Justice Has Come to Light :: Isaiah 42:1-7
Behold, all of them are evil; their works are nothingness. Their breath and images are formless (Isa 41:29).
1. The darkness of our world is real.
Did you know in 2019, there were 656,243 cases of child abuse in the US? That’s enough children to fill Arrowhead Stadium eight and a half times. There were another 3.5 million cases of abuse referred to child protection agencies. How many of those ended up getting lost in the darkness of the system? The trauma of child abuse affects us all ... every day. Fourteen percent of all men in prison and 36 percent of all women were abused as children. Five children die at the hands of an abuser every day; three of those were younger than 3.
The darkness of our world is real.
Abuse isn’t limited to children. It is just as dark and tragic when it happens to adults. It comes in all forms: physical, emotional, sexual, and psychological. Too many people are trapped in that darkness. Many suffer for the rest of their lives. One in three women and one quarter of all men have experienced it. We see it in families and friendships, between co-workers and strangers. It doesn’t always leave physical scars. But it doesn’t have to. It includes the silent treatment, withholding affection, threats, name-calling, intimidation, isolation. Those lost in that darkness often feel there is nowhere to run.
The darkness of our world is real.
Doctors and nurses are ever alert for signs of it affecting their patients. One of the first questions I was asked at the hospital last month was, Do you feel safe at home? And I was there because my heart was lost in the darkness of AFib, not abuse. Though I am safe and loved, I’m so glad they asked because the darkness of our world is real. Too many of us suffer silently, afraid and ashamed.
2. The darkness of the world leads to despair and it demands justice be brought to bear.
Who isn’t for that? We all want justice, don’t we? Especially for those who spread the darkness of physical, emotional, sexual, and psychological abuse. We demand justice for those who murder, and who commit adultery. We demand it for liars and thieves. We demand it from extortioners and blackmailers, and those who rip us off. We should demand it for gossips.
We’ve created minimum sentencing laws to enforce justice. We even have an Oklahoma judge who once handed down a 30,000 year sentence in 1994. ... (Yes, you heard that right: Thirty Thousand Years) ... to Charles Scott Robinson, who had been convicted of raping a three-year old six times ... He will be eligible for parole in 7,987.
3. We all deserve justice. But is that what you really want?
Denial of our sinfulness may deceive others. But you can’t hide it in the darkness forever.
David sinned grievously in the act of adultery with Bathsheba and subsequent murder of her husband, Uriah. He hid behind his lies. For a while, he even seemed to get along in life without remorse. But you can’t hide in the darkness forever.
Ultimately, Nathan caught him in his lies. So David confessed. But all too often we glibly admit that we are all sinners ... that we don’t deserve God’s grace and presence in our lives (Rm 3:23). We then act like we are contrite and therefore deserving of having our sin overlooked. We then dull the sting of our sin by saying there are many who are far more sinful, or worse, we compare ourselves to those who get caught. We even have a sense of joy over our cleverness in avoiding detection of our sin.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, you cannot deceive God. He knows the hearts of men. His law exposes your darkness. He knows where and how you hide. And his anger burns at the sight of sin. Adam and Eve tried to hide in the darkness of their closet. They tried to deny and cover their shame. They tried to cast blame to others: the woman to the serpent, and the man to the woman, and even to God himself. But the Lord exposed the darkness of their hearts, and then executed justice, barring them from the garden of paradise.
Death leads to darkness. Listen to the apostles and prophets. Don’t deceive yourselves: no one makes a fool of God (Gal 6:7). Behold ... your iniquities have separated you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. ... Your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies; your tongue mutters wickedness (Isa 59:1-3).
Brothers and sisters in Christ ...
3. I can’t even begin to expose all of the darkness in your life. So I urge you: Repent in the name of Jesus.
Confess your sins. And believe the Gospel, and Consider your calling ... God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God (1 Cor 1:16-26).
You have begun hearing the Gospel.
BEHOLD, GOD IS BRINGING TO LIGHT THE FORGIVENESS OF YOUR SINS BY REVEALING HIS SUFFERING SERVANT
Thus says the Lord ... Behold, my servant, I will support him; My Chosen One, my being is pleased [in him]. I give my Spirit upon him. Justice for nations, He will cause to go forth. He will not cry out and not lift up (his voice), and not cause it to be heard outside (vv 1-3).
4. In this epiphany of our Lord, you can now hear and see how God has overcome the darkness of the world.
(Point to Cross) Behold, there is how he gave you justice! There is your savior. The Lord God almighty, the maker of the heavens and the earth, became flesh to dwell among us. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the Chosen One of Israel. As John the Baptizer would reveal to us: Behold, He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He is the Christ. He is the almighty. He is the maker of heaven and earth. He has established salvation through faith in him alone. He is your redeemer. He is the fulfiller of all righteousness. He is Immanuel. Justice has been served by him, through him ... for you.
From the beginning, God has demanded the death of sin ... Yes, your sin. Sin has no part with God. But God didn’t create you to be in darkness. He created you to be in the light. Because you couldn’t pay for your own sin, God did the only thing he could: He gave his only begotten son, our Lord Jesus Christ as the atonement for our sin. Though Jesus knew no sin, he suffered for sin ... all your sin, my sin, the world’s sin, today’s sin, tomorrow’s sin. Righteous in every way, he died for your sin. And now, though our sins are as scarlet, he is making us as white as that snow outside. You have new life in his righteousness.
6. Behold, his servant: In this way, God has enlightened your life, declaring you just.
God fulfilled this by uniting himself with us in his means of grace. In baptism, God has opened your eyes to see your salvation on the altar when we have the Lord’s Supper. He has opened your ears to hear the Gospel that Jesus has forgiven your sins on account of his life, death, and resurrection. And he is opening your eyes to see that baptism, absolution, and the Lord’s Supper all work together, and should never be separated. They are all part and parcel with the Gospel. Through these means of grace, Christ continues to deliver us from the darkness of sin and death.
Behold, his servant has established a covenant with himself to bring forth his peace, which is the forgiveness of sins, through his means of grace. Isaiah says it so clearly: Thus says The God, Yahweh, the one creating the heavens, stretching them out, and beating out the earth and what comes from it, giving breath to its people and spirit to those walking on it: I am Yahweh, have called you in righteousness, and will strengthen you by your hand, and will guard you, and give you a covenant for the people, to be a light for the nations, to open the blind eyes, to bring the prisoners out of the dungeon, and those sitting in darkness (vv 6-7).
You who recognize you have the forgiveness of sins are no longer blind or deaf. He has liberated you. So thank the Lord and sing his praise and tell everyone what he has done.
There will be times when any of us may sense injustice in our lives and may be tempted to despair of this life with its pain and frustration. We may be tempted to despair of our sin. We may be tempted to cry out: It’s not fair.
But then let us open our eyes to see Christ, who reveals himself in word and sacraments to strengthen us, and guard us and keep us. Hear his Gospel today: He has given himself as a covenant to us, an everlasting covenant that he cannot break, bringing justice to light. Forgiveness is yours forever.