Glimpses of Glory God's surprising servant

Good morning, everyone. Great to be in church with you this morning. My name's Steve, and

it is a brisk morning. I'm a little bit cold, and I'm hoping to warm up as I preach. So just

bear with me on that. It's just really that my core temperature must be dropped or something

this morning. But it's great to be in church with you. We've been on a journey through

the book of Isaiah, and we're coming towards some really crucial bits and towards the end

of it. So I'm really glad you're here, and I'm glad that you checked it in online with

us this morning. I'd be grateful if you get Isaiah 53 open in front of you. Also, there's

St. Paul's app. There's a message, an outline for today's message, God's surprising servant.

It will help you immensely as we go through. Well, Eric Liddell was a Scottish sprinter, rugby

player and Christian missionary. He was known for his refusal to run in the heats for his

favoured event, the 100 metre sprint at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris. He received significant

pressure from the then Prince of Wales and the World Olympic Committee to run on a Sunday,

and it was against his Christian conviction to do so. And he only found out the heats were

on on the Sunday as he was travelling to Paris on the boat. He ended up, by the goodness of

one of his colleagues, swapped events with him, and he ended up winning the gold medal for

the 100 metre race instead at the 24 Olympics. His life, at least at that point of his life,

is captured in the 1981 movie, Chariots of Fire. But his legacy is much greater than winning a gold medal.

Immediately after winning the gold medal, he did what he wanted to do for the rest of his life,

and he set out as a missionary to China. He returned to China. He was born in China to missionary parents.

And he remained in China until his death in a Japanese civilian internment camp in 1945.

Liddell's Olympic training and racing, his Christian convictions, everything that influenced him,

are there in that movie, Chariots of Fire, and I encourage you to watch it. But his enduring legacy

is not mentioned in the movie. What he's really, really famous for is not mentioned in the movie at all,

because it's not an Olympic gold medal. His enduring legacy is the time that he spent as a missionary

and in the internment camp. Liddell became a leader and an organiser of the camp under harsh conditions.

He busied himself by helping the elderly, teaching Bible classes, arranging games, teaching science to

students. He was referred to as Uncle Eric. One of his fellow internees later wrote a book about his

experience in that camp, and the book's called The Courtyard of the Happy Way. And he described Liddell

as the finest Christian gentleman it has ever been my pleasure to meet.

Another said of Liddell in his writing,

it is rare indeed that a person has the good fortune to meet a saint, but he came as close to it as

anyone I have ever known. Another non-Christian said that.

Liddell, from the moment of his, beyond the internment camp and the end of World War II,

many things have been written about him. His influence has been substantial and nothing to do

with winning a gold medal.

He was known by all in the internment camp as someone who gave up his life for others. Despite him

having a wife and three children who had escaped to Canada, when he was given an opportunity to be

released from the internment camp and to return and to go to Canada, he surrendered that opportunity

to a pregnant woman. He let her go.

And he stayed.

His last words were,

it's complete surrender.

It's complete surrender.

A reference to how he had completely given his life to Jesus Christ,

who had completely given his life for him.

It's complete surrender.

The passage, which was just read out to us by Sybil this morning,

is one of the most important passages in the entire Bible.

And yet, in the storyline of Isaiah, these verses are a complete shock.

They're unexpected.

Because they subvert every human category of thought about greatness and glory and salvation.

There are three surprising things.

So if you've got the St. Paul's app, you'll notice them there in the titles.

Surprisingly Ordinary, Surprising Suffering and Surprising Glory.

That's the journey today.

Open up Isaiah 53 and the St. Paul's app.

Now the big shock of these verses is that by the time you get to Isaiah 53,

we're expecting someone of power and greatness and majesty to come in and rescue God's people enslaved in Babylon.

God's person coming to rescue his people from exile.

The great divine king who we saw earlier in Isaiah is going to raise up every valley,

fill in every valley and bring every mountain down low.

the one who's going to have big paths straight.

This great king, the one who's going to bring renewal to the whole world.

We're expecting someone majestic and big and powerful.

Instead, you read in verse 2,

he had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him.

Nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

He was despised and rejected by mankind.

A man of suffering.

And familiar with pain.

Like one from whom people hide their faces.

He was despised.

And we held him in low esteem.

The shock of these verses is that this majestic king,

this God's servant here,

has none of the markers of what the world would call successful.

Looks,

money,

connections,

credentials,

none of it.

And yet despite that,

we read in verse 1,

who has believed our message,

and to whom

has the arm

of the Lord

been revealed?

The arm of the Lord,

in Bible talk,

simply means,

it's a metaphor for the power of God.

This is saying that this servant,

despised,

held in low esteem,

is God's power.

God's power.

And it's how God's power works

in the world,

and it subverts

every category that we have.

Every category.

It's exactly what we see

in the New Testament.

Mark's biography

of Jesus

records Jesus

turning up to his hometown,

Nazareth.

It's in Mark chapter 6.

Mark 6 · chapter mention

And in verse 3,

it says that the people of his hometown

took offense at him.

Now,

what's surprising about that

is that Nazareth

could also be called Nowhereville.

You know,

it's a humble little village

that is hardly mentioned in history at all,

and its only famous resident

is Jesus.

Only one.

In other words,

these are grassroots people

who knew Jesus as a kid,

and Jesus turns up,

and they're offended by him.

And the word translated offense

in Mark chapter 6, verse 3,

Mark 6:3

means that they were scandalized by him.

To be scandalized

is not to disagree with him.

It means to totally reject him.

It means to feel hostility towards him.

William Craig,

sorry, not Willie Craig,

William Lane,

in his commentary

on Mark chapter 6,

Mark 6 · chapter mention

states the issue really well.

Well,

their discernment

could not penetrate

the veil

of ordinariness

that surrounded him.

How could

the long-awaited

Messiah,

King,

Rescuer

of God's people

be so

ordinary?

Ordinary.

The ordinariness

of Jesus

did not fit

with the village

of Nazareth's

worldview

of a triumphant

Messiah.

This is not

who we're expecting.

And in the same way,

friends,

the ordinariness

of Jesus

offends

the normal

moral understanding

of how salvation,

sorry,

the normal

human understanding

of how salvation

works in our world.

All religions,

all philosophical

systems

offer a form

of salvation

and liberation

that is from

the ordinariness

of human life.

It's escaping

the ordinariness

of human life.

And it is

always triumphant

and it is

always strong.

the Christian

view of salvation

is unique.

God

comes

down

into

our

ordinariness.

He doesn't

lift us

just from it.

He immerses

himself

in the pain,

the vulnerability,

the suffering

of the ordinary

human life.

We cannot

know

what the good

news of

Christianity

is

if we've

never felt

the offence

of Jesus

Christ.

But we

must not

take offence.

Matthew 11

Matthew 11:6

verse 6

says,

blessed is

anyone who

does not

stumble

on account

of me.

If we

take

offence

at the

ordinariness

of Jesus,

we can

never know

his blessing.

now I

know I'm

taking a

lot for

granted

when I

say that

and so

there's

an extra

incentive

to sign

up to

Alpha

to discover

a bit

more about

the Christian

faith and

the good

news that

it actually

is for

all of

humanity.

The reality

is,

this is how

God works

in all of

life from

beginning to

end.

the

extraordinary

power of

God

operates in

our life

in just

ordinary

ways.

For

instance,

the grace

and the

life of

God grows

in our

ordinary

life in

ordinary

ways is

what I'm

saying.

Things like

daily Bible

reading,

daily prayer,

self-examination,

worship,

hanging out

with people

who are bold

enough to

point you

to Jesus,

to encourage

you to

keep on

keeping on,

to keep you

accountable for

walking with

Jesus week

in and week

out and

week in and

week out for

years.

Ordinary

things that

you do over

and over

and over

again have

a powerful

impact on

your life.

So imagine

for instance,

I got the

seed right

now for

a Morton

Bay fig

tree.

If you

don't know

what that

is, go

to the

Botanic

Gardens

or just

Google it

actually,

there we

go.

Much

easier to do,

not now,

later.

Got the

seed for

Morton

Bay fig

tree.

It easily

fits in the

palm of my

hand.

Now imagine

if I decided

right now I'm

going to go to

the corner of

this building

just outside and

I'm going to

get this

Morton Bay fig

seed and I'm

going to smash

this building

with the seed

and try and

bring the

building down.

The seed has

no power.

I don't have

any power.

It has no

power in

itself.

It's nothing.

It's just

small.

It's little.

However, I

plant it in the

corner of the

building and I

water it, give it

some sunshine,

give it time,

water it, you

know, fertilize the

nutrients, sunshine

every day.

It will grow

and it will

grow and it

will grow big

enough to crumble

the building.

It will tear it

down over the

course of time.

That's the

extraordinary power

of God's work

in our lives

through ordinary

means again

and again

and again

and again.

Slow and

ordinary growth

comes through

the means of

grace and it's

so powerful to

bring about

incredible

transformation in

life.

So I want to

ask you, is

the arm of the

Lord evidence

in your life,

in your habits?

That's the

first thing

that's surprising.

God's servant

was so ordinary.

The second

thing surprising

here is that

God's servant

suffers.

How can a

great triumph

come through

such weakness?

That's not

how we work

in this world.

Notice the

words in

verses 4 and

5.

Pain,

suffering,

stricken,

afflicted,

pierced,

crushed.

The word

pierced there

means the

most painful

possible death.

Then down in

verse 8,

taken away,

cut off.

The word

cut off means

a violent

death.

God's

servant,

Jesus Christ,

suffered terribly.

many people

think,

and just a

little bit

of a side

point here,

many people

think that

because they're

suffering,

God doesn't

love them.

And the

only response

I have to

that,

look at

Jesus.

Just look to

Jesus in your

suffering.

God's

salvation in

our lives

is in

fact compatible

with a

very hard

experience.

His love

for us is

compatible with

a very hard

experience in

life.

God can be

with you,

love you,

in you,

working through

you,

growing you,

even while you

suffer terribly.

But the

surprising thing

about the

suffering of

God's servant

here is

why he

suffered.

there is

at least

ten times

in these

verses

that he

is described

as taking

on things

that are

not his.

He took

up our

pain,

verse 4.

He bore

our suffering,

verse 4.

He was

pierced for

our

transgressions.

And again,

the punishment

that brought

us peace

was on

him.

Over and

over again,

he's taking

on,

taking on,

taking on

things that

don't belong

to him,

that are not

his.

transgressions.

What does

all that

mean?

Cast your

eye down

to verse

12.

It says,

God's servant

king was

numbered with

the transgressors.

What's surprising

about that is

that when you

read through

Isaiah 53,

you'd notice

that he is

declared to

be innocent

at every

point.

And yet

here he's

numbered with

the transgressors.

In Luke

Luke 22:37

chapter 22

verse 37,

Jesus

quotes

this verse

at the end

of his last

supper with

his disciples

just moments

before he's

arrested and

is executed.

And he

says,

Isaiah 53

Isaiah 53:12

verse 12

is about

me.

I'm the

one who

is numbered

amongst the

transgressors.

He says

this,

he was

numbered with

the transgressors

and I

tell you

that this

must be

fulfilled

in me.

He says

this just

hours before

his death.

Isaiah 53

Isaiah 53:12

verses 12

verse 12

is what

is on

his mind.

What does

it mean

that he took

our pain,

our suffering

and our

punishment?

to be

numbered with

the

transgressors

doesn't

mean that

he became

a transgressor.

It means

that he

was counted,

treated as

if he was

a transgressor.

And just

hours later

he was hung

on a cross

between two

other transgressors

as if

he himself

was one.

This is the

surprising thing

about his

suffering.

He takes

on what

should be

our

suffering

for our

transgressing.

He is

treated as

if he

has done

every

single

thing

that we

have

done.

What's

even more

surprising

is that it

says in

verse 11

that my

righteous

servant

will justify

many.

So put

verses 10

and 11

together

and it's

an amazing

section.

Verse 10

said it

was God's

will to

crush him

to cause

him to

suffer

and through

the Lord

make his

life an

offering for

sin

he will

see his

offspring

which simply

means he

through his

suffering

through his

death

will see

the results

of his

suffering.

And then

in verse

11 we

read after

he had

suffered

he will

see the

light of

life

and be

satisfied

by his

knowledge

my righteous

servant

will justify

many.

To justify

someone is

to make

them

righteous

it's a

legal term

to declare

them to

be right.

It is

the idea

once again

I was up

here I

talked about

the idea

of double

blessing.

He had

the peace

but got

the punishment

so that we

who deserve

the punishment

get the

peace.

Sin is

forgiven

but peace.

Jesus

Christ is

treated by

God as

he has

done

everything

all of

humanity

has done

throughout

the history

of humanity

so that

when we

put our

trust in

him we

are treated

as if we

have done

everything

that he

has done.

Righteousness

of life

constant

obedience

to the

father.

That is

the surprise

that is

the center

that is

the power

that is

the wonder

of the

Christian

faith.

And there

is nothing

like it

in all

of humanity.

It is

radically

different from

every other

religion.

Every other

religion in

this world

is from

the strong

to the

strong.

And the

basic message

is if you

want to

be great

then you

summon your

strength and

you focus

your will and

you live in a

particular way

and eventually

you'll be

great.

Jesus

Christ died

rejected and

in utter

weakness.

He was

despised.

He comes

in weakness

and so his

salvation is

only ever

for the

weak.

Salvation

is a

gift

from the

weak

to the

weak.

God's

servant

in Isaiah

is surprising.

He is

both a

servant

and a

king

just as

God is

both

righteous

and loving.

God

substitutes

himself for

us on the

cross.

God puts

himself where

we deserve

to be

so that

now we

can stand

in the

place of

honour

only he

deserves to

plead.

And it's a

place of

honour,

it's a

place of

love,

it's a

place of

acceptance,

it's a

place of

approval,

it's a

place

that's

guilt-free,

shame-free.

glory.

And that's

the surprising

glory of

this passage.

God's

servant is

surprisingly

ordinary,

surprisingly

suffers in

weakness to

make us

right and

strong,

and this

all points

to a

surprising

glory because

it's not

how we

would do

it.

Have a

look again

at verse

10.

It was

the Lord's

will to

crush him

and to

cause him

to suffer

and through

the Lord

make his

life

and offering

for sin.

He will

see his

offspring

and prolong

his days

and the

will of

the Lord

will prosper

in his

hand.

And then

in verse

11 it

says,

he will

see the

light of

life and

be satisfied.

What's

happening in

verse 11 is

that it's

completing the

full circle

of this

poem,

which began

in 52,

verse 13,

where it

says about

God's

servant that

he will be

raised,

he will be

lifted up

and highly

exalted.

That is,

it's a

reference to

the cross

and the

resurrection

and the

ascension of

Jesus.

He will be

raised up on a

cross,

dying for the

sin of

humanity

and he

will be

highly

praised,

exalted,

honoured.

Now we've

seen this

language before

in Isaiah,

the idea of

being high

and exalted.

We've seen it

before.

You all

remember the

very first

message in

Isaiah chapter

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

6, several

months ago,

I'm sure.

But it's

there in

Isaiah 6,

when Isaiah

is commissioned,

he gets a

glimpse of the

throne room of

God and he

says, I

saw the

Lord high

and exalted

seated on

a throne.

He sees the

God of the

universe on a

throne and

it's saying

here that this

suffering servant

is the God

of the

universe,

seated on

a throne.

What's even

more remarkable

is if you

read through

John chapter

John 12 · chapter mention

12,

John says,

Isaiah was

gazing on

Jesus Christ.

Isaiah saw

Jesus on the

throne.

At the

cross,

humanity

passed its

verdict on

Jesus and

its verdict was

rejection and

condemnation,

but the cross

is not the

end of it.

That's what

this verse is

saying in

52 verse

13.

The cross

is not the

end.

Jesus

Christ,

the Son of

God,

became human,

lived a

perfect life,

a perfect

life,

but to us

humanity,

he was

ordinary,

he was

despised,

rejected,

he was

disfigured,

beyond

recognition,

he was

placed in

a grave.

That was

our verdict

on him

and then

God's

verdict came.

And he

brings him

powerfully

from death.

Resurrection

is God's

vindication.

This is

my

suffering

servant

for

humanity

and he

is high

and he

is exalted

and he

is honoured

and he

is lifted

up

at the

right hand

of the

Father in

heaven.

And the

world

falls

silent

as Jesus

is vindicated

in Isaiah

Isaiah 52:15

52 verse

15.

The cross

of Christ

looks like

a failed

plan or

a pointless

gesture,

but is the

power and

the wisdom

of God.

As the

Apostle Paul

writes in

1 Corinthians

1,

Jews demand

signs for

the wisdom,

but we

preach Christ

crucify the

power and

the wisdom

of God.

substitutionary

sacrifice

is the

surprising

glory

of his

work.

And it

is the

surprising

glory of

the Christian

life.

In other

words,

you want

to be

great

in life?

Why

shoot for

an Olympic

gold?

Give up

your life

for others

and you

will be

great.

That's the

surprising

glory of

the Christian

life.

A life

of substitutionary

sacrifice is

the Christian

life.

And it

happens in

all of

life.

It's there

right through

all of

life.

Let's

take the

example of

parenting.

I'm glad

that James

and Sybil

rose this

one.

I mean,

unbeknownst

to them.

Let's

take the

example of

parenting.

A child

comes into

your life

and all

of a

sudden

you

experience

how much

they hamper

your

personal

freedom.

How much

they get

in the

way of

your

life.

There

are all

sorts of

things you

used to be

able to

do but

you can't

do to

the same

degree.

Travel,

career

advancement,

social life.

life.

This is

particularly

a conflict

for the

Westerner

who deeply

values

personal

and individual

freedom,

which is

why so

many

Westerners

are getting

a dog

rather than

a child.

if you

make a

choice

to hold

onto your

freedom

and go

down the

road of

selfishness,

then that

child will

grow up

with all

kinds of

insecurities.

insecurities.

All kinds

of

insecurities.

There is a

sense where

they will

themselves

grow up

and be

enslaved to

their own

complex

brokenness

if the

parents

are under

their

freedom.

On the

other hand,

if you give

up your

freedom as

the way a

parent should,

then the

child will

grow up

stable,

responsible,

free.

And when

they do,

the parent

will discover

a new

kind of

freedom.

A freedom

that comes

from a

relationship

with a

child who's

grown up

to become

a stable

contributing

adult to

society.

The freedom

that comes

from the

richness of

family life,

transparency

in relationship.

See the

point?

The point

is, it's

either you

or them.

Substitutionary

sacrifice.

It's either

you or

them.

All real

love, all

real love

is weakening

yourself to

strengthen the

other, but

it results in

the giver

getting a

new strength

that they

could not

have otherwise.

There is a

freedom in

that.

Take another

example.

You've got

wealth.

What I mean

is that you've

got money and

you've got assets

that mean

that you've

got some

power to

make choices

in your

life.

That's what

I mean by

wealth.

I don't

mean whether

you're on

the BRW

rich 200

list.

You've got

power to

make choices

in your

life.

That's the

definition of

wealth.

And you

might not

feel that

you're

wealthy,

but you've

got power

to make

choices.

You have

choices.

And you

can hold

on to all

of your

money,

all of your

time,

and all

of your

power for

yourself in

such a way

that you

become enslaved

to it.

And you

will perish

with it in

poverty.

You will

perish with

it in

poverty.

Or, on the

other hand,

you can give

up your

riches in

various ways.

You can

start to

share your

wealth and

your power

and your

choices and

invest your

time and

your money

charitably

towards others

and you

can use

your wealth

either to

hold on to

your power,

you will

always be

weak,

or to

give up

your wealth

to empower

others and

you'll start

to discover

a new and

real wealth,

something that

liberates and

frees.

When Jesus

gave himself

away to

win us,

he then

got the

name that

is above

every other

name.

Not

before.

Not

before.

He deserves

far more

honor for

having lost

his honor.

In

closing,

at the

end of

his book,

Mere

Christianity,

C.S.

Lewis,

sums up the

Christian life

just beautifully.

It's the

very last

page.

Let me

quote him.

The principle

runs through

all of life

from top

to bottom.

Give up

yourself and

you will find

your true

self.

Lose your

life and

you will

save it.

Submit to

death,

death of

your ambitions

and favorite

wishes every

day and

death of

your whole

body in

the end.

Submit with

every fiber

of your

being and

you will

find eternal

life.

Keep back

nothing.

Nothing that

you have not

given away will

ever really be

truly yours.

Nothing that

has not died

will ever be

raised from

the dead.

Look for

yourself and

you will find

in the long

run only

hatred,

loneliness,

despair,

rage,

ruin and

decay.

But look

for Jesus

Christ and

you will find

him and

with him

every other

thing thrown

in as well.

What a way

to finish a

book.

Mere

Christianity

by C.S.

Lewis.

And so

I wonder

friends,

can you

say

with Eric

Liddell

at the

point of

death,

it's

complete

surrender.

It's

complete

surrender.

what might

be your

next step

to

weaken

yourself

that

others

might

be

strong.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I can't

that

quartet

matter

season

so

I he's

estoy

loving

away

and

giving me

have many

them to

work

there's

maybe

to

l

has

been

there's