The Christ Quarter

How Meekness, Mercy, And Purpose Transform A Community

• Boris Kirk • Season 6 • Episode 81

Share episode

Start here if you’ve ever felt like religion gets too loud to hear the heart of God. We open Isaiah 42:1–9 and sit with the Servant who brings justice without shouting, carries truth without crushing the bruised, and invites us into a life that heals instead of hurries. This is a tender, steady vision of Jesus—delighting the Father, anointed by the Spirit, and committed to making things right with a strength the world often overlooks.

We walk through the text in three movements. First, we explore how meekness is not weakness but disciplined mercy: a Savior who refuses to snap fragile lives or snuff faint hope. Then we widen to God’s creative authority and the Servant’s mission as a covenant and a light for the nations, opening blind eyes and leading prisoners out of darkness. Along the way, we ground ourselves in the core of the gospel—saved by grace, not by effort—and consider how gratitude grows when we remember the pit we were pulled from. Finally, we confront our drift toward idols and complacency, naming how easy it is to praise God after a rescue and then demand a new miracle by morning. The text challenges our scripts about power: people expected a conquering king to break Rome; God sent a humble Servant to break sin and death.

The conversation moves from Scripture to street-level practice. Love is an action word, so we call one another to simple, concrete acts—help a neighbor, lift a co-worker, choose quiet faithfulness over performative noise. When God’s answers don’t match our timelines, we choose trust over suspicion and ask what he’s forming in us as we wait. If each of us meets one nearby need, the collective change can be immediate and profound. Join us, reflect on Isaiah’s Servant, and consider one gentle act you can offer today.

If this encouraged you, subscribe, share it with a friend who needs hope, and leave a review with one takeaway you’re putting into practice this week.

Send us a text

Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched!
Start for FREE

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Support the show

SPEAKER_00:

Welcome to the Christ Quarter. I'm so glad you're here with me to take 15 minutes of this day to enjoy the presence of Christ and the words of Christ. Today we will read a brief section of Scripture and discuss what it means and how it applies to our lives. It is my hope that God will speak to you through these words and bring you closer to Him. I am blessed to have this opportunity to speak with you, and I thank you so much for being with me here today. Today's scripture selection is Isaiah chapter 42, verses 1 through 9. The scriptures for today are a portion of Isaiah chapters 40 through 66, which are known as the Book of Comfort, which looks forward to the time when Judah's exile in Babylon will end. This will not occur for another 150 years. Today's text is the first of five servant songs. These songs point to Jesus and what he will accomplish. The King James Version of our scripture today reads as follows. Behold my servant, whom I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth. I have put my spirit upon him, he will bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. At bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench. He shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He will not fail, nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth, and the isles shall wait for his law. Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens and stretched him out, he that spread forth the earth and that which cometh out of it, he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein. I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for covenant of the people, for light of the Gentiles, to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. I am the Lord, this is my name, and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare. Before they spring forth I tell you of them. Let us pray. Lord, we thank you for this day. We thank you for the freedom and the ability to discuss your word and enjoy your presence. Help us to understand your word and your will for our daily lives more fully. We ask that you bless this discussion of your word so that it will speak to someone who needs to hear from you. We ask that you will use these words to bring someone closer to you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. The verses for today are comforting and motivating. We are comforted today because the scriptures remind us that we have a Savior who knows us personally and cares about us. A Savior who has been through the pains and betrayals of life, the mundane day-to-day living, as well as the highs that we all experience from time to time. The scriptures are motivating because we are reminded that we are called to service, that we each have a God-given purpose for our life, and the God-given gifts to fulfill it. We each have a job that we are uniquely qualified to complete. Knowing this gives purpose to our lives beyond the years of our life and beyond the years of our loved ones' lives. We each have the ability to help our neighbors and our community in ways that no one else can. If we all, each one of us individually, help someone near us, down the street, at our job, or just some way we happen to see in public, if we helped and showed them kindness in some way, we would make a drastic, immediate change in our communities. We have a comforter and a savior, so we are called to comfort and support those around us. We are called to love one another. Love is an action word. Show your love of your fellow man through action today. Let's get right to it. The first section of today's text, verses one through four, reads Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my elect, in whom my soul delighteth. I have put my spirit upon him, he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles, he shall not cry nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench. He shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth, and the isle shall wait for his law. These four verses refer to Jesus, the embodiment of truth, in whom God delights. The beginning of the verse shows that God has put his spirit upon Jesus. This is an important point because during this time Christians did not experience the presence of the Holy Spirit in the way that we Christians do today. In this verse, God expresses his pleasure in Jesus and points out that the Holy Spirit is upon Jesus. The scripture further states that Jesus will bring judgment to the Gentiles. And how different Jesus will be compared to the people of that time. Rather than being loud and working to bring attention to himself, Jesus will be meek. This was confusing to many during the life of Jesus. And likewise, we Christians today should be confusing to the world when we do not behave like the world. We are a peculiar people and our behavior should be distinct from the way the world around us behaves. Jesus was meek and he also did no harm. The verse says that Jesus would not break an already bruised reed. Many of us are bruised or broken. God supports us and God helps us. Throughout the Bible, God uses broken, damaged, and bruised people to further his kingdom. We do not need to be ashamed of our brokenness. God will still support us, heal us, and bring us into the family of Christianity. Even though Jesus is meek and not loud, the scripture ends saying that Jesus will bring judgment, and not only judgment, but judgment under truth. Where others have failed, Jesus will succeed. The latter verse alludes to the challenges that will be put before Jesus, that he will not be discouraged by them, but will succeed in set judgment in the earth. The second section of today's text, verses five through seven, reads, Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens and stretched them out, he that spread forth the earth and that which cometh out of it, he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein. I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for light of the Gentiles, to open the blind eyes, to bring the prisoners from the prison, and then that sit in darkness out of the prison house. I am the Lord, that is my name, and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. Here God emphasizes who he is. He created everything that is and gave life to everything that lives. He has authority over his creations. The scripture further states that God has called Jesus in righteousness and that he will be with Jesus to keep him. Jesus is to initiate covenant through his personal sacrifice, his death on the cross for all people. The section ends with a reference to Jesus opening blind eyes and bringing those who live in continual darkness into the light, the light of salvation through Jesus Christ. Thank God that we have salvation through him. Thinking about what God has done for us and remembering where we used to be when we were in darkness, and even where we were in our early Christian journey, that should make it easy for us to praise God. The fact that we have been saved by grace is everything. If God never does another thing for us, he has done more than we can really even understand. We are delivered from the prison of sin by accepting Jesus into our lives as our Savior through no work or action of our own, but we are saved by grace and grace alone. The last section of today's text, verses eight and nine, reads, I am the Lord, that is my name, and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare, before they spring forth I tell you of them. In this section we see God emphasizing again that He is God and God above all things. As he said to Moses, I am that I am. God is saying here that his glory is his alone, and that he will not share his praise with man made idols. We Christians tend to look to God when we are in trouble and praise him when he answers our prayer. But a short time after God saves us, provides for us, or otherwise answers our prayers, we become complacent and start to ask God what has he done for us lately. People in the Bible witness great miracles and still turn back to sin once they were again comfortable. It seems to be the way we are as people that we so easily become complacent. We as Christians should be especially vigilant against this tendency and continually defeat it in our own lives. This scripture declares that old things will come to pass and that new things were near. The people expect that the new things will be Jesus arriving on the scene as a conquering king that will forcibly deliver them from their oppressors, the Romans. They have no expectation that Jesus will arrive as a meek and lowly servant, willingly giving his life as a ransom for the world. When they did not find Jesus to be as they wanted him to be, they turned on him and crucified him. Here is another lesson for us. When we pray to God and do not receive the response we think we should receive, do we turn on God in anger? Many of us do. If not in anger, then in confusion. It is okay to ask God for understanding, but it is not okay to ask God in effect, do you know what you're doing? This is what we're really doing when we question God and become angry at God because we're not getting our way. Let us all work to trust God in everything we do, even when things are going a little crazy. Trust that God has us and is working everything out to our benefit. This concludes our scripture discussion for today. Thank you for spending this time with me talking about, learning about, and enjoying Christ. It is my hope that God has used my words to touch you today and has brought you closer to Him. Please contact me if you wish to have further information about Christ. Let us pray. Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day, our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory. Forever. Amen.