A small candle was burning dimly in the living room. Someone walked past and blew it out. It didn’t take much, just a light breath and the flame was extinguished. Then they walked away.
What surprised me was the thin straight trail of smoke that lifted from the wick. Then it completely dissipated. I thought, “I heard a sermon about that.”
I relit the candle and blew it out. Again there was a thin straight trail of smoke that lifted from the wick.
I tried to reignite the flame without using an external flame. I blew on it ever so gently and the smoke disappeared. So I re-lit it.
Over and over again I experimented with the candle trying to bring the flame back to life. I blew on the wick from various directions, with varying strength of breath to no avail. I tried waving my hand over the wick to see if the gentle breeze would bring it back to life. Nothing, absolutely nothing worked.
TEXT
The sermon was based on Matthew 12:20, “A bruised reed shall he (Jesus) not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory.” The Old Testament reference is found in Isaiah 42:1-4.
The main emphasis of the verse is that Jesus Christ is gentle, more so than we can ever imagine. And that he would never, under any circumstance, put out the light of hope, be it ever so dimly burning.
WE
There are other things that this verse teaches. Such as we, both you and me, are the bruised reeds and the smoking wick where the flame has almost been completely extinguished.
LIFE IS HARD
It doesn’t seem to matter where we live, or how hard we try. We start out young, full of dreams and aspirations. But before we have very many years we begin to realize just how hard life is. Trials come our way. Some face devastating abuse, others life alternating losses. We deal with depression, grief, sorrow, bitterness, etc.
Events or people seem determined to defeat our best efforts. Life is full of hardships. Discouragement, depression and despair can easily overtake us. Sometimes it seems all hope is lost.
HOPE
But this passage teaches us that Jesus would never extinguish the faintest glimmer of hope. He doesn’t belittle, insult, deride, mock, intimidate, or bully. Just the opposite, when there is no hope he brings life.
EXAMPLE
Jesus addressed the adulterous woman in John 8 the same way he addressed his mother. He said to one, “Woman, what have I to do with you?” To the other he said, “Woman, where are your accusers?”
The adulterous was absolutely defenseless. But he spoke peace to her when all hope was lost. And he will do the same for you. Don’t give up. Come to Jesus. Come now.