Sermon

February 4, 2007

“What Kind of Team Does God Call?”

Isaiah 6: 1-8; I Cor. 15: 1-11; Luke 5:1-11

February 4, 2007

Molly Ivins’ jokes

In my office, as many of you have seen, there hangs a plaque, given to me by my aunt and uncle upon my graduation from Perkins School of Theology.  It reads simply, “God does not call the equipped.  God equips the called.”  Today’s scriptures are so obviously linked with one recurring theme:  the unworthiness, the uncleanness, the sinfulness, the ordinariness of those who are called to serve on God’s team.  In Isaiah, the picture painted there is of the Lord, seated on a magnificent throne, robes flowing the length of the sanctuary in Highland Park United Methodist Church.  Just the sight of this makes Isaiah tremble.  He immediately cries out, “Woe is me!  I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, yet I have seen the Lord.”  Isaiah is just a regular guy, with shortcomings.  Then one of the angels flies to him with a live coal.  With the coal, the angel touches Isaiah’s mouth and says, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away.”  Isaiah is describing smelting – using charcoal as a reducing agent to produce a pure metal from rough ore.  It is only then Isaiah hears God’s voice, “Whom shall I send?  Who will go for us?”  And Isaiah says, “Here am I.  Send me!”

The calling of Peter in today’s gospel lesson is the same.  Peter is just a regular guy.  He’s by the shore washing out nets.  Christianity’s foundational rock works for a living.  And - he has had a bad day - actually, a bad night, working the late shift.  That happens to just about everyone, doesn’t it?  Peter talks frankly to Jesus.  You can hear his resistance to Jesus’ suggestion that he try fishing again.  Peter is not afraid to say to Jesus, “This sounds like a bad idea to me.”  Soon, Peter knows he’s way out of his league.  No false modesty here, he simply confesses, “I am a sinner.” 

Paul acknowledges the same thing in the passage from I Cor. 5.  He shares (read it) the gospel with the Corinthians.  Then he says, “…I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.  But by the grace of God I am what I am , and God’s grace to me was not without effect.  No, I worked harder than all of them – yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.”

God is not put off by Paul’s well-known persecution of Christians, or Isaiah’s initial discomfort, or Peter’s initial resistance to the idea of putting his nets down again or Peter’s confession that he is a sinner.  In each of these passages, God is trying to put together a team, a prophetic community of old and young, men and women, servants as well as served, sick and well – all of those who receive the Holy Spirit.  Through all these years – Old Testament and New – God is trying to put together a team.  God is drafting a team of prophets. 

The startling thing is that God’s chosen team is just a bunch of regular men and women.  In “Confronting the Controversies,” when we were studying the death penalty, Adam Hamilton asked the question, “Isn’t it great that we aren’t remembered by God for the worst act we have done in our lives?  Wouldn’t it be terrible if we were remembered for just the worst act we have done?”  But scripture tells us that love keeps no record of wrongs.  We don’t have to hide our true opinion of ourselves from Jesus.  By calling Peter, Jesus is about something bigger than just affirming Peter.  The reason for the call is to say, “Stop being afraid of your past.  We have work to do.”  Stop being afraid of whatever – inexperience, youth, failure, illness, abandonment, death, aging, loss of usefulness.  Those are not obstacles to being called to be on God’s team!! 

Why is it that Jesus calls this team anyway?  He has been doing a fine job up until now on his own.  The reason for the call of disciples at any time is that people need the power of God and the Word of God that Jesus is offering here in Luke.  To model these things, Jesus needs help.  To be a servant, Jesus needs help.  The best thing that Peter teaches us about our discipleship is that a regular guy does not cease to be a regular guy just because he/she is called to follow Jesus.  Jesus is not putting together a group of superstars.  Jesus is putting together a prophetic community, a group of people who will live the gospel so that others can hear it and see it.  To do that, he will need all the regular people he can find.

On Super Bowl XVI Sunday, which for United Methodists, is also the first week of Black History month, it strikes me as a good and joyful thing that the two Super Bowl coaches for this evening’s match are black.  Tony Dungy hired both Lovie Smith and Herman Edwards, head coach of the Kansas City chiefs, while he was at Tampa Bay.  It was there where they both came to prominence.  Yet Dungy, when asked, says that the most important thing about Lovie isn’t that he’s a good coach, or black, but that he’s a good guy.   They are regarded as good humans, a calm in the storm.  Yet they are regular guys.  Lovie Smith, worried about the bipolar mother of one of his players, quietly called her after a game to check on her emotions.  Dungy himself suffered the loss of a son to suicide just barely a year ago.  Yet their trademark that lifts them high on this day is that each of them is a really strong Christian.

What kind of team does God call?  It occurs to me that God still calls the same kind of team that has always been called – regular, fallible folk – laity and clergy – all with shortcomings and no assurance of more than this day – folk like you and like me.  Yet it also occurs to me that God has been calling a team together for as long as God’s Word has been recorded.  If the gospel is going to spread, the good news that we have been made clean, that we are made whole, that we are healed - then it is going to take a community.  It will take – EMI - every member involved.  This – every member involved - is essential to the mission of the church.  There’s stuff to do, and God will find a way to make the people God has, imperfect and ordinary, work in the jobs that are available.

The great black award-winning poet Maya Angelou has a poem quite fitting for today’s gospels.  It is entitled simply “Christians”:

When I say… “I am a Christian,” I’m not shouting, “I’m clean livin’.”

I’m whispering, “I was lost, and now I’m found and forgiven.”

When I say… “I am a Christian,” I don’t speak of this with pride.

I’m professing that I stumble and need Christ to be my guide.

When I say… “I am a Christian,” I’m not trying to be strong.

I’m professing that I’m weak and need His strength to carry on.

When I say… “I am a Christian,” I’m not bragging of success.

I’m admitting I have failed and need God to clean my mess.

When I say… “I am a Christian,” I’m not claiming to be perfect,

My flaws are far too visible but, God believes I am worth it.

When I say… “I am a Christian,” I still feel the sting of pain.

I have my share of heartaches so I call upon God’s name.

When I say… “I am a Christian,” I’m not holier than thou,

I’m just a simple sinner who received God’s good grace, somehow!

What Kind of Team Does God Call?  Today’s scriptures tells us in one recurring theme:  not just the worthy are called to serve on God’s team, but ordinary people with unclean lips.  Christianity is not a spectator sport.  You can’t win the game sitting in the stands.  God’s team is on the field.  Every member should be involved!  Your number is being called!  Get in the huddle!  Amen.