Being part of the work of God’s kingdom, in a world which is in a mess.

 

Isaiah 6: 1-13, Luke 5: 1-11

Introduction to readings

Our first reading about the ‘call of Isaiah’ – though we’re going to read on today to hear the message Isaiah is sent to tell the people. Isaiah lived in a chaotic period of Israel's history during the 8th century BCE. At this time, the nation was divided into two kingdoms: the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Both kingdoms faced pressures from the nations surrounding them. The Northern Kingdom had already fallen to the Assyrian Empire, and both Israel and Judah had turned away from God in the interests of political survival.

To a world which was in a mess; in a world which we might feel is in a mess today, let’s hear the words God speaks through Isaiah.

 

Sermon

Traditionally we might all have seen both our Bible readings today as passages about call, especially call to ministry: but given the mess the world is in, I want to look at them again today, thinking about our responsibility to the world.

We are in a mess – we need a deep relationship with God and an encounter with God to make the change we need and help the world to change.

 

The message of Isaiah 6 verses 1 to 13 focuses on having a divine encounter with God, obeying God’s call, and learning to hear God’s words in order to live well.

 

 

We often stop at “here am I, send me” but the two halves of the passage go together.  Verses 1 - 8 tell of the messenger, Isaiah - his experience and his call, while verses 9 -13 tell of the message which God is sending to God’s people.  The message is dismal, but it has a twist—a hopeful twist—at the end.  Everything is to be destroyed and re-destroyed.  It will appear that no life could possibly emerge from the twice-burned wreckage, but life will emerge—like the sprouting of shoots from the cut down stump of the Sycamore Gap tree  - signs of hope growing improbably from the wreckage.  Even when all seems lost and desolate, a remnant will survive to carry on Yahweh’s plan.

 

In the midst of depressing or disturbing news, can we somehow look for signs of God’s presence and God’s hopes for the world, and dedicate ourselves to being part of the movement towards the kingdom of God?

 

Steve Chalke is a Baptist minister, who is concerned with the social impact of the gospel. You might have heard him interviewed sometimes about the Oasis Trust, which he set up to run schools and establish community centres in particularly difficult areas. Steve Chalke’s book “The Lost message of Jesus” was published in 2004, and one sentence from it has stayed with me since I read it then “if you could know what God was doing and be part of it, would you want to?”.

I think this is at the heart of being a Christian in a world of wars and global disruption and climate crisis: how can we be on God’s side in this?

We’re going to need some help if we’re going to do that, and I think the Good News as given by Luke could help us.

 

You might have noticed that we don’t hear anything in the reading about the teaching of Jesus that day. We are told that Jesus teaches the people – but there is no record of the stories he told or the teaching he gave. That’s because everything that was said is eclipsed by what Jesus does.

 

When Jesus tells the fishermen, who are back on shore, washing their nets, ready to rest, to put out their boats so he can teach from the water, they let Jesus onto the boat & push off a little way. Maybe they rest in the boat and half-listen to Jesus, or maybe they catch up on some sleep.

 

But when Jesus then tells them “Put out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch” you can feel Peter’s weariness ‘we have been fishing all night..’ but back out they go and do what Jesus says – and the catch of fish is miraculous.

 

Peter’s response, like that of Isaiah in the temple, is fear (‘get away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man’). I don’t think we should worry too much about this – when the Bible speaks of the ‘fear of the Lord’ it means something like awe, respect, putting God in God’s proper place. But it certainly underlines the impact of what has happened on Peter’s understanding of who Jesus is, and makes him and the others determined to follow.

 

So how does this story help us in our attempts to do God’s will and follow Jesus in our lives?

 

I love the weariness of the disciples in this story. It tells me that feeling weary about our lives is normal, and doesn’t mean we’re getting things wrong. Sometimes, like the weary disciples, we just have to keep listening and keep doing what Jesus asks, even though we’re weary. It’s not wrong to feel weary – it’s not even wrong to need a rest – but we should never give up.

 

If we feel like the world is just in too bad a state; if we feel personally weary & defeated; if we can’t be sure we’re on the right track anymore – Jesus says just keep fishing, keep going, keep trying to follow. We shouldn’t be afraid to keep going even when the way we try to follow Jesus seems like it isn’t working.

 

I love the unexpected twist in the story. The work-hardened, experienced fishermen have come home empty-handed. Jesus the carpenter shows them what to do – and the catch is net-filling and even net-tearing in its abundance.

And just when they’ve had the catch of their lives, they leave the fish. It’s not about the fish, Jesus re-sets their purpose, and recruits them to be part of God’s work on earth as they follow him.

 

And I love that this story isn’t just about a call to ministry, but a call to relationship. It’s a call for every one of us to serve God and serve others, to serve and love, as Jesus did.

 

Jesus asks the disciples, in effect “if you could know what God was doing and be part of it, would you want to?”. By following Jesus they see God’s love in action and learn how to be part of Jesus’ love.

 

So what about us?

“if you could know what God was doing and be part of it, would you want to?”.

 

Despite the mess the world is in, if we want to be involved in putting right what is wrong in our world we need to listen for Jesus’ voice. Like the people of Isaiah’s time we need to attend to the kingdom of God, not get distracted by the deals to be done between earthly nations.

 

We can do this by

First of all trusting that God knows what God is doing.

Secondly, we can be more reverently attentive to God and look for what Jesus’ love is doing among people.

Thirdly, we need to keep listening for the wise voices which speak truth, love and kindness.

 

All of this will involve thought, prayer, and attention to what the bible can teach us.

If that sounds like just carrying on doing what we’ve always done, we are in the company of Jesus’ disciples, carrying on faithfully and waiting to see what Jesus will do with us next.

 

It might help, too, to remember that the first thing Jesus says to Peter, as he kneels before him in fear and wonder. 

Jesus says to Peter and to us “Do not be afraid”.

Thanks be to God.

Amen.