Note: After this was all done I realized I keep referring to Peter when the text from Luke mentions Simon. Simon later became Peter, and is sometimes called Simon Peter. But he was Simon, and then he became Peter. That's another place this could have gone - both Simon and Saul got new names (Peter and Paul) when they were transformed!
When the scary is irresistibly compelling and super-saturated with love, amazing things happen.
The lectionary texts for this Sunday are:
Isaiah 6:1-13
Psalm 138
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Luke 5:1-11
Did you ever think that God could not POSSIBLY be calling you to anything, because that is just not who you are? You know, the type of person who gets called to things?
Or maybe you have thought that God can call, or not, but no thank you, that is not how you roll and you have no interest in THAT kind of life.
Or MAYBE… maybe you think you are EXACTLY the kind of person God should be calling, and you can’t quite figure out why everybody else doesn’t see it, since you are so clear on how things should be.
Well, if you are in any of those categories… or if you have never even heard the words “you are called”… then today is your day! This message is for you.
The three texts for today focus on five guys. Now, don’t be thrown off by all that patriarchy. What they show us is true for people of all genders. But today we read a lot about Isaiah, Simon (Peter), James, John, and Paul. And the first thing they all have in common is that when God came and called (either as the God of Israel or in the person of Jesus) their first thought was nonononononono… not me! All were terrified to be in the presence of God, and then all said “oh, ok, send me!”
And that is very very weird to me. Because why would something so terrifying lead to such an immediate volunteering?
In Isaiah’s case, there he is, and there God is, and the seraphs are flying around with their eyes and feet covered, and just the hem, the edge of God’s robe, is filling up the Temple and it’s all smoky.
For Peter, James, and John, they had heard Jesus talking as they scrubbed their nets after a completely fruitless night of fishing, and then all of a sudden their nets were breaking and there were so many fish that TWO boats almost weren’t enough to hold them!
And of course, Paul was just walking along, going to catch some Christians and throw them in jail with government approval (even if they had not done anything wrong), and he got knocked completely off-kilter by a bright light and God’s voice.
That, to me, does not sound like the kind of invitation that we think we should offer to people who are going to come worship with us. Imagine walking into your local church and it’s all smoky with weird little creatures flying around and a whole bunch of fancy cloth taking up all the space. What would you do?
Or what if you invited people and so many came all at once so we send them over to the next church over and it was so full people were spilling out of BOTH sanctuaries and the water fountains and bathrooms could barely keep up?
Or… or Paul’s situation. I cannot even imagine driving to work and being knocked over and left blind and told “ok, now it’s time.” (Well, I say I can’t imagine it. But really… I kind of can. More on that later.)
This was no viral video or CGI or holograms. This was the real life experience of some people. And, not so surprisingly, all those people were thoroughly intimidated.
Isaiah responded with oh nooooo… not me! I’m unclean! I’m just a human being! I cannot possibly survive being in direct contact with God! That from the guy who went on to preach AWFUL news to the Israelites, knowing all along that they would not listen to him.
Or Peter (and probably James and John, but James and John were being quiet and Peter was speaking up… as usual): Nonoo… I’m not worthy! Who am I to hang out with this fish magician? The same Peter who would later stand up in from of the Jews and say “HEY! Y’ALL KILLED JESUS!” Which they had, but being so bold just does’t seem like it would have been a prudent thing to do, does it?
Or Paul, who maintained until the very end of his life that he was not worthy to do the work, and yet he had no choice because that was his calling. Paul. The guy who ended up spending a big chunk of his life in jail, and was grateful for it - maybe because it was so much safer than the crazy danger he had been in as he went out far and wide telling people about Jesus.
These did not end up being shy guys. They were not incapable guys. But in the presence of God, they were most definitely terrified guys.
In the midst of the scariness of seeing God: robe-filled Temples and seraphs and coals, and unimaginably large amounts of fish, and bright lights and wild travel journeys, God always offered protection:
* For Isaiah, coals to ceremonially cleanse him, something he would have understood from his Jewish heritage and knowledge of Temple practices.
* For Peter (and James and John) those words “Do not be afraid!” and the direct human interaction with Jesus
* For Paul, a community of people that he did not always agree with, but that he traveled with and cared about (and they took care of him, too)
I think we should pay attention to that reassurance. It must have been really powerful, since all five of them ended up going where they were sent. Isaiah said “Here I am! Send me!” Peter, James, and John left their boats then and there and became Jesus closest friends and companions. Paul traveled all over the place, making tents to buy food and clothing.
Isaiah spoke words the people did not want to hear, and was constantly in danger. But he did it anyway.
Peter, James, and John left their daily work to follow Jesus. And although they stayed in a small geographic area, they experienced three years of more mind-blowing things as Jesus preached and taught, healed and brought back to life, challenged the existing power structures and loved people who, socially, did not have to be loved or even noticed.
And Paul went. He worked hard. He did not have the advantage of watching Jesus first-hand and being clueless about everything that Jesus would suffer. Paul (as Saul) did all that he could to eradicate the Peters and Jameses and Johns, and then ended up carrying news of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ far and wide.
WHY DID THEY DO THAT???
How did the terror of their experiences turn into that powerful spreading of the news? How did they go from ordinary folk to the powerful preachers and leaders that we are still talking about 2000 years later?
Do you suppose they were lured by the power and grandeur of that robe and the bright lights and all those fish? I don’t know… it seems like they were pretty fearful and intimidated. And power junkies usually want power they can control, not power that makes them feel so inadequate. So I guess it might have been that, but they protested SO HARD… and then went anyway.
I just think there had to be something else going on. Something that turned unclean lips to clean ones, a bad fishing day into am overwhelming one, and a life of persecuting followers of Jesus to creating a whole bunch more followers of Jesus.
There had to be something that led to major transformation.
Isaiah, Peter, James, John, and Paul were transformed by the presence of God. The power and strength that is described in such alarming ways led them to love in ways that would mediate the harsh, terrifying realities of a thoroughly broken world in which it is hard – seemingly impossibly hard – to keep might and right aligned.
Isaiah, Peter, James, John, and Paul did not just follow terrifying power. They followed the thing that was REALLY unusual about their situations. They followed the perfect love that was embodied in that person. The gentle, redeeming goodness of a God who is not bound by fear and anger and disappointment and hate.
NOW – lest you think that the terrifying, powerful love of God no longer appears, or that we are too jaded to recognize it and be frightened, or that we do not need the message and assurance of Jesus saying ‘Don’t be afraid!”…
Or that such things only happen to some men…
Please know that the story of Isaiah and Peter and James and John and Paul is my story. It is the story of my friend Sue who was ordained a couple of days after years of waiting and wondering. It is the story of myriad other women and men who have heard a call from God and been terrified deep into their marrow even as they feel an irresistible urge to follow that call, to go and do things that “can’t be done” or that require departure from “how we’ve always done it.”
Maybe you are feeling that urge today, to go do something that some system or organization says can’t (or shouldn’t) be done.
Or maybe you are hearing a calling and are frightened at the idea that things might change, and wonder why things can’t stay the way have always been.
Wherever you fall in the range of all the possibilities, listen to what Jesus said in some super-scary times:
Don’t be afraid.
Know that you can trust the love that is behind the terrifying power of God entering your life. The Jews were afraid of that power because they could not see the love. And they tried to kill it – they wanted to stop that power, or better yet, control it. It did not work that way, though. Sure they killed Jesus, but Jesus did not stay dead, and in the Resurrection, LOVE WON. The power witnessed by Isaiah, Peter, James, John, and Paul that was in fact the power of love… WON.
So please, please remember: when the power – God’s power - shows itself, please know that the power is love, and that you will always recognize it because it will hold you. You might have this odd little feeling that you should just go with it. It might feel completely irresistible and incredibly tiny all at the same time. It can feel a whole lot of ways, but all of them will be just different enough to be compelling. To be love.
So don’t be afraid.
Listen for the love in the power, the love that IS the power. Know that whether it comes in a big dramatic way or a still, small voice, the power is the power of love, and love has already won.
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment