Isaiah 6:1–13 ESV

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “ ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.” Then I said, “How long, O Lord?” And he said: “Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is a desolate waste, and the Lord removes people far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. And though a tenth remain in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak, whose stump remains when it is felled.” The holy seed is its stump.

isaiah

1 Corinthians 15:1–11 ESV

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

All Are Called to Preach the Gospel

I love ordinations and installations. I love them as much as I love baptisms. One of the things I look forward to most in my time as a moderator in our Presbytery for the next two years is the joy of moderating ordinations and installations all over the Presbytery. Of all the work I do in the church, of all the things we celebrate together here, baptisms, ordinations, and installations are my favorites. They are these precious, holy moments in the life of a congregation and, when the church has done well its work of raising up and selecting leaders and of nurturing disciples, they are powerful moments in the lives of individual people too.

I also love that our ordination and installation just happens to fall on the Sunday that the lectionary is so focused on the idea of being called. Today is a visible witness of God calling people up out of the pews and into leadership. This is a visible representation of the direction the congregation is choosing to move. This is how you all have chosen to follow God’s call as a church.

Many people, when they are asked to serve as an elder or a deacon, feel like Isaiah does in the passage from this morning. “Oh, this is bad and nerve-wracking! I’m a mess, everyone around me is a mess, the world is a mess, WHAT IS GOD THINKING!?” I know I did when I was first asked to serve as a ruling elder at my home church, and again when I realized God was calling me to be a teaching elder - a pastor. I’ve sat with newly nominated elders and deacons who have felt that way. I’ve seen tears of awe and wonder as people take in the weight of the questions they are asked at their installations and ordinations. It’s no small task.

It is especially a daunting task when called to leadership at a time of cross-roads like this congregation finds itself lately. The future is pretty foggy. We can’t see very far down the road right now, the gas tank is running low, and every decision is vitally important if we are to get where God is asking us to go.

But. . .

God prepares us. Each and every one of us is prepared for the work God calls us to.

Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

Isaiah 6:6–7 ESV

Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

I threw a book across my office the other day. I don’t usually throw books, but this one made me really angry. I actually think it’s important to read things you disagree with because otherwise, you’ll never see the downsides of your own opinions and you close yourself off from real growth. But this book was just maddening. It was supposed to be about church revitalization, but it was really just one long guilt trip for anyone who wasn’t a young married man with a billion perfect kids and a wife in the kitchen making awesome cookies for the church bake sale. It took one passage of scripture that describes a sort of person that makes a good church leader and turned it into a list of rules for the “perfect” pastor. What’s ironic is that the passage it was using was written by Paul - who was definitely single, was possibly divorced, and who definitely placed some women in leadership in his ministry.

This sounds like a tangent, and before it becomes one, let me get to the point here: there is no “perfect pastor” or “perfect elder” or “perfect deacon.” Take a deep breath, (Marti, Clyde, and Bez/ Brian, Lori, Kristen, and Janet), you can continue being imperfect. That’s not what this is about. God has already equipped you with everything you need to do the job ahead. God will continue to equip you as we drive on through this uncertain season in the life of the church.

In 1 Corinthians, Paul explores what it looks like to be a witness. He doesn’t start with knocking on doors or putting up flyers or even inviting people to church. He doesn’t start with having the right set of knowledge to keep things running exactly how they’ve been running for 153 years. He doesn’t hand them the Book of Order to read and memorize. He starts with receiving the Gospel. It seems so simple, but so often we get stuck in “do mode” and forget to set aside time to experience the gospel ourselves. But a good leader starts with their own spiritual life and lets everything else flow from that.

Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year C, Volume 1 Pastoral Perspective

Receiving the gospel is not simply giving assent to the articles of a creed. Receiving the gospel is not a matter of accruing one more good thing to a life that is already full of good things. Receiving the gospel is discovering in Christ a new center of existence, a new power for living, and a new perspective from which to view all things.

We need to live into the experience of life with Christ and then we move on to communicate to others how that has changed us.

I had a hard time deciding which of the lectionary passages to stick with this morning, and ultimately, I wound up deciding to share one more of them with you this morning because it’s such a great picture of where we are in this partnership of churches right now.

Luke

Luke 5:1–11 The Message

Once when he was standing on the shore of Lake Gennesaret, the crowd was pushing in on him to better hear the Word of God. He noticed two boats tied up. The fishermen had just left them and were out scrubbing their nets. He climbed into the boat that was Simon’s and asked him to put out a little from the shore. Sitting there, using the boat for a pulpit, he taught the crowd. When he finished teaching, he said to Simon, “Push out into deep water and let your nets out for a catch.” Simon said, “Master, we’ve been fishing hard all night and haven’t caught even a minnow. But if you say so, I’ll let out the nets.” It was no sooner said than done—a huge haul of fish, straining the nets past capacity. They waved to their partners in the other boat to come help them. They filled both boats, nearly swamping them with the catch. Simon Peter, when he saw it, fell to his knees before Jesus. “Master, leave. I’m a sinner and can’t handle this holiness. Leave me to myself.” When they pulled in that catch of fish, awe overwhelmed Simon and everyone with him. It was the same with James and John, Zebedee’s sons, coworkers with Simon. Jesus said to Simon, “There is nothing to fear. From now on you’ll be fishing for men and women.” They pulled their boats up on the beach, left them, nets and all, and followed him.

Where the rubber meets the road:

You’ve been fishing all night when the fish are supposed to be closer to the surface of the water, and there still aren’t many fish.

Friends, you’ve been fishing all night. You’ve been fishing for many many years. And in recent years, the nets have been coming up without much in them. That is frustrating. That is frightening. That is disheartening. That is exhausting.

So take a break. Stop. Scrub out your nets. Throw the nets away and make new ones if you need to. Allow God to renew you like God renewed Isaiah. Take Paul’s advice to the Corinthian church and sit with the gospel for a while. Listen to Jesus. Really really listen. Jesus might tell you something ridiculous, like telling Simon to try again with the nets when it’s no longer night and the fish have wandered back down into the deeper depths of the water for the day.

When Jesus tells you to do something ridiculous and you actually listen and do it, that’s when the miraculous happens. Those freshly scrubbed and mended nets may still not be able to handle what God delivers and that’s why it’s so important to be connected with other churches in our own denomination and with churches of other traditions in our neighborhood and with other community agencies near us. We may need to call in a second boat sometimes. You all already saw the fruit in that a couple years ago when St. Andrew’s and Emsworth decided to test out partnered ministry. Guess what - it’s working! It’s better that both share in the abundance than let the nets break and both go without.

It’s better that both share in the abundance than let the nets break and both go without. And then they leave the catch behind to benefit others.

And this isn’t about fishing for our sake. We don’t always get to experience the direct results of our work. Simon didn’t. He and his crew left boats, net, fish, everything behind and let others reap the benefits of their work. We’re not here to make the perfect church for us today, we’re here to establish a church that will spread the gospel for generations after us.

So, About-to-be-ordained-and-installed-church-officers, here’s your mission for this coming year (I would say “should you choose to accept it” but you already missed the window for opting out, so it’s your mission, like it or not.):

Remember that God has prepared and equipped you for leadership in this season, even if you don’t feel like it.

You are here because your story, your life is evidence of the Gospel at work. Live into that and you will be a witness to all those around you.

Be ready for Jesus to say stuff that sounds silly, and then be ready to do stuff that sounds silly, and then be ready to call in another boat when that silly stuff turns out to be really effective. Others may complain and point out that you’re fishing all “wrong” but that’s fine. Throw the nets anyway when Jesus says to throw the nets. Others may panic when the nets start to groan and the fishing yields something they did not expect. That’s ok. Just call in another boat for help and pull those fish on into the boat. It’s not about the fish we caught yesterday or the way we used to fish.

Congregation, here’s your mission for this coming year:

Encourage your leaders regularly with reminders that God has equipped them for this and that you support them in their leadership. Elders (and deacons) who are serving this year, please stand for a moment. These are the people steering the boat this year. Trust them and trust that God has equipped them for this.

Live into the Gospel with them. Join us as we dive deeper spiritually and seek to live out the Gospel story in all we say and do as individuals and as a church community.

When the leaders do things that seem like fishing at the wrong time of day, work with them not against them. Trust that they have been in conversation with Jesus about this and they aren’t incompetent and they aren’t trying to rock the boat (pun intended), Jesus is just unexpected and says wacky things sometimes. And when the nets start to groan, grab on and help pull them up!

The season we are in as a church is uncertain and scary at times, but it’s also full of exciting and weird things like fitness classes and motorcycles. Friends, I love being your pastor and I love this exciting time that God has placed us in together! Let’s go fishing!