Tag Archives: Isaiah 40

On being shepherded…

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You who bring good tidings to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah, “Here is your God!” See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power, and his arm rules for him. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him. He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.

(Isa 40.9-11)

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

In grass meadows He makes me lie down, by quiet waters guides me.

My life He brings back. He leads me on pathways of justice for His name’s sake.

Though I walk in the vale of death’s shadow, I fear no harm, for You are with me.

Your rod and staff – it is they that console me.

You set out a table before me in the face of my foes.

You moisten my head with oil, my cup overflows.

Let but goodness and kindness pursue me all the days of my life. And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for many long days.

(Ps 23 – translation by R. Alter)

Jesus said again, “I tell you.. I am the gate for the sheep… whoever enters through me will be saved…. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep… I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me – just as the Father knows me and I know the Father – and I lay down my life for the sheep”

(Jn 10.7,9,11,14&15)

These are among the most beloved passages of our scriptures, speaking eloquently of the tenderness and care of our God for those whom he calls his ‘flock’. The picture of a shepherd with his sheep was of course very familiar to Jesus’ audience and to the pastoral people for whom David wrote psalms and to whom Isaiah spoke his prophecies. The image was ripe for teaching truths – both about the foolishness of the sheep (us!) and their need for diligent and sometimes sacrificial guarding ; and also about the characteristics of true or good, shepherds. Sometimes it was ‘false’ shepherds who were condemned by the prophets for failing to act as God called them to – those in leadership in Israel who knew the word of God and yet exposed the people to all kinds of dangers through laziness, bad example and outright false teaching.

As with other roles in the Old Testament – king, judge, husband – we come to realise that these are ways of understanding how our God wants us to understand who He is, and what our relationship is with him. He is the sum of the ideal parts of all these roles, and even the best human examples fall far short of his perfection. So it is with the shepherd and his flock.

Today then, let us remember who our Shepherd is, and what it means to be one of his sheep.

The One who stands guard over us is vigilant and strong; he has demonstrated his commitment to us and our safety by dying that we might live. His victory over our ultimate enemy has already been secured, and we have been rescued from a cruel and greedy master into the care of a loving, generous, and faithful shepherd.

He carries the weak and small close to his heart, the road is too rough for them; he takes the flock by paths which will not tax them beyond their capacity, since he knows just how each one is burdened; he makes sure there are places where we may be refreshed on each stage of the journey.

The One who tends us also goes with us, he has made his dwelling among us and chooses to know and be known by us intimately, so that we might have no fear of abandonment even when the path is overshadowed and we cannot see the way.

O Lord, our shepherd, we thank and praise you today for this rich picture of your care for us, and all the ways that you apply it to our hearts and to our hurts. We worship you, our faithful, death-defeating and life-giving shepherd and pray for wisdom to know your voice more clearly, and for the simple trust which enables us to rest in you even in the midst of trouble. 

Which way lies wisdom?

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Who has understood the mind of the Lord, or instructed him as his counsellor? Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way?…”To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One. Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name…The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no-one can fathom.

(Isa 40.13&14,25&26,28)

The message that points to Christ on the cross seems like sheer silliness to those hellbent on destruction but for those on the way of salvation it makes perfect sense. This is the way God works, and most powerfully as it turns out. It’s written,

“I’ll turn conventional wisdom on its head, I’ll expose so-called experts as crackpots.”

So where can you find someone truly wise, truly educated, truly intelligent in this day and age? Hasn’t God exposed it all as pretentious nonsense? Since the world in all its fancy wisdom never had a clue when it came to knowing God, God in his wisdom took delight in using what the world considered dumb – preaching, of all things!- to bring those who trust him into the way of salvation.

While Jews clamour for miraculous demonstrations and Greeks go in for philosophical wisdom, we go right on proclaiming Christ, the crucified. Jews treat this like an anti-miracle – and Greeks pass it off as absurd. But to us who are personally called by God himself – both Jews and Greeks – Christ is God’s ultimate miracle and wisdom all wrapped up in one. Human wisdom is so tinny, so impotent, next to the seeming absurdity of God. Human strength can’t begin to compete with God’s “weakness.”

(1 Cor 1.18-25, in The Message paraphrase, by Eugene Peterson)

There is reasonable evidence in historical sources to verify the existence, some 2000 years ago, of a man who caused a brief stir in an obscure corner of the Roman empire. He made some outrageous, even laughable, claims, alongside some persuasive moral teaching, and generally stirred up the Jewish religious establishment enough to provoke them to contrive an unjust trial and execution, with the connivance of the Roman governor of the day. The subsequent rumours of his resurrection and so-called ‘ascension’ are clearly nonsense, such things don’t happen. Nonetheless, his teachings, and the Jewish scriptures to which they frequently refer, have been preserved, translated and form the basis for a faith movement which continues to grow..Isn’t is all another example of the foolishness of human beings who can’t bring themselves to take full responsibility for their own lives and actions?..How on earth could the life, death and resurrection (if such a thing were even possible) of one man (and he deluded enough to believe himself divine), make any difference to humanity and the problems we face? It makes no sense…

That is one way of looking at the story…is it yours? Does this way give you peace, contentment, hope, ambition for change and the motivation to believe in better? Does this way deal with shame, guilt, all the messiness of living in a broken world? Does it account for what we see day by day unfolding around us as humanity in its pride continues to fail and plumb new depths? 

What if, just maybe, Jesus’ story is true? What if the ‘absurdity’ of a God who claims to reveal himself to the world he made, and the people whom he loves, is actually the absolute reality? What if the life, death and resurrection of the God-made-man, Jesus, is really the means by which our individual, inherent rebellion against God can be undone, and we can be made new, clean and wholesome, with hope for an unimaginable future of joyous life with one who loves us completely? What if those who choose to be considered foolish for the sake of the crucified and risen Christ are actually the wisest? 

They will not be able to give you answers to all your questions – they can’t answer all their own questions! But they will tell you that in believing that Jesus Christ is God, made man, who died to take the blame for all that they have done (and will do) wrong, they have been transformed. They will tell of a friend who walks with them through every storm; of a healer whose love and wisdom has dealt with wounds and scars from years of guilt and pain; of a champion whose strength defeats the enemy of their peace.

The good news about Jesus Christ takes the brokenness of this world, of humanity very seriously, and deals with it head on. Easter is when the church around the world remembers especially the fierce climax of the contest, and celebrates the absolute victory of her Lord over all the powers at work against him. The church affirms that the wisdom of an Almighty Creator cannot be grasped by the puny minds of his creatures, and rejoices in the mystery and majesty of the Eternal.

Is it wisdom, or foolishness? That depends on your perspective..from where I stand, the only way into the peace, joy and hope which I desire, to the healing of this precious world, is from the foot of the cross, where human pride dies, and in total surrender of human wisdom. I am glad to be counted a fool for Jesus, to set aside human wisdom, and to put all my faith in the ‘absurdity’ of Almighty God. What about you?

Defiant praise!

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The Lord reigns, he is robed in majesty; the Lord is robed in majesty and is armed with strength. The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved. Your throne was established long ago; you are from all eternity.

The seas have lifted up, O Lord, the seas have lifted up their voice; the seas have lifted up their pounding waves. Mightier than the thunder of the great waters, mightier than the breakers of the sea – the Lord on high is mighty.

Your statutes stand firm; holiness adorns your house for endless days, O Lord.

(Ps 93)

A voice says, “Cry out.” And I said, “What shall I cry? All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands for ever.”

“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no-one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.”

(Isa 40.6-8 &28-29)

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance than can never perish, spoil or fade – kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

(1Pet 1.3-5)

It’s what we do…as Paul and Silas praised God with songs and prayers in the prison, bound with chains, perhaps aching and bleeding from beatings.

It’s what we do….as David praised God in psalm and prayer while he was on the run from Saul; as his hope of kingship was pushed further and further into the future; as his men doubted and supplies ran low.

It’s what we do….as Daniel did, when to do so meant that his life was threatened; as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego did while standing beside the furnace into which they would be thrown, with the heat beating on their backs.

It’s what we do…as Habbakuk did even while he contemplated the utter ruin of his land, and the destruction of all good things at the hand of an invading army.

In the face of darkness caused by human sin and rebellion; in face of a threatened planet and anticipated global suffering; in face of war and malice, degradation and naked evil exploitation; in face of so many well-meaning and misdirected people who think it is enough to try one’s best, that being kind is all that matters…God’s people fall on their faces at his feet in praise, adoration and total submission to his will, to every expression of his holiness and in awestruck recognition of the depths of his mercy.

In defiance of all those who mock our supposed bigotry or blindness and narrow-mindedness; in defiance of those who reject any God, and try to confine us to the bleak, limited and merciless ‘now’; in spite of those who condemn and despise Jesus because of the grievous failings of his church down the centuries…still today his followers lift their voices to acclaim their King; to tell the world that He came to die to make all things – even us – new, and that there IS so much more even than what we currently perceive.

Human kingdoms rise and fall, pandemics sweep the planet causing immeasurable harm, the life-sustaining ecosystems strain to survive…BUT our God is on the throne, and nothing is impossible with him. When his people choose to praise, choose to dwell on the truth of his character, his promises, his love and mercy; then their courage rises, their strength is renewed, and their hope brightened.

Friends, let us choose adoration; choose to put God on the throne of our lives, so that we may face our world and all its challenges with courage because we have an eternal hope for which we are being kept – in every situation, you and I are shielded by the power of God because nothing can cut us off from him and the inheritance which Christ Jesus died to give us.

Halleluia, our God reigns!