Sunday School Lesson: Serving Others

Purpose: To help us embody the vision of justice that God announced through the servant.

Scripture: Isaiah 42:1-8

When you hear the word "justice" what comes to mind?

Do you think of the American ideal of "justice for all" that is founded on the belief that every person is entitled to justice? That is that all are entitled to fair treatment according to our laws and principles regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, etc. Do you believe that we really practice "justice for all"?

-or-

Do you think of justice in terms of "getting what you deserve"? Justice as a result of judgement?

Do you think either of these two thoughts of justice are the meaning when we find the term "justice" in scripture?

Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.
(Isa 42:1 ESV)

The same verse from the Message:

"Take a good look at my servant. I'm backing him to the hilt. He's the one I chose, and I couldn't be more pleased with him. I've bathed him with my Spirit, my life. He'll set everything right among the nations.
(Isa 42:1 MSG)

How does God introduce His servant? What will distinguish His servant? What is the source of the servant’s power?

The servant is God’s servant, personally appointed, not elected by man or given position by wealth or power. The servant of God is "bathed" with God’s Spirit.

What is the servant’s mission?
To "bring forth justice" and "set everything right".

Trick question:
Which of our definitions of "justice" is the justice brought by the servant?

Neither. The Jewish term here translated as "justice" is mishpat. Mishpat refers to God’s desire for wholeness, peace, righteousness, and order in creation. "To bring forth justice" is to work to restore all of creation to its Creator-intended state. (source: Adult Bible Studies Teacher)

The next three verses will give us a better description of the servant’s justice:

He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his law.
(Isa 42:2-4 ESV)

These verses describe the methods the servant will use to bring forth justice. How does this description differ from how the world seeks justice?

He won't call attention to what he does with loud speeches or gaudy parades. He won't brush aside the bruised and the hurt and he won't disregard the small and insignificant, but he'll steadily and firmly set things right. He won't tire out and quit. He won't be stopped until he's finished his work--to set things right on earth. Far-flung ocean islands wait expectantly for his teaching."
(Isa 42:2-4 MSG)

What or who do you picture when you see the references to a "bruised reed" or a "dimly burning wick"?

In the book He Still Moves Stones, Max Lucado tells the story of the healing miracles of Jesus. Lucado uses the references to the bruised reed and smoldering wick to describe the people desperately in need of a miracle. In fact these very verses are repeated in Matthew 12 as a description of Jesus. Lucado divides his book into two sections, one entitled "The Bruised Reed" and the other "The Smoldering Wick". If you were asked to describe a person who fits the description of "bruised reed" or "dimly burning wick", how would you do so?

From Lucado’s book:

The Bruised Reed

It stood with assurance.
Head held high on strong stalk.
But that was before the careless bump, the harsh rain.
Now it’s bruised, bent. Weakened.
It seeks gentle fingers to straighten and not break.
It needs a firm touch to heal and not to hurt.
Tender power.
Soft strength.
Is there such a hand?

How does that describe the servant of God?

The Smoldering Wick

Fibers interwoven for flame
Flame ignited for light
Cold gusts - hot blasts
Candle overcome by night
yet
Stubborn ember struggles
Duels with shadows and seeks
Brighter flame for power
Dancing fire for heat.

What do these verses tell us about justice as brought forth by the servant of God?

Why do you think God chooses a nonviolent, almost timid servant rather than a servant whose strength is based on power or ability to give His enemies "what they deserve"?

Matthew took these verses to indicate that Jesus was the servant spoken of in this passage and Max Lucado followed up on that. Was the servant only present in the life and times of Jesus?

Who is the "servant" in our time?

Could we as Christians (the Body of Christ) be the servants?

How can we as the servant work for justice? (Justice in the biblical sense, i.e. restoring creation to it’s Creator-intended state)

He won't tire out and quit. He won't be stopped until he's finished his work--to set things right on earth.
(Isa 42:4 MSG)

How does this statement empower us as Christians? Is His work finished?

We can rest assured the all that God promises, God will accomplish and we can work for (biblical) justice with renewed conviction.

Who in our world is most in need of justice?

Thus says God, the LORD, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it: "I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.
(Isa 42:5-8 ESV)



GOD's Message, the God who created the cosmos, stretched out the skies, laid out the earth and all that grows from it, Who breathes life into earth's people, makes them alive with his own life: "I am GOD. I have called you to live right and well. I have taken responsibility for you, kept you safe. I have set you among my people to bind them to me, and provided you as a lighthouse to the nations, To make a start at bringing people into the open, into light: opening blind eyes, releasing prisoners from dungeons, emptying the dark prisons. I am GOD. That's my name. I don't franchise my glory, don't endorse the no-god idols.
(Isa 42:5-8 MSG)

How do we tend to view servanthood?

Have you ever thought of Jesus as a servant?

Do you view Christianity as a call to servanthood? Why or why not?

How does Jesus’ role as God’s servant challenge us to be more faithful servants?

Who are the bruised reeds and smoldering wicks in our society?
How can we bring them justice?

Jesus gave His life for us - twice

I know that during Advent we look forward to the birth of Jesus rather than the Cross, but a startling thought came to me as I was reading last night: Jesus joining in our humanity was as great a sacrifice as Jesus’ death on the Cross.

This paragraph from William Barclay’s The Mind of Jesus, first published in 1960 is what led to this revelation:

The sacrifice begins with the Incarnation. He who was rich for our sakes became poor (II Cor. 8.9). It culminates upon the Cross, for Jesus, having loved his own, loved them to the end (John 13.1). But why the death of Christ? The death of Christ was necessary for this reason - if Jesus in his love had stopped short of the Cross, it would have meant that there was somewhere beyond which the love of God would not go, that there was something beyond which God would not forgive. On the Cross God says to us in Jesus Christ: ‘Nothing - absolutely nothing that you can do - can stop me loving you.’



It cost the life and death of Jesus to tell men what God is like.