December 22, 1999

This column ran previously Dec. 15.




GREAT QUESTIONS OF THE BIBLE:
"Who has believed our report?"
Isaiah 53:1
___Life often seems to resemble a conversation between a father and son as they were driving down the highway. Matthew, the 3 1/2-year-old son of Stuart Cooke, was eating an apple and asked his dad, "Why is my apple turning brown?"
___Matthew's dad explained, "Because after you ate the skin off, the meat of the apple came into contact with the air, which caused it to oxidize, thus changing its molecular structure and turning it into a different color."

MARTY AKINS Pastor, First Baptist Church, Snyder

___There was a long silence. Then Matthew quietly asked, "Daddy, are you talking to me?"
___During this Christmas season--when much of what we see and hear in our society only deals with Christmas trees, lights, presents and Santa Claus--I wonder if our message of Jesus fails to get clearly communicated.
___Isaiah asked a profound question some eight centuries before the answer was given in the person of Jesus Christ of Nazareth: "Who has believed our message, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?" (Isaiah 53:1). Isaiah lived and wrote this question in a period of turmoil and change in the life of the nation of Israel, not too terribly different than this very time of Y2K.
___Throughout these concluding chapters of Isaiah, God has sounded the call to look only to him for strength and wisdom, help and hope, grace and guidance. This question implies no one has believed. There probably are two reasons for this skepticism--the servant is "unattractive" in appearance (53:2) and the servant was despis ed and friendless, a man of pains and sickness from whom men hide their faces (53:3). Indeed, the picture of the Servant in the passages in Isaiah often called the "Servant Songs" (42:1-4; 49:1-6; 50:4-9; 53:1-12) is not the most beautiful one. The portrait of the Servant is an amazing one, especially since the nation of Israel was anticipating a coming, conquering king to restore the glory to the nation.
___This question focuses on three key components that apply to any time:
___Life is all about people. "Who" points to the fact life is primarily not things and stuff, but individuals created in the image and likeness of God that respond to him.
___Life requires faith. "Who has believed" points to the certainty that everyone makes a choice regarding what they will accept as truth.
___ Life with others is about communication. "Who has believed our report?" points to the reality that we all have a "story" to tell.
___ As the Christmas season progresses to its climax, may I suggest a three-word sentence that each of us put into practice? Tell people faith.
___ Interestingly, this sentence could be turned around in a number of ways that communicate our mission as people of the "servant" who was born in Bethlehem over 2,000 years ago. Faith people tell and people tell faith.
___ Yes, the story of Christmas and the report of Isaiah are almost unbelievable, but that in no way should hinder us who have believed from telling our story of faith to people--here, there and everywhere!



Previous Columns: 7/14, 7/21, 7/28, 8/4, 8/11, 8/18, 8/25, 9/1, 9/8, 9/15, 9/22, 9/29, 10/6, 10/13, 10/20 10/27, 11/17, 11/24, 12/1.

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