Answering the Call
Pentecost 25
November 18, 2012
Isaiah 6.1-8
Wow! This weekend and today in
particular is as busy as it gets. People were making lefse for the Scandinavian
Experience at Pathstone Living this coming Saturday. Then we had Wesley Swanson’s
funeral yesterday. Today we are receiving new members, baptizing Weston, celebrating
Commitment Sunday, packing boxes for Operation Christmas Child, and topped off
by a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. I’m full already and haven’t even had
communion, filled out a pledge card, or eaten turkey yet!
This fullness may not be what
Isaiah experienced during his vision of God in the temple, but it gives us a
hint. In our reading today, the distinctions between the earthly temple and the
heavenly throne room melted away and became blurred. Isaiah was so overwhelmed
by the enormity, grandeur, and utter holiness of God that he cringed in terror.
Now, I’ve never experienced a vision
like this, but I have an inkling of what Isaiah was going through. You see, I
suffer from CPS, “Crummy Pastor Syndrome,” and it flares up whenever I attend
pastor’s conferences like this past week (twice, even). What happens is that,
in the presence of presenters who regale us with all of the stuff we should be
doing I realize what a dud I am and how far short I fall as a pastor. My some
of you in other occupations suffer from something similar. However, unlike CPS,
for which I have yet to discover a cure, God takes care of Isaiah’s uncleanness
by burning away any and all impurities through the application of a hot coal.
Now, it occurred to me that this
was a terrific metaphor of baptism, and wouldn’t it be great if instead of
using water for Weston’s baptism that we had a Weber full of hot coals and
touched one to his lips? Why stop there? We could use coals for the absolution
after the confession, coals to light a fire under us as we are filling out the
commitment cards, and while we are at it we could even cook the turkeys! No? I
didn’t think so. Of course, the common thread that runs throughout our lesson
and all of these events is not coals, but rather calls. Isaiah is so
overwhelmed by the grace, mercy, and love of God he eagerly answers God’s call.
“Here am I, Lord. Send me!”
This unmerited and unearned gift
of God’s grace does not come with any strings attached. However, implied in
that gift is a call, not a guilt trip like CPS, but rather an invitation to join
God in his redemptive work to love and bless the world. As we say to our Save
By Grace (Confirmation) youth, “You are blessed to be a blessing.” Being
overwhelmed by God’s grace and mercy is, in fact, the basis for good
stewardship and its call on our lives. We respond to the call with our commitments
of time, talent, and resources. This overwhelming grace also invites us to
respond by joining together in a community of faith. Furthermore, we respond to
God’s grace by giving ourselves away, to each other and to our larger community.
God’s call does not come only
once, but rather every day as we live out our baptismal vocations in various
ways. God’s call does not come only through our church work, but rather through
all facets of our lives, in whatever roles we find ourselves. God’s call,
though it’s an offer we cannot refuse, doesn’t come as command but rather as an
invitation. How is God calling you to live out your baptism in daily life? How
is God calling you to connect more deeply with this community of faith? How is
God inviting you to grow in generosity through the use of your resources, for
our mission here and in the larger world? There’s only one thing we need to
answer the call, to be forgiven sinners, and God has taken care of that already
through the life, death, and resurrection of his Son, Jesus Christ. How can we
not respond to God’s inviting call saying, “Here am I, Lord; send me?” Amen.
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