St Bartholomew’s, West Pinchbeck

Sermon for 3rd Sunday before Lent 04 February 2007

Isaiah 6.1-13 Isaiah in the temple—cleansed and meets God. Commits himself

1 Corinthians 15.1-11—Paul explains his priorities and tells the Corinthians how many saw the risen Christ

Luke 5.1-11 From fishing to becoming a fisher of men—Peter.

Theme: Here am I: Send me

It takes time and effort to invest in people’s future. With God, we too need to believe in that future.

What was the most awesome, wonderful thing you can remember and I mean something much more than England’s win in the cricket on Friday. Something that completely amazed you. That left you stunned for a awhile… Or perhaps some great vision? Because this is what happened about 740 B.C. to Isaiah. It was in the year that King Uzziah (or Azariah) died. This vision that Isaiah had was to shape the rest of his life—and what a vision of God in all his glory in the temple. He had seen God in all His glory and he would never forget it. He had seen human sin for what it really is—so appalling in God’s sight, and he never forgot that. He found God’s forgiveness and committed himself to the service of his God from that point. Indeed that is normally the effect of such a meeting with God. Isaiah was to be committed for the rest of his life to telling the people about what God wanted of them—and of how God loved them.

What is the challenge of these verses? What is our response to this?

Does this challenge you about your own relationship with God? Do you long for such a vision of God? It might not be easy! Or do you just let these words and verses pass by on the basis that it was fine for Isaiah, but it is not for you or me? Today as you come to communion, like Isaiah seek and know God’s forgiveness. He has after all paid the price for each one of us by allowing His son to give himself for each one of us, to die on the cross and rise again.

Ask God to reveal Himself afresh to you

And be ready like Isaiah to give yourself in service to Him. I think the Lord is calling to each one of us “whom shall I send, and who will go out for us?” What he wants is for us to say along with Isaiah “Here am I; send me!” I do not know where that will be, but very likely it will be to speak to a friend or a neighbour, but God might have other plans. The challenge is for each one of us to be ready to follow.

If that is our challenge and that comes from Isaiah, then what about the other two readings—perhaps they are more comfortable, easier. I am sorry—since I think they are saying much the same.

Let’s look at 1 Corinthians. Paul is reminding the Corinthian Christians about the message he had proclaimed to them. We are Christians because apart from anything else, we believe that Jesus died for our sins, - each one of us—and that he rose again. Meeting with the risen Christ on the Damascus road had transformed Paul’s life—something he then spent the rest of his life telling others. He would remind the Christians in Corinth of the good news he proclaimed to them and that good news was of God’s love expressed in Jesus Christ, his life, death, resurrection and ascension. He then goes on to remind them of the numbers of people and occasions when Jesus had shown himself after his death. His life has been radically changed by meeting with Jesus, and has been spent in sharing and proclaiming the faith. Can we begin to estimate how much God did through the work of the apostle Paul?

These may begin as little things and grow to something much more. I am sure we will not all be Paul’s or some modern equivalent like Billy Graham was. However, we tend to forget the work of someone like Ananias who heard God’s request to go and meet Paul straight after he had come to Damascus, and as far as the Christian Community there knew, had come to destroy them.

Could God be calling you to be an Ananias or perhaps a Paul?

Our faith needs to firmly focused in Jesus Christ—”who 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 … and then like Isaiah and Paul, we go out in the strength of God’s spirit to share our faith in His love and forgiveness.

If that is our challenge and that comes from Paul and Isaiah, then what about the other reading—perhaps it will be more comfortable, easier. I am sorry—since I think this says much the same.

We are probably all very familiar with the story of the Peter having been out all night fishing, coming to shore, and then listening to Jesus teaching. I do not wish to go into the details of that. What was Peter to make of being told by a carpenter to go out again and set his nets again for a catch, when he had caught nothing all night? Perhaps Peter was just not a very good fisherman. I think not, and that he had just had one of those days at the office when nothing went quite as it should. However, I think that Luke has included this story for another purpose—It is the end of the story—when Peter sees the size of the catch, he fell at Jesus’ knees saying—”Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” He might just as well have quoted Isaiah—”Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips and live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” The similarity is striking. See what Jesus said to Peter—”Do not be afraid from now on you will be catching people.” You will be catching people—his life would change—just like Paul and Isaiah.

This seems to me to be the point—God was investing in people to do His work. First they had to meet with Him. When they did their lives were changed, transformed, and they became useful and effective servants for him.

So this morning as you come to the communion table,

Do the words “Here am I, Lord; send me.. Echo in your ears and disturb your hear? Then

Come in penitence, ready to meet with God, and open to develop a journey of faith in God’s ways.

Come prayerfully.

Come expectantly

Come ready to go forward in the sure knowledge God loves you, and wants you to do special things for Him.

Amen.