I think we all know who 'the suffering servant is'. If you don't you can find it "on the google" as my father-in-law would say. I have another phrase of my own invention, "the unlikely servant". Nothing special because it applies to so many of the prophets and faithful throughout all of Scripture.
It seems almost everyone starts out at the very least by saying "who me?" The whole reason Jonah winds up in the whale is that he is trying to avoid what God is calling him to do. Such is the story with many, many prophets.
The stories go much deeper than that though. It's not just that people feel reluctant, God picks the most unlikely as his messengers. Paul seems the most unlikely I suppose as he was a tormentor and persecutor of Christians. There were arguments aplenty when Paul was presented to the faithful as a convert, nay, as a leader. Where do you think you would stand if someone vouched for him and said, trust him, he's seen the light. Yikes, tough call, eh?
But Jesus' whole ministry and witnesses are those that would seem to be the least likely. The sinners, the tax collectors, the prostitutes? What of the Centurion? A leader of an occupying army coming to Jesus and bearing witness to His power and authority? It's even more astounding when it is the Centurions 'pais' that Jesus is being asked to cure. That word has been translated in many different ways, servant, slave but the most stunning and most accurate translation is actually that is that a 'pais' is a junior male lover ( that Roman soldiers often had ). A very unlikely witness indeed and with no rebukes or judgement from our Lord. If you go through Scripture you find the most amazing people being called as servants, prophets and followers of "the Way".
I am not shy to relate the story of the 'Italian stallion' I came across during a round of jury duty many years ago. Complete with gold chains, coiffed hair and gold Trans Am parked outside that he kept his eyes on from our vantage point in our waiting room. It turns out he was not a superficial soul but instead a deeply faithful servant, a man with a truly good heart and served as a volunteer weekly in the poorest sections of Manhattan offering food to the needy. I never would have seen this apostle right under my own nose if I had simply passed judgment and moved on.
It seems faithful servants, all of us perhaps, are unwilling, unlikely and all around us. That is, if we choose to open our eyes and are willing to see.
The Psalms and Gospels all point to a cornerstone that is Christ. The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. The cornerstone, the part of the building always seen, out in the open and plain to see. Again, if you are willing to open your eyes and notice, see, learn and love.
Romans 1:1-15
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of his name, 6including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,
To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed throughout the world. For God, whom I serve with my spirit by announcing the gospel* of his Son, is my witness that without ceasing I remember you always in my prayers, asking that by God’s will I may somehow at last succeed in coming to you. For I am longing to see you so that I may share with you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— or rather so that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as I have among the rest of the Gentiles. I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish — hence my eagerness to proclaim the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
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