Who is it among you who feareth the Lord; that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? Let him trust in the Lord and, stay upon his God. (Isa.50:11)

Six hundred years before Jesus was born, the Prophet Isaiah spoke to his generation and ours about the coming of Christ and how we were to put our complete trust and confidence in Him as God incarnate. We are to heed the voice of God's Servant who became man to guide us to God.

I remember a few years ago visiting with the rector of a local Episcopal parish after a ministerial alliance meeting. The subject of the bible came up and when I quoted a passage from the Old Testament in our discussion he said "no one believes any of that "Old Testament stuff" anymore. What we call the Old Testament was the Bible Christ used, and was the only Bible the early Church possessed. The Holy Hebrew Scripture is a book about certain select men, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, chosen by God to tell us about the coming of Christ. Furthermore, the Old Testament largely about Christ. As St. Paul testifies, "Christ is the mystery hidden from unhearing ears and unseeing eyes from the foundation of the world."

How many times does Jesus use the expression that the Gospel is for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear? He must use the saying twenty or thirty times. Oddly enough, people find it hard to believe. Even the Apostles did not know Jesus was God incarnate until after He was risen from the dead. So one of the most mysterious thoughts in the New Testament is the statement made by St. Paul, "...that all things happen for good, for those who love Christ, for those who are the called according to his purpose."

We forget the promise of Christ, the Servant of God, who is referred to by the Prophet Isaiah in the Lesson this morning, "Those who walk in darkness and see no light are to put their trust in God." Isaiah explains that the unbeliever is unable to fathom why terrible things happen to him, his faith dies, and he becomes embroiled in a fit of unbelief and darkness in his life. But the Christian knows that we grow only through adversity. Jesus warned us, "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and God's righteousness, and all things will be added to you." How many of us have suffered hardship and later realized that the Lord used defeat to help us later in life? Paul wrote, "If we suffer with Him that we may be glorified together."

Over the centuries, priests of the Church have occasionally been run out of parishes by a vestry or a bishop and then gone on to be stronger Christians, better rectors or vicars, better pastors with more effective ministries. I once knew a priest who had that experience twice and said sometimes a priest must be crucified so that that both laymen and clergy may know the rejection Jesus endured. Under certain adverse circumstances, our old self must be crucified to the world so we die to the world and may be born again. Abraham Lincoln spoke boldly of his defeats — and there were many defeats that enabled him to be so improbably elected president. When General Grant was called a drunk by members of Congress and the cabinet (who intensely disliked Grant) and gossip said he was a drunk, Lincoln asked what brand of whiskey he drank so that he could send a case to each of his other generals since only Grant seemed to be able to win battles.

Once there was a man who was born as an unwanted child with an indifferent, unloving, even immoral mother. He had a father who brought scandal to the family and who constantly belittled, berated and emotionally abused his son calling him a worthless failure. He was shipped off to boarding school where he was poor student and a social outcast. He had a speech impediment and spoke with a lisp. He tried his hand at a military career where he was seen as a social climber and a gadfly — even resorting to use his mother's influence to force his way onto the staffs of generals who didn't want him. He became a writer, using his minor military adventures to write several books that, despite bad reviews, got people's attention. Then he ran for public office and lost by a landslide. Eventually he did achieve public office and after a meteoric rise that include high public office and even changing political parties became a political outcast for twenty years.

Winston Churchill was ignored when he warned of the dangers of the rise of Communism and Nazism. And only when Great Britain was on the verge of defeat did his country turn to him in desperation for leadership. Of himself he wryly observed that it had taken him twenty years to become an overnight success. He rallied his country saying that he had "nothing to offer except blood, toil tears and sweat." But his greatest moment came when, building on a lifetime of experience he urged Britain "Never give in, never give in, never; never; never; never — in nothing, great or small, large or petty — never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense".

Churchill endured and persevered despite being turned out of office again after the war was won and returning to office yet again in the 1950's. By the end of his life he was honored and respected as one of the great leaders and great men of history — helping preserve freedom and Western civilization.

Today, we are in difficult times. Our economy is in deep trouble, unemployment is high, our nation, our very culture is in obvious decline. There is a palpable malaise that has replaced the Puritan work ethic that made this a great nation. 401Ks have become 201Ks, people who are retired worry if they will outlive their money. Even such fundamental things as the existence of God and the nature of marriage and the nuclear family are under attack. It is easy for us to doubt our faith in such times.

How many times in adversity have we asked, "Why me, Lord?" On the cross, in His humanity, Jesus cried, "My Lord, My Lord, why hast thou forsaken me?"

It's difficult for us as Americans, accustomed to the idea of unlimited prosperity to understand that our quality of life is not determined by what we make or the position we hold in business but rather by the quality of life we live. What investment makes us have a happy family? What college teaches us how to live life? A happy home can be worth more than all the raises of a lifetime. One factor we need to consider that never seems to get much play is the quality of joy in life.

A primary example of how God uses adversity for the benefit of mankind is found in Matthew where the High Priest Caiphas, seeking to rally the supreme council of the Jews, the Sanhedrin, to a vote condemning Jesus to death over the cleansing of the Temple, disgustedly murmurs, "The whole world has gone mad over him." Then Caiphas, we are told, spoke plainly to the Sanhedrin, "It is better that one man die rather than have the Romans destroy the entire nation for insurrection." That prophecy came true when Jesus was put to death unjustly, died on the cross, dying for the sins of mankind; and when Rome leveled Jerusalem in 70 A.D., the nation of Israel died.

That Caiaphas was actually something of a prophet (even though he did not know it — only God knew it. It is borne out by St. John who writes, "So God loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, to the end that all that believe in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Let me repeat again the words of St. Paul, "All things happen to the good for those who love Christ, to those who are called according to his purpose." Everything that happens to us, good or bad, is for our growth and improvement as the Lord's children and heirs.

David writes, "Those who sow in tears will reap in joy." Jesus had this to say about adversity, "In this world ye have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." Again, David wrote, "The Lord is my Rock, my fortress and my redeemer; in him will I trust. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold." It is the duty of every parent to order and discipline the child, 'Ye shall teach your children and your children's children, the wonderful ways of the Lord," sayeth Moses in Deuteronomy.

We spank our children who run into the street because we love them. This is love, not child abuse as the so-called child experts would have us believe. Scripture tells us that the Lord chastens everyone whom he loves. We discipline our children because we love them. We protect our children, but we also must allow them to learn certain lessons about life. We do so precisely because we love them.

For the same reason, we must never suppose that just because we go through adversity does not mean either that there is no God, or that there is a God, but that he is indifferent to our trials and tribulations. We must never believe that God will abandon us.

In Isaiah, Christ speaks through Isaiah to us, "Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you, I will sustain you and I will rescue you. (Isaiah 46:4) The proof that He will redeem and sustain us, in every circumstance that occurs in our lives lies in His gift of us Son, whom He gave for us so we might inherit eternal life. The Lord desires good for us if we place our trust in him, if we strive to keep His rules, but He reserves the right to chasten so that we might be reminded that he is God and that we are not our own autonomous little gods. The Lord's discipline is not evil; it is good because it is part of the way he illuminates life's path for us.

Who is it among you who feareth the Lord; that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? Let him trust in the Lord and, stay upon his God.