This is a copy of my talk given at Ayia Kyriaki at 8.15 am and at Saint Luke’s at 11.00 am in the Anglican Church of Paphos on Sunday 12 January 2025. The Bible reading was Isaiah 43:1-7.
You might be interested to know this is the fiftieth sermon I’ve preached since I arrived in Paphos in January 2024.
Prayer
Heavenly Father,
I thank You for Your word.
By the power of Your Holy Spirit,
May You speak to my heart,
And change my life.
In the precious name of Jesus I pray.
Amen.
Introduction
One of the great box office films of the 1980’s was ‘Back to the Future.’ As well as making a superstar of Michael J. Fox it also helped the band ‘Huey Lewis and the News’ to have a worldwide hit when their song ‘The Power of Love’ was featured in the movie.
And over the years that theme has been at the heart of many a song – the belief that all you need is love, that love changes everything, that love makes the world go round, that love can take you up where we belong and so on. And yet it appears that in the 21st century the belief in love’s power has somewhat diminished. This is well captured by a Hallmark card which reads, ‘I can’t promise you forever, but I can promise you today.’
Love no longer seems to be the universal glue which holds people together so they last. Love has taken on a more temporary quality, a ‘here today gone tomorrow’ feel to it which makes us feel more vulnerable and more unsure.
That’s certainly what God’s people were feeling isolated in exile in Babylon, and, if the truth be known, what some Christians feel as they face, what seem to be, overwhelming challenges which life has thrown their way. The question is often asked: ‘Just how powerful is God’s love?’ Is it powerful enough to get me through this? Is it strong enough to help me through this valley? Is it strong enough to mend my broken heart?
In Isaiah 43, the prophet wants to reassure us that God’s love is strong enough. In fact, it is a love which is more powerful than we can ever imagine. Isaiah draws on some of the most moving and evocative imagery at his disposal to help us to understand this. And Isaiah gives us three reasons why God’s love is the most powerful force in the universe.
1) No people are beyond God’s love vs1
Have you ever watched someone you love/know lurch from one disastrous choice to another? You’ve reasoned with them, pleaded with them, cajoled them and even wept with them and all to no avail. They just seem totally insensitive and incapable of change. I’m sure you have.
The children of Israel were a bit like that. This is a description of people Isaiah is writing to chapter 42:18-19 “Hear, you deaf; look, you blind, and see! Who is blind but my servant and deaf like the messenger I send? Who is blind like the one committed to me, blind like the servant of the LORD? You have seen many things but have paid no attention; your ears are open, but you hear nothing.”
What do you do with a people like that? God had given them the law at Sinai to enable them to live as they were meant to live as an example to the surrounding nations. But what did they do? They ignored it and became like the surrounding nations. He sent prophets time and again to warn them and plead with them to return back to their God. They ignored them, too. Then he sent an army to punish them in the hope that they would come to their senses. What happened? They accused God of being unjust and a promise breaker. Is there any hope for such people? Is there a love somewhere which has the power to bring such people to a right state of mind?
Following on from Isaiah 42:18-19 we hear these words in 43:1, ‘But now, this is what the LORD says– he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.’
What an amazing change in tone. We may have expected God to say: ‘What on earth am I going to do with you?’ But no. These are tender words, words of a lover whose heart is broken but whose passion still burns. God is in the rescue business; his makeovers aren’t cosmetic they begin on the inside and work towards the outside. And this is a personal call by God: ‘I have summoned you by name – you are mine.’ God is possessive of those whom he loves, he is not just going to walk away when the going gets tough,
2) No circumstance is beyond God’s love vs2
‘When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.’
God is saying that whatever comes your way, the power of His love can take you through it. Isaiah may be enabling the people to remember what God has done in the past. How He enabled them to pass through the ‘waters’ of the Red Sea. Or when they crossed over the river Jordan into the Promised Land.
Or it may be that he is using water and fire as the two extremes of a destructive experience – drowning at one end and burning at the other – as if to say that in every conceivable kind of trial I will be with you and these things will not ultimately harm you. He doesn’t say that there won’t be waters or fires or trials or that these things won’t hurt – but rather they will not have a devastating effect in terms of your relationship to him.
I believe that hindsight is one of the greatest attributes we have as Christians. I say this because if we are feeling a low or out of sorts, looking back breathes new life into our weary spirits! I’m sure there are times when each one of us look back at the works of God in our own lives and we praise him for what He has done (even if we are struggling in the present):
- We remember the many answers to prayer.
- We remember those special times when the HS touched our lives.
- We remember His presence with us through these dark/difficult days.
- We count our blessings and ‘name them one by one!’
And notice the reason God gives for us being able to have such a confidence in Him, vs3a: ‘For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour.’ He is the LORD. The great ‘I AM’. The God who promises to be whatever He needs to be and do whatever He needs to do for the sake of the people He loves.
Some people (almost intuitively) believe that God isn’t for them at all, that He is always asking us to do something without having our best interests at heart or giving us anything in return. I’m reminded of that verse in Romans 8:31: If God be for us, who can be against us?
3) No price is beyond God’s love vs3b-7
Vs3b-4: ‘I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead. Since you are precious and honoured in my sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you, and people in exchange for your life.’ There are so many in our broken, disintegrating world who have been starved of love all their lives. But if you are a Christian, you are valued immensely, and the proof is that God will pay any ransom to get you back. That is what the prophet is declaring here when he talks about giving ‘Egypt, or Cush or Seba in your stead’. These were the regions around Egypt.
In other words, if it takes the whole of North East Africa to bring you back, I will give it in a heartbeat. This proves just how special you are to God, says Isaiah. And just in case you might be tempted to think that somehow God might overlook you in the crowd, we read of God’s determination to ensure
that every single one of those he loves will make it to the end-vs5-7: ‘Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, `Give them up!’ and to the south, `Do not hold them back.’ Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”’
And we see God’s glory fulfilled in Jesus and none more so than at his baptism in Luke 3:21-22 when heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him like a dove, when a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
The Baptism of Jesus
Conclusion
This is the story of God’s love for us.
- When you wake in the morning and greet a brand new, a day you’ve never seen before – I will be with you.
- When you set about your daily routine – at home, in the office, in the classroom, in the laboratory, in the gym – I will be with you.
- When you sit to eat your meal – at a table for one, in the midst of a large family, in the din of a cafeteria, listening to the clinking of water glasses in a restaurant – I will be with you.
- When you get a phone call, or an email, or a text message, or a letter that tells you terrible news, or wonderful news – I will be with you.
- When you are sure your life is broken and can never be mended again – I will be with you.
- When sitting in a committee meeting, or a council meeting – I will be with you.
- In passion’s embrace, in the heat of an argument, in asking forgiveness, in telling the truth – I will be with you.
- When writing a letter, when talking to the consultant/doctor – I will be with you.
- When you lay your weary head down on the pillow at night, whether your heart is filled with anxiety or gratitude, fear or love – I will be with you.
- When you are grieving the loss of a loved one and your heart is broken – I will be with you.
This is what God promises, to each of us. This is what we take with us into every room, every situation, every relationship of our lives. This is our story; this is God’s promise: I will be with you.
COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER The text contained in this sermon (except where stated) is solely owned by its author, Revd Paul A. Carr. The reproduction, or distribution of this message, or any portion of it, should include the author’s name.
When times are hard and friends are few
And you need someone to help you through
Just call my name and I’ll come running to your side
Don’t be afraid don’t be afraidI will be there
When you are lost in the night
No where to run
I will be there
Don’t be afraid don’t be afraidWhen morning comes and nothing’s changed
And the world around plays the same old game
Just call on me and I will ease your lonely heart
Don’t be afraid don’t be afraidI will be there
When you are lost in the night
No where to turn
I will be there
Don’t be afraid don’t be afraid
I will be there
When every one that you believe still lets you down
I will be there
Don’t be afraid don’t be afraidPaul Brady / John O’ Kane
Copyright Round Hill Music/Rondor Music (London)
revPACman 