READ | SERMON NOTES
Summary l Isaiah was addressing Israel who had lost their homeland that was destroyed by the Babylonians. They were also exiled to Babylon because of their corrupt ways, and they were experiencing the wilderness without any resources of their own. Isaiah sees this wilderness as necessary for them to return to their promised land. For them to be restored and reshaped as God’s people, they had to pass through the wilderness just as their ancestors did. This is the way less travelled, but this is the way to joy.
1. The Way Less Travelled
Holiness means to be different from everyone. The journey took by Israel was not the shortest nor the easiest. God brought them through the wilderness which was a longer and more difficult journey. He did this so that Israel will know how weak they are and their need for Him. He did this to shape and mould the people so they will have a renewed vision, necessary wisdom and ability to live life well. God redeems and restores us through the long and hard way.
Today, we live in an instant gratification culture where we are used to the shorter and easier path. Our devices have hardwired us to expect everything to be at the tip of our fingers. The last thing we want is the long, difficult and inconvenient path. Andy Crouch, a Christian thinker on technology, offered a helpful paradigm for us to think about the relationship we have with technology – ‘Magic’ vs ‘Tools’. Magic requires no skills and produces instant results. Tools require skills and need to be hone through practise over time. When these are charted on a graph based on satisfaction and time, Magic gives a surge of satisfaction that declines rapidly with time. Less satisfaction is achieved when Magic is used repeatedly – depreciating returns. Tools may start off with negative satisfaction, but the satisfaction increases over time. We want to get better at what we do and retain our skills – increase satisfaction. Things that are easy and require no skills also leave us addicted. This addiction to our mobile and social media is strongly linked to anxiety and depression. Samuel D James said we cannot look at our technology and devices as neutral agents; they are in fact shaping us, our beliefs and the way we think about the world.
Let us think about fasting from our devices so that God may grow us differently.
2. The Way To Joy
We often think that finding joy boils down to our circumstances – succeed in our jobs, gain admiration of others or earn money to get the things we want. Isaiah 35 looks at joy in three different ways:
i. Restoration [Transfer to rightful condition] – dry uninhabited land is made to flourish; physical parts that do not work are made to function again.
ii. Redemption [Transfer to rightful ownership] – something that was taken from its owner was bought back at a price.
iii. Returning [Transfer to rightful location] – exiled people are able to return to their homeland.
These lead us to a joy that overcomes us and is everlasting. Real joy does not come through new things. It comes through the renewal of the broken, the retrieval of the stolen and the retaking of the lost. Recovery is found in the long and difficult way.
Arthur Brooks from the Harvard University taught the “Four Pillars of Happiness” that people build their habits and lives around:
a) Faith – sense of transcendence that humbles us from our sense of self-centredness, this enables us to grow as persons.
b) Family – reunion brings a great sense of happiness.
c) Friends – people whom we are still in a relationship regardless of how useful they are to us; they are there because they are our friends.
d) Work – being about to contribute meaningful to the world through our merit and hard work; the difference we make in people’s lives.
We are unhappy today because more people turn away from these four pillars of happiness. Faith is seen as peripheral to real life. Fewer people are getting married or having children for fear of losing their freedom, but having a family is the highway to happiness. Our relationships with friends suffer because we have all been lulled into a false sense of connection through social media and we have replaced in person interaction with Zoom gatherings. Work is seen as a necessary evil, a transaction to get what we want before we get out. We do not think about the ways we are contributing to one another’s lives at work .
All these take time. To recover them is hard and inconvenient, not many are willing to invest what it takes. Real joy is always found on the other side of the long and difficult way. How to find the strength needed? Look to someone who has walked the long and difficult way. Why did Jesus have to die as a human? Why did he have to go through the difficulty of becoming a child? The way less travelled is the way that leads to joy.
Hebrew 12:1-2 tells us to run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking for Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross. We are His joy! He is the good shepherd who leaves the 99 and looks for the one lost sheep, and he rejoices when He finds it! The joy for Jesus is our redemption. So our strength must come from the joy in looking towards Jesus.
(Sermon notes by Honey Vreugdewater)
PONDER | REFLECTION QUESTIONS
- Study Scripture
Read Isaiah 35:3-6 together. Make a note of the body parts that appear in these verses. Notice that there are 3 in verses 3-4a and another 3 in verses 5-6, with 4b nestled in the middle. “Behold your God. He will come with vengeance, with divine retribution. He will come and save you.” This is what we call an ‘inclusio’, where parallel similarities help to sandwich a key point the author is trying to make. Which of the 6 (2×3) physical impediments do you identify with the most? In what way?
a. In light of our weaknesses and shortcomings, we must remember that God is the one who ultimately saves. - Recall Sermon
a. Why do we find ourselves less likely to take the way of the wilderness though it leads to life?
b. How are we being programmed by our culture to take the easier path that leads to death?
c. How does the path of the wilderness lead us to put our trust in God? - Relate Personally
a. When was the last time you felt led into ‘the wilderness’? Where you had few resources and had to trust in God?
b. In what ways do you try to avoid ‘the wilderness’? - Commit to Action
a. The reason why Christians since the time of Jesus have practised fasting is because it intentionally puts them in a place of dependence on God.
b. What is one thing you might want to fast from so that you can seek God in the wilderness?
