Isa. 42:1 “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations. 3 A bruised reed he will not break, and a smouldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;

In the great 1965 Motion Picture The Agony and the Ecstasy, Michelangelo is portrayed on his scaffold painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Pope Julius II, His patron and often hard-driving taskmaster, mounts the scaffold in fascination to see the great artist’s depiction of God. Looking into the face of God, Julius asks, Is that how you see Him, my son?

How do you see the face of God? I wonder what faces we would paint of God if paper and pencils were handed out this morning. How we paint God would tell a great deal about how we feel towards Him in our innermost being. Many a culture has painted God with an angry, scowling face. Think of the faces on totem poles, for example. Maybe you grew up with that idea of God too, even the Scriptures you learned about God were quite different.

In today’s text from Isaiah 42, we see painted for us a picture of God that is worth storing in our memory banks for a lifetime of future reference. I invite you to join me in thinking about THE BRUISED REED AND THE SMOLDERING WICK.

My former congregation had a Lutheran School. The School office for a time was near the Kindergarten room. When passing by, you could see some of the art work the children were doing. One stood out. It was a picture a little girl had painted right after her grandmother had died. The colours were purple and black and one didn’t need to be a Psychologist to figure out what she was thinking at the time.

Look at your mind’s eye view of God right now. Alright, now compare it with the glorious portrait Isaiah draws of Him in today’s text. Let’s take another look at this word picture of our Saviour: 42:1 “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations.

When Isaiah says that the Saviour will bring justice to the nations, he means that he will make things right. This is a prediction of the coming of Jesus who will make everything new.

But you won’t have to wait until the 2nd coming. Jesus began the process of making things right when the Spirit promised his coming to our first parents: We are told in Gen. 3:15 I will put enmity between you (the enemy) and the woman, between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head and you will strike his heel.

The Saviour will stomp on the one who brought misery and suffering into our lives. Jesus’ heel was bruised while stomping on the old serpent’s head when he died on the cross for our sins. But the power of the Adversary is removed from God’s people forever. Jesus brings justice to the nations.

What greater wrong is there to right than sin itself? Jesus is the right man for the job. Martin Luther writes: We must have a Saviour who is able to redeem us from the power of the devil, and also from sin and death. For if he is an ordinary human being, He is not our Redeemer. But if, as the Son of God, He sheds His blood to cleanse us from all sins, then the devil must give way and let us rest in peace.

The fact that Jesus is God is like a fishhook, hidden under the angleworm, under his humanity. The devil snapped this hook into his mouth when Christ died and was buried. When Jesus rose from the dead, this fishhook tore his belly for him, so that he could not hold on to him, but had to give Him up again and meet his death in the act. This is our comfort supreme. For just as the devil could not hold Christ in death, so he cannot keep in death those who believe in Him.

That’s what Jesus did for you and me. That’s the kind of Saviour-God we have. He is our King, but just what kind of King is He? Isaiah tells us joyfully: 2 He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. 3 A bruised reed he will not break, and a smouldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice…

He is a great King and a great Saviour, but this is no ego trip on His part. He’s just not that kind of man. He won’t step on people to show off His power as many earthly rulers do. No, he’s not that kind of king. He’s not into power politics, as we say today.

A bruised reed he will not break, and a smouldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice… He loves people and those who are humble in heart flock to Him because of His gentleness, fairness and kindness. When Jesus spoke to people in person, they had problems with too many people wanting to sit in the front row. They couldn’t get close enough to Him. Why? Because Jesus is just the kind of helper we need. A BRUISED REED HE WILL NOT BREAK…that’s the kind of person who is just hanging on for dear life by the narrowest of threads. Jesus grabs hold and makes the ones weak in faith stronger. A SMOLDERING WICK HE WILL NOT SNUFF OUT…the smouldering wick is the candle that has just gone out. It won’t take much to relight the flame and it won’t take much to snuff it out entirely. Jesus keeps the spiritual fires burning within.

He told us himself: Matt. 11:28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 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. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

The Jewish people to whom Jesus is speaking were burdened with 628 different commands and requirements in the Pharisaical religion of the day. I have enough trouble with 10 commandments, don’t you? Is it any wonder then that people flocked to Jesus who speaks with such gentle and loving authority, who told of a Heavenly Father who has children obey him out of love and not from fear of punishment? Come to me, Jesus said, and I will give you rest; my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

You know what a yoke is, don’t you? It slipped over the shoulders of a beast of burden and allowed the animal to pull a plough or a wagon. Jesus used to make them in Joseph’s Carpenter shop. A carpenter could take his time and get it right or he could do a hurry-up, cheap job and make life miserable for the animal. You know what kind of job Jesus did. A yoke could also be built for 2 animals to pull the load together. This yoke is easy and its burden is light, because Jesus is right there, pulling the burden along with you. That’s the kind of service Jesus is calling for you to join him in.

Jesus is at His best showing Himself to be the loving, encouraging, affirming Saviour He is. But sometimes Christian people and Christian churches don’t see it that way. Sometimes the church doesn’t do a very good job at portraying Jesus as the Healer of broken hearts. Sometimes Christian churches and Christian people and Christian parents BREAK HEARTS by bowing them down with demands and expectations that are man-made, laws that God never gave to us. Jesus is there to uplift and strengthen, if some of us will only put away our grudges, and hard feelings and frozen anger and come to him for healing. Many people today have a hard time believing in God’s goodness. Some of them choke when they hear the old table prayer: O GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD, FOR HE IS GOOD…. They point to the misery in the world and wonder out loud just how good God really is.

But hear the testimony of the Holy Spirit about the goodness and love of God: Psalm 34 says: 8 Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. 9 Fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing. 10 The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing. The Old Testament Prophet Nahum wrote: 1:7 The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him…. And Jeremiah says: 31:3 The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.

A BRUISED REED HE WILL NOT BREAK AND A SMOKING WICK HE WILL NOT PUT OUT.

If your picture of God needs some revising, I urge you to do it now. You never know just when you will need God’s help and you don’t want any obstacles to be in the way. Carry around the wrong picture of God in your mind and you are in danger of ignoring or resisting the only help you can find. It wouldn’t be the first time that people lived and died without hope because they refused God’s love which was freely offered to them, just for the taking.

Someone wrote a letter to you and me that I want to share with you. See how long it takes you to determine who wrote this letter.

Dear Friend: I had to write to tell you how much I love you and care for you. Yesterday, I saw you walking and laughing with your friends; I hoped that soon you’d want me to walk along with you, too. So, I painted you a sunset to close your day and whispered a cool breeze to refresh you. I waited — you never called — I just kept on loving you. As I watched you fall asleep last night, I wanted to touch you. I spilled moonlight onto your face — trickling down your cheeks as so many tears have. You didn’t even think of Me; I wanted so much to comfort you.

The next day I exploded a brilliant sunrise into glorious morning for you. But you woke up late and rushed off to work — you didn’t even notice. My sky became cloudy and My tears were the rain.

I love you, oh, if you’d only listen. I really love you. I try to say it in the quiet of the green meadow and in the blue sky. The wind whispers My love throughout the treetops and spills it into the vibrant colours of all the flowers. I shout it to you in the thunder of the great waterfalls and compose love songs for birds to sing for you. I warm you with the clothing of My sunshine and perfume the air with nature’s sweet scent. My love for you is deeper than any ocean and greater than any need in your heart. If you’d only realise how I care.

My Dad sends His love. I want you to meet Him — He cares, too. Fathers are just that way. So, please; call on Me soon. Love, Your Friend, Jesus.

Something to think about, isn’t it?

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Wayne Dobratz