Dear friends in Christ. Another week has gone by with U.S. and British Royal Air Force pilots patrolling the no fly zones over Iraq. Once again Saddam’s radar sites have locked on to Allied warplanes, and once again those radar sites have been targeted by smart missiles and smart bombs. During the Gulf War was the first time we’d ever heard of such things as smart bombs and smart missiles. Bombs used to just be dumb. You’d drop them and hope they landed where you intended. Smart bombs and cruise missiles are supposed to strike with pin-point accuracy—in theory anyway. I was reminded of smart bombs and smart missiles as I read our text last week, and heard God speak of his Son as a polished arrow concealed in his quiver. God had a mission for his Son which he intended to carry out with pin-point accuracy. The day his Son would be born, the very words he would speak, the way and the day he would die, were all charted out before time began.

We may doubt and second-guess the wisdom and timing of the plans of God, but God knew what he was doing. He still does. "The Gospel of Jesus Is Still God’s Weapon of Choice."

In one of our Advent sermons this year, we mentioned Luther’s comment that God was mocking the Devil when he promised the Seed of the woman who would crush his head. By not identifying him, Satan had to cringe with fear every time a baby was born, always wondering if this new child was going to be the one who would prove his undoing. God has a reason for everything, including keeping some things hidden. But that doesn’t mean God didn’t know what he was going to do. We often wonder if God knows what he’s doing. We don’t know the future. We don’t even know the "why" about the present. But God does. When Isaiah wrote these words by inspiration he didn’t know the identity of God’s servant. He didn’t know he would be the son of a young woman named Mary. He didn’t know that his name would be Jesus. But God knew. God kept his secret weapon concealed until the time appointed. Through Isaiah, his yet unidentified special servant spoke: ¹ Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born the Lord called me; from my birth he has made mention of my name. ² He made my mouth like a sharpened sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me into a polished arrow and concealed me in his quiver. ³ He said to me, "You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will display my splendor."

In a few chapters, God would reveal that his servant would suffer innocently for the sins of all people. But here, in chapter 49, God reveals another part of his plan. His servant Jesus would be his spokesman to make his revelation known. Jesus’ public preaching ministry began at his baptism, as we heard last week. Isaiah foretold that Jesus would not mince any words. Like a sharpened and polished sword, Jesus would say just what needed to be said. His words would be carefully chosen to cut with precision. God sent his son Jesus to preach the Law and the Gospel.

The Law cut when Jesus spoke it. He didn’t pull any punches when he called sin sin. It cut the Pharisees to the heart when he pointed out the disgusting motives behind their outwardly pious acts. The tax collectors were cut and wounded when Jesus pointed out their selfishness and greed. The Samaritan woman at the well was rightly wounded when Jesus pointed out her sin of repeatedly divorcing and now living with a man without the benefit of marriage. The buyers and sellers in the temple were hurt by Jesus’ scourging and scolding as he turned over their tables in the temple. We are cut too by the sharpened sword of his mouth when he condemns the secret sins of our hearts that we think no one sees.

The Law cuts, but like a surgeon’s scalpel, it cuts to heal with the Gospel. Some feel the knife and get up from the operating table and run. To their minds, Jesus’ words of Law are nothing but an unneeded and insufferable attack. Sadly, those who refuse to take his words to heart and repent will know one day the full sharpness of his battle sword.

But the sword of Jesus’ mouth cuts in order to heal. When a doctor cuts his patient, it’s so that he can remove a diseased or wounded organ. He wants not only to save his patient from dying, but to help them make a complete recovery to health, so they can live a full life again. Jesus wants no less for us. He wants us to live forever. To those who take to heart his words, he also offers the Gospel. He promises us forgiveness and healing and new life. That’s what Jesus came to bring. That’s what he came to proclaim, just as foretold. Jesus faithfully carried out his mission during his time on earth. He’s still doing that work through the preachers of the Word he sends.

"You are my servant in whom I will display my splendor" God had said. But just how "splendid" does his mission appear? How lowly his humble means of grace seem to our feeble human senses. Wouldn’t it be more efficient to convert the masses at the edge of a sword of metal? That’s what some have attempted through the ages. But God desires the heart, not just the limbs. He wants souls, not just bodies. And so Jesus stuck to his mission of preaching. He continued to add to God’s kingdom one soul at a time. And for that reason, Jesus’ mission almost looked hopeless.

The people of Israel had great expectations from their Messiah. They expected to see his splendor unmistakably. But many of them were sorely disappointed. "Isn’t this the carpenter’s son?" they asked. Don’t his brothers and sisters living among us?" And so many took offence at him. (Mt 13:55ff.) Jesus himself was disappointed with the response of the people to his words. Remember that Jesus is truly human, just like you and me. In our text he says: But …"I have labored to no purpose; I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing." But he was also perfect. Disappointed though he was, still he completely trusted that his Father’s will was being accomplished. Yet what is due me is in the Lord’s hand, and my reward is with my God."

We can relate to Jesus’ letdown. We know that our God is almighty. We know that his Words are all completely true. And yet we wonder why the church doesn’t see more outward success. We wonder why Christian congregations shrink while sects like the Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses continue to grow. We can’t help but be frustrated when we see people’s bored or even hostile looks when they hear the greatest message on earth. It’s no wonder Jesus could say But …"I have labored to no purpose; I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing."

When God’s polished arrow came to earth with the pin-point accuracy of a smart bomb, we might have expected the whole world to be set on fire for the Gospel. Instead crowds tried to throw him off a cliff. Whipped into a frenzy by Jesus worst enemies, they shouted "Crucify him. Crucify!" The one of whom God had said, "You are my servant in whom I will display my splendor" looked not one bit splendid as blood dripped from his head and hands and feet, and he cried out "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me!" And to all too human eyes he looks no more splendid today, as millions turn their back on him and go on living for themselves—to their own destruction.

But that’s not the whole story.

Jesus’ humble mission obtained forgiveness and eternal life in heaven for all the world. What looked like failure was the greatest victory ever won, as Jesus crushed the serpent’s head on Calvary. The scattered smattering of humble followers has become the Church of Jesus Christ, made up of believers throughout the world. Jesus’ Mission was a success after all! Our text: And now the Lord says—he who formed me in the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel to himself, for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord and my God has been my strength— ⁶ he says: "It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth."

From every nation on earth, God has gathered the wheat into his barns. From the Jews he has gathered those who recognize from Scriptures, who have learned who and what the Messiah was to be—a Savior from sin and eternal death. From Gentiles of every other nation, God has chosen, called to faith, and gathered those who recognize the darkness of their pagan, heathen, damning idolatry. "Elect from every nation, yet one o’er all the earth, her charter of salvation, one Lord, one faith, one birth." "His truth is marching on" as the hymn says.

You and I are no longer the problem. God has made us part of the solution. We have joined the procession of light, to bring the light of salvation to the ends of the earth. As we heard last week, we were baptized into our work just like Jesus was. When Jesus was baptized, he began his outwardly humble, but transcendently splendid mission as God’s polished arrow, wielding the sword of his mouth, proclaiming Law and Gospel, and enlightening those who sat in the squalid, self-abasing, self-destructive downward spiral of unbelief. At our baptisms we were anointed to proclaim the same saving message of Law and Gospel. Each of us has been anointed to call sin sin, and to warn that it leads to death. And we’ve been called to tell the Good News, that God so loved the world, and sent his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. We are baptized, that is anointed and ordained priests of God, who bring offerings of the best we have—worship, work, and a harvest of souls as we bring the light of Jesus into darkened hearts.

And we will be just as successful as Jesus. God’s Word does not return to him empty, but accomplishes the purpose for which he sent it. The devil will continue to do his best to dishearten us, and tell us our work’s in vain. But God’s Kingdom will continue to spread into the hearts of every individual who hears the truth and believes in Jesus.

An atomic bomb can wipe out a whole city in a matter of minutes—after which that city is useless to everybody. God prefers polished arrows. Christ and his Word was God’s special weapon to bring the elect into his kingdom—and still is. He has armed you with the same special smart weapon. Use it to God’s glory—and don’t be fooled or disheartened by what you see. God’s will is being done, and this is how his Kingdom comes. Amen.