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Our mission team is in Cuba right now.
For their trip, we asked for support from all of you. The response was incredible.
Many backpacks and items. And cash amounts that exceeded what we asked for: almost $30,000.
I reflected on what that means.
The amount of support we received tells me this: there is a real desire for goodness in this world.
You were inspired by people who wanted to go simply to serve.
They’re not going to spend time on a resort. They paid their own money and all expenses simply to see what good we can do.
And you in turn wanted to support that desire to do good.
There was no ulterior motive, nothing suspicious. So you gave so generously.
All of this tells me that people are wired for goodness. We are created to do good acts for one another.
Seeing pure goodness in others inspires us. It makes us want to do good as well.
Doing good is what makes us most human. Doing good things here and there feels good.
But what about doing good everyday, as your job even?
It almost sounds silly in today’s world.
When I was younger, many young people wanted to do good in this world. There were many things for young people – things like service corps, volunteering opportunities.
A whole generation was inspired by JFK’s famous speech: “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.”
(Working at P&G in my university days – community work)
But I sense that kind of idealism to be dead now.
What young people see now is a world full of competition and self interest.
They see the opposite of goodness. They see a world where you have to fight to get what you need. They see meanness, greed, the will to power.
And so the heart gets jaded. It becomes cynical. It doubts the possibility of real goodness in this world. And they look out for what’s best for them.
But this lack of goodness is causing so many issues.
Many people struggle with mental health issues, lack of joy, loss of meaning. I think a huge reason is that they see no motivation to do good in this world. There is nothing beyond themselves to live for.
Israel was set apart to do good in this world. To be a blessing. They were called to live a new way – the way of God’s goodness.
But they were a small country surrounded by powerful neighbours. Those neighbours did not care much about goodness. They were more interested in power and wealth.
Small nations like Israel got beat up by those powerful neighbours.
Israel experienced slavery in Egypt, being under the thumb of Philistines, forced assimilation by the Assyrians, and deportation and exile under the Babylonians.
They experienced the lack of goodness firsthand.
They had to decide: would they give up on their unique identity and become like other nations? Or would they remain distinct as the people of God?
Would they resign themselves to the world as they experienced – a world without goodness – or would they reinterpret their experiences of suffering and maintain faith in goodness?
Isaiah was a prophet during one of these difficult times. His people were crushed by Babylon, and its leaders were deported to live as exiles there.
They experienced the raw power of a mighty nation. They suffered indignity, humiliation and powerlessness.
This is how one psalmist described it:
By the rivers of Babylon— there we sat down, and there we wept when we remembered Zion. On the willows there we hung up our harps. For there our captors asked us for songs, and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” How could we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land? (Psalm 137:1-4)
They were asking difficult questions in their hearts.
In this situation, Isaiah saw new meaning in their suffering.
Their suffering was not meaningless. Isaiah interpreted their weakness not as something to be ashamed of, but as the very means through which God was creating something new.
God gave Isaiah the vision of a Servant.
We don’t know exactly who this servant is. But in a way, this Servant represented Israel. It represented a new interpretation of Israel’s suffering.
Today’s passage is one of four servant songs.
We see here the purpose of the servant:
The Lord God has given me a trained tongue, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. (Isaiah 50:4)
The purpose of the servant is to do good for the weary. To lift them with a word.
But the servant runs into a big challenge:
The Lord God has opened my ear, but I was not rebellious; I did not turn backward. I gave my back to those who struck me and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide my face from insult and spitting. (Isaiah 50:5-6)
In trying to do good, the Servant runs into vile opposition.
They strike him. They pull out his beard. They spit on him and insult him.
But in that suffering of persecution, the Servant discovers something:
The Lord God helps me… It is the Lord God who helps me. (Isaiah 50:7, 9)
He discovers the presence and power of God.
When you look at this world, it often seems like a world without God. People look at all the evil in this world as evidence that there’s no God.
I can see why people think that.
God is definitely not present in the evil and sin of this world.
But there is one place that God has chosen to be: with those who suffer for doing good.
When those who try to do good suffer for it, God is there with them.
That is what Jesus meant when he said this:
Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:10)
Those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness will taste the kingdom of heaven. They will be in the presence of God.
Today is Passion Sunday. We reflect on the suffering of Jesus.
Jesus’ life took on the shape of this servant.
He did good. He loved this world.
But the world did not love Jesus.
People did not like what Jesus did. It made them very uncomfortable. They opposed Jesus. They began plotting against him.
In the Garden of Gethsemane, this is what Jesus experienced:
Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and began to be grieved and agitated. Then he said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and stay awake with me.” And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me, yet not what I want but what you want.” (Matthew 26:36-39)
He did not want the suffering that was to come. But in that moment, he experienced the power of God.
He experienced the help of God.
After this experience in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus was able to bear his suffering all the way to the cross.
Jesus suffered persecution not in spite of his righteousness, but BECAUSE of it.
Our world is so twisted that if you try to do good, you WILL suffer persecution.
People will not pat you on the back and say, “good job”.
They will look at you funny. They will think you are strange. They will look for ways to take you down. They will look for any reason to tear you apart.
It’s to the point where doing good is seen as a bad thing now.
One of the first things the US government cut off was the US Agency for International Development.
They provide help for millions of vulnerable people around the world. They attacked funding for churches that provide shelter and help for refugees.
This is becoming more and more a dark, cold world.
In these times, we need to restore our thirst for righteousness. We need to rekindle our desire for good. We need to overcome the fear of doing good.
Now is not the time to keep your head in the sand. To keep your head down and stay in your lane.
Now is the time to seek the good that God desires.
God is calling YOU to do good.
It is not the easy path. Jesus’ death on the cross is evidence of that.
But it is the only way that leads to life.
You want to find meaning in life? Do good for others.
Do good and seek righteousness – right living. Take on the righteous suffering that will come your way.
When you find yourself alone, powerless and tormented, God will be with you. You will experience the presence and power of God.
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