The Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany, February 7th, 2010
The Rev. Dr. Katharine C. Black
Isaiah 6: 1-8 [9-13]
Psalm 138
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Luke 5: 1-11
The Lord will make good his purpose for me: O Lord your love endures forever. AMEN.
A poem:
"On the shore fish toss in the stretched nets of Simon, James, and John.
High above, swallows. Wings of butterflies. Cathedrals."
All the readings this morning focus on responses to God's call. In general the pattern of such calls is: commission (the call;) objection (not me;) reassurance (indeed, just you;) and some sign. Isaiah describes being overwhelmed by the presence of God in God's might, splendor and heavenly presence, and calling out, "Woe is me!" His objection acknowledges that he recognized in himself, a sinner, especially in the face of God. His absolution continues through a burning coal. Forgiven, he is sent out to teach people to mend their ways and attend to the Lord. He is describing the impact of coming in contact with the Lord. He understands in seeing God, the seraphs, and the heavenly experience that he's human, finite, and so small. He accepts the challenge, and understands that the sign of a new seed growing will be the slow time, when even a cut-down tree regenerates.
Sometimes, it's worth pausing to clear some underbrush in a reading, like what's a terebinth tree, and what does it signify. It's a big bush-tree sized shade cover. Its wood is notably hard, like oak, and its roots are notably deep. Abraham pitched tents at Mamre by such trees, signifying that he was there for a while. The trees were so big and strong that they provided a broad area for large tents to make a solid settlement. The trees had to be near water, being able to grow so large, and they provided a place of shady respite. Even when these trees are hacked down, they re-grow. Isaiah's comment that: "The holy seed is its stump" may well allude also to the strength and endurance of his people's survival during the Babylonian Captivity. Abraham's seed will take hold again and be strong, with enduring roots. This will happen as a result of Isaiah's answering the call to minister to his wayward listeners until they flourish. He hears his call, demurs, is absolved, until a tree stump, one symbolically referring to Abraham, forefather of Israel, comes back to life.
The psalm and Paul's letter don't echo the whole pattern of call. The psalmist affirms that the Lord will make good his purpose for him/her. It's a reminder that such calls to ministry are in part in the ear of the listener, but are also clearly in the purview of the caller to insure that the one called to ministry is supported to do the new work, following the commands of the articulated call. Paul repeats this preeminence of the caller in directing the work of himself, the one called, through "that grace of God that is within."
The call and response from Jesus with his three fisherman friends is in a somewhat different pattern though. Jesus called James and John, and Simon Peter. Simon Peter appears to be more important and fits the pattern of response when he says, "Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man." He is awestruck, and his response is more "woo," than "woe is me." His epiphany is that the grace spilling over to forgive him is directly and personally from the Lord. He is astonished at the generosity and living presence of the caller, recognizing that the caller is both present in person in Jesus- and is the Lord. He doesn't demur any more, but secures his boat and goes with Jesus. Simon Peter with, James and John, understand that their ministry was to catch up people in seeing Jesus as bringing new life to Israel, through understanding God's extravagant generosity demonstrated by the unexpectedness and magnitude of the fish caught, where there had been none. They were tasked with bringing schools of people to know God, so many that they would be a weight making "fish toss in the stretched nets of Simon, James, and John."
"High above, swallows." Unlike fish in nets, swallows fly straight and high, and have always been a symbol of freedom. Yet the psalmist "has a desire and longing for the courts of the Lord... The swallow has found a nest where she may lay her young, by the side of" those very altars. Swallows seek both freedom and the courts of the Lord, and offering us this image, Czeslaw Milosz transforms making those three fishermen "fishers of people," into an image of longing and happiness by the side of the living God.
The General Ordination Examination question I had most to do with, first described a situation of a parish with an affiliated non-profit pre-school whose success was causing strife between church and school. The actual question, though, asked the candidate to imagine being the rector in this situation, and then "In a 3-page essay, describe your leadership in this difficult though not uncommon parish situation, identifying at least three challenges for ministry, and explaining how you would respond to each of them." "Challenges for ministry." Some responses considered styles of fixing the problems between the two groups, using family systems and other brands of change theory. The question, however, was about challenges for ministry. Some responses took on the idea of leadership, saying that great leadership was to teach, or even produce, great leadership. The question, however, was about challenges for ministry.
Jesus wanted to call people to ministry to the courts of the living God, to be by the side of God's altars. Simon Peter understood that meant following Jesus. His first challenge was that he was only one person, and so he understood that his two friends-also eager to follow Jesus-would team-up, both the better to follow and the better to serve people and their needs. Think of other inherent "challenges of ministry" in this call to the three fishermen:
the people were not in one place; they were hungry; they spoke different languages; they had different understandings of God, and so many more challenges of and for ministry. They followed Jesus, and thought they'd learn what ministry meant by following, watching, doing, learning, teaching, and above all, serving. When Jesus observes that the "first shall be last, and the last, first," he declares that a challenge of ministry is to come as a servant. Such serving may include both leading and leadership, but that is not the objective of the ministry. Dr. Paul Farmer is not the acknowledged leader of his humanitarian medical work because he's the boss, but rather the scope of his work to those with AIDS, those in Haiti, those in shocking medical need, his ability to engage people to help him in that service as workers and donors, has made him the speaker for his colleagues, those in need, and the work itself. He is the leader because his service is effective, and it is possible to show his leadership, and articulate his challenges for ministry.
Challenges for ministry are not synonymous for styles of, or calls to, leadership. One response wisely named one challenge of ministry in this question's situation as finding out "what was the mission of the church." Remember when we here asked ourselves that very question, and our first answer to that question, when we actually thought about it, was to be a church and to consider what that meant here for us. Thank you for demonstrating part of the "being a church" in last week's Annual Meeting. The good humor and collaborative work we did together showed us, ourselves, our willingness to engage with the work of searching and testing out what our mission is, how to enact it, and how to bring it into existence.
"High above, swallows. Wings of butterflies. Cathedrals." Called to service, people free themselves from the confines of nets to aim for the courts of the Lord. While the poet sees people with the strength to fly high aiming for those courts, he knows they have endurance to keep flying. He also imagines that flight as one into eternity, done with grace and beauty. Butterflies are often the symbol of eternal life. Think of the butterfly emerging from the grave at the end of James Agee's: A Death in the Family. More, though, than just individual seeking and aiming and longing for God, those fish stretching the nets corporately, and the three new followers together, work as units of common cause, beauty, service, strength, solid lasting creation of incarnation, into cathedrals. Their work values and yearns for mystery, and the praise, worship, and home of the Holy One.
What are our challenges for ministry? They can be divided into ones about people, ones about assets and money, and ones about mission and outreach, all ringed around together in these buildings, and our liturgies together. How can we better serve our neighbors and how can we better nurture each other? How can we use our assets responsibly and to insure our ability to serve people, in new and continuing ways? Whom can we serve? How can we get to the shore where we'll be useful in helping people know God's love and extravagant generosity? What are our own challenges for ministry? What is our mission? We spin around these challenges, always focused on Jesus who calls us, serves us, and leads us to our own individual and communal works of service.
"On the shore fish toss in the stretched nets of Simon, James, and John.
High above, swallows. Wings of butterflies. Cathedrals."
Rather than straining and feeling trapped by the call Jesus makes to us each and all, let us fly high and dart towards the eternal heavens, but anchor ourselves also in the promises of salvation and companionship, which Jesus brings to us from the God of love and faithfulness. " Fish toss in stretched nets;" "Wings of butterflies. Cathedrals." Good News.
© Katharine C. Black, February 7th, 2010
