Fight for Goodness

St Timothy Presbyterian Church in Toronto: Sermons

Scripture Passage

Isaiah 50:4-9

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Doing Good for Others

Isaiah was a prophet in Babylon. He was part of the exiles who were deported from Jerusalem. He ministered to the exiles. He ministered to people who were weary.

God gave Isaiah a gift.

The Lord God has given me a trained tongue, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. (Isaiah 50:4)

Isaiah's gift was to give strength to the weary exiles with a word. A word to sustain them. To keep them going.

I believe that we are all created to do good. We are all given something to help others.

I believe that our ultimate purpose on this earth is to do good for others.

The spiritual journey connects you with the good that God has given you to help others.

We hope that others will receive what we have to give. We hope they will be thankful and appreciative.

Seeing people appreciate our goodness is like fuel that keeps us going. We want affirmation for the good we do.

But somehow, that's not always the case.

Doubt Over the Bad

My good intentions are not always received well. Sometimes they're misunderstood.

People can receive what I do badly. Instead of the good I'm trying to do, they only see the bad.

We are all a mixture of good and bad. I'm not perfect. I try to do good, but sometimes it gets distorted by the bad in me. It taints the good I want to do.

All of this is part of who we are.

But people see the bad. They judge you based on the bad.

They're eager to point out your flaws. They let you know how bad you are.

When others only see the bad and not the good you want to do, you wonder what's the point of trying to do good.

Doubt creeps in.

This is the dilemma Isaiah was facing.

He spoke the word God gave to sustain the weary. But it wasn't well received.

The more he spoke what God said, the more people rejected it. He was tempted to stop listening.

But that is not what he did.

The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious; I did not turn backward. (Isaiah 50:5)

He could just stay quiet and not stir up any reaction. But he did not shut off his ear. He did not turn backward. He persisted in doing good.

Conviction in What You Do

What are you living for? Where does your conviction come from? Are you driven by the need for approval from others?

Or are you driven by your deepest convictions about what is good? Are you living out your convictions and doing your best to do good?

Isaiah was convicted by the rightness of what he was doing. It was unshakeable.

That conviction came from his deep connection with God.

Morning by morning he wakens – wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught. (Isaiah 50:4)

Every day, he listened to what God was saying.

God made clear what Isaiah had to do. God gave him the words to speak.

When you know what you have to do, and that conviction comes from God, nothing can shake you.

Even if others reject you, you can stand firm in what you have to do.

A New Vision for Humanity

Many scholars believe Isaiah was not speaking about himself. He was speaking of a servant. They don't know exactly who this servant was.

This Servant was more of an ideal. An ideal of a new humanity.

In exile, Isaiah saw a new vision for a new humanity. His experience in exile changed how he saw things.

He experienced how difficult life was for the weak. How weary life was for the poor. He saw the stark contrast between the rich and poor, strong and weak.

In this situation, God gave Isaiah a new vision for humanity. A humanity driven by goodness.

This is what he saw:

The wolf shall live with the lamb; the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
the calf and the lion will feed together, and a little child shall lead them. (Isaiah 11:6)

No more wars. No more domination over the weak by the strong. Only goodness.

The Servant embodied this new vision of humanity.

A humanity that did not react to hate. A humanity that broke the cycle of anger and violence. A humanity in which goodness would triumph over evil.

This Servant would carry on goodness and even absorb the hate of others.

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 50:6)

No vengeance. No hate. No bitterness.

Only confidence. Only resoluteness. Only goodness.

The exiles would overcome their weakness not through power but by resolute goodness. That was the way of salvation for all peoples.

They were to be a light for all peoples by living the way of goodness.

This vision captured the imagination of Jews.

But for 600 years, it was only in their imagination. For 600 years, they struggled with this vision in a world driven by power.

But 600 years later, followers of Jesus connected the vision of this Servant with the life of Jesus.

Jesus lived out the goodness of God.

Somehow, the good that Jesus did stirred up a fierce reaction against him.

People opposed him. Despised him. Attacked him.

But he did not react to hate. He did not hide from rejection.

He simply did what he had to do. He absorbed their hate and rejection on the cross.

Passion Week

Today is Passion Sunday. It is the beginning of the Passion Week. It is the week in which Jesus absorbed the rejection and hate of the world.

But right to the end, Jesus did what he had to do. He trusted God. He trusted God's goodness.

Jesus' confidence was vindicated.

Hate and evil killed Jesus, but God raised him from the dead. Hatred and evil could not overcome goodness.

That is the faith we live with. That is why we celebrate Easter.

Easter is the most important day for us because God's goodness is vindicated.

It gives us assurance that we too can live lives of goodness and prevail.

Evil and hatred may seem to win right now, but God's goodness will prevail.

In God’s Goodness

My friends, look at your own lives. You have all been through your own challenges. You've had to overcome obstacles.

But God's goodness prevails in your life. You are here because God's goodness has prevailed.

God's goodness has sustained you, lifted you up, and given you grace. You are all here today because of God's goodness.

I get so inspired listening to stories of what you've had to overcome. You are living witnesses to the goodness of God in your lives.

The goodness of God is all around you. And it is within you.

Despite all the sins that are part of you, there is good that God has created in you. Good that you are to share with the world.

We are all sinners. But God's goodness is greater than your sin.

Our fight today is the fight for goodness.

People turn to power because of fear. Their fear makes them mean and angry. People don't want to stick their necks out.

But we remain on the side of goodness. We fight for goodness.

Don't turn away from good. Fight the good fight of faith. Do good. Listen carefully to what God is telling you to do. Then go and do it.

No matter what others say or do. Be confident in God's goodness.

God will be with you. God will vindicate you. God's goodness will prevail in your life.

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