"Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him... A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench..." {Is.42:1;3}
The context of Isaiah 42:1-4, is properly speaking of course, of our Lord Jesus Christ. However, it can also aptly be applied now to all who are called of God through the redemption which is in Jesus.
"Behold my servant..."
As Jesus came into the world not to be served but to serve; He who was in the form of God, humbled Himself, taking on the form of a servant, now wants to impart to us His spirit of servanthood so that we can go as He did. Jesus said, "As the Father sent me, so I send you." The Father is equipping us, anointing us, and sending us out to be servants. You were saved to serve. As we empty ourselves and humble ourselves even as Jesus did, the Father will uphold His servants!
There is much that could be said and elaborated upon, on the subject of servanthood. However, of particular significance is the attribute of compassion and empathy. "A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench..." As servants of God our ministry needs to reflect compassion, sympathy, and empathy.
A Ministry of Compassion
These figures that Isaiah uses, a "bruised reed," a "dimly burning wick", are expressive of that which is fragile and weak. They symbolize those people who have been broken, or who are about to be broken. People who have been bruised. People who have no strength left to bear up with what life has been throwing against them. Life has left them battered. Jesus always ministered to the hurting with a deep sense of compassion. He never fell on someone like a ton of bricks, (except the self-rigtheous Pharisee's!).
He never broke the bruised reed. He ministered in compassion, sympathy, and empathy. How many are there in our society and in the church that could be described as a "bruised reed"? Do you feel like a, "dimly burning wick"?
There are so many who are hurt and wounded, feeble and weak. People who feel thrown adrift on the sea of life! People who have lost their sense of self worth. Downcast and downtrodden! Poor in spirit! I have talked with people who truly believe they are no better than a heap of rubbish, a pile of garbage! Years ago, while ministering on the streets of New Orleans, I actually met someone whose name was Trash! This wasn't just a sick nickname, this is how his so-called parents felt about him when he was born and actually named him!
Trash was living on the streets at 17 yrs. of age, rejected and dejected, needing to know that he wasn't trash in the sight of God. Even in his rebellious punk-rock life style, Jesus understood the cry of his heart! Jesus came to minister in compassion to him and understood why he was the way he was! I shared with him how God's heart was broken for him, and that God did not consider him trash. I remember telling him how he was created in the image of God and was therefore very precious in the sight of God. But with tears running from his eyes, he said, "No, I'm just a piece of trash!" Satan had convinced him that he was no more valuable than garbage and he had lost all sense of self worth.
As "Servants of the Lord" we are called to minister to the broken hearted who are around us. The bruised reeds, the dimly burning wicks. The Spirit of God sends us daily out into the world to, "Preach the gospel to the poor, to bind up the broken hearted..." Too many in the church today are preaching at people, without compassion. Jesus desires, not, that we preach at them the good news, but that we minister to them the good news!
Jesus' Spirit of servant hood moves in compassion towards the broken hearted, he moves in sympathy, toward the afflicted.
We cannot serve God properly if we are not moving in empathy toward those who are oppressed of the enemy. Satan oppresses people in a myriad of ways. Financial oppression, emotional oppression, physical or spiritual oppression in a hundred different forms and ways! The list of the devil's wiles is endless I'm sure! "We wrestle not against flesh and blood but against, powers and principalities..." There is a real spiritual warfare going on! The man or woman of God who is doing a real work for God in this day and age, the man or woman of God who is doing a job for the Lord today, is a person who is involved with people! The bible tells us that when Jesus saw the multitudes, the afflicted, the poor, the weak, the lost, He was, "Moved with compassion." Compassion is not to be construed as just a mere feeling. Compassion as a mere emotion is valueless. A passive compassion profits nothing. Jesus was moved with compassion. He didn't just "feel" compassion.
Compassion moved Him to action! Compassion as a virtue lies not in feelings but in a volitional, active caring, and reaching out to minister to the "Bruised reeds" and the "Dimly burning wicks".
As you look at the life of Jesus, you see a person who was always quick to respond to someone in need. Oh! That we would learn to be quick to respond to the needs of others! That we would have the same Spirit of servanthood in us, that the Father might say of us, "Behold! My servant in whom my soul delights." Paul tells us, "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus...who made himself of no reputation, and took the form of a servant..." (Phil.2:5;7).
We need to be careful not to be so taken up with the mechanics of church life that we fail to meet the needs of those who are in need. (Remember the parable of the Good Samaritan!).
The Lord will not say at the Judgment seat of Christ, "Did you learn all the mechanics of church life?" What He will say is "I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you took me in, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me!"
Let me amplify this a little more. On that day maybe we will also hear, "I was discouraged in my Spirit, and you encouraged me to, "Fight the good fight of faith."
"There was a time when my wick was burning dimly, the flame of my faith was going out but you stuck by me and fanned that flame back to health!"
I was at a wedding not too long ago, where, during the lighting of the unity candle, the flame started to die out just as the bride, and groom lit the candle. As the newly burning flame struggled, the groom began to gently fan the flame until it was burning strong and bright. The key of course, was fanning the flame gently, if he had waved at it harshly it would have been extinguished completely.
Are we there for the fainthearted? Or do we write them off because they aren't walking up to our level and standards of spirituality? Do we write the weak off as hopeless, not wanting to waste our time on them? Can we serve those who are weak and sin-laden even as Jesus served us? Let us seek the grace of God, in order to serve one another in a spirit of compassion and humility.