On Being Servants of a Servant God
November 27, 2022
A servant who really serves is wonderfully helpful. But some self-proclaimed servants do not serve. Consider this “parable.” Look at the back of one of your credit cards: “for service call 1-800-etc.” Have you tried to call? When I called the number on one card (V) I got through and talked to a real person who was very helpful. When I called the number on another card (M) I only heard a computerized voice that said, “Sorry you are not recognized, please call again. Goodbye.” Totally frustrated after calling repeatedly for two days I transferred my business account on card M to card V. For several months thereafter I received letters about my failure to pay signed, “Sincerely” with a note, “contact us at the phone number below.” All my attempts to talk to someone at that customer service number only gave me that computerized voice again!
This story or parable may help to explain what is going on in Isaiah 63-65. There is a “we/us” segment in the returned community Israel who are frustrated at a “you/they” segment; officialdom claiming to represent Abraham and Israel do not acknowledge the voice of these servants (Is. 63:16-17). Those servants call out, “O LORD you are Father but you have hidden your face. Rend the heavens and come down (63:17b-64:1). After confessions of sin and laments that they are not heard the chapter ends with a desperate question, “Will you keep silent and afflict us so terribly?”
The LORD God’s response is amazing, “I was ready to be sought...I was ready to be found...I said, ‘Here am I, Here am I,’” (Is. 65:1ff). That chapter awaits our exploration next week. I want to explore the image of a “Here am I” God. The Hebrew word ishimeni, the typical response of a servant. It is on the lips of Abraham when he was called to sacrifice Isaac (Gn 22:1, 7, 11). Young Samuel repeats it five times when he hears a voice from God believing it is the voice of Eli (1 Sam. 3:4-10). It is the response of Isaiah when he is called (Is. 6:8). It is heard in virgin Mary’s voice when she responds in the language of Samuel to God’s call, “Here am I, said Mary, I am the Lord’s servant” (Lk. 1:38, NEB).
The servant response, “here am I” is appropriate for humans like Abraham, Samuel, Isaiah, and even the virgin Mary. But we ask, “How can the sovereign LORD God speak as a servant?”. The answer is found in the servant language of Isaiah. The Servant song in Is. 52:13-53:12 is introduced by the promise of the LORD to the exiles, Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here am I (Is. 52:6). That here am I Servant who sees his offspring; servants. Thereafter in Isaiah there are no Servant passages but we find many which speak of servants, the seed of the Servant.
The question remains. If that is the prophet’s message to God’s people then and there, what does it mean to his servants here and now in this small servant church? I will explore that question in our lesson today. TGY
