Holy Tuesday
4/11
Listen to me, O coastlands, pay attention, you peoples from far away! The Lord called me before I was born, while I was in my mother’s womb he named me.
He made my mouth like a sharp sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me away.
And he said to me, ‘You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.’
But I said, ‘I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity;
yet surely my cause is with the Lord, and my reward with my God.’
And now the Lord says, who formed me in the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him, and that Israel might be gathered to him,
for I am honoured in the sight of the Lord, and my God has become my strength—
he says, ‘It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel;
I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.’ - Isaiah 49:1-6
This is the Psalm used in worship on this Holy Week Tuesday. It comes from the great Hebrew prophet Isaiah. He had seen so much devastation and sorrow in his own life and experience. The leaders of his country had made bad decisions. His fellow people had made awful choices, following more base instincts than the will and word of God. Life had been turned upside down, and he, as a prophet, had to voice God’s perspective of sadness and dis-ease with all that had gone awry.
In the midst of all of this though, he discovered the amazing, transforming, and loving power of God. This loving power was to be manifest in a servant who would bring new hope and restoration, a servant who would be “a light to the nations, that God’s redemptive love might
reach to the ends of the earth.” God’s people found hope in these words and vision. And the Hebrew people have lived with that hope ever since. The early followers of Jesus read these words as their own and saw Jesus in the midst of them. Especially when they thought of Jesus’ life and walk of suffering, they perceived him to be such a servant of love, light, and hope.
This is the week of the servant. In our Christian faith tradition, we proclaim Jesus as the servant of God who gave his ALL to show God’s solidarity and suffering-love to all the world. That is the witness of each and every day, each and every step of this week… leading to the Cross and ultimately Love’s victory in resurrection. God gives a light to us and to all peoples… God’s
redemptive love will reach to the ends of the earth.
Where do you encounter the deep self-giving love of God in your own experience? How do you perceive Jesus as a servant of love, forgiveness, and compassion? Where might you serve in a way that brings restoration and hope to some corner of this world?
- The Rev’d Dr. Jim Lemler
Rector