St Mary's

Today Talk from Steve

18th January 2026

Called, Confirmed and Commissioned:  

Isaiah 49:1–7 and John 1:29–42 (NIV) 

From Exile to Everyday Life 

So Church, we are presented with two scenes in our readings today. I want to set these out so you can hold these in your mind as we explore three themes this morning. 

We will be moved from promise to person how the Servant’s calling In Isaiah 49:1–7 converges with Jesus’ revelation and the birth of discipleship in John 1:29–42, We will see that this forms a pattern for our lives today and gives us some very practical actions we can pursue should we choose to. 

The three themes are that we are first Called, then we are Confirmed and finally we are Commissioned. 

First Scene: we heard this morning from the book of Isaiah a voice rising from the sting of exile, Israel, scattered far from home, living among foreign powers, the weight of displacement pressing on their shoulders. Their routines disrupted, their identity bruised, their future clouded with uncertainty. The songs of Zion feel like echoes from another lifetime. Every day carries the ache of loss and the question, “How long will we be here?” 

And into that weariness, into that fog of confusion and disappointment, a Servant begins to speak. Not with the frantic urgency of someone improvising a plan, but with the calm authority of one who knows they have been called long before their first breath.  

A calling older than memory, knitted into their very being by the hand of God. A preparation hidden in the quiet places’years of shaping, sharpening, and waiting yet purposeful and sure. 

This Servant steps forward not merely for the weary exiles before him, not only for the tribes of Jacob or the remnant of Israel, but with a mission broader than anyone dared imagine. A light meant not just for one nation, but for the nations; a restoration not confined to one people group, but stretching to the ends of the earth.  

A promise that God’s salvation was always bigger than Israel’s borders, always more expansive than their captivity, always aimed at a world in darkness seeking dawn. (Isaiah 49:1–7). 

Hold that in your mind’s eye. 

Second: picture a dusty road near the Jordan, the air thick with heat and the murmured prayers of people hungry for hope. Crowds have gathered because there’s a prophet down by the water wildeyed, roughlydressed, carrying the wilderness in his voice. John, John the Baptist stands ankledeep in the river, calling people back to God with a raw honesty that cuts through the noise of Roman occupation and the long silence of unfulfilled promises. 

And then it happens. John pauses midsentence, his eyes locking onto a figure approaching through the dust. A carpenter from the small, forgettable town of Nazareth, ordinary in appearance, unremarkable to most. But not to John. Not to the one who has been waiting for this very moment. 

He lifts his arm, points straight at Jesus, and speaks a sentence that will echo through eternity: 
“Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” 
(John 1:29, NIV) 

The words hang in the air startling, disorienting, worldrearranging. A Lamb? God’s Lamb? The one sacrifice that would not simply cover sin for a year, but carry it away for the world? 

A few ordinary fishermen, disciplesinthemaking, stand nearby. They hear Johns words. They feel the weight of them. Something inside them awakens, shifts, leans forward. John has spoken; the direction is clear. This is the One. 

And so, on that dusty road by the Jordan, Jesus is revealed not just as a teacher or prophet, but as God’s chosen Servant the longawaited One that Isaiah had promised.  

And in that revelation, disciples begin to recognise him, to follow him, to step into a story far bigger than their nets, their villages, or their own expectations. 

These two scenes meet in our world today. Because our world, like theirs, carries exile in its bones, loneliness in crowded rooms, exhaustion behind deadlines, fractured communities within noisy cities. And our world, like theirs, needs more than motivation or mindfulness.  

We need a Servant who knows our sadness and a Lamb who can actually carry it away. We need calling, confirmation, and commissioning: a life set by God, empowered by the Spirit and turned outward in hope. 

So, let’s walk through these readings this morning, first Isaiah, then John’s Gospel and unpack a little of those three key themes that can reshape our week and our world. 

1. We Are Called:  

“The LORD called me from the womb” (Isaiah 49:1) 
“He made me into a polished arrow” (Isaiah 49:2) 

Isaiah lets us overhear the Servant addressing the coastlands that is, the faraway places, the nations beyond Israel’s borders. The Servant announces that the call of God predates public ministry: from the womb. Long before anyone saw a sign, God was sharpening a life. 

The image is compelling: a sharp sword and a polished arrow. Swords are sharpened in hidden rooms; arrows are straightened and polished where no crowds gather. Preparation is not glamorous. It looks like obscurity, routine, discipline, delayed applause. But in the hands of God, hiddenness is not wasted its holy formation. 

Because we are Called: 

• Our hidden work matters. 
  The day job where we do our best, the people we care for on a daily basis, the lesson plans that are prepare, the children who get tuck into bed, the prayers we whisper, these are arrow-polishing moments. In God’s economy, invisible faithfulness becomes visible fruit, in time. 

• Our name is known. 
  “Called… from the womb” means the One who named the Servant has always known the shapes of our story’s. In seasons where we feel unseen, remember being seen by God is the real economy.

• We need to resist self-invention and embrace God’s shaping. 
  The Servant is made into a polished arrow. We don’t self-engineer significance; we receive it as God forms us through being filled with the Spirit, loving scripture, investing in community, practicing his presence and living with integrity. 

Let’s just consider, not all our life experiences are Mountaintop experiences. Many of us spend a lot of time in the bottom of the valley, spiritually and literally! 

It can be a difficult place when we are honest and faithful and we see nothing for our efforts. 

“I have laboured in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet my vindication is with the LORD, and my reward is with my God.” (Isaiah 49:4). 

The Servant speaks a sentence many of us whisper in the quiet: 
“I have laboured in vain.”  

Do you feel like that sometimes? There can be no spiritual sugarcoating when we feel like this. Scripture honours the pain of apparent futility.  

But the verse hinges on the word “yet.” Discouragement is named; trust is chosen. “My vindication is with the LORD.” The Servant grants the outcome to God. 
 
Because we are Called: 

• We should name our discouragement, not hide it. 
  Faith is not denial. Faith is direction turning honest grief toward God instead of away from Him. 

• We should be anchored in God’s judgement, not our own. 
  When “visible results” don’t match faithful effort, refuse the lie that faithfulness is failure. That scoreboard belongs to God. 

• We should let “yet” be our hinge word. 
  “It feels like I’ve laboured in vain, yet I trust You.” That little word can spare your spirit from spiralling downwards and steady our hands for tomorrow. 

 Do you think, like me sometimes that we limit or vision, our expectations of what we can do or what we think God can do? 

“I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”  (Isaiah 49:6). 

God refuses to let the Servant’s mission be insular. Restoring Israel matters, but the Lord says, in effect, “It’s too small a thing.” The mission stretches to the ends of the earth. This isn’t motivational jargon; it’s mission breadth.   

Because we are Called: 

• We can pray beyond our postcode. 
  Let the geography of our prayers widen, neighbours and nations, schools and shelters, colleagues across the hall and refugees across borders. 

• We can hold a global vision with local hands. 
  God’s heart spans the world, but He moves through people like you and me, finding one person to love, help, invite, and serve is all we need to do. 

So Number1 We are called….. 

1. We are Confirmation 

Jesus Arrives as the Sacrificial King (John 1:29–34, NIV) 

“Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) 
“I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him.” (John 1:32) 
“I have seen and I bear witness that this is the Son of God.” (John 1:34) 

On the Jordan’s banks, this silhouette becomes a Person: Jesus. John the Baptist does not say, “Look, a moral example.” He says, “Look, the Lamb of God.” This is Passover language, sacrificial language, deliverance language. The Lamb doesn’t inspire us to do better; the Lamb takes away our sin. 

And then comes confirmation: the Spirit descends and remains. In Israel’s story, the Spirit often visited momentarily.  

With Jesus, the Spirit settles and enhabits. The Father’s delight rests on the Son, and the Son will baptize with the Holy Spirit meaning our life in God is not willpower dressed up as religion; it’s Spirit-empowered participation in the life of Jesus. 

Because we are Confirmed 

• We can behold, not just behave. 
  The Christian life begins with beholding a strange word, it simply means witnessing or observing. And as we observe there is a turning, the focus of our heart to Jesus. When we behold or observe the Lamb, we see grace strong enough to carry our shame and gentleness kind enough to calm our fears. 
• We can live Spirit-dependent, not self-dependent lives. 
  If the Spirit remained on Jesus, then everything about Christian mission is Spirit-led. We need prayer that expects God, listening that expects guidance, courage that expects power and a lifestyle that expects to be continually spirit filled. 

We all have an Invitation that Forms Disciples 
(John 1:35–39, NIV) 

“Look, the Lamb of God!” (John 1:36) 
“What do you want?” (John 1:38) 
“Come, and you will see.” (John 1:39) 

John points again and two disciples follow Jesus. Jesus turns with a question so simple it’s seismic: “What do you want?”.  

Discipleship starts with desire naming the hunger that drives us. The two reply by calling Him Rabbi and asking where He’s staying. Jesus’ reply is the shape of the Christian life: “Come, and you will see.” 

Before Sunday morning services, house groups, mission strategies and church calendars, discipleship was proximity: spending time with Jesus, letting His words reshape our words, His priorities reorder our priorities, His presence settle our anxieties. They stayed with Him that day. That small sentence holds a large secret: abiding precedes impact. 

Because we are Confirmed 

• We should answer Jesus’ question. 
  What do you want? Not the nice answer, the true one. Security? Approval? A purpose? Forgiveness?  
  Jesus meets real desires with a real presence. We can expect a response. 

• We can practice proximity. 
  Build rhythms, quiet spaces, breath prayers on the commute, worship in community, silence when the noise rises. Come and see is not a one-time invitation; it’s the daily pattern of a disciple. 

Did you know that found People Find People. 
Andrew’s Simple Evangelism (John 1:40–42, NIV) 

“We have found the Messiah” (John 1:41) 
“You are Simon… you will be called (Peter)” (John 1:42) 

Andrew encounters Jesus and immediately finds his brother.  

He speaks one sentence “We have found the Messiah” and brings Simon to Jesus. Jesus looks at Simon and speaks destiny: a new name that carries a future role. 

This is evangelism at ground level: relational, uncomplicated, enjoyable. 

Because we are Confirmed 

• We can adopt Andrew’s pattern: 
  Find, Speak, Bring. 

• Find someone you love or simply see often. 

• Speak a concise, honest word about Jesus. 

• Bring them into prayer, into community, into Scripture, into your table and home. 

• We need to trust Jesus with transformation. 
  Andrew didn’t transform Simon; Jesus did. Our role is invitation; Jesus’ role is new names, new hearts and a new future.  

Remember, when our labour feels in vain: A Word to the Weary 

Some of us are tired. We have loved someone for years with little change. We have built something worthy with little recognition. We have served faithfully without obvious fruit.  

Remember the Servant’s honesty: “I have laboured in vain.” And hear the Servant’s trust: “Yet my vindication is with the LORD.” 

In John’s story, the first disciples didn’t launch a movement that day they simply stayed with Jesus. Later, Andrew found Simon. It was quiet before it was contagious. God often plants harvests with slow seeds. Our consistent prayer might be the root system of someone else’s awakening. 

I want to encourage you this morning: 

• Keep showing up, being faithful and important being present. 

• Keep speaking simple, clear, hopeful truths 

• Keep inviting “Come and see.” 
• Keep trusting the Spirit remains on Jesus and flows from Jesus to you and me. 

1. Our last Theme: We are Commissioned 

Commissioning the Church: A Practical Sending 

“The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” 

This is not just a title; it’s a mission statement. 

• If He is the Lamb “who takes away the sin of the world,” 
  then His mission is already global in scope. 

• Before anyone is sent, they must see who Jesus truly is. 
  That’s what happens on the Jordan’s banks: revelation awakens calling. 

Mission begins in the moment Jesus is recognised for who He truly is. 

The Lamb of God points back to Isaiah where the Servant Is a Light to the Nations 

Our New Testament reading connects Jesus to Isaiah’s Servant, which is exactly what John is doing. 

Isaiah 49:6 says: 

“I will make you a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” 

So, when John calls Jesus the Lamb of God, he is pointing to: 

• a universal sacrifice, 

• a global salvation, 

• a Servant whose light shines beyond Israel. 

And if Jesus is that Servant, then His followers are swept into that global purpose too. 

The Jordan scene is the starting line of the Great Commission 

You won’t find the words “go to all nations” in John 1, 
but the seeds of the Great Commission are planted here. 

Why? 

Because the One identified at the Jordan as the Lamb: 

• is the One who later says, 
  “Go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:18–20) 

• and the One who breathes His mission into His followers: 
  “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” (John 20:21) 

This Scene captures that moment where discipleship and mission ignite. 

This is the hinge: 
Once you recognize Jesus, you cannot stay where you are. 
You are called into His mission to people, to places, to nations. 

So, what does this means for us today? 

The narrative points us toward a simple but profound truth: 

• To follow Jesus is to join Jesus in His mission. 

• We aren’t just saved from something. 

We are saved into something 
a calling that stretches further than our comfort zones, our professions, or our hometowns. 

Just as the first disciples left their nets, we are called to leave whatever keeps us from joining Jesus on His road. 

And His road always leads outward from the Jordan, to Galilee, 
to Jerusalem, to Samaria, to the ends of the earth. 

Church, are we prepared to receive this as our commissioning? 

In summary 

• We are Called: 
  The God who called His Servant from the womb calls us a new today. Our story is not an accident; Our place is not random; Our gifts are not incidental. 

• We are Confirmed: 
  The Spirit who remained on Jesus remains with His people. We should seek His filling. Expect His guidance. Depend on His power. 

• We are Commissioned: 
  It is too small a thing to keep this hope to ourselves. Let us be a light in our workplace, neighbourhood, and networks. Pray for the nations and love our next-door neighbours.  

 A Final Word 

Church, the Servant’s song is not ancient history; it is a living score that Jesus continues to play through His people.  

The melody begins in hiddenness, rises through honest trust, crescendos into global mission, and stretches into eternity with a new song on our lips: “Look, the Lamb of God.” May we live this melody being called, confirmed and commissioned this week and beyond. 

Let’s Pray  

May the Lord who called us from hidden places polish our lives. 
May Jesus, the Lamb of God, carry away what weighs on our conscience and steady our steps. May the Spirit who remains on Christ rest upon us, empower our stories, renew our courage.
May we be a light for the world, and may God’s salvation move through us toward the ends of the earth.  

And when discouragement whispers “in vain,” may our heart answer, “Yet my vindication is with the LORD.”  

Go in peace be found people who find people, be blessed people who bless people, disciples who come and seeand then go and tell. 

Amen. 

Who is this Servant who speaks in Isaiah? 

Just a little background information. 

Isaiah 49:1–7 is part of what scholars call the "Servant Songs" in the book of Isaiah. The identity of the "servant" has been interpreted in several ways across different traditions:  

1. In the Immediate Context of Isaiah

• The servant is often understood as Israel, the nation, called to be a light to the nations (see verse 3: “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified”). 

• However, the passage also describes the servant as having a mission to restore Israel, which suggests an individual distinct from the nation. 

2. Jewish Interpretation

• Many Jewish scholars see the servant as the faithful remnant of Israel or a prophetic figure representing Israel’s ideal role. 

3. Christian Interpretation

• Christians traditionally interpret the servant as a Messianic prophecy, pointing to Jesus Christ, who fulfils the role of bringing salvation to the nations and restoring Israel. 

4. Scholarly View

• Some scholars argue the servant could be Isaiah himself or another prophetic figure, symbolizing God’s chosen messenger. 

The tension in the text where the servant is called “Israel” but also tasked with restoring Israel makes this passage rich and complex.