"Never Silent, Always His"

Scripture: Isaiah 62:1-9

Here is Mother Teresa of Calcutta:

We need to find God and God cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature - trees, flowers, grass - grow in silence; see the stars, the moon, the sun, how they move in silence. Is not our mission to give God to the poor in the slums? Not a dead God, but a living, loving God. The more we receive in silent prayer, the more we can give in our active life. We need silence to be able to touch souls. The essential thing is not what we say, but what God says to us and through us. All our words will be useless unless they come from within - words which do not give the light of Christ increase the darkness.
(quoted in James Roose-Evans, The Inner Stage [Cambridge, Mass.: Cowley Publications, 1990], 130)

Mother Teresa had such a marvelous faith, and praise God that she let others experience God thought the revelations that were given to her. And what does she give us this time? That we must receive in silence, but then let it end when we begin to share what God has given us.

And why do we need silence? Have you ever tried to carry on a conversation with someone who keeps interrupting you? Or try to visit in a room that is so noisy you can hardly think? The words get lost, don’t they. The same thing is true when God is trying to get through to us. If our clamor doesn’t stop long enough to hear all that God wants us to know, how will we ever learn what the Lord has in store for us?
But I think a lot of people understand this, and go out of their way to find a quiet place on a regular basis for prayer. But what are we to do once we get the message? Quietly reflect on the revelation of God? Treasure it up in our hearts as Mary did after the shepherds’ visit? Or do we break the silence with a resounding witness to the world around us?

Read Isaiah 62:1-5

God’s word is not ours to keep – it’s given to us for others! But the problem is that the word that is given isn’t always one that everyone will want to hear. The prophet Isaiah received many words of warning for Judah, and he never kept them to himself. He made sure that the nation would never miss God’s message, and they were not received very warmly. And we tend to remember Isaiah for the warnings.
But the prophet also offered the people words of hope and promise and encouragement. Isaiah is generally acknowledged as the one who spoke the Messianic message more than any other. His 9th chapter (9:1-7) is a marvelous message of hope, and when we combine that with today’s text, we have a word of such great significance that it just has to be shared.

“For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent … till her righteousness shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch”. The message isn’t for his sake, and it isn’t even for the Lord Jehovah’s sake that it must be proclaimed – it is for the nation, its for the Church, it's for the world, that all might know that God is their God, and wants only the best for their lives. And that best? What is the Lord’s best? It’s no less than the glory of his salvation that is poised to rain down on those who love his Son. That’s the Father’s greatest desire, you know. He doesn’t want us to experience condemnation, he doesn’t want us to be separated from him, he doesn’t want us to wander aimlessly in the wilderness of earth. He wants us to be bathed in the glow of his righteousness.
Why wouldn’t anyone want to hear that, and to receive that? Many don’t, you know, and I struggle in wondering just what the reason might be. Is it because they think there are divine strings attached? Is it because they don’t trust the promise? Is it because they don’t trust the one who is carrying the message? Is it because the words just sound too good to be true? Or is it that they just don’t want to give up what they already know?
That 10 year old faded cap that has NY Giants printed on it, instead of a divine “crown of splendor”?
The name your parents gave you a few years ago instead of the new one that God has saved for you since before time began?
Alone and lost in the world instead of walking in a loving relationship filled with the majesty of Almighty God?
We will no longer have any reason to feel deserted, to reason to feel desolate – the promise is in the Lord - he is offering us a new start, a new relationship, a new way, a new name of “Delight”!

How can anyone possibly keep silent with a word like that in their hearts?

Read Isaiah 62:6-9

“You who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest, and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth.” Now, you may be focused on those words “give yourselves no rest”, and think that this might not be all that great a thing! “I get tired, you know!” Tiredness is a very real issue for humans. After 10 days in Israel, and a 12 hour flight home, and a 4 hour bus ride to Binghamton on Tuesday, and no water in the house when we got there and none until after I left on Thursday (but that’s another story!), and a seminary paper that still wasn’t done, and a 6 hour trip to Washington, and a late night and early morning getting the paper in shape for class on Friday, and then after 8 hours of theology and philosophical thought that went until 9:00 at night, I was a little tired when my head finally hit the pillow.
But the prophet isn’t talking about that kind of tired. I believe that he’s talking about spiritual fatigue, our desire to give up trying because the Lord isn’t responding to us in the way we expect him to. Isaiah wrote in chapter 40:31 “… those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” And Matthew wrote these words from Jesus (11:28) “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” It’s not about getting a nap, it’s not about settling back into a time of nothingness – it’s about giving the Lord all that we have to give, and then receiving more of his strength to continue with the task that is at hand.

The Lord God Almighty wants his people to know that he wants the very best for them, and is ready, willing, and able to go the distance with us and for us. But the question is - are we willing to do the same for him?

The theologian Andrew Lincoln writes:
So good works are not the source, but the goal of the new relationship between humanity and God. Salvation is not by works but for works.
--Andrew T. Lincoln, Ephesians: Volume 42, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word Books, 1990), 114.

And that is why Isaiah is calling us to never be silent after we receive the revelation of God. We are to do something with it! In Romans 1:15-17, Paul writes that he “is not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.” And this is why he is so enthusiastic about preaching it. Paul never seemed to have a problem with being silent - not before his meeting with Christ on the Damascus Road, and definitely not after.

How about us? Do any of us have a hesitation in sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with those who the Lord brings into our life? He has such incredible words of hope for us – have you heard them? Have you taken the time to listen for him? If you have, are you trying to do this while you were rushing through a busy day, or have you given your complete attention to God, and listened intently for his voice in the silence of your expectant soul?
Listen in silence for what the Lord wants you to know, but then let it all out, silent no more, and proclaim to the roof tops that we are his and he is ours, and that nothing can damage the relationship that comes to us through faith in Jesus Christ. “Salvation is not by works, but for works.” Silence is never an expression of faith, it does not say who and whose we are, and it is not a Christian witness in any way, shape or form.

So let’s all get to work, silent no more, always in him, and let others know that he can be theirs, too, but only by faith in the One who is always faithful – Jesus the Christ.