WHO'S GOD GONNA CALL?

A Sermon for the Fifth Sunday after Epiphany
February 3, 2007
by Pastor Laura Gentry

Isaiah 6:1-13
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory." The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. And I said: "Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!" Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: "Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out." Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I; send me!" And he said, "Go and say to this people: 'Keep listening, but do not comprehend; keep looking, but do not understand.' Make the mind of this people dull, and stop their ears, and shut their eyes, so that they may not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and comprehend with their minds, and turn and be healed." Then I said, "How long, O Lord?" And he said: "Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is utterly desolate; until the LORD sends everyone far away, and vast is the emptiness in the midst of the land. Even if a tenth part remain in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak whose stump remains standing when it is felled." The holy seed is its stump.(New Revised Standard Version)

1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you--unless you have come to believe in vain. For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them--though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you have come to believe. (New Revised Standard Version)

Luke 5:1-11
Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch." Simon answered, "Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets." When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!" For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people." {When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him. (New Revised Standard Version)

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

In a popular eighties film, the theme song would describe all kinds of ghost scenarios and then pose the question: “Who you gonna call?” to which there was the great big response: “Ghostsbusters!” Ever since, the phrase “Who you gonna call” is really overused, especially in advertising.

And yet, as I was thinking about all of today’s scripture readings, that silly question and tune kept popping into my head—because these stories are all about callings. They give us examples of the kinds of people that God calls to carry on God’s amazing work. So they are fascinating stories to explore.

In our Old Testament reading, who’s God gonna call? Isaiah! In the Jerusalem temple, Isaiah has a vision, which reads like a science fiction thriller. It is so overwhelming that it is downright scary. Understandably, Isaiah is terrified about encountering the glory of the Lord and responds: "Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” God’s not going to take no for an answer, it seems, and so an angel takes a smoldering coal from the altar with a pair of tongs and sears Isaiah’s lips it to purify them so he will be ready for his prophetic career. Then God asks, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" And Isaiah responds: "Here am I; send me!"

Then, we have another calling described in first Corinthians. Who’s God gonna call? Paul! Now this guy, like Isaiah does not see himself as worthy of the calling. Paul thinks back about how he had persecuted and killed many Christians before his conversion. He is horrified about his past actions and explains, “I am the least of all the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle." Even after he answers God’s call and is busy doing God’s work, it seems his violent predisposition plagues him and he says—in present tense—”I am the worst of sinners!" It is only because of God’s grace that Paul’s effective ministry is happening.

Finally, we have the story of Jesus inviting the men to become disciples and follow him. Who’s God gonna call? Simon Peter! You see the fishermen have worked all night and caught nothing, but then Jesus comes along and tells them to sink their nets into deeper waters. When they do so, their catch is enormous. Archeologists recently uncovered a fishing boat from that region and era that was 26.5 feet long, 7.5 feet wide, and 4.5 feet high. We must assume that this was about the size of Simon Peter’s boat. People in those days were smaller and most stood no taller than 5’5”, which made the boats extremely deep for them, with great capacity to hold fish. This story says that two boats were so filled with fish that they began to sink. A phenomenal amount of fish, this is indeed.

It so impresses Simon Peter that he says to Jesus, "Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!" Like Isaiah and Paul, he does not feel worthy to be called by the God of the Universe. But Jesus isn’t really interested in taking no for an answer. He presses him: "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people." And so Simon Peter and his friends leave their boats and everything else to answer this calling.

Is it any wonder that these three stories from different time periods in the bible were put together for today’s lectionary readings? I can see the theme, can’t you? Who’s God gonna call? Normal people! People like you and me. People who are not perfect. People who didn’t sign up for this sort of thing. Still, God calls.

Sinfulness, failure, and inadequacy—none of these is an obstacle to God’s call. God can use broken people. God can transform our shortcomings into useful qualities. God’s grace, as Paul discovered, is sufficient.

That is the epiphany, the shining truth in these lessons. God has been and is continuing to call us and it doesn’t matter how unworthy we may feel. God is ready and eager to use us. We are invited, like Simon Peter and the other disciples, to leave it all behind and follow. Just what does that mean in our modern world? Most people don’t drastically change their lives when they receive Christ, unless, of course, they decide to move to the other side of the globe and become a missionary or pull up stakes and go to seminary.

And it is easy for us to read these dramatic callings and think about how nice they are, but feel they simply don’t apply to us. So we go back to our old fishing nets, so to speak, instead of answering the call to a deeper discipleship that God is offering us. I mean, isn’t it possible that we could be transformed right where we are? Isn’t it in God’s power to completely revolutionize our hearts so that the way we interact with the people in our lives is different? Our God is an ever-present God and a God who’s ways are unexpected. God surprises us by accepting us as we are, healing us and then sending us forth to carry on the mission.

I remember reading a story in Reader’s Digest about a jewelry store employee named Melodie Hartline. She described how she would help couples ordering wedding bands to decide about putting a special inscription on the inside. She once asked a bride-to-be what she would like inscribed inside her fiancé's ring.

"We aren't very romantic," she replied. And she even explained that they were marrying on her fiancé's birthday just so that so he wouldn't forget the date!

Melodie persisted, "Isn't there something you'll want him to remember as he looks inside his ring?"

"There sure is," she said. And that's how "Put it back on!" came to be inscribed inside her husband's ring.

I think as we hear the calling stories of Isaiah, Paul and Simon Peter, we hear a call from God for us to recommit to our own callings, to “put it back on.” We so easily want to wiggle out of the call that God has placed upon our lives. It is a demanding call and we struggle with feeling inadequate. “Get someone else, God! Get someone who can do a better job.” But God says, “No, I want YOU! Put it back on. Put on your commitment to your calling. I have the grace to take you all the way!”

Who’s God gonna call? YOU! Today, let us answer this incredible invitation with the willingness of Isaiah: “Here I am Lord, send me.” Amen.

Now may the peace of God which passes all understanding keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

© Laura E. Gentry 2007