Suffering Servants
Isaiah 53:1-12; John 13:1-35[1]
It’s hard to look at
this world and not be overwhelmed with all the suffering you see. Most of us
don’t have to look very far, because in some form or another suffering is a
part of our lives. What makes that hard for us is our tendency to resist
suffering. We think it’s not “supposed” to be that way. We’re “supposed” to be
happy and joyful. But life doesn’t work like that. For some of us suffering
comes sooner, for others it comes later, but it inevitably comes to us all. We
can either accept it as a part of life, or we can beat our heads against a
“wall” trying to avoid it. I think a lot of us probably do some of each.
One of my favorite
authors has a different view of suffering. He says that our experience of
suffering connects us with the human family, because suffering is something
that we all have in common.[2] When I think of our Scripture lessons for this evening, I think that our
suffering is what makes it possible for us to serve others the way Jesus did.
It’s hard to actually serve someone if you aren’t able to relate somehow to
their life experience.
Our lesson from the
book of the prophet Isaiah is one of the most beloved passages of the Bible. This
lesson paints a beautiful picture of what it looks like when someone is willing
to answer the call to serve others, even when it means suffering on their
behalf. The main theme of Isaiah 53 is that the “Servant of the Lord,” whom we
identify as Jesus, took our sins upon himself so that we might be made whole
and right with God. I must confess, however, that the part of this passage that
comforts me most is the statement, “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried
our sorrows” (Isa. 53:4, RSV). That’s the language of older translations; it’s
not found in our pew Bible. I like the older version because it reminds me that
Jesus not only bore our sins, but he also knew the grief and sorrow we bear in
this life. Jesus knows what it’s like to suffer for the sake of others!
One of the challenges
some people have with this thought is that somehow an “angry God” made Jesus
suffer in this way to satisfy a need to punish us for our sins. That image of
God is a scary one in a world where people so often abuse others. But I don’t
think that’s the point of Isaiah 53. The point is that God’s “Servant” is
called to suffer on behalf of others because that’s what God does. The God who
never quits loving us is a God who suffers for
us and for with us.[3] What we see on that cross is God’s love poured out for us all, taking on all
the pain and suffering of the world, in order that we might find God right in
the middle of it all, using it to create new life. And we see in Jesus a “suffering
servant” who is willing to fulfill God’s love for us even when it leads to a
humiliating death on a cross.
That brings me to our
lesson from John’s Gospel. As Jesus was preparing his closest disciples for his
death, he shared a meal with them. And at this meal he did something none of
them would even consider doing for each other: he washed their feet! I think
what Jesus was trying to impress on them was that this humble, self-sacrificing
love is the kind of love that defines God’s very character. It’s the kind of
love that Jesus shared with his disciples. And it’s the kind of love that Jesus
commanded them to share with one another: “I give you a new commandment, that
you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one
another” (Jn 13:34).
Jesus showed them what
this kind of love looked like in real life by washing their feet. He washed the
feet of Judas, who would betray him. He washed the feet of Peter, who would
deny even knowing him. He washed the feet of the others, who would abandon him
and run for their lives. I think Jesus knew all of this, and yet he still loved
every one of them by washing their feet. And he commanded all who call him
“Savior” and “Lord” to love others in the same way.
When we understand
Jesus’ command to love one another through the lens of his willingness to follow
the path of the “suffering servant,” I think it opens up some new ways for us
to understand our lives. If we decide to obey this command and love others
enough to humble ourselves as Jesus did, we’re going to find that choice
uncomfortable at times, like washing people’s feet would be. But there are
going to be times when loving others will be painful. Instead of trying to
avoid the path of suffering, we can choose to embrace it.
That doesn’t mean that
we go out looking for suffering. But when it comes, and it will, we can look
for the good that God is doing in our lives, and through us, in the lives of
those who are hurting all around us. Like Jesus, we may have to suffer to truly
serve the hurting people in our lives.[4] We
choose that path because suffering love is the way God loves us. We serve
others through what we may have to suffer because that’s the way Jesus served
us. And Jesus calls us to follow him on this path as “suffering servants,” loving
others even when it’s uncomfortable, serving others even when we suffer for it.
[1] ©
2022 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm, Ph. D. for Hickman
Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.
[2]
Cf. Henri Nouwen, Turn My Mourning Into Dancing, 5-11. He challenges us
to embrace our suffering in the faith that God will redeem it and use it for
good rather than seeking to avoid it.
[3]
Cf. “The Study Catechism,” 1998, q. 14: “In Jesus Christ God suffers with us,
knowing all our sorrows. In raising him from the dead, God gives new hope to
the world. Our Lord Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, is himself God's promise
that suffering will come to an end, that death shall be no more, and that all
things will be made new.”
[4]
Nouwen, Turn My Mourning Into Dancing, 11: “In Christ we see God
suffering—for us. And calling us to share in God’s suffering love for a hurting
world.”
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