Daily Reflections - March 26,2013

SERVANT SONG 2: A MOUTHPIECE

 

The Second Servant Song tells us that God has chosen us to speak on His behalf — to become a mouthpiece for His message of salvation. Prefiguring the text that will be written in the Letter to the Hebrews some six centuries later, Isaiah uses the image of a sharp sword to describe the power and clarity by which we will be gifted to speak in the name of the Lord. It is essential that we also understand that it is the Spirit of God who will guide us in what we say.

Another aspect of the nature of the Servant of God is seen in how God watches over him starting from the time he is in the womb. This is to affirm that it is God’s will that is being fulfilled in his service of the Good News.

We have no reason to doubt that we have been ill-prepared for such a task in the mind of the Lord because He has been working toward this end from the time we were conceived. This is a very comforting statement especially if we are not naturally inclined to speak in public.

Finally, we should reflect on the power of the correctly spoken word as it becomes a light to a people caught up in the darkness of sin and its effects. All servants of God are to become a light to the nations of the world. There is no doubt that in this, the day of worldwide communication, the effect of the spoken Word of God, empowered as it is by the Holy Spirit, can be an immensely powerful means by which the Gospel goes out to the world.

Isaiah affirms all these things and many more as intrinsic to the nature of a Servant of God. All of us should be mindful of them so that we are open when called into such a ministry, should the Lord choose to call us. It is better to be prepared for such a reality so that it does not overcome us when our turn comes. Fr. Steve Tynan, MGL

 

REFLECTION QUESTIONS: Do you really want to be a Servant of God? Why? Why not? Are you willing to pay the price in giving your life to the service of the Gospel?

 

Father in Heaven, You formed me in my mother’s womb. Help me realize that You have a perfect plan for my life so that I will be most willing to fulfill it when I discover it.