Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ our redeemer

Amen

Sermon Text: Isaiah 53:1-9 (NIV)

Who has believed  our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. 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 men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.Surely, he took upon our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten  by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.We all, like sheep, have gone astray,each of us has turned  to his own way;and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. he was oppressed  and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to be slaughtered, as a sheep before her shearers is silent,so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. He was assigned  a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence,nor was any deceit in his mouth.

 Lord, You are our light and our hope. Thank you for touching us with your Word this morning.

Amen

Dear Congregation

A nation lives in exile in Babylon. Among them were Israelites who have experienced how their country, their religion as well as their dreams were scattered while all they could do were to obey and be exiled into another country. A country with new traditions and religion, to which they had to submit themselves as it was a custom to do when a nation was conquered by another nation. If a war had been won during those times it was a customary believe that their god had been weaker than the god of the other nation and as a result of that the weaker nation have been conquered.It was a time of great anxiety, a time of suffering and a time for consideration.In these times, Isaiah prophesied about the consequences of their disobedience towards God and that their punishment would be that the Israelites will be forced into submissiveness by another nation.

Years started to go by and the Israelites got used to the life in Babylon and as time went by they started to accept the fact that they will be staying there for a very long time. The Israelites were learned people and that made adapting to the Babylonian society very easy, since they lived in a country with the most and the best technology of the time. However, there still has been Israelites who tried to rebel against the system of the time, because their hearts where still longing to their country, but these acts of rebellion had been dealt with quickly and sufficiently, which only brought them back to their original position of no change.The Israelites to no surprise lost all hope of ever being back in their own country,doing their own thing, like building their own economy or owning their own land, because their right of owning land as well as other rights were taken away from them.

It was during these times where the Israelites settled down that Isaiah, who were also known as a exilic prophet returned to the arena with a message to the nation, a new message, not one of exile, not one of exile against their own will, but one of redemption and a new opportunity for a new start. Isaiah thus brings them a message that they have served their punishment and that their redemption from this yoke of exilic life has arrived, meaning that God has forgiven them for the nation sins of the past. Isaiah, however is afraid of this responsibility, because he knows that the Israelites would not believe him as well as the consequences that his message may entail upon his own life.He is aware of the fact that the Israelites got use to their surroundings and now he will be interrupting their lives again with such a message? Thus, in Isaiah's mind the message that he will bring will not make a difference in the lives of the people at all. Not even to think about the consequences he will be facing, once the authorities would get hold of him? With all these fears and questions Isaiah turns to the Lord for guidance.

In this discussion between Isaiah and God there are three important aspects which is discussed. Firstly, the Lord gives Isaiah surety that he will lead him and that he has already prepared the hearts of the people for which Isaiah is going to tell and if that has not happened prior then the Lord would not have given him this assignment. Isaiah, therefore can be seen in the same light than Moses, because the Lord uses him, like he did with Moses, to prepare the nation for the exit out of Babylon. Secondly, the Lord informs Isaiah about the important lesson that he wanted to teach the Israelites through the experience, that suffering can be an advantage, because it opens the heats of the people for that, which the Lord has prepared for them. Years later Jesus taught us that a seed first needs to die before to our own desires, before the Lord can use us for the purpose that he has placed us on the earth for.    

Thirdly, the Lord shares with Isaiah his bigger plan for the whole of humanity.A plan that will not only save a nation, by everyone who confesses Christ as their Redeemer and King. A plan that will bring an end to our suffering and pain and this is all possible through Jesus Christ the Son of God who laid down his life in order for us to live. Therefore, dear congregation, our suffering on this earth is forming part of the preparation which God does to get us at the destination in our lives where he will use us and not where we want to be out of our will.

Suffering is therefore not a punishment, but part of the preparation process into a new phase of our lives. Suffering is there to remind that we can always return to the cross of Jesus to find rest and to revitalize ourselves in the presence of our Lord.it serves also as a reminder to you and me that we are precious to him, despite our shortcomings and disabilities.We are so precious to God that he gave us his only begotten Son who was without sin to bless us with the gift of life. God's love for us is so big that no philosophy, theology or anything else can properly define his love for us, especially when I came to the realization how difficult it must have been to sacrifice your only Son for so many generations in the past and still to come.

Israel was broken as a nation and as a nation they have experienced how Jesus was broken for our transgressions. Israel was taken away to a foreign country just as Christ was taken away to die on the cross for our salvation. Israel got a new opportunity, a new new chance for a new beginning just as Christ was risen from the dead to give us a new chance for a new life and a new beginning.

When we experience times in our lives where we feel alone and broken, let us share this feeling with one another so that we can remind one another that the price have already been paid and that through Christ we have got our redemption. This we do by reminding one another in these times of trail that Christ have set us free. He did more and is still doing more, he rose from the dead and because of that we can worship him this morning with joy in our hearts, because although our situation looks bleak and our life is a living hell, Christ entered our hell and came out with life. Do not let your cross keep you captive this morning, but break free with the knowledge that with Christ our captivity becomes our freedom and as a result of that, we can joyfully share Paul's words in his letter to Galasians which says: "It is for freedom that Christ set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdenjed again by the yoke of slavery." (Gal. 5:1)

And the Grace of God, which surpasses all our understanding will protect our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus

Amen