Word of Salvation – Vol. 21 No. 30 – April 1975
Comfort In Weakness
Sermon by Rev. Adrian Leenman on Isaiah 42:3a
Scripture Reading: Isaiah 42:1-9, John 10:7-18
Psalter Hymnal: 193, 169:1,2 (Law), 172:1,3,5; 37; 281:1,2,3; 281:10
Beloved Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Whenever a doctor is called to attend to a casualty patient, then such a doctor will first work on what he is the least happy with… or what is most dangerous or most necessary on the part of the patient. This may mean: a blood transfusion, or oxygen supply, or perhaps an emergency operation…!
Such a doctor will resolutely attend to what is weak or dangerous, in order to facilitate healing.
When we turn to the words of our text before us, we find a parallel in these words and the example of the casualty patient.
And the parallel is that the bruised reed and the dimly burning wick are recognised for what they are in their weak state. They are kept from becoming poorer or weaker or of lesser value….!
Our text says the same thing: the bruised reed He will not break and the dimly burning wick He will not quench.
Maybe we should first have a look at these two expressions. We all know what a reed is; it seems to be of great strength, yet it is brittle, hollow even. It can easily be flattened. Indeed, the reed is not a sample piece of great strength, but of weakness AND YET it is a real specimen of plant life!
The same goes for the dimly burning wick; in early Old Testament times people used flax as a wick for lighting purposes, but a poor quality flax or a malfunctioning flax would not give a flame, but only smoke… AND YET also flax is a real specimen of plant life…!
Let us now see what the context is in which the prophet Isaiah uses the two expressions.
In Chapter 41 the prophet begins his first ‘Servant Song’ and begins to portray some of the characteristics and some aspects of the work the Lord Jesus was going to do:
– this Lord Jesus is going to be a Light to the Nations
– this Lord Jesus will not go about His work with much noise
and by way of advertisement stunts.
No, He will not cry nor raise His voice or make it heard in the streets, we read in verse 2.
And is this not in line with the ‘quietness’ which belongs to Jesus??
These words seem to portray a calmness and yet a consistent ‘going-on’ in respect to the work He had come to do… the work of pointing people to His Father’s Kingdom
– forgiving sins,
– healing people,
– restoring people
– binding up the broken hearted ones,
– commanding peace,
– fanning on even the faintest flicker of faith…!
No wonder that the words of our text are found in Isaiah’s Servant Song as we read that even “bruised weakness He will not break, nor extinguish that which is supposed to give light instead of smoke …!”
Do we realise, (congregation, friends), that these words allow for weak elements??
And do we realise that weak elements are often present with the believer, with you and me??
We are a people who suffer from the consequences of The Fall of man and these results have become part and parcel of man INCLUDING THE BELIEVER…
…and so man’s intelligence has been impaired
…his vision limited and his horizon contracted.
When we start working with the abilities we have and the gifts entrusted to us, then we often experience that our limitations ARE VERY REAL…
…in our readiness to speak we say the wrong words
…in our eagerness to do something, we go the wrong way about it
…in our zeal for God’s Kingdom we can still make the wrong choice or come to an unwise decision.
When turning to ourselves as individuals we meet with the very same experiences. Our personal lives as Christians do also show up the fact of man’s corruption and blindness,
Take for instance our prayer-life. So often we have no real object to pray for… or no real aim, or are not too sure what personal prayer is all about, and so we may not realise that real communion with the Lord DOES HAVE SURPRISING AND UPLIFTING AND REFRESHING RESULTS…!!
IT MAKES ONE see himself in a true light, and it cuts one back to proper dimensions and makes one see God MUCH GREATER AND NEARER, AND FELLOW MAN MORE REAL…!
When it comes to the subject of our devotional lives we could ask ourselves the question:
How much progress have we made over the past 12 months
or how much more do we understand of,
let’s say: the message of a Bible Book
or the importance of a fundamental Christian truth??
When it comes to Evangelism,
Do you have a person or a family in mind,
with the aim of winning him or her for the Kingdom of Heaven?
(Remember, the unbeliever is the person who cannot even be compared, with a bruised reed or a dimly burning wick BECAUSE THERE IS NO SPIRITUAL LIFE OF ANY SHADE OR SHAPE OR FORM…!)
Or are you the Christian with whom there is much ‘sameness’,
the sameness of ‘routine work’ in your spiritual life?
Are church services ‘routine’ exercises to you?
Is the Liturgy used at these services meaningless to you?
Or do you occasionally suffer from the breakdown of all interest
and feeling for the march-on of the Church
and instead desirous to be left alone?
These experiences are all too true to life to many of us; in any case, these possibilities DO ILLUSTRATE MAN’S WEAKNESS, they do emphasise the reality of man’s spiritual inabilities, yet at the same time the words of our text do not only counteract these possibilities, but serve as positive and comforting thoughts on the subject…!
Isaiah 42:3 comes to tell us that whatever weakness there is in your or my life, that such a weakness is NOT CRUELLY DESTROYED.
And something which functions poorly… IT SHALL NOT BE PUT OUT …!! Some commentator paraphrases our text in this way – and I quote:
“The meaning of Isaiah 42:3 is really this: The prophet prophesies that Jesus does not deal roughly or rigorously with those who come to Him,
but will use all gentleness and kindness to them,
passing by their greatest sins, present weaknesses,
cherishing and encouraging the smallest beginning of grace,
comforting and healing the wounded conscience.”
So we see that an existing condition is taken for what it is, and is in no way undermined or spoken of slightingly.
And does not the Bible… and does not the Lord Jesus… always remind us of this? We may come WHILE BEING WEAK, we may receive while being needy, we may be filled WHILE BEING EMPTY…!
As a matter of fact at all crucial stages and momentous events spoken of in the Bible, a precise antidote is announced TO MAN BECAUSE OF HIS LIMITATIONS whether this be fear or anxiety or doubt…!
Isaiah speaks of this when we read: “Say to those who are of a fearful heart: ‘Be strong, fear not’, strengthen the weak hands and make firm the feeble knees.” In chapter 44:8 it says: ‘Fear not, nor be afraid – have I not told you from of old and declared it?’
The same message was announced by the Angel to the shepherds in the Fields of Ephrata: ‘Be not afraid, for behold, I bring you Good News of a great joy which will come to all the people…!’
To the women who had come to the grave on Easter morning the Angel said: ‘Do not be afraid, the Lord is risen, come and see the place where He lay….!’
Indeed, whenever communication from God comes to man or from the Lord Jesus to the disciples, there is so often that encouraging note:
NOT TO BE AFRAID
NOT TO FEAR
BUT TO ‘BEHOLD’ AND TRUST….!!
Such words have then a preparatory character, namely,
TO PAVE THE WAY SO THAT PEOPLE MAY BELIEVE…
Therefore, also our message is one of encouragement,
instilling trust in trembling hearts
faith in doubting minds
urging to ‘behold the great works of God’….!
There is yet another point to be considered; so far we have come to the conclusion that the Bible recognises and presupposes weaknesses, but what should be our attitude over against them?
Maybe we should go back to the example of the doctor and his casualty patient. This doctor accepts the state the man is in, and uses whatever means he can to bring improvement as soon as possible.
In other words: Our status before God is one of basic corruption, but we must use the means of grace to counteract this corruption and weakness AND BE UNHAPPY with our broken reed and our dimly burning wick…!
Moreover, seeing that we have access to Jesus Christ the believer may, on the basis of Faith, come to Jesus and receive strength and wisdom, grace and holiness.. Then the believer – in spite of his basic corruption – is reminded of him being
A NEW CREATURE
A RE-BORN MAN,
FILLED, not with the world-like mindedness of the natural man, BUT WITH THE RENEWING EFFECTS OF THE MIND OF CHRIST!!
In this way the believer is reminded of that perfect antidote to off-set and fight and oppose whatever causes the reed to be bruised and the flax to smoke instead of burning brightly…!
Do you know how this antidote has come about ??? It is the Plan of Salvation designed for man SO THAT MAN MAY BE:
– delivered from his innate corruption
– encouraged to fight the fight of Faith
– put on the way to God a way which was barred
and blocked by man himself…!
Do you know Who re-opened that way to God?
It is the Lord Jesus, the Son of God…!
How could He do such a great work?
It is because that Son Jesus was in no way effected by sin
and therefore perfect and holy,
able and willing to perform that great work of redeeming man.
At what price was the way to God re-opened?
At the price of the life of the Lord Jesus…!
He took upon Himself that which separated man from God
and so regained unity…!
Why did the Lord Jesus re-open the way to God?
OUT OF LOVE FOR PEOPLE…. PEOPLE LIKE YOU AND ME..!
Indeed, if we are like a broken reed and a smoking flax,
it should make us unhappy,
because, we as believers have been RENEWED
are a RE BORN PEOPLE, REGENERATED men and women
we have been accepted by God
and are expected to be a ‘changed’ people.
The aim of the Christian life is NOT to be a broken reed or a smoking flax,
.but to be a SALTING SALT – and that means: to be functioning
and to be of wholesome influence to others.
The aim of the Christian life is to be a LIGHT ON A HILL TOP
– and that means that we must be
a welcome illustration of light and guidance.
The aim of the Christian life is to be like yeast in the dough
– and that means: to be of effect with apparently insignificant aids.
All this because of the redeeming work of the Lord Jesus,
this Jesus, He LIVES
– if we ask Him, He will restore… fill… change… re-make our life.
If we dedicate our lives to Him, then He will indeed fill our lives in such a way
that we shall see things clearer,
have a better picture of the Christian Faith and
be more sympathetic
over against ‘fellow bruised reed Mr-So-and-So. . .
and have a better understanding of what it means to be
– a salting salt,
– a light on a hill top, and
– yeast in the dough. . .!
When we have been touched by that life-giving Spirit of God, then we will be eager to look for better illustrations of the Christian life. . .!
Then all aspects of the Christian life will become subject to one great principle, namely, TO LIVE UNTO THE GLORY OF GOD, together with all we have, whether this is a prospering business or estates, or whatever else it may be.
Our tools to keep seeing these things are NOT IN THE FIRST PLACE A BANKACCOUNT OR BUSINESS QUALITIES, but the INDWELLING SPIRIT OF GOD. . . . in the hearts and minds of God’s people.!!
Then that same Spirit of God will govern thoughts and feelings in respect to a possible ‘bruised reed’ among your friends or among fellow church- members.
Then that same Spirit of God will have that renewing and re-vitalising effect on every detail of our lives,
checking… sifting… rejecting certain things…
adopting others…. either for the first time or again.
BUT ALWAYS WHILE HAVING THE GLORY OF THE NAME OF GOD CLEARLY IN MIND.
A bruised reed is in need of careful handling
a dimly burning wick is in need of attention. . . !
If your life happens to be like a bruised reed, or like a dimly burning wick, do FIRST remember that the Lord WILL NOT AND NEVER DEAL ROUGHLY OR HARSHLY WITH YOU. . . but the Lord is willing and ready to steer your life in such a way that it begins to bud and flower. . .
– willing to steer your life towards becoming a light on a hilltop…!!
-.willing to steer your life in the direction of THE GREAT WAY,
the way to God,
this way has been paved by the Lord Jesus Himself
at the price of His own life.
When you see others who have the characteristics of a bruised reed, you may thank the Lord for noticing this.
Remember that any bruised reed is still surrounded by Grace. . . will you therefore approach such a brother or sister WITH THAT IN MIND??
Those who are in authority over ‘bruised reeds’ and ‘dimly burning wicks,’ they must equip themselves with the gift of love and apply the healing and the strengthening methods of the Lord Jesus.
Remembering that He so often said: ‘fear not’… ‘peace be to you’… ‘take courage’… ‘do not be afraid’… ‘behold and see’…!
In the natural world not all trees are cedars or oaks.
In the church-world not all are Elijahs or Joshuahs and none of us belong to the 12 disciples, but ALL N.T. believers are endowed with the gift of the Spirit of God.
All N.T. believers are acquainted with the GREAT SUPERNATURAL ANTIDOTE TO SPIRITUAL WEAKNESSES AND APATHY… and age.
…All of us know the way of the Christian Faith.
…All of us know how to equip ourselves,
and yet there are broken, bruised, squashed reeds among God’s people.
there are those who add smoke to the religious pollution of our day
because of the miss-functioning of their flax.
But keep in mind that the Lord Jesus encourages even the smallest beginning of grace… He comforts and heals, He restores and revives.
He is eager to make you a light on a hill top
He is ready to put you WELL AND TRULY ON THE KING’S Highway which was prepared by the Son of God Himself.
Hallelujah…!!!
Amen.