Let the Shepherd Lead

Intro:

• In our messages in this series we have been asking ourselves how connected is too connected.
  • If we were to sum up all that we have said, it might sound something like this: We are too connected when our fear of making a wrong decision, exposing an undesirable part of ourselves, or keeping up an appearance motivates us to pursue sin rather than pursue God.
  • In the messages we have examined thus far, we have primarily focused on how the fear of man can control us, and make demands of us. Because of this fear, we choose to be connected to certain people, groups, and activities in a futile attempt to control our fears.
• But friends there are connections we make that we do not choose for ourselves.
  • For example: consider the purpose of the holiday we celebrate on this weekend.
    • Memorial day honors and remembers those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
    • While we remember how those brave soldiers gave their all for the freedoms that we enjoy, it is also right for us to remember those families who lost their loved one to the horrors of combat.
    • Not a single one of those families chose to be connected to this special group of grieving families.
    • And yet, each one of these grieving family members have to figure out how to handle the loss and the suffering that has entered into their lives.
    • Each one of these grieving family members probably feel like they have been “mis-connected” to this group must still experience the intensifying reality of suffering.
    • Suffering intensifies many of our most natural tendencies. If we already have a tendency to fear people – to experience uncertainty, shame, or a desire to please people – then that will only intensify in times of suffering.

Hook:

• So today as we look at Isaiah 54 we will see a different side of connecting.
• Today we will look at what I am calling misconnections.
  • A misconnection as I am defining it, is anytime we are connected to an individual, group, or activity that we did not choose for ourselves.
  • Thus misconnections are related to how we must suffer in this world.
  • Our misconnections, may be a major source for the fear of man because they may motivate us to the pursuit of sin rather than the pursuit of God.
• Today I hope that we will see three ways that we may become misconnected in our suffering and how God solve those misconnections.

Message Points:

• As we look to Isaiah, we must realize that chapter 54 sits in the midst of a series of Servant Songs.
  • These songs in Isaiah 42, 49, 50, 52 and 53 were written to describe the activities of the Lord God’s Suffering Servant or Messiah.
  • Rather than coming as a conquering king, he would come as a suffering servant who would willingly suffer to redeem God’s people.
  • Some commentators look at Isaiah 38-55 as a “Book of the Servant” which describes in prophetic detail the anticipated activities of the Messiah.
    • J. Alec Motyer says that Isaiah faced the suffering at the hands of foolish Israelite kings, “with the vision of the coming Messianic king, but the reality of sin and the need for forgiveness remain.”
    • Motyer’s point is that the Messiah has come serving us by making a way for His people to be redeemed. His way is one of repentance from our former sinful desires so that we might receive the forgiveness and new life the Messiah offers.
  • Thus Isaiah 54 comes at the end of this “Book of the Servant,” summing up the effects of all the Servant Songs on God’s people.
• The chapter breaks into three very clear sections.
  • The first section in verses 1-5 describes the Messiah’s ministry to the woman misconnected by childlessness.
  • The second section in verses 6-10 describe the Messiah’s ministry to the woman misconnected by estrangement.
  • The third section in verses 11-17 describes the Messiah’s ministry to the city misconnected by devastation.
• Let’s consider the first section in verses 1-5.
  • Again as we look at this section we see  someone who did not choose to be connected to childlessness.
    • The word barren in verse 1 is a Hebrew word that describes the situation of infertility (HALOT).
      • This was the plight of Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Samson’s mother, Hannah.
      • And in each of those cases their infertility was a source of shame and disgrace.
      • Israel understood Exodus 23:26 which says “none shall miscarry or be barren in your land” to mean that those who were barren somehow were somehow disconnected from God’s promises. Further, Deuteronomy 7:17 equates God’s blessing with “not a male or female will be barren” even among the livestock.
      • So for these women misconnected to infertility, the fear of man show up in the shame and disgrace of their condition.
        • For the infertile being around children and families may be exceptionally painful.
        • They might become bitter and lash out at those who have no trouble conceiving.
        • They may even curse God when they see women become pregnant and then abort the babies – asking how God could allow those women who do not want children to conceive; but not answer their fervent prayers to have a child.
    • We also need to understand the plight of the desolate woman also used in verse 1 (TWOT).
      • The Hebrew word we translate as desolate describes a different situation than infertility.
      • Rather it is a word that points to some great disaster destroys the ability of people to dwell together. It could easily be translated as uninhabitable.
      • Ordinarily desolate is an adjective for places and things not for people. Isaiah desolate does refer to women who for some tragic reason have been forsaken so that they cannot have children.
      • It would fit with the idea of a drought, famine, or war that causes a woman to not be able to have or raise children.
      • Perhaps this is why in Isaiah 54:4 it speaks of the “reproach of widowhood”.
      • Such personal tragedies misconnect people to the fear of man.
        • The intense suffering through a devastating time may cause a person’s focus may be on building walls against others to protect themselves.
        • Food, shelter, financial security are all ways of building such barriers.
        • It may also be the case that such devastation causes people to see connecting with others as weakness.
        • It is no surprise that children whose parents lived through the Depression era report a much more distant relationship with their parents, especially their fathers. The suffering of the depression forced the focus to become provision rather than nurturing of connections
  • It is not too great a stretch to say that the barren, desolate woman to whom God speaks in this passage, represents His chosen people.
    • Throughout the prophets, Israel is seen as the Bride of the Lord in the same way that the church is understood to be the Bride of Christ.
    • So everyone, not just the women in the room should note what is said in these verses.
      • In verse 1, the Lord commands the barren woman to sing.
        • It is not because she will bear a child or because she will experience labor.
        • Rather it is because the Lord will give her more children than all the others.
      • Verse 2-3 then involves another command that the woman enlarge her tent.
        • This image hearkens back to when Israel wandered in the desert, and God dwelt in their midst as a cloud by day and a fire at night.
        • To enlarge a tent was a well understood symbol that the person needed more space because more would soon dwell there.
        • During those days when God dwelt with Israel, the nation  was totally devoted to the Lord’s work. Their calling was to dispossess nations as verse 3 says and settle in “desolate” cities.
        • Notice then that this desolate woman is called to enlarge her tent so that her descendats can make  desolate cities habitable.
      • Then we read verse four and five which is a command to not fear.
        • It says that we should not fear being put shame, disgrace, or humiliation.
          • The sense of the Hebrew word here is the type of shame that someone else inflicts upon us, such as the shame of defeat in battle and Exile that Israel faced (TWOT).
          • Ed Welch says that “shame, and its feeling of disgrace before God and others, surfaces in our culture as low self-esteem, with its feelings of worthlessness… They both are governed by the perceived opinions of others, and the both involve ‘not feeling good about ourselves’.” (28)
          • Like ancient Israel, humiliated before the Philistines in battle, there is a sense of shame and disillusionment that says, “How could this have happened to God’s chosen people? Don’t we deserve better than this?”
          • Welch further says “When you are in the grips of low self-esteem, its painful, and it certainly doesn’t feel like pride. But I believe that this is the dark, quieter side of pride – thwarted pride.” (32)
          • The answer not to think we deserve better, but to admit our inability to provide for ourselves and turn to our Maker who will provide for us as a husband and redeem us as a Savior according to verse 5.
• Thus we see our first point, misconnections urge us to let God provide that which people can never provide.
  • Friends, we cannot provide for ourselves the network of support that we all desire.
  • No amount of likes, shares, or followers on social media will equate with the support required in moments of greatest suffering.
  • And no amount of doomsday prepping against suffering will keep us ultimately from being connected to its effects.
  • Just as the barren women in the Bible, who saw God open each of their wombs to bear children, we need God to provide for us as well.
  • Psalm 113:9 says that the Lord “gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the Lord!”
  • The true connections that we need do not come from biology or psychology, but from a right theology in a Messiah who will provide for our ever need.
• With that in mind, look at verses 6-11.
  • There we read some troubling ideas of…
    • A wife deserted and distressed (6).
    • A wife who married young only to be rejected (6)
    • A wife abandoned for a moment (7)
    • A wife whose husband hid from her in a “surge of anger (8)
  • Without the context of the rest of the “Book of the Servant” we might conclude that this wife had a horrible husband.
    • And if that is our conclusion, how much worse is it to realize that the husband in these verses is our Lord.
    • But with the context of the rest of the “Book of the Servant” we see something very different in these verses.
    • The prophetic wife Israel in the prophets is divorced by God because of her sins and transgressions.
      • In Isaiah 50:2 the Lord cries out because of Israel’s unfaithfulness “when I came, why was there no one? When I called, why was there no one to answer? Was my arm too short to deliver you?”
      • Similarly the prophet Hosea tells the story of how God both divorces Israel for her unfaithfulness but then redeems her.
  • Thus we see Israel’s estrangement from her God and understand that these verses are more a testament to God’s redemptive love, not that of wicked husband.
  • All of God’s pain and distress over our unfaithfulness and our sin did not keep him from sending to us a Messiah to redeem us from our pitiful state.
• Thus we have our second point misconnections make us more aware of God’s love.
  • Notice again God’s work in these verses.
    • Verse six says that God call the estranged wife back.
    • Verse seven says with deep compassion he will bring his bride back.
    • Verse eight says that God will show everlasting kindness and compassion.
    • Verse nine says that as sure as God’s promise against continuing anger was to Noah, so sure is it now.
    • And especially notice verse 10. READ VERSE 10.
  • Friends there is only one way for God to show such unfailing, never-ending, everlasting love towards us.
    • It cannot be based upon our worthiness or goodness.
    • It cannot be based upon our ability to reciprocate that love.
    • No, it must be based solely upon His own character and worth.
  • In marriage counseling, especially in situations of infidelity, there is never an easy answer.
    • There are always two people who must choose to work together to bring a marriage back together.
    • The unfaithfulness of one can motivate the other to turn away and refuse to reconcile.
    • The hurt and anger of that spouse can cause the estranged spouse to lose interest in reconciliation.
    • Unless one of the spouses is willing to pursue the other, hope for reconciliation is slim.
    • And it is this relationship that God says most closely matches his relationship with His people.
      • We are unfaithful in ways that cause God to turn away from us.
      • Then as we are estranged we lose interest in reconciling with God.
      • But it is God who chooses to pursue us, to call us back, to show us kindness rather than justice, to offer to us peace rather than war.
• Which brings us to our last point for today as we look at the final verses of this passage. Our misconnections offer us a reality check about God’s sovereignty.
  • In Verses 11-17 the subject changes from a childless, estranged wife to a desolate city.
    • Remember the word desolate means uninhabitable due to a disaster.
    • But still notice that it is the Lord who will rebuild this city in verses 11-12 with precious stones.
    • It is the Lord who will teach the children of these cities and provide them with peace.
    • It is the Lord who will cause tyranny and terror to be far from them.
  • The point being made at the end of this chapter is that all the suffering that can be thrown against us is not out of God’s control.
    • A situation that God does not have the authority to allow is a situation that God has no authority to alter.
    • Cameron Cole says in his book Therefore I have Hope  that in the midst of our worst, if we hear that God didn’t have anything to do with our suffering we might begin to believe “God’s hands are tied. God took his eyes off the road when your worst occurred. Satan is just as great, mighty and sovereign as God. God just isn’t that powerful he is impotent. God is not in control. God is weak.”
    • But that is not our God! Our misconnections offer us the opportunity to see with full clarity the power of our God.
    • Notice exactly what verse 17 says, and think with me about the cross and empty tomb
      • When the world says the cross is meaningless…
      • When the world says the only inhabitant of the tomb was a lifeless body not a living hope…
      • When the world says there is no hope for redemption or new life…
      • It is the resurrected Jesus that proves that no weapon of the world, the flesh or the devil can stand against us.

Conclusion:

• Friends, we may feel misconnected to the sacrifices and suffering in our lives.
• When we turn to Jesus and see the meaning God gives to his suffering and sacrifice, as well as the new life through the resurrection, that friends is how we can deal with misconnections.