A LIGHT FOR THE GENTILES

Kevin E. Jesmer                                                                                               1-1-19

Isaiah 49:1-7

Key verse:  49:6b

“….It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” (ESV)

Dear Lord heavenly Father. Thank you for bringing us into a new year. I pray that 2019 may be a year in which your name, (JESUS) and the Gospel are glorified throughout the world. Help us to know you and grow in our knowledge of you. Raise up missionaries to take your word to the ends of the earth. Grant me insight into your word today. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!

Part 1: God Calls and Qualifies His Servants (1-4)

Verses 1-4, “Listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples from afar. The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name. 2 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.3 And he said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” 4 But I said, “I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my right is with the Lord, and my recompense with my God.”

Here the prophet Isaiah describes how God chose him before he was born and equipped him to speak God’s words. I can see that God chose, called and equipped Isaiah to be his servant to the people. He was to speak the word of God. He was to serve God’s purpose as an arrow is to serve the purpose of the archer. An arrow flies true, straight to the target. Isaiah was to be a sharpened arrow, an arrow that will accomplish the task for which it is sent, either to sink into a target or into prey. The whole purpose of Isaiah’s calling is to be God’s servant. He wanted to glorify himself through Isaiah’s life and ministry.

God is the one who made Isaiah into his servant. “The Lord called me”, “He made my mouth like a sharp sword”, “He hid me”, “He made me”, “In whom I will be glorified.” God is the one who calls and equips. In Christ, God also chooses and trains us to make us an arrow in his quiver. God desires to display his splendor in each of his servants.

Being a servant of the word of God is a calling in life. When God calls; he equips. We don’t think that we can measure up. We think that we can never stand as a servant of God. But the one who calls is the one who equips. We can do certain things, like engaging in regular Bible study and spiritual disciplines, such as prayer and living a life of mission. But these are limited in making us a servant of God like a sharpened arrow. We need God’s call on a preaching and teaching ministry and after receiving the call, we must trust that God will accomplish what he set out to accomplish.

We may feel underqualified. That is good, because on our own we are. Isaiah must have felt underqualified at times. This realization that we are underqualified keeps us humble and dependent on God. We are in a good place. It is God who qualifies us.

There were times when Isaiah was despaired about life and ministry.  Look at verse 4 again, “But I said, “I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my right is with the Lord, and my recompense with my God.” He devoted his life to serving God’s purpose. But the response was not good. The nation did not submit to the Lord. But Isaiah should never despair.

The God who calls is not only the one who equips, he is the God who accomplishes his purposes. This is reflected in making Isaiah into a sharpened arrow. God was going to use Isaiah and his ministry in Isaiah’s lifetime, but also 800 years later he would send Jesus according to the prophecies spoken through Isaiah. We, ourselves in 2019 AD, are being blessed by God’s word through Isaiah. God will accomplish what he has determined.

Sometimes we may feel like all our sacrifices and labor in the Lord has come to nothing. But our reward is safe with God. I need to trust God in this way. It is not about me. It is about God and his ability to accomplish. I am glad it is not about me, because if it was, things would fall apart. But when left in the hands of God, his kingdom will grow. Currently, as at the end of most years, I feel like I am in a dry time. Maybe it is winter months. I don’t know how ministry will progress in 2019. But I can trust God. There are times of waxing and waning in ministry, but in Christ all things are moving forward for his glory and to serve his purpose.

Part 2: A Larger Purpose (5-7)

Verses 5-7, “5 And now the Lord says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him; and that Israel might be gathered to him—for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord, and my God has become my strength—6 he says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” 7 Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation, the servant of rulers: “Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall prostrate themselves; because of the Lord, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

Isaiah knew that God had called him to bring Israel back to the Lord. But God had even bigger plans than that. Look at verse 6 again, “6 he says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”  The calling of Isaiah was to make his people a light to the Gentiles, so salvation would come not just to Israel but to the ends of the earth. This is ultimately accomplished through Jesus, who was despised and afflicted, but now there are kings of the earth who bow down to him. When he comes again all of them will.

The Holy Spirit gave Paul this key verse to describe his missionary work. And who was Paul before meeting Jesus? He was a legalistic religious zealot who persecuted and even murdered Christians! And yet God used him to spread the Gospel and reveal the light of the world, Jesus to the Roman world and even to us today through his letters.

Because of God’s heart for world salvation, he calls and uses ordinary people like us for his great purpose. The purpose is very similar. God wants Jesus and his precious Gospel to be a light to the Gentiles and he calls ordinary people to share in his vision. He calls Christians to speak the words of God and to pray that his Gospel light may shine forth. I pray for the missionaries in Canada that God may speak through their words and their lives to shine the Gospel light across the remote north. I pray that in 2019, in some small way, my life and family may be a light to the Gentiles. This can only be accomplished by the grace of Jesus.

Isaiah never knew the scope of what God was accomplishing through his ministry. It was vast! There are times when he fell into despair, because compared to God’s vision, Isaiah’s vision was very shortsighted. Sometimes I fall into despair when I take my eyes off of Christ. I become blind to how Jesus is working. But though this passage I can trust that in God’s way and in God’s time I know that he will work to shine his Gospel light. “Lord, lift up my eyes to see you accomplishing your task in and through me. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

Prayer: Lord, thank you for using me in greater ways than I realize. Help me serve you this year with confidence in you and not in myself.

One word: God has called us to shine the Gospel light to the nations.