Sermons for the Month
God's Call is a "God Thing"
DATE: June 11th, 2006
SERVICE: Holy Trinity Sunday
TEXT: Isaiah 6:1-8“To all of you Saints here this morning, grace and peace to you from God our Father, from His Son, Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. AMEN
"It's a God thing". That's how a pastor of one of the country's fastest growing churches describes what's happening there. The way that people are responding to God's call is, he says, "a God thing." It's not a phrase that most of would use to describe how God is at work in our lives. And, it certainly is not one that immediately comes to mind on this Holy Trinity Sunday as we focus on the call of a man named Isaiah to be a prophet. But, when it comes right down to it, it was a "God thing" that motivated Isaiah to say "yes" to God, and to remain faithful when the "yes" led to the unexpected. I think what happened to him is instructive for us, the ones who say "yes" to God's in 2006. Before I share a bit about Isaiah, though, I want to plant another thought that I'll pick up later. It is estimated that there are 160 million people in the United States who do not have a meaningful relationship with a church (this number reflects those who attend worship two times or less during a year.) What is God's call to us concerning them? Now, as you think about that, let's see what happened to Isaiah. The gist of it is that Isaiah is in the Temple in Jerusalem when he has a vision of the Lord. Actually it's a partial vision because what he sees in the midst of the seraphs - celestial beings whose job it is to glorify God - is the hem of God's robe, the rest of the Divine Being is hidden. There's smoke and shaking thresholds and the flying serephs singing, "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts." Isaiah comes face to face with his own unworthiness in the midst of the glory around him. It's an amazing thing, he says, that in spite of his shortcomings he has seen the King, the Lord of hosts. And then, without Isaiah making a request of any kind, forgiveness comes from the realm of God. With refining fire his guilt and sin are burned up. It's pure grace. Isaiah has not only seen the glory of God, but he has experienced God's grace. So, when the voice of the Lord asks, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" he responds, "Here am I; send me." It's not difficult to understand why - it's a God thing - combine seeing the glory of God with undeserved forgiveness and the result is commitment. But poor Isaiah does not realize what he's getting into; the true challenge of his call is revealed in verse 9. God tells this new Prophet, "Go, and say to this people: hear and hear, but do not understand; see and see, but do not perceive…." The text proclaims that it is Isaiah's job to make the people's minds dull so that they do not understand and repent. (Now preachers do "make minds dull" with some regularity, but it's usually not on purpose!) When Isaiah begins to understand the nature of God's call - that his message will fall on deaf ears - he naturally wants to know, "How long?" The answer is not pretty; there will be severe judgement before hope once again arrives on the scene, and in the midst of it he is to remain faithful. I guess we can be thankful that we are not in his shoes. I really do not think that we have been called to proclaim a message that is, from the outset, NOT destined to be heard, although I suppose it feels that way at times. However, what we do have a few things in common with Isaiah. For us, it's a God thing too. Our experience of God, the Holy One, the creator of all that exists, combined with forgiveness that has come to us as a gift of grace, calls forth from us commitment that is empowered by the Holy Spirit. We too - each of us individually and as a faith community - should have the words on our lips, "Here am I; send me." And, part of the deal is that we will remain faithful even in the face of the unexpected. And in case we wonder to whom God might send us, let's get back to those 160 million people I mentioned earlier. I've been reading some interesting things about those folks - they are our friends, our family members, our neighbors, perhaps even some of us who are in church today for the first time in awhile. My colleague Carolyn Wagar Hier shared an article with me titled "Ten Surprises About the Unchurched" from "Christianity Today". (1) It is a couple years old, but still has good information based on research done by Dr. Thom Rainer and a team of 17. It was very enlightening to read that most people who do not attend church feel uncomfortable about that fact, but they stay away because the church intimidates them - they don't think they can fit in and they are uncertain about church protocol. BUT, if invited, nine out of ten would attend. Think about that - nine out of ten translates into over 153 million people. Still, only 21 percent of active church goers invite anyone in the course of a year, and only two percent invite someone who is unchurched. Those are sad statistics. It's good to know that most of those who do not have a relationship with a church have a positive view of pastors. And, even better, they feel the church is relevant for today. So, if they see the church in a positive light, why don't they come? The answer has two facets. First, some have visited churches and had negative experiences - unfriendliness, unkempt facilities, poor signage and general confusion contributed to that experience. But, the second reason for not attending is obvious from what I've already said. No one has invited them. And, finally, while people strongly object to uninvited visitors at their homes, they would like to develop a sincere relationship with an active church member. They want people to take time to show that they care, and to talk about their faith and why it's important in their lives. So, to whom is God sending you, individually? And to whom is God sending us, as a Faith community? The "call" to invite, to nurture, to develop sincere relationships and to share our faith belongs to each one of us. And, the "call" to make this church a place that is not intimidating, that is friendly, with an inviting facility and clear communication about who we are and what we offer is belongs to us corporately. But, in the end, it's a God thing. I was reading an article this week from the Des Moines Sunday Register about an ELCA congregation there. (It so happens that Karin Allen has family members who attend this church, and she brought me the article.) It's an amazing story about a church that 13 years ago had 20 members and now has an average Sunday attendance of nearly 5000 at nine weekend services. Yes, I did say that this was a Lutheran church; the Lutheran Church of Hope in Des Moines. There are 70 people on staff, and it takes more than 200 volunteers to manage the weekend services. The question that is always asked, of course, is "How?" Part of the answer is in the attitude of the pastor. When he was struggling with those 20 people, overwhelmed with self-doubt, he called his father, also a Lutheran pastor. This is the advice he received. "Why don't you just surrender the church? Why don't you just give it over to God and stop trying to do it all yourself?" He hung up the phone and prayed, "God, if anything happens here in this church, you get the credit, you get all the glory." (2) From then on, he said, it was a God thing. And the direction God led them was to do things differently. "What Hope does so well is remove the excuses to avoid church." One extreme example is that on Christmas Eve two motorcycles tore down the aisle. The bikes represented outcast shepherds ushering Jesus into the world. Their core values are these: 1. Jesus is life. The rest is details. ("We strive to respond faithfully to the call of Jesus to follow him above all else in this world, which so often competes for our time, energy and attention.) 2. Lost people matter to God, so they matter to us. ("We like unchurched people and we know what a difference Jesus can make in their lives.) 3. We worship God, not tradition. ("…we remain open to innovation sent to the church by the Holy Spirit for the sake of the Christian mission.") 4. Following Jesus is a growing experience. ("We can't outgrow faith, for this reason we strive to bring people into an ever-growing relationship with Jesus Christ.) 5. We are one body, united in Jesus Christ. ("As members of the same body, we become more effective when we work in harmony as a unified whole.") I share all this with you so that we can consider how our sisters and brothers in the ELCA are responding to the very same call that we have received. The point is not to compare our churches, but to encourage us to be open to the Holy Spirit's guidance. It is bold of us, just as it was bold of Isaiah, to respond to the glory and grace of God by saying, "Here am I, send me." And it's an even bolder step for us to take the ministry that God has given us and to surrender it, and to be truly willing to take whatever path God opens up before us. That is, after all, what being sent implies; the direction is determined by the one who does the sending. Indeed, it is a God thing. (1) "Ten Surprises About the Unchurched" by Dr. Thom Rainer, www.christianitytoday.com
(2) "Repackaging Worship" by Reid Forgrave, The Des Moines Sunday Register, February 5, 2006, Section E, pg. 1 ff.AMEN