Bruised reeds and smoldering wicks
Picture three candles in your mind. Three candles, each of which is unique. And for the sake of argument, let’s say that these three candles are coming to present themselves before the king of the land. The first candle is impressive. Tall and broad, it approaches the king with confidence, saying to itself, “Surely the king will accept me. I am tall and will burn very long. My flame is tall and strong and can light up even great halls all by itself. The king would be very foolish to choose one of these lesser candles over me.”
The second candle lacks the physical splendor of the first candle. It is not particularly tall nor particularly broad, but it’s light casts a warm, soft glow and it’s flame produces a gentle, perfumed fragrance. This candle, too, approaches the king, saying to itself, “Surely the king will accept me. With me he may give atmosphere to special royal dinners. My flame can perfume the queen’s chambers. The king would be quite unwise not to choose such a special candle as myself.”
As far as candles go, the third candle is a sad looking specimen. It is not physically attractive like the first candle. It lacks the perfumed fragrance of the second candle. Its flame sputters and threatens to blow out with the slightest wind. Hesitating, it approaches the king with humility, saying to itself, “I have nothing to offer such a great king as this. I see no reason to give why he would choose such a small, simple candle as myself.”
Which candle do you choose? Why?
Ah, but which candle does the king choose?
If the king in our little parable is Christ, the one He chooses is the third candle. Now, how can I know that? Well, the Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1:26-31, “26 Brothers—and sisters—think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.”
God often chooses the things the world thinks are weak to show His power. He chooses and uses—He appoints and anoints if you will—those things that the world really has very little use for. Think about that: who does the world make a fuss over? The rich and beautiful Hollywood stars, the powerful politicians, the multi-millionaires with money to burn. They’re the ones who routinely make the news. But God chooses the lesser known paths to walk, He chooses the simple, the humble, the weak and the broken. These are the things that are special to Him, these are the things that to Him are precious jewels.
A bruised reed He will not break and a smoldering wick He will not snuff out. This is true whether the candle is an adult or a child, it is true whether the candle is a person . . . or even a church. The Apostle Paul continues, “30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God-- that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."”
Show of hands, opened eyes
The name of the spiritual campaign we are beginning this week—not today, but starting with the big kick-off celebration on Saturday—is Forty Days of Purpose: A Show of Hands. “Show of hands” is a pretty common expression; it means to stand up and be counted, to raise a hand and show support. But whose hands are we talking about?
Whose hands? Our hands.
In Matthew 12:10-21 Matthew tells us this story about a man’s hand, “10 And a man was there with a withered hand. And they asked him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"- so that they might accuse him.
11 He said to them, "Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out?
12 Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."
13 Then he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other.
14 But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.
15 Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed him, and he healed them all
16 and ordered them not to make him known.
17 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:
18 "Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
19 He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets;
20 a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory;
21 and in his name the Gentiles will hope."
Now, while it may be true that some of our hands are withered physically, it is true for all of us that our hands are withered spiritually. A withered hand is ineffective, it doesn’t fulfill it’s purpose. A withered hand needs healing, it needs a Savior to come and cure it.
A lot of people get spiritually withered hands by not using them properly. They say, “Well, I’ll serve God in my spare time”. It’s like I have this pie – I have my social life, and I have my career life, and I have my sex life, you know I have my family life and over here my retirement life and over here I have my spiritual life - as if your spiritual life is one part of the pie. See, that’s wrong. God’s the whole pie. He wants the whole pie to be under His rule. He doesn’t want you to stick Him in a box say, “You know God, I’ll give you 10% of my life”. He wants it all. He wants your best. He wants your hands to work full time for Him. He wants all of you.
But these same withered hands, these hands that so often refuse to be in the service of Christ, these hands that so often do their own thing, those are the same hands that Christ sees fit to put to use for His purposes. It’s not because our hands are the strongest or the most rugged, it’s not because our hands are the daintiest or most beautiful. We are not chosen by what we can do or what we can offer, but we are chosen by what Christ wishes to do through us.
At my home church back in Omaha we used to sing a song that went like this: “Holy hands. He’s given us holy hands. He works through these hands, and so these hands are holy.” And it’s true! Christ makes our hands holy, He makes our lives holy not through what our hands do but through what His hands have done.
Whose hands? Jesus’ hands.
Jesus had a ministry here on earth. God gave Him a purpose for His work. Speaking centuries before Jesus was born, God says of Christ in the book of Isaiah, “6 I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, 7 to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.”
Picture that event for a minute. Can you imagine the Father taking Jesus’ hands and speaking this prophecy over Him? Can you see the Father taking Jesus’ hands, holding them, and looking lovingly at those hands that would do so much for the lost sheep like you and like me?
See, if we want to talk about having a Show of Hands at all, then the hands we need to look to first aren’t our own. The hands we look to are Christ’s . . . and those hands tell a story.
Have you ever seen that picture of a little girl? She’s looking up at Jesus, and He’s reaching down to her in love, but she looks a bit troubled. The one question in her eyes is, “What happened to your hands?” Those hands tell a story.
On Easter Sunday two disappointed disciples were walking along the road to Emmaus and mourning the loss of their teacher. Jesus came and walked with them, but they didn’t recognize Him. He began to show them all the Scriptures said about the Messiah, but they still didn’t recognize Him until it came time for a meal, and as He broke the bread and blessed it and gave it to them, they knew by what those hands were doing who sat with them. Their eyes were opened, because those hands tell a story.
A man named John Newton at one time earned his living by selling fellow human beings into slavery. Though he treated people like cattle, Christ’s hands got a hold of him. He went on to write the words, “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see.” John Newton’s eyes were opened when Christ forgave him, because those hands tell a story.
And the list goes on and on. The names of the greatest sinners in the world, like Saul the persecutor of the faith, like serial killer Ted Bundy, and prideful, angry, and arrogant Troy Neujahr are saved from their sins by Christ’s hands, they have their eyes opened, and they are put to work in His kingdom. And I am here to tell you today that, beginning next week, if you will look to Christ’s hands for forty days you will join the ranks of people whose lives have been changed for all eternity by the loving, gracious, and nail-pierced hands of a Savior who loves you too much to let you live a life without purpose. Those hands tell a story, and the story is how he opens the eyes of those who were once spiritually blind.
When Christ’s hands go to work, they give purpose to the one they are working on. Forty Days of Purpose: A Show of Hands is a spiritual campaign designed to help us live out Christ’s purposes for us on earth. In the book that we’ll all be reading together, The Purpose Driven Life, Pastor Rick Warren has this to say about living a life with purpose: (Reading from Purpose Driven Life, chapter three)
“What drives your life?
Everyone’s life is driven by something. Most dictionaries define the verb drive as “to guide, to control, or to direct.” Whether you are driving a car, a nail, or a golf ball, you are guiding, controlling, and directing it at that moment. What is the driving force in your life?
Many people are driven by guild. They spend their entire lives running from regrets and hiding their shame. Guilt-driven people are manipulated by memories. The allow their past to control their future. They often unconsciously punish themselves by sabotaging their own success.
Many people are driven by resentment and anger. They hold on to hurts and never get over them. Instead of releasing their pain through forgiveness, they rehearse it over and over in their minds. Some resentment-driven people “clam up” and internalize their anger, while others “blow up” and explode it onto others. Both responses are unhealthy and unhelpful.
Many people are driven by fear. Their fears may be a result of a traumatic experience, unrealistic expectations, growing up in a high-control home, or even genetic predisposition. Regardless of the cause, fear-driven people often miss great opportunities because they’re afraid to venture out. Instead they play it safe, avoiding risks and trying to maintain the status quo.
Many people are driven by materialism. Their desire to acquire becomes the whole goal of their lives. This drive to always want more is based upon the misconceptions that having more will make me more happy, more important, and more secure, but all three ideas are untrue. Possessions only provide temporary happiness. Because things do not change, we eventually become bored with them and then want newer, bigger, better versions.
Many people are driven by the need for approval. They allow the expectations of parents or spouses or children or teachers or friends to control their lives. Many adults are still trying to earn the approval of unpleasable parents. Others are driven by peer pressure, always worried by what others might think. Unfortunately, those who follow the crowd usually get lost in it.
There are other forces that can drive you life but all lead to the same dead end: unused potential, unnecessary stress, and an unfulfilled life.
This forty-day journey will show you how to live a purpose-driven life—a life guided, controlled, and directed by God’s purposes. Nothing matters more than knowing God’s purposes for your life, and nothing can compensate for not knowing them—not success, wealth, fame, or pleasure. Without a purpose, life is nothing without meaning, activity without direction, and events without reason. Without a purpose, life is trivial, petty, and pointless.”
These hands are unclean and tainted with sin. These eyes are blind and fail to see the true spiritual value of things. But in and through Christ’s nail-scarred hands you and I are given clean hands and our blind eyes are opened. Beginning next week we’ll have an opportunity to use those new eyes and to hear of God’s purposes for our hands. To maximize your benefit for this campaign, I want to ask you one thing. I want to ask you to not do something.
I want to be honest with you. I’m concerned about you. I’m concerned about the people in our church. You can’t keep adding things to your schedule. Most of our lives are way too over crowded. We’ve got way too much going on in our lives. And still we’re getting ready, next week in 40 Days, to add three new habits to our schedules.
Next week I’m asking you to add daily devotional reading of about 15 minutes a day, which will help you understand God’s purposes of your life; a weekly meeting in a small group for six weeks that will help you understand God’s purpose for your life; and a weekly verse to memorize which will help you understand God’s purpose for your life. As we go into this, I’m telling you right now; you need to decide right now what you’re going to cut out before you start 40 Days of Purpose. You can put so many irons in the fire you put out the fire. If you burn the candles at both ends, you are not as bright as you think you are. Christ won’t snuff out your flame, but you sure might burn it out on your own.
Your life’s already overcrowded, but not everything in your life is of equal value. There are some things that are more important than others. Forty Days is so important that it’s worth setting some other things aside. The church as a whole is limiting its calendar during this spiritual campaign. So I’m asking you to ask yourself, “What am I going to stop doing?” What are you going to set aside to make room for Christ’s work through Forty Days?
Show me your hands. God has given you holy hands. Christ works through those hands, and so they are holy. During Forty Days of Purpose: A Show of Hands, you’ll be able to learn about His purposes for those holy hands. The hands that love others. The hands that serve Him. The hands that were made clean by the One whose hands were pierced for yours. May our hands always work to tell His story.
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