\u201cThe pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. And I said, \u2018Woe is me!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWoe is me\u201d seems to be an understatement. The prophet is having a vision that\u2019s not only very vivid, but also frightening. Everything is immense. The hem of the Lord\u2019s robe fills the temple. There are seraphs with multiple wings. There\u2019s shouting and trembling and shaking and fire. In all this, the prophet realizes that not only is he privy to amazing sights and sounds, but he has also seen the King, the Lord of hosts. The prophet knows that to see the face of God invites death. To make matters worse, the prophet is a man of unclean lips living among a people of unclean lips. He feels afraid and hopeless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We can feel that fear and hopelessness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s because the Bible \u2013 in addition to being God\u2019s word to us, the story of our salvation, theology, literature \u2013 the Bible is also very good theater. Imagine what a movie director would do with this story. The special effects would be spectacular \u2013 so spectacular perhaps that we\u2019d lose the real point of the story. The prophet is indeed living among people with unclean lips. They have become so unfaithful, so far from being a people of God, that God has almost despaired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The conversation between the prophet and the seraph and then between the prophet and God is wonderful theater, too. The prophet moans, \u201cI am lost!\u201d The Seraph, instead of just telling him that he\u2019s wrong, takes a live coal from the altar and touches the prophet\u2019s mouth cleansing it from guilt and sin. A little more exciting than our usual absolution for sin, isn\u2019t it? Then we hear from God. God asks, it seems, a rhetorical question: \u201cWhom shall I send (to these difficult people)?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Can\u2019t we imagine saying, \u201cPlease, please send me \u2013 just keep those seraphs away from me!\u201d And if we had stopped our first reading there as if it were the first act, the main character would come off as a real hero \u2013 very brave and confident. \u201cHere am I,\u201d as if God didn\u2019t notice him, \u201csend me!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Good for him! We hear that sentiment many times in the scriptures, sometimes in different words \u2013 Samuel, David, Mary, eventually the disciples of Jesus. It\u2019s a beautiful thing to say, a selfless and loving thing to say, and we can rejoice with that throng of seraphs crying, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the lectionary offers us the chance to go further in this passage. We can get a taste of what happens when God\u2019s people say, \u201cSend me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the second act, so to speak, the prophet finds out that he must take what will be a very unpopular message from God to the people. \u201cKeep listening, but do not comprehend; keep looking, but do not understand. \u2026 Make the mind of the people dull so that they will not understand and be healed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That seems very harsh unless we understand that the people have ignored every message God has sent so far. Until they hit bottom, they won\u2019t repent. Our brave and selfless prophet has a difficult mission, but he has been anointed and he will be supported by God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s the same in today\u2019s gospel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this passage from Luke, we have one of the \u201cgreat catch of fish\u201d stories. Jesus is beginning his ministry. He\u2019d been baptized. He too had been \u201canointed\u201d for a ministry. He spent forty days in the wilderness praying and preparing, and now he has come to preach and teach. But he hasn\u2019t started in the court of the king or the temple with the high priest. He\u2019s begun his ministry among the common folk \u2013 fishermen, farmers, women, and children. This might make some interesting theater, too. Imagine how a bunch of professional fishermen felt when Jesus, a carpenter by trade, told them to put their nets out again for a catch. Can\u2019t we hear the incredulity in Peter\u2019s voice: \u201cWe\u2019ve worked all night and caught nothing. But if you say so\u2026\u201d We can imagine the eye rolling the fishermen did \u2013 maybe even the quiet but pointed snickers. But of course, they bring in a boatload, and they are amazed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the boatload of fish isn\u2019t the point of the story. It really doesn\u2019t matter how Jesus managed that miracle. The same goes for the vision of Isaiah: it really doesn\u2019t matter how the Lord\u2019s hem filled the temple or the prophet got his lips singed and didn\u2019t die. The point of both passages is that God expects each of us to take a part in building the kingdom of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By our baptism we are anointed as Isaiah was \u2013 as Jesus was \u2013 and as Peter was in today\u2019s passage. It doesn\u2019t matter that we aren\u2019t among the mighty of the land. It doesn\u2019t matter if we\u2019re not even among the mighty in the church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Notice that neither Isaiah nor Peter \u2013 nor many of the other great people of the Old and New Testaments: David, Mary, Joseph, Anna, Simeon \u2013 were numbered among the high priests or important government leaders. Both these readings can be a real inspiration to all people who are called to make a difference where they are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We find the same message in Paul\u2019s letter to the Corinthians. He talks about his own call \u2013 reminding the Corinthians that it was by the grace of God that he became an apostle. With God\u2019s grace he had the strength to continue spreading the good news of Christ \u2013 the same thing we\u2019re supposed to do. In this passage, he tells us what that good news is for him in words that we now say every time we pray the Creed. \u201cOf first importance,\u201d he says, is that \u201cChrist died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day.\u201d If we would continue reading to the end of Chapter 15, we\u2019d hear Paul remind the Corinthians that they, too will be raised from the dead and that Christ would come again \u2013 that what happened to Jesus would also happen to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Corinthians thought Christ\u2019s second coming was imminent, but here we are, 2000 years later still striving to live a godly life. We live a life of faith in the promises of God. Each time we say the Creed, we remember Paul\u2019s words and believe even though we\u2019ve never seen Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We also believe, as the Corinthians did, that what happened to Jesus will also happen to us. We too will share in the resurrection. This story we share with others is a life-giving story. The more we read the scriptures, the more we try to model our lives on Christ\u2019s, and the more we realize that no matter what happens to us \u2013 good or bad \u2013 we are part of God\u2019s family and God will be with us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Like Isaiah, Peter, and Paul, we\u2019ve been anointed and are full of the Holy Spirit. Each one of us has a work to do in proclaiming the kingdom of God, whether it\u2019s by working for the church or being a witness to a godly life among our co-workers or in our homes. And each one of us has the same promise that was given to them: Do not be afraid \u2013 be at peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
God is with us every step of the way. We are nourished and strengthened right here at the altar. We have the ability to bring others along with us \u2013 to be fishermen \u2013 even when it means going out again and letting the nets down another time, letting our nets down in faith that the Lord will fill them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of our hymns says it well: \u201cJesus calls us! By thy mercies, Savior, may we hear thy call, give our hearts to thine obedience, serve and love thee best of all.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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