Commentary on Isaiah 50:4-9a

In a book full of evocative language, the servant song¹ of Isaiah 50 stands out: “The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning he wakens—wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught” (verse 4).

As a teacher and preacher, I love that description of the pastoral vocation. We teach and preach in order “to sustain the weary with a word.”

Words have power. Preachers and teachers know that. Politicians know that too. In the United States, we are in the midst of a presidential election season, and the two presidential candidates are speaking to audiences all over the country, as are their running mates and surrogates. The two national political party conventions this summer were full of speeches, with words like “freedom,” “joy,” and “vision,” on the one hand, and “security,” “great,” and “safety,” on the other. Each party sought to appeal to voters’ hopes as well as to their fears, aiming to motivate them to elect their candidate of choice in November.

These kinds of political gatherings can take on the tone of a religious revival, with participants laughing, crying, and applauding as they are enjoined to work for a cause bigger than themselves. And some of the speeches are truly inspiring—especially the ones that call on “the better angels of our nature,” as Abraham Lincoln famously described it when he spoke of the bonds of affection that bind citizens together, or should.

Preaching shares with political speeches the art of rhetoric, trying to persuade the audience about something, appealing to emotion and reason, weaving stories into the message, seeking to move hearers to action or to a change of heart.

But preaching also differs from political speeches in a number of important ways. And this passage from Isaiah is instructive about those differences.

For one thing, the servant-teacher in Isaiah 50 speaks of the source and foundation of his teaching as being outside himself.² The servant is able to “sustain the weary with a word” because the Lord God has given him “the tongue of a teacher,” because the Lord God wakens his ear “to listen as those who are taught.”

The teacher, in other words, is first of all a student. She listens to what God says, and then (and only then) she teaches and preaches. The teacher proclaims God’s word, not her own. The teacher does not seek to build her own brand (to use a popular market phrase) or to promote herself. This teacher of Isaiah 50 would not create a website devoted to herself. “Morning by morning [God] wakens—wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught.” Humility is key.

Secondly, this humble teacher-preacher teaches in order “to sustain the weary with a word,” not to gain power, wealth, or influence. The servant-leader in this passage seeks to minister to those who have been wearied by the changes and chances of life.

I am reminded of a friend of mine who, a few years ago, was going through a rough time. Her elderly mother had just died, and she was exhausted from caring for her in her last months. She was also grieving, of course, and we all know that grief is hard and wearisome work. She had a difficult time holding onto faith. My friend was one who needed spiritual sustenance; she needed to hear a word of hope in the midst of the burdens she carried. And though I tried to provide such a word, I’m not sure she heard it.

There are so many who are feeling that way right now, in your congregations and outside of them. There will always be people who are weary, whether because of personal circumstances or because of the state of the world. And though people find community in any number of places today (including in political organizations), it is only in faith communities that they can hear a genuine word of hope, of forgiveness, of joy, of resurrection.

Which is where you, working preacher, come in. Whatever else you do in your sermon this week, strive to sustain the weary with a word. But do so with God’s word, not your own. That is, you are a preacher, not a therapist or “life coach” or anything else. You are a steward of God’s mysteries. As the late New Testament scholar Krister Stendahl used to say, the job of the preacher is to “give the text more room to shine.”

Teaching and preaching God’s word is a great privilege and a great responsibility. Our tagline on this website says it well: “Good preaching changes lives.” And good preaching, according to the witness of Isaiah, happens when we first take time to listen “as those who are taught.”

One more thing: As the servant-leader in this text preaches and teaches God’s word, he encounters opposition; nevertheless, he does not desist from the task. His confidence is grounded in the same place as his message: “It is the Lord GOD who helps me; who will declare me guilty?” (verse 9).

This description connects, of course, with the Gospel lesson for this week. Jesus calls his disciples to walk the way of the cross: “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it” (Mark 8:34–35). We are able to walk the way of the cross only because Jesus walked it before us and walks it still beside us.

Thank you for following that call to discipleship, dear working preacher, and for continuing to listen—morning by morning, day by day—so that you might learn how to sustain the weary with a word.

Notes

1. This passage is one of the four “servant songs” in Isaiah, as identified by 19^th– and 20^th-century biblical scholars. The others are 42:1–4; 49:1–6; and 52:13–53:12.
2. The “servant” referenced in Isaiah 50 is undoubtedly male, whether the prophet himself or another leader. I will use male and female pronouns interchangeably, though, since both men and women are called today to be preachers and teachers.