lives, that we are just treading water, or we are even feeling that we are sinking in water due to being overwhelmed. Without knowing all of your challenges, and certainly none like you do, my Good News to you, is that you are not alone. The Lord is ready to walk with you through your adversity, and the other side is within your grasp. It may not look as you had pictured it during your journey through adversity, but your deliverance has been promised by a God that is faithful and true!
And if you are feeling like you are all alone or even doubting if God cares about you or even wants to do what He has said He will do… Well today’s message is with you in mind! Throughout all scripture, God reassures His family (Israel in the Old Testament, and Israel includes you from the New Testament thru today), that He has your back! Today’s Call to Worship reading Isaiah 49:1-7 speaks about…;”The Servant of the Lord” and how He relates to you and me;
1 Listen to me, you islands;
hear this, you distant nations:
Before I was born the Lord 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 the Lord’s hand,
and my reward is with my God.”
*Interrupting Isaiah to say; The one depicted could be the Lord Jesus, or anyone following in our Lord footsteps of service. Think about it… and yet all of us sometimes go through moments when we feel we are; all alone, getting nowhere, and are overwhelmed. On to verse 5;
5 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-
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.”
**Interrupting once more to say; The tribes of Jacob (Israel) are too small a thing indeed, for God wants to save all of the willing! It’s right here in the Old Testament with Isaiah saying as much! We, have been called to bring the willing to our Lord, by sharing that Good News. We get to be a part in our Lord redeeming His created! And the one who was rejected will be worshiped by all in due time. Verse 7;
7 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 stand up,
princes will see and bow down,
because of the Lord, who is faithful,
the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”
Amen! And Amen!! Our Lord is not sending you to do anything He hasn’t experienced, or not able to walk with you through it all! And when we walk faithfully in our Lord’s footsteps (with and in Him), God chooses us as well!
When we accept the calling from our Lord (and every one of you has a calling), it’s just like Jesus calling His Disciples that we heard about in today’s Call to Worship reading from the Gospel of John chapter 1 all over again! It may not feel as dramatic in our own lives as it seems it did with the Lord’s disciples in John’s Gospel, but it will when we get to meet our Lord after each of our passing from this life. To make the case, let me read Matthew 25;34-40;
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
That’s what excites me about our calling as a Church, as a family, as the Body of Christ! When we reach out into our community to feed, cloth, and witness our love for those in need, we are reaching out to our Lord! But who are the needy?
The needy are; those barely getting by, those who are not getting by, the addicted, the afflicted, and the convicted… of virtually every conceivable; crime, immorality, and malice. They are the ones trying to do better, and those who have given up. They sleep in their homes, apartments, the shelter, hospital, jail, prison, the park, the street, and on our church porch in the middle of the night. The needy sit in the pews of this Church on a Sunday, and they are more than the visitors we have who walk in, for the needy are also you and me.
Every on of us are in great need of healing from our God who knows our pain and is able and willing to provide our relief. As I said earlier, if you are feeling overwhelmed, today’s message has you in mind my beloved!
For we all need the doctor of the universe, and our God is able to heal all of the afflicted in this sanitarium for the spiritually infirm. For a little encouragement, let us go to the Apostle who knew a thing or two about adversity. Reading from Paul’s letter to the decadent and afflicted society in Corinth Greece two thousand years ago, more specifically to Christ’s young Church. Here is 1 Corinthians 1:4-9;
4 I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge- 6 God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you.
*Interrupting Paul’s though to add; When we are serving other people, regardless of if it is a worship service that is witnessing our love for God by coming together in (Praising, glorifying, and magnifying, His Holy and Precious Name) love by worshiping together and in living our faith… We are enriched and transformed into a life that is all about service, love, and hope through faith! On to verse 7;
7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Blameless, not because of our actions, what we have done, but because of our Lord blotting our what we have done when we have come to Him in repentance, sadness, and regret. In fact, the day of Jesus Christ belongs also to those who are in Him, and carry His Holy Spirit in their very being. Scares and all! What Good News indeed! And it’s intensity is increased by the fact that God calls us in spite of our past, to share, love, and exist with us in the future called eternity.
I am reminded of today’s Message Reading, and how these flawed disciples who were called by God to follow Him, would not only have lived God’s word through the very words of Jesus, they would have also done what each of you are called to do in your own lives… read, learn, and live God’s word in scripture.!
Since the New Testament was not available in print yet, because they were living it and writing God’s next installment of scripture, our Followers of the Way would have dived into the scripture already available. All of them would have been raised as children learning the Psalms, especially those of King David. As I read from this writing of David’s, see if there are things that you have in common with David, the Disciples of Jesus, and every other person trying to get closer to God and past affliction. Reading, Psalm 40:1-11 A Psalm of David;
1 I waited patiently for the Lord;
he turned to me and heard my cry.
2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.
*Interrupting David to say; Many of us can identify being raised out of the junk we come from, or have witnessed it by watching people around us, people we serve being lifted out of the mire to walk with the Lord! Verse 3;
**And here begins the hymn of praise;
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear the Lord
and put their trust in him.
4 Blessed is the one
who trusts in the Lord,
who does not look to the proud,
to those who turn aside to false gods.
5 Many, Lord my God,
are the wonders you have done,
the things you planned for us.
None can compare with you;
were I to speak and tell of your deeds,
they would be too many to declare.
6 Sacrifice and offering you did not desire—
but my ears you have opened-
burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require.
7 Then I said, “Here I am, I have come—
it is written about me in the scroll.
**Cutting in to say; The Book of Life is entirely in God’s hands thankfully, and not determined by our pettiness, legalisms, or arrogance through tithes, offering and works. Our actions are accepted offerings based on what is in our hearts, and desiring to serve Him and His will. Verse 8;
8 I desire to do your will, my God;
your law is within my heart.”
***And all of God’s Law begins with; Loving God with all we are and have, and loving our neighbor as our ourselves. And God gets to pick your neighbor because he is better at it than you are! Verse 9:
9 I proclaim your saving acts in the great assembly;
I do not seal my lips, Lord,
as you know.
10 I do not hide your righteousness in my heart;
I speak of your faithfulness and your saving help.
I do not conceal your love and your faithfulness
from the great assembly.
11 Do not withhold your mercy from me, Lord;
may your love and faithfulness always protect me.
Amen!
I would say; like the disciples of old (that we read in today’s Message Reading), like the Lord’s own Apostles (as witnessed throughout the New Testament), we do not hoard God’s message of love, hope, and salvation unto ourselves. We share our good news with all the willing in our daily lives, and we do so by trying our best to live our faith by; acting justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with our God!
My hope and prayer for you my beloved this week, when you are feeling overwhelmed by life in general, and under siege by adversity in the specifics of affliction, is that you will take a moment for reflection. Remember how your ancestors in faith struggled and overcame affliction with the Lord walking in and with them. And then, take a moment for prayers of thanks to Him who loves you, in spite of you!
Amen!