Isaiah 6:1 – 8 / Psalm 138 / Luke 5:1 – 11
This is the homily
given at St. John’s, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania by Fr. Gene Tucker on Sunday, February
6, 2022.
“VOLUNTEERS FOR GOD”
(Homily
texts: Isaiah 6:1 – 8 & Luke 5:1 –
11)
Recently,
I’ve engaged in conversation with others about what it takes for an
organization which is run by volunteers to be successful in carrying out its
work and mission. To be successful in achieving its goals, people will be
needed, many, if not most, of whom will be volunteers. Three essential
ingredients should be a part of the organization’s drive to recruit volunteers
and to retain them. The three ingredients that have come out of our
conversations are these: 1. Instill in volunteers a desire to be a part of
something that is greater than themselves; 2. Give volunteers a sense of
satisfaction in getting things done; and 3. Showing appreciation for their
efforts (saying “Thank you”).
This
morning’s appointed readings share the common theme of God’s call to service,
first for Isaiah, back in the eighth century BC, and then for the first
disciples that Jesus called, Simon (Peter), his brother Andrew, and their
friends and coworkers, James and John.
It
might be helpful for us to look at God’s call on each of these individuals’
lives, and how the three factors we’ve identified above figured into that call.
Let’s
begin with God’s call itself.
In
Isaiah’s case, God’s call was overwhelming: God’s revelation of Himself, His
unmistakable majesty, power and presence, filled the temple with smoke. It was
a presence that made the foundations of the temple shake. In response, Isaiah
laments that he is “a man of unclean lips, one who dwells among a people of
unclean lips”.
As
Jesus called Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John along the shores of the Sea of
Galilee, God’s call comes in a different form: Jesus’ knowledge of where to
find a great catch of fish discloses a knowledge that is beyond normal human
abilities to know. In response, Simon Peter apparently understands the source
of this knowledge, that it is from God, saying to Jesus, upon hauling in the
nets which were nearly bursting from the great number of fish, “Go away from
me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”
In
each of these situations, a call that is clearly from God carries with it the
reality that the one called will be engaged in a cause that is much, much
greater than themselves. What else is worthy to note is that each one of these
could have said “No” to God’s call. As it turned out, the clear and powerful
call from God took precedence over any thought these might have had about
refusing that call.
Turning
to the second aspect of volunteering for God’s service, the sense of
accomplishment and the knowledge that good things were being done for God, the
record isn’t one of continued and complete achievement and accomplishment for
any of these five. Being a prophet in ancient times (or in Jesus’ time, or in
our own times, for that matter), isn’t an easy calling. Prophets like Isaiah
and those called into God’s service like the four disciples often experience
rejection, hostility, a lack of understanding, hardness of heart, and perhaps
many other adverse responses to their work.
And
yet, there were successes that came, along with the challenges and the
hardships. Some did listen and respond to God’s word and work. Some amended
their lives in response to that word and work. Lives were changed.
Relationships with God were restored. The record we have in Holy Scripture of
the work that Isaiah did, or the work that Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John
did is testimony to their faithfulness and the changed lives that resulted. As
Jesus said to those first four disciples, “From now on, you will be catching
people”.
And
what about appreciation for the work of Isaiah, of Simon Peter, Andrew, James
and John?
It’s
hard to know just how much thanks resulted from their work, or just what the
ratio of thanksgiving was to the hardships that came along with God’s calling.
Perhaps
the sense of accomplishment, whenever it came and however sporadically it might
have come, buoyed these servants of God up as they continued to be faithful to
God’s call. Perhaps God’s Spirit was able to use those successes to install in
the hearts of these a sense that God was well-pleased with their faithfulness
and their endurance.
Now,
what about you and I?
Are
we called into God’s service? “Yes”, the answer must surely be, for in Holy
Baptism, we say that we are “marked as Christ’s own forever”. To be so marked
is to be called into a cause that is much, much greater than ourselves, for we
are sent out into the work of introducing people to God and God to people, and
to nourish and encourage that relationship. We do this by what we say and by what
we do. There can be no higher calling than that.
Successes
will come, along with the challenges. In that, we walk the same walk that
Isaiah walked, the same walk that Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John walked.
God’s
“thank-you” comes in the form of the assurance of God’s approval, of God’s
saying to us in some way or another, “Servants, well done!”
AMEN.
