satisfied suffering servant

Ok, I don’t plan to keep this up, but I’ve got to finish a Sunday that was hard to prepare for and exhausting to experience. Of course it started in preparation for the weekend after the congregation had seen the movie. Sermon: “Why did Jesus have to die?” The perception that the movie was out-of-context sparked a quick explanatory book from John Piper and apparently many sermons across the country to bring it all into perspective and fill in the missing information. Knowing the context and the end of the story, I had planned a worship time that reflected on Jesus’ sacrifice and culminated in the celebratory embracing of new hope, life and forgiveness. As the week went on, I struggled with fitting this sequence together in the service without getting in the way of the atmosphere of the sermon, but still presenting a picture of the context and its fruition. I couldn’t make it happen. I was stubborn, but after seeing the movie, it was clear to me that this wasn’t the appropriate approach. Driving home from the movie, I kept thinking about the scourging and brutality. Though it had affected me completely differently than I might have expected, I still dealt with feelings that visually, it had been too much for the movie. The gospels, after all, seem to only reference it. As I was pondering these thoughts, I began to hear words in my head. “See my servant, He shall prosper and be raised high, greatly exalted. So were many greatly amazed that He was marred beyond all mortals.” Isaiah said He was marred beyond recognition, so that He no longer looked like a man.
But wasn’t it His death that paid for our sins? Why all the beating in the movie? “With His suffering, He shall justify.” “He was wounded for our transgressions.” “By His stripes we are healed.”
So yesterday morning, the deadline for the service details having passed. I set about changing this morning’s service to match my new convictions. DanD was patient, gracious and understanding. I learned a song yesterday afternoon and sang it this morning with guitar, keyboard and percussion. We read Isaiah 52 and 53 as a congregation. We sang. I prayed a deeply heartfelt prayer of thanksgiving. I think God blessed these last minute adjustments. The service was tightly knit and focused and the sermon was strong and poignant. I came home utterly spent. I received phone calls.
Tonight, I took Jack to the church early so he could go to West Columbia with his amazing and deepening community of twelve-year-old brothers led by Pastor Ted to go about the Kingdom with love and a paint brush. Jack and Jason, Ben and Ben, Victor, et. al. These guys might get it before we do. “Hey dad, next week we’re going back over there where we painted to play with little kids.” Ministering to Jesus. What better way to show gratefulness for His sacrifice?

After the suffering of His soul, He will see the light of life and be satisfied.