Isaiah 50:4-11
4 The Lord YHWH has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary.
Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are
taught.
5 The Lord YHWH has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious; I turned not backward.
6 I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard;
I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting.
7 But the Lord YHWH helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced;
therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame.
8 He who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me?
Let us stand up together. Who is my adversary? Let him come near to me.
9 Behold, the Lord YHWH helps me; who will declare me guilty?
Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them up.
10 Who among you fears the YHWH and obeys the voice of his servant?
Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the YHWH and rely on his God.
11 Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who equip yourselves with burning torches!
Walk by the light of your fire, and by the torches that you have kindled!
This you have from my hand: you shall lie down in torment.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2001 (Is 50:4–11). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
I want to take us through this passage to form an idea of discipleship and worship; what worship and discipleship are and what they are not. When I talk about worship, a lot of us have this idea that worship is music or singing. I will be speaking to a much broader context of worship, which is giving to God what he is due. So, that covers quite a bit (music, time, energy, possessions, money, attitude, etc.). As we go through this, I will be using these terms (discipleship and worship) together, and that’s because they are so closely linked, it will be like two sermons at once. It’s still zero calories, so that’s good. Discipleship and worship are passions of mine, and I’m glad to have the opportunity to share what God has revealed to me and placed on my heart.
In Isaiah 50:4, God, speaking through his prophet Isaiah, tells us, “The Lord YHWH has given me the tongue of those who are taught [or of disciples], that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught [or as a disciple].”
The purpose of our discipleship as believers in Jesus Christ is to become more like our rabbi, our teacher: Jesus. The result of that is that as we engage God, we are able to speak as God teaches us. Our discipleship happens when we hear. The fruit of our discipleship is that we sustain others. In Ephesians 4, the Apostle Paul tells us that by the Spirit we are “equipped for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood … speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”
We mature as disciples and we grow and we sustain one another. This is what happens with discipleship and maturity, but how does it happen? How do we mature? The first step in maturing as disciples is to be taught!
The Prophet Isaiah does not say that he has the tongue of one who thought great things — he didn’t say he was a philosopher. He says he was taught. He learned! He received some sort of education as a disciple. That learning is by the revelation of God. We use this word a lot. Revelation. There’s an entire book in the Bible called Revelation. It’s this word that means something that is revealed. When we talk about the Bible, it is God revealing himself to us through the Prophets. Our discipleship and our worship begin with revelation!
In the pagan worship of ancient times, and even now in witchcraft and idolatry, worship was initiated by the worshiper. The follower of an idol would petition the false god - or demon - and expect for the god to respond. We see firsthand in 1 Kings 18. YHWH has sent Elijah to challenge the false prophets of the false god Baal. They all pray, and whichever deity responds by burning up the sacrifice first is true. The false prophets of Baal setup their altar. They started yelling and praying for Baal to answer them. They jumped around and made a big show, but nothing. Then they started cutting themselves. They wanted to get Baal’s attention! Surely he would be concerned now that they were bleeding over everything. Nothing happened.
Elijah’s altar was drenched in water. He prayed, “that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.” And then YHWH set fire to the altar and consumed the offering and the wood and the stones.
What was the difference between Elijah and the prophets of Baal? You might say, “Well, the difference is that Baal was false, and that YHWH is real.” Yes, that’s a difference here, but it’s not the key. In fact, Baal was an idol of the Caananites. The word Baal even meant “Lord.” On the surface, the followers of Baal had many of the appearances of holy worship. Casual followers in the culture may have had no idea of the real differences between Baal worship and worship of the One true God, YHWH. The key difference is not the false idol versus the real God, but it’s found in Elijah’s prayer in 1 Kings 18:36, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word.”
Do you see it? Do you see in Elijah’s prayer that he testified that he was doing this in response to YHWH? God revealed himself to Elijah and then he responded in obedience.
The question is of initiation! True worship is initiated by God, false worship is initiated by us. Don’t be confused by what I mean here. We don’t merely stand still, waiting for God to send a ghost hand to write out lyrics on a wall. God has worked similarly to this — just check out the Book of Daniel. I mean that our true worship is set into motion by God revealing himself to us. True worship is not predicated on me selfishly desiring a benefit or a character trait or something for myself. In Genesis we read how God breathed into Adam’s nostrils, and the very first act of worship was Adam obediently exhaling — obediently doing what God had made him to do.
Our God is not manipulated! God is not impressed with our suffering! We do not elicit his favor by playing the victim. Even our good deeds are like filthy rags to God. John Piper wrote about the Christians in the days of William Wilberforce, who observed that they “were ‘nominal’. They pursued morality without first relying utterly on the free gift of justification by grace alone through faith alone on the basis of Christ alone. They got things backward: first they strived for moral uplift; then they appealed to God for approval. That is not the Christian gospel.” We do not convince God of how great our plans and thoughts and ideas are, because our worship is our obedient response to God’s revelation. When we get it right, our good deeds and works pour out of a heart delighting in God. Elijah did not schedule an event to show of God’s mighty power. He didn’t say, “I’ve got a great idea,” and then take out advertising and lease out the convention center. God said, “Elijah do this,” and Elijah worshiped God by doing what he was told.
Do you struggle to hear God? Audibly? Spiritually? Isaiah writes of this disciple, “YHWH opened my ear.” This is a struggle! Not all of us are prophets, who hear an audible voice of God speaking to us. Even those who do, it may not be an all day every day sort of thing. We don’t all have visions and dreams.
I said before that the Bible is the written Revelation of God, given to us. God initiated worship of him by revealing himself to us through the prophets and the Holy Scriptures and then in the person of Jesus Christ. I want to cover three ways in which God has revealed and continues to reveal himself. This is not all-inclusive, but it is a starting point for a disciple of any age.
1. The Bible.
If you want to mature in your discipleship, it starts with scripture. Learn the Word of God. Prayerfully engage God in this way, and ask for conviction and understanding. When you understand, respond to God in praise. When convicted, respond with confession and repentance. That’s what James is talking about when he writes that we must be doers of the Word. When we engage God and wrestle with what he reveals to us about himself we cannot remain the same. He leaves his mark on us! We are changed forever. When Jacob wrestled with God, he was left with a limp the rest of his life. We should limp! But you and I could pretend to have a limp, but that is trying to force a result that God did not initiate.
2. The Spirit. God initiates his revelation to us through scripture. And now also through the workings of the Holy Spirit. This happens through preaching, teaching, prophecy, and other gifts. That’s not to say that every sermon and every person who says that have a word from God should be followed blindly. That’s foolish! We must discern by scripture and by the gift of discerning of spirits.
3. Nature.
Now here’s one where the environmentalists get all excited and conservatives get nervous, but the fact is that God reveals himself to us through nature and his creation. It’s true! [slide 29] In Romans 1:20, Paul tells us, “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.” Where this gets people into trouble and into idolatry is when we worship the creation and not the Creator. That’s why polytheists think there are gods of the sun and the moon and the grass and the river and all sorts of things — the Devil has deceived them into worshiping the creation over the Creator.
Now our obedient response to this revelation of God to us is what we call worship. And we mature as disciples of Jesus Christ by repetition of this. As we engage God, and we respond to his Holy Spirit, often going beyond our comfort zone for the sake of loving God’s people, we learn all the more how God speaks to us.
Outside our comfort zone? We talk about it like it’s a place we visit on weekends. “Wow, that was outside my comfort zone. I’m glad that’s over!” We love talking about it in the past tense. It’s like a terrible vacation that we can’t wait to share with everyone. “Did I tell you about my stay outside the comfort zone? I can’t wait to share it with you — I have a four hour slide show.” We can’t wait to get back into our comfort zone! Comfort? Forget about it! Read through Ezekiel to see what he did in obedience to his maker. Let’s just say, I know my wife is glad I haven’t been told to cook disgusting biscuits over flaming pooh! That’s outside of my comfort zone, but it is something that God directed his prophet to do in order to reveal himself to his people.
Popularity? Was Elijah popular? No. Not even a little bit. He was well-known, and the King called him a troublemaker. The King wanted him dead. But he did it anyway, because he served God and he was no slave to fear. Isaiah writes, “and I was not rebellious; I turned not backward.” He heard from God and he responded with obedience. This is worship!
“I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard. I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting.” There is opposition to disciples of Jesus Christ, but our strength is found in God! “But the Lord YHWH helps me, therefore I have not been disgraced. Therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame.” My wife pointed out that setting one’s face like a flint is to not only stand with strength against an assault, but that by our testimony in obediently presenting our face in obedience to our God a spark of holiness may ignite the fire of the Holy Spirit.
Our discipleship is a process, like our sanctification. It is a process of God revealing himself to you, you responding in obedience and worship, and then repeating it. This process develops maturity. This process serves others! The fruit of the Spirit at work in you will be a tangible blessing in the lives of those that God is loving through you!
A few years back, my grandma passed away. My step-mom had told Lisa the story of how every time she would return home from college, Grandma would have a plate of her favorite cookies all ready for her. Lisa told me she felt that my step-mom was going through a difficult time, and thought it was important to make up a batch for her. When we got to the funeral, which was a six hour drive for us, and about three hours for my parents, Lisa presented them. Now, on the surface you may think, “What a nice gesture that comforts a family member.” The fact is that my step-mom had also made these cookies and was planning to bring them to the family dinner, where so many relatives were bringing Grandma’s classic dinners. Lisa didn’t know this. Lisa also didn’t know that in the midst of all that goes into an extended trip and funeral planning, my step-mom had forgotten the cookies at home. Lisa, by obedience to the Holy Spirit at work in her in hospitality, ministered to God’s people! God loved my step-mom through the obedience of my wife. Praise God.
Discipleship and worship will develop maturity, serve others, and serve ourselves as we benefit from the grace of God at work in us. And most importantly, our discipleship and worship will exalt Jesus Christ. God, the initiator of worship, is also the primary purpose and benefactor of our worship. Jesus Christ is the Word that God spoke that went forth in creation. As we engage God and are convicted of sin, we are convicted to repent of those things that are against God. This brings glory to God.
This must be done on God’s schedule, not our own. We must commit, as Christ followers, to be open to God’s schedule for our discipleship and not simply “when we feel like it.” God spoke through his prophet Isaiah, “Who among you fears YHWH and obeys the voice of his servant? Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of YHWH and rely on his God. Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who equip yourselves with burning torches! Walk by the light of your fire, and by the torches that you have kindled! This you have from my hand: you shall lie down in torment.”
When we worship in response to God’s revelation, it will be emotional. There is passion of heart. When we are in the dark, we must turn God’s true light. It will never do for a Christ follower to manufacture and whip up an emotional event that is born within. A gospel of experience will never stand once faced with the experience of the gospel.
Our response to God’s revelation must be a commitment to authentic worship, responsive and obedient. To hearts, actions, speech, and words that bring glory to Jesus Christ. We must actively seek the revelation of God and his direction, and not passively respond to our emotions and feelings and logic.
I encourage you, that as you engage God’s Word, break up the fallow ground. Those areas where you may have once been fertile but have since become hardened. In our lives, it is a simple matter to take a rake across hard ground and scratch the surface. We are only too willing to put on a show of the work involved. But to break up the fallow ground, we must dig deep, like a plow, and turn up that soil so that it is unrecognizable. Confess your sins against God to God, and your sins against one another to each other, and repent. Declare that Jesus Christ is your head and the Lord over those areas of your life which had been given over to sin. Respond to the revelation that Jesus Christ gave his life for us. That his death paid the price of our sins, revealing God’s will for us to be in relationship with him. Respond to the revelation that Jesus Christ’s resurrection tells us that death will not have the last word. Sing his praises. If you’re not a singer, then pray his praises. As you leave this place and head into your week, may you walk in the strength of Jesus Christ and abandon any lie that your strength is sufficient for yourself. May you walk in the understanding and revelation that God’s grace is sufficient for you. May the disciples of Jesus Christ worship him with true hearts of worship, directed by the Holy Spirit in ministry for the sake of glorifying the name of Jesus.
Amen.
