(Audio)
When he was insulted, he returned no insult;
The ability to suffer for doing what is good is a supernatural grace. Finding joy in bearing dishonor for the sake of the name is not something that comes naturally. When we are insulted we are often mature enough not to say anything in response. But we are often not so mature that we don't contrive what our response would have been, entertain it, and take delight in it.
when he suffered, he did not threaten;
When people do things with which we disagree, when they impose themselves and their ideals on ourselves and on society, we don't usually threaten them with ultimatums in order to make them stop. But we secretly cherish the idea of doing so. We think that if they are going to act in whatever harmful fashion, then these consequences we imagine for them would fit perfectly. We delight in the idea of it, even if we don't threaten them with it.
How can we break free from the cycle that returns insult for insult and responds to suffering with threats? How can we receive the grace to not only act right on the outside but to be patient in our hearts? We need to hand ourselves over to the one who judges justly. Jesus does not have to defend himself because he knows he is righteous in the eyes of the Father. When we allow ourselves to be handed over to the Father with Jesus, when we surrender our own rights, the sins with which we struggle are put to death on the cross. As we surrender, we are set free, and made able to live for righteousness.
By his wounds you have been healed.
For you had gone astray like sheep,
but you have now returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.
How can we tell the difference between surrendering on the cross with Jesus and surrendering to the harm intended to us by strangers, thieves, and robbers? In each case we end up suffering. But one path destroys and one gives life. We need to be able to know for sure, when we lay down our lives, to whom we offering them.
When he has driven out all his own,
he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him,
because they recognize his voice.
Let us learn to recognize the voice of Jesus. Let us train ourselves to hear it. Scripture is the starting place, because we know for sure that we hear him speaking to us there. But prayer too requires careful attention. The more clearly we feel a nudge or hear a word from Jesus the more we must treasure it in our heart and celebrate it so that we can more easily recognize his voice in the future. What might this voice feel like?
Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart,
and they asked Peter and the other apostles,
“What are we to do, my brothers?”
When the grace we receive doesn't seem to have been prepared for naturally, when it doesn't seem like something our flesh would accept, when it was previously unfamiliar but now captivates us, these are signs that the LORD might be speaking to us in a new way, that he is moving to claim new ground, or to work a deeper conversion within us. We see in Acts that this can even happen through other people who are anointed with the Spirit to speak in his name.
The LORD cuts us to the heart with his words, not to destroy us, but to heal us, like a master physician performing surgery. It is a procedure that is designed to help us release our grips on the reins of our own lives and to let Jesus direct them instead.
As we begin to grow in familiarity with the still small voice that speaks we learn of the characteristic tone with which it speaks. We are able to experience peace that it imparts even when the words themselves might be hard. How different this is from other voices, where the words are easy, but which cannot give peace. This is the corrupt generation from which we are called to save ourselves.
The peace of the voice of the shepherd is a peace we can know even in times of trial, perhaps especially in such times. We can discover an even closer union with Jesus if only we surrender ourselves, if, together with him, we hand ourselves over to the one who judges justly. It is by this path that we return to the Good Shepherd who is the guardian of our souls. It is by this path that we are made to live for righteousness. It is the path to joy and to life.
Only goodness and kindness follow me
all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
for years to come.
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