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Isaiah is talking about this mysterious servant in today’s passage. We don’t know whom he refers to.
This servant is supposed to bring God’s salvation to the end of the earth. So, some Christians said this mysterious servant is the Messiah, Jesus. But Isaiah didn’t say it.
I find it very interesting that even this great servant felt meaningless at times.
I have labored in vain;
I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity. (Isaiah 49:4)
He felt meaningless about what he was doing.
Last Monday, I had lunch with an old friend. He told me we are like a screw in a gigantic machine that can always be replaced.
He talked about what was going on in the world. He said it is painful to watch the news these days.
Yes, seeing what is going on in the world, we feel helpless.
The strong get stronger and the weak are exploited without any power to resist. We see the absurdity of life.
Absurdity is the word Camu used to talk about meaninglessness. Life doesn’t make sense.
I just read the report given to the General Assembly by the International Affairs Committee that I am a part of. It was a report about Gaza situation.
Because of bombs and artillery, 47,000 civilian deaths have officially been recorded. This number does not include those lying unaccounted for and buried beneath rubble.
At least 100,000 people suffer from life threatening injuries, 330 humanitarian aid workers have been murdered, by far the greatest number since the United Nations came into existence, 340 doctors and nurses murdered along with 136 journalists.
Life doesn’t make sense.
That was what the author of Ecclesiastes exclaimed with a sigh, seeing his life.
Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher,
vanity of vanities! All is vanity.
What do people gain from all the toil
at which they toil under the sun? (Ecclesiastes 1:2, 3)
So life’s meaninglessness overwhelms us. We live with these questions.
What is the point? Does it matter? Can anything change? Do I mean anything to anybody?
One of the most difficult things about life is not your difficult situations, It is not problems you face, It is not difficult people you have to deal with.
IT IS FEELING MEANINGLESS ABOUT YOUR LIFE.
That was what I often felt in doing ministry. Does my work make any difference? Do people change? Even if I don’t make a dent in the universe, as Steve Jobs said, do I make any difference?
What should we do about this problem of meaninglessness, helplessness, and powerlessness?
Many people choose to run away from this problem.
They don’t think about it. They are detaching themselves from the reality. They decide not to care any more.
They say,
I don’t care whether I make any difference or not. I just live my life even though I see the absurdity in the world. Making the world better is not my job. It is beyond what I can do. I live with what I can manage.
Then, soon, our dreams, our passion, and our vision will fade away from our lives.
By thinking like that, what are we actually doing?
We are creating a bubble. This bubble is an imaginary reality we create to deal with our meaninglessness. We may be comfortable in that bubble. It is like taking the blue pill.
In the movie, Matrix, Morpheus offers Neo two pills: the blue pill and the red pill. The blue pill gives you blissful ignorance, returning to the simulated reality. But the red pill awakens him to the painful truth of the real world, leaving the Matrix.
Feeling the meaninglessness of life can be painful. Living like you are on a treadmill is not a good life. You walk and even run but you go nowhere.
But I was thinking, is feeling meaningless all bad?
Maybe feeling OK with doing the same thing over and over again is the problem. You feel meaningless because you want something different. You outgrow it. You don’t want to just stay where you are.
When you were younger, you were excited about toys.
When I was young, I was so excited to be a cowboy, watching Bonanza. I didn’t have any toy gun and so I used a spoon, pretending that it was a gun. But I outgrew it. It didn’t give me any more meaning.
Then I got into playing soccer. Every day, I played it. I wish that there was soccer in heaven. But I outgrew it.
So feeling meaningless is not necessarily bad. It means you have an urge to grow and an urge to do something different.
Instead of creating a bubble, search for the new meaning.
Paul Tillich said,
The vitality that can stand the abyss of meaninglessness is aware of a hidden meaning within the destruction of meaning.
The servant in today’s passage found the hidden meaning within the destruction of meaning.
First, he realized that he was not an accidental being who happened to be in this world but God formed him, made him, and called him even before he was born.
The servant found the hidden meaning in his calling.
That was what the early Christians found. They faced challenges in life after their master died.
They didn’t create a bubble. They prayed. And when they prayed, the Holy Spirit came down upon them. And they found a new meaning in life.
They didn’t stay where they were. They were sent out. They found a new purpose in life.
The Holy Spirit gave them the new vision, new life, and new passion. They were filled with passion. They were so full of vision that they were not even scared of death.
Jesus knew that they would be like that.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8)
You can see this image of the bubble being burst and them going out to the ends of the earth.
That was what the early Christians did. When they received the Holy Spirit, they lived with purpose and they died for purpose.
Do you feel meaningless in life?
That itself is not a bad thing. That can be an opportunity to find a new purpose in life.
Do not create a bubble. Pray. Receive the Holy Spirit.
You can be bold. You can live your life with passion.
Merely extending the length of your life is not what you should do. But filling your life with a strong purpose is what you should do.
God told the servant this.
I will give you as a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth. (Isaiah 49:6)
Let’s say you buy a lamp and let it just sit on your shelf, what good is it? But when you light it, then the lamp does what it is supposed to do.
Isn’t that what our Lord Jesus said?
You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. People do not light a lamp and put it under the bushel basket; rather, they put it on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:14-16)
You are called to be the light. Let your life shine.
Living a meaningful life is not doing something new or even doing meaningful things.
Living a meaningful life is about your mindset or attitude towards what you do. So, when you find meaning in life, everything you do, you do it with a sense of purpose.
You drive kids because you want them to live a better life. You serve the church because you want people to get spiritual nurturing through the church. You take care of aging parents because they need your help.
Everything you do will be meaningful. Your moment comes alive.
And meaningful life is often for other people, not for yourself. Meaningfulness and selflessness are very much connected.
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