Sermon for the Fifth Sunday After Epiphany
Feburary 4, 2007
Isaiah 6:1-8 [9-13]
Psalm 138
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Luke 5:1-11
Year C
I.N.I. (In the name of Jesus)
I have a simple question for you:
Have you ever been "overwhelmed"? (encourage response)
Now, a question that goes a bit deeper:
When I asked you that question, about being overwhelmed,
did you think of being overwhelmed
as a positive experience or a negative one?
How many thought of being overwhelmed as being a good thing?
How many were filled with anxious thoughts?
Did anyone think of both at the same time?
To be overwhelmed certainly can mean you're carrying an immense burden,
but you can also be overwhelmingly filled and empowered.
This truth came through to me in our sermon study group last Tuesday,
as I heard Judy Converse talk about being overwhelmed
as she spent time with families in Nicaragua,
overwhelmed by their need, to be sure,
but even more so, by the power of their faith
and community spirit -- despite their need,
overwhelmed by their tangible connection to God and God's people.
This truth also struck me as I pondered our story
of God's calling of the prophet Isaiah.
I was struck by the sense that being overwhelmed
can be a wild mix of
the most amazing wash of exhilarating emotions you've ever felt
and the most amazingly heavy feelings you've ever felt.
Just think about this now…
Here you are in Solomon's already glorious temple
and suddenly you see the great and mighty Yahweh
sitting on a throne
and just the hem of God's robe fills up the whole place
(just the hem!).
And then come the six-winged seraph-spirits swirling around
singing, "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;
the whole earth is full of God's glory!!"
The singing is so powerful that the building is shaking
and filling up with smoke---
And Isaiah cries, "Whoa!" This is awesome, overwhelming,
too amazing to comprehend!
What is going on here?
And his "Whoa!" (awestruck) becomes "Woe!" (fearful) "Woe is me!"
I'm just a puny guy here! a man of unclean lips!
a nobody living among nobodies!
yet (back to awestruck) here I am seeing God's glory!
Now I've never been to the Grand Canyon,
but I've heard the reports of those who have.
They say their breath is taken away by the sheer beauty and hugeness
and they feel completely full and completely tiny
at the same time! (Anybody?)
Completely full and completely tiny feels Isaiah
(completely privileged yet completely unworthy of such a privilege),
when over to him swirls one of the winged spirits
bringing a coal from the holy fire, to touch his lips and to say:
Gone is your guilt! Sapped of its power is your sin!
Then great and mighty Yahweh consults with the seraph spirits,
"Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?"
"Here I am!" (hand up) Pick me! Pick me!"
Do you remember feeling this way?
When have you felt so overwhelmed
that you felt a burning passion to go and do something about it?
When have you been so completely full of purpose
that your heart was pumping wildly
and your feet were itching to jump out of the starter's blocks?
Has it ever happened to you? Does it happen all the time?
Over whelmed. Overwhelmed by power, by purpose,
exhilarated and ready, unworthy yet emboldened: Wow!
OK. Here comes the heavy part, the part where you remember,
oh, yeah, overwhelmed means (anxiously, burdened) OVERWHELMED!
Be my voice to the people, Isaiah,
even though they will not listen.
Keep calling out to them
as their world falls apart around them.
Speak the truth, the hard truth, that tears down walls
and exposes their emptiness.
And when they have nothing left to hold onto,
nothing but me, Isaiah,
then… plant a seed of hope
that they might find life in me again.
Overwhelming…
But Isaiah did it.
He spoke the hard truths.
He spoke them long enough
to see the defenses crack and the walls fall
and the scales lift from the eyes of the people.
He passionately spoke the truth, even when it put his life in danger.
And he stayed around long enough
to hold the aching people when they were finally ready to listen.
Overwhelming. Overwhelming.
Isaiah wasn't the first, and he wasn't the last-
to be so called, so overwhelmed with glory, with vision and power,
with heavy responsibility,
with the impossibleness of it all,
with the patience to see it through.
Think of those who have preached the dangers of global warming,
and other environmental degradations,
for decades preaching, without being heard,
but not giving in and not giving up.
Think of those, from the time of the prophets to the time of Mother Theresa,
for centuries preaching, without being heard,
of the dangers of poverty and hunger
and other human degradations,
not giving in and not giving up.
Think of your own passion, your inner voice that overwhelms you,
empowers you and tires you,
urges you to take action on the issue you care for most…
Your passion pushes you forward, but you are afraid,
afraid to speak and afraid not to speak
afraid that you really can do nothing,
that no one will listen,
that you'll be hung out to dry.
Now picture Simon, soon to be called Peter,
drenched with sea water and sweat from hauling in a miracle catch,
heart still pounding with wonder and exhilaration…
Picture Peter down on his knees, clutching the knees of Jesus…
holding on for dear life, but saying, "Go away from me, Lord!"
It's almost like his arms don't know what his mouth is saying!
His whole being is overwhelmed with the power he's witnessed,
but his brain is thinking, "Get me outahere!"
Jesus looks down at this blubbering mess at his knees
and (I'm guessing) sees all that this mess can be,
all the mistakes he might make, all the pain yet to be felt,
all the powerful words that will come from his lips,
the thousands of people who will be drawn in
by his preaching in the years to come…
and Jesus says to him,
Don't be scared… don't be scared…
you've got a new calling: gathering people,
throwing out God's nets to draw in a haul,
to draw God's people to God's own heart.
Don't be scared to be overwhelmed,
to be filled with holiness and glory, with passion and purpose.
Don't be scared to be overwhelmed,
as you consider the plight of the hungry today.
If ever there was an issue to overwhelm you
both with passion and with heaviness,
with urgency and with the impossibility of it all,
world hunger fits the bill.
But don't be scared.
Don't be scared to give your heart away,
as you feel the pain of desperate people,
as you put your drop into the bucket,
as you pray that we all will have the patience
to be passionate about hunger and need.
And don't be scared to take the passion you experience here
out into the world of your every day.
In other words, don't be scared to go out fishing.
Go out fishing, not with hook and line
but with God's net, big and wide,
as big and wide as Jesus' arms outstretched on the cross,
where all of us find ourselves
holding onto his knees for dear life.
Don't be afraid to be passionate about the faith that is in you,
the faith that moves you to care for all in any need,
the faith that moves you to invite and invite again,
to plant the seeds of hope and joy in community.
Don't be afraid to be overwhelmed.
For we're all in this together -
all of us here in the same boat
the same fishing boat,
with all hands on the outstretched nets
and Jesus by our side.
I.N.I.
The Rev. Kari Henkelmann Keyl
Christ the King Lutheran Church
| CtK Home
| Back to Pastor's Page
|
Christ the King Lutheran Church, 3 Lutheran Drive, Nashua, NH 03063 (603) 882-6142
If you have problems with this web page contact:
webmaster@ctknashua.org