February 7 Epiphany V
The settings in our Old Testament & Gospel readings about Isaiah and Peter couldn’t be more different, otherwise these narratives are very similar: five-act human dramas in which Isaiah and Peter both received a call to respond to God.
Isaiah encountered God in the Temple. He saw the awesome and holy God in such immensity that the hem of God’s garment filled the Temple. Yet even in this display of divine glory, God attended to the need of his prophet. Isaiah was crippled by his sins and full of guilt. His healing came from the altar – a hot coal from the altar mediated grace; it was a visible sign of God’s invisible grace. As water mediates the grace of baptism for Christians and bread and wine mediate new life in Christ, a hot coal from the altar mediated forgiveness for Isaiah.
On the other hand, Jesus walked simply into a group of people at the lakeside where fisherman launched their boats in the morning and brought in their catch at the end of the day. Jesus taught the crushing crowd from Peter’s empty boat. Then Jesus told Peter to take the boat out again and set his nets for more fishing.
Here’s where our stories merge. As Isaiah was crippled by sin and guilt. Peter was crippled by failure and doubt. Peter had fished all day and caught nothing. What was the point of going out again? he wondered. In each story, human needs were acknowledged and met. Isaiah was cleansed by the fire of a piece of coal that ordinarily lights the altar. The penetrating light and the pain of fire from the burning coal set him free.
Peter was given a vision of the abundance of God’s kingdom when fish were found where no fish had been before. When Peter took his boat out and cast his nets, in spite of his misgivings, the catch of fish was so great the nets began to tear. When men and women come face to face with their limits and give up, Jesus enters.
Each one was healed. Encounters with God revealed human needs, and God’s healing response. In fourth and last acts of these dramas, a call was issued to each and a response given – Isaiah was called to prophecy, Peter to follow Jesus in his ministry, where he could learn and participate in spreading the word of God’s abundant grace and presence on the dusty roads, in the small towns, by rivers and lakes, all around Galilee and eventually to Jerusalem.
Isaiah responded with enthusiasm, “Here am I; send me!” Peter responded positively but with uncertainty. He was asked to turn his back on the biggest catch of fish he had ever seen, but he was invited to join the person who had given it. One way or another this five-act drama is played out in each of our lives and the life of the church: encounter with God, confession of inadequacy, healing, a call (or invitation) to spread the word and abundance of the kingdom of God, and our response. Are we apt to say Here am I; send me? or I can’t, or with Yes, with misgivings?
I don’t now about you, but lots of us resist. As I was finishing my parenting vocation, and began searching for my next vocation, it took me a long time to realize that church is what I loved most so I needed to find work in the church. Every time the subject of ordination came up I said I can’t. My passion is in the church, but I can’t do this and I can’t do that…
In addition to encouragement, particularly from my Education for Ministry group, I think it was recognizing the humanity of Jesus’ disciples that healed me. All of them except Judas stuck with Jesus to the end, but they had their moments of fear, anger, and misunderstanding their mission. Martha chastised Jesus for not coming to their dying brother Lazarus in time. Peter tried to talk Jesus out of going to Jerusalem–too dangerous. Let’s stay where people like us, and then he tried to pretend he didn’t know Jesus after they got there. Yet he followed Jesus. That’s what mattered.
That’s what matters for us — to make a positive response to the prodding of the Holy Spirit whether we’re enthusiastic or puzzled, or lukewarm. God wants us to follow our passion and whether we immediately recognize we can do what we love most, with God’s help, that’s the direction in which the Spirit prods us.
Pittman McGeehee, a preacher I admire,[2] says this about the Holy Spirit: “I don’t think of the Holy Spirit as a dove. The image of the dove has become too peaceful,” he says, “not the fiery and powerful dove of Jesus’ baptism. “The Holy Spirit is more like a wild goose. A wild goose is a magnificent bird, skidding onto ponds breaking ice if necessary to find food, flying thousands of miles to reach its destination—an incredible creature with a mission it is determined to fulfill. The Holy Spirit is a wild goose which is after me and will not let up until it has my attention.”
The Holy Spirit is after us to find our passion and will not let up until we say Yes, and we’re willing to take some risks, and make sacrifices to let it flourish. The Holy Spirit fuels this passion of ours to pursue what we love to do so we may participate in, and share God’s abundance. When we admit (confess) we feel inadequate, unworthy, afraid of failure, we will be healed. There are two ways of being in the world: life giving or life draining. Even with our screw ups and let downs, if we choose a life giving way, that’s what we get in return.
Maybe it’s easier for artists to recognize that wild goose of a Spirit. People who have artistic talent seem to feel compelled to find a way to express themselves. Other passions may be more difficult to see as gifts, like people whose passion is organization. They love details, and structures and strategies which make life run smoothly for the rest of us. Some people are passionate about people — helping people, healing people, encouraging people, teaching people. There are vocations we don’t think much about and vocations which are easy to recognize. All vocations are equally valuable in God’s eyes. When you say yes to your vocation, you are blessed and all of us are blessed – we are filled with Spirit, joy, awe – however you choose to express it.
Some people bless their personal circle or their immediate circle. What better example than our musicians here at Christ Church. Some people bless millions of people. Writers and actors who, in addition to the finer points of their craft, portray life stories, characters and social morays we can relate to.
I just finished rereading To Kill a Mockingbird. In this story we get to examine life “up close” with some characters we’d like to emulate and others we hope never to be. Harper Lee’s characters show us how much easier it is to condemn someone far away than to see their traits in ourselves and in our own town. All fine writers and actors give us a chance to stop and ask, Is this way to be in the world life giving or life draining? In less dramatic ways we all do that for each other.
Isaiah and Peter have shown us that God is far more powerful than whatever holds us back. God’s vision for creation is abundance and God’s way with us is healing, not punishment. We punish ourselves when we resist God.
Even in the midst of terrific personal, national, and international challenges we see men and women and children who choose to be in the world in ways that are life-giving. God’s abundant vision for us and all creation is being inaugurated by people who are following their passion. Amen.