“A mother would forget her nursing child before I would forget you,” says the Lord. “I have inscribed, engraved, carved you on the palms of my hands.” That is how much I love you.” These words of the Lord spoken through the prophet Isaiah are words of comfort and assurance to the exiled Israelites in about 540 BC. As might be true for any ravaged and exiled people, many in the deported community doubted their status as God’s chosen people and felt that God had abandoned them. Some even doubted that God had any power at all.
Once upon a time I was called to the hospital to visit a man who was in rehab recovering from a stroke. I was told that he was a retired minister and that he was doing nothing to help himself get better. He seemed to have given up on getting well enough to go home. It did not take me long to find out how angry he was… “God called me to be a preacher. I have worked hard all my life trying to be good and serving the Lord and preaching his word,” the man yelled and raged – tears running down his cheeks. “Now look at me! God left me here to suffer!” His illness had isolated him and exiled him. He didn’t understand his suffering, and he thought it was not fair.
Of all the prophets, Isaiah was the one who thought about the future the most and he understood suffering. Many of the passages seem to span the centuries and point to Jesus, especially these poems about the servant of the Lord. The first 7 verses of Chapter 49 before our passage describe the call and the mission of this mysterious servant. Listen…
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.
The servant protested and 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. (1a-4) The Lord went on to say that he would give this servant to be a light for all people so that salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.
In the soaring poetry and song of the servant passages and especially in the suffering servant the Christian Church sees the life and mission of Jesus. Isaiah was looking centuries ahead…Salvation comes to us through Jesus. Through our baptism into the life of Jesus we too are God’s servants and Isaiah speaks to us and for us. What does it mean to be hidden deep in God’s quiver, shadowed, protected - known by God before we are formed in the womb? As Christians we are named and marked as Christ’s own forever. Each of us is called to a particular vocation and mission as servants of God. We are God’s polished arrows waiting to be launched…called to be a light to the world.
Is this too high a calling for you and for me? To be a light for the world seems like an overwhelming task. How can my life or your life here in Lynchburg make a difference? For many it is easier to relate to the lament of God’s servant…I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; Is there any one of us who has not felt at one time or another that we have worked for the wrong things in life? Or like the minister in the hospital that our efforts to be a good Christian have been useless?
Have you ever worked diligently at a task to which you feel truly called only to have it seem to fail? Have you ever felt that way as a parent? Or in your job – the long hours… the tremendous energy spent with few results and great cost? Have you ever wondered if your commitment, hard work, love of the Lord is ever known and appreciated? What is exile like for you?
It is very dark in the bottom of a quiver….There are people who would never consider themselves a servant of the Lord at all. The prisons are full of people who bring darkness to the world instead of light. They are people whose lives have been lived in the shadows of drugs and violence. Sometimes there are servants hidden deep in God’s quiver – even behind bars – servants who don’t know they are servants until God finally gets their attention. Here is a dramatic example – I have followed his story over the years and you may have heard of him. His name is Bo Don Cox and he is a murderer. God called him while he was in prison serving a life sentence and participating in a drug recovery program. Bo Don began writing about his experience of God in prison. The words from his pen have been sharp swords that have cut to the heart of many who read his books and devotions for Forward Day by Day.
Something he said resonated with me and shed light on human suffering and our response to it. Cox kept applying for parole and was denied over and over. Most of us would be discouraged and give up. Cox said being turned down so many times strengthened his faith instead of weakening it. He said the lesson for him was that God quit being defined by whether he was in prison or out. When he realized his faith wasn’t contingent on what God could do for him – that was when life took on meaning and purpose. Something to think about…
Being a servant of the Lord is not a light thing says the prophet. It is a day by day life-long commitment. And there will be times when we fail and seem to labor in vain. Jesus said we worry too much. We spend our energy concentrating on too many of the wrong things…things that will not last. Jesus calls us to serve him and to follow him and to love him more than anything else in this world. We may not always get what we ask for or think we deserve. According to the prophet, it is not up to us or others to judge whether we have succeeded or failed or labored in vain. The Lord is faithful to us and provides the things we really need. Even in the dark times of our lives we are safe in his quiver and engraved on the palms of his hands. That is all the security we need. Amen