Sunday Service | The Third Sunday of Lent: March 7, 2021
We live in a world that is rapidly changing. This last year has brought a load of changes. And there will be more.
Recently, we’ve seen more than we could’ve imagined.
And yet, there is a place of rest. Jesus invites us to this place.
Matthew 11.28-30
“Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
The path to rest, offered by God, is tried and true.
The passage in Isaiah 53, which we look at today (vs 4-6) presents us with the ancient truth that God has been trying to teach humans for years and years.
The truth is: The Messiah would be the divine substitute by dying for the sins of the human race.
In many ways, this is Christianity 101.
Sin. Don’t tune out.
The bottom line is: sin exists. Sin is anything that disconnects us from God. The root cause of sin is a broken relationship with God (Genesis 3). We are disconnected from God.
The good news of Christianity is that God loves us. He did not and does not leave us to make sense of our own lives. He did not leave us and does not leave us with our hurt, our messes, our shortcomings, etc. Instead, he gave us Jesus. He gave us the cross.
On the cross, the powers of evil were disarmed (Colossians 2: 15).
On the cross, death and demonic powers were defected.
On the cross, God revealed his love for us.
He showed that He is not a God who is aloof from suffering.
Through Christ, we are restored to a relationship with God.
The partition of sin was destroyed.
These are the basics. Christianity 101.
In Isaiah, he is speaking in first person, because he is talking about God’s people in his day in collective. The people are in exile b/c they turned to other gods, trained in politics, and in people with power and resources taking advantage of those without power and resources.
The people needed to make amends to God.
Isaiah’s message to the people of God: look to Jesus. There is so much to distract us away from looking to Jesus. But this is the way that we make amends. This is a story of going away and coming back home again. This is the story of Jesus, and this is our story.
Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
In short: Jesus suffered in order to procure our peace with God.
The question is: How do we be the people of God? Who are we?
Isaiah calls attention to Jesus. Attention to look at Jesus as one who will fulfill you, and one who will fill us.
A lot of us are asking the same questions:
How do we be the people of God?
How do we apply the bible to great and disturbing events of our own time?
This prophetic song (as well as the New Testament) insists that we put Jesus at the center of the picture and work outward from there.
This is the same answer that we are also looking for in our days and our stories.
To quote NT Wright in regards to these questions: “The minute we find ourselves looking at the world around us and jumping to conclusions about God and what he might be doing, but without looking carefully at Jesus, we are in serious danger of forcing an interpretation which might look attractive—it might even seem quite spiritual and awe inspiring—but which actually screens Jesus out of the picture.”
The passage of Isaiah provides the answer to the question of how do we apply the Bible to THIS.
The answer: look to Jesus. Life is found when we restore our connection to Jesus, when we turn our eyes to him, when we see that we have gone astray--and that what Jesus did for us changes the whole narrative of our lives.
Sin is a big element.
Anchor family--how do we sit with sin?
Are we callous to sin?
Do we think we are exempt?
Do we think about sin?
Sin is when we lean on anything other than God to give us peace and hope. And we’ve got to acknowledge it. If we’re feeling unrest or unsettled, we’ve got to consider that there are parts of us that are not turning to Jesus.
Jesus is the connector between us & God, not the divider. Jesus bore our sin and shame. The path to peace and rest is to look to Jesus. It’s not about feeling bad about ourselves--that divides us from the holy work of Jesus. None of this--thinking and talking about sin--is meant to bring shame. Instead, we get to acknowledge that Jesus brings us into a loving connection with God.
Questions to consider:
How diligently are we seeking Jesus?
How often do we consider the gift of Jesus?
How often do we consider that Jesus was the substitution for us?
We like sheep have gone astray AND Jesus destroyed the partition of sin for ALL.
All were in need.
All are in need.
All are included.
Here’s a prayer:
Decrease leaning on my cognitive functions, and increase my ability to lean into the supernatural.
We have this freedom because of Jesus: to exist on a spiritual level, partnering with the Holy Spirit. We can break the pattern of exile! We can break the pattern of looking to other gods, of trusting in politics, of trusting in power & privilege--we can break this cycle by simply looking at Jesus and participating in what he is doing.
The challenge:
Look for ways to be nonconformist by resisting the pressures of everyday life. Conform to the values of Jesus. For ideas; look at the fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5) and beatitudes (Matthew 5).
Let’s breathe together to practice sitting in God’s peace:
Breathing exercise:
For the first minute focus on returning and resting:
Breathe in: “I return to God’s presence.”
Breathe out: “I rest in God’s presence.”
Now one more minute focus on quiet and trust.
Breathe in: “I quiet my heart.”
Breathe out: “I let go and trust God.”
God offers us rest. We get to break the pattern of slavery & exile by accepting his offer. We are tempted to look for quick fixes instead of Jesus, just as Isaiah’s audience. The peace of God rescues us!