The Message, February 9, 2025: "Send Me!," Isaiah 6:1-8; Luke 5:1-11

Author: Rev. Scott W. Cousineau
February 11, 2025

 

“Send Me!”
A Message by Rev. Scott W. Cousineau
Isaiah 6:1-8; Luke 5:1-11

            Several years ago, I came across a beautiful tribute written by a church leader after the loss of a beloved church member. It was so moving I decided to hold onto it. I would like to share that tribute with you this morning:

            Our church was saddened to learn this week of the death of one of our most valued members, Someone Else.

            For many, many years as a part of this church Someone Else did far more than a normal person’s share of the work. Whenever there was a job to do, a class to teach, or a meeting to attend, everybody said, “Let Someone Else do it.” Whenever leadership was mentioned, this wonderful person was looked to for inspiration as well as results; “Someone Else can work with that group.”

            It was common knowledge that Someone Else was among the most generous givers. Whenever there was a financial need, everyone assumed Someone Else would make up the difference.

            Now Someone Else is gone! We wonder what we are going to do. Someone Else left a wonderful example to follow, but who is going to follow it? Who is going to do the things Someone Else did?

            When you are asked to help this year, remember — we cannot depend on Someone Else anymore.

            The reality is that we live in a ‘someone else will do it’ world. I am certain that most of you … if not all of you … have had the experience of being in a meeting at work, or at church, or at some other organization and when the facilitator of the meeting asked for volunteers you heard nothing but crickets. “Anyone? Anyone?” Until that same someone else spoke up. “Phew! Thank goodness Someone Else is doing it!”

            Perhaps you have seen other situations in which someone is in distress and everyone just stands there … watching … hoping that someone else will step in to help. I remember watching a video a number of years ago. Someone was paddling their canoe off of the coast, and they capsized because of the heavy surf. The person was clearly struggling … but the person with the camera just stood there RECORDING!! I was screaming at the computer, “Go help him!!” Thankfully, someone else finally came and helped the individual get to the safety of the beach.

            And this is not a new phenomenon. It is not this new generation. Our world has been like this for centuries. Look at Moses. When God called him, Moses asked God, ‘Are you sure that you do not want to call someone else? I am slow of speech. Why don’t you go ask my brother, Aaron.’

            It is no accident that the framers of the lectionary place these two passages the week after Jesus was run out of the synagogue in Nazareth and threatened with stoning. The people gathered in the synagogue that day heard Jesus proclaim the good news to the poor, sight for the blind, release for the captives and the oppressed, and they were enraged that Jesus was promising those blessings to … someone else … to Gentiles. And now we hear two stories of people responding to the accept the call … the invitation to serve.

            Let us begin with the passage from Isaiah. What was going on?

            King Uzziah had ruled Judah for fifty-two years. He had been a popular and successful king. The people of Judah had enjoyed relative peace and stability under his rule. However, Uzziah was not necessarily a godly king. Many people in the kingdom believed that his leprosy was a result of his sinfulness. Uzziah’s son, Jotham succeeded him, but was not nearly as popular or successful as his father. So, the political and religious context into which Isaiah emerged was very unstable.

            The people had forgotten and forsaken the Lord their God (1:4). Their worship was futile (1:11-17). Their leadership was corrupt (1:23), and greed had led to injustice (5:8). As we heard, God had convened a divine council to discuss what could be done to redeem the sinful people.

            Isaiah’s vision, or theophany, found him in the awesomeness of God’s Presence. God’s power and Presence filled the entire Temple. God was high and lifted up; God’s robes filled the Temple. Isaiah dared not gaze upon the glory of God for fear that he would die. Even the seraphim covered their faces. He was overwhelmed … in awe … in fear! Surely, he would die! Certainly, his sinfulness was on full display. And as we heard, Isaiah did not try to run, he did not try to hide. Instead, he humbled himself. “I am a man of unclean lips living among people of unclean lips.”

            Then, with his confession, his humility, his contrition, Isaiah was made clean. His sin was purged by the refining fire of God.

            With his heart, his soul, his spirit cleansed … set free … Isaiah was able to hear the question that Yahweh posed to the heavenly council, “Who shall I send to proclaim my Word to these sinful people? Who shall go forth for us?”

            We hard Isaiah’s reply, “Send me, God! Send me.” Isaiah was not called in the same manner that some of the others … Moses, Jeremiah, Jonah, etcetera. He volunteered. He stepped forward. “Send me. I am ready!”

            Now, let us turn our attention to Luke’s Gospel. After Jesus had been run out of Nazareth, he went again to Capernaum. He preached, and taught, and performed more acts of power. Clearly, the throng of people that followed him had grown. They pushed in, crowded him, hoping to see and to hear, perhaps even hoping to receive some act of power of their own.

            Luke’s Gospel differs from those written by Matthew and Mark with regard to the account of the Call of the Disciples. Unlike the others, Luke placed his telling a little later in the story. Jesus had already been active prior to calling his disciples. In my mind, Luke’s chronology makes more sense. Since the episode in Nazareth, Jesus had healed a leper, healed a paralytic, and he had healed Simon’s mother-in-law. It is no wonder that the crowd had grown. It is no wonder that the people pushed in close to be able to see and hear what Jesus was saying and doing. And it makes sense that Jesus was then ready to call his disciples.

            When Jesus climbed into Simon’s boat, Simon already knew who he was. Simon already had an idea of the power of Jesus. As Jesus taught, Simon heard the power of Jesus’ words. And yet, when Jesus told him to push out into deeper water, Simon questioned him. “Master, we labored all night and did not catch anything. But at your word, we will do as you say.”

            And again, as we heard, after a catch so abundant that it required two boats to haul it in, Simon confessed his own sinfulness. “Go away from me! Leave me, Lord! For I am a sinful man.” ‘Master … I am unfit to be in your Presence. I am unworthy. Go away from me. My shame is my sin.’

            “Do not be afraid, Simon. From now on you will catch people.”

            German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “When Christ calls a person, he tells them to come and die.” Obviously, Bonhoeffer was speaking of a figurative death. (Although Bonhoeffer was killed by the Nazi party from his resistance to Adolph Hitler.) When Jesus Christ calls us, we “die” to our old lives. He offers death to our fears and our reservations. He offers death to our reluctance. He offers death to our old agendas and priorities. He offers death to our shame and our guilt. He offers us grace and mercy, and love. He offers us life.

            And the call that Jesus places upon our lives asks us to do the same … to offer life.

            It is interesting, the verb that Jesus used when he told Simon that he would be “catching people” is ambiguous. It can mean “catching” as in catching fish. It can mean “catching alive” as in ‘catching without causing harm.’ And it can also mean “restore to life.” With that translation in mind, we can hear Jesus saying, “Do not be afraid, Simon. From now on you will be restoring people to life.”

            As much as Jesus loves and cherishes all of God’s creatures here on earth, when he calls, he does not want to hear crickets.
            “Who will feed the hungry?”
            “Who will house the homeless?”
            “Who will clothe the naked?”
            “Who will visit the sick? Or the lonely?”
            “Who will care for the orphan? Or the refugee?”
            “Who will stand for justice? Who will offer hospitality to the stranger? Who will welcome the marginalized?”
            “Who will push out into deep water?”

            God is calling, “Who will go forth for us?”
            Jesus is calling, “Who will go forth and restore people to life?”

            God is not calling Someone Else. Jesus is not calling Someone Else. They are calling you. They are calling me.

            The questions that we have to consider are: What might be holding us back? What excuses might we be offering to not respond? Why might we be reluctant to push out into the deep water … to go where God calls us to go?

            I have shared this story before. When I was ten years old, I was swimming at the beach in Ocean Park. I got caught in a riptide and was being dragged out farther and farther from shore. I called for help as best as I could, but the waves kept pushing me under. I could see the people on the beach just looking at me. Nobody did anything … until one person did something.

            The stranger swam out to me and pulled me to shore. To this day, I have no idea who it was. What I do know is that it was the one person that did something.

            God is calling. Jesus Christ is calling. Are we willing to say, “Yes! Send me! I am ready!”

            Amen.

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