God calls us to be healing for this world. But often, we count ourselves out because we don’t believe we have what it takes. But if we trust God and do the next right thing, God transforms our hearts to prepare us for each moment that we’re in.
Vicar Natalie Wussler
The Fifth Sunday after Epiphany, Lect. 5 C
Texts: Isaiah 6:1-8; Psalm 138; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11; Luke 5:1-11
Beloved in Christ, grace to you and peace in the name of the Father, and of the ☩ Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
The invitation has been sent. God has called you, and me, and this community to be essential pieces in the healing in this world. To walk in justice, and mercy. To be uplifters of marginalized voices and be Christ to a world that cries out for hope. To bear the Gospel that we have received, as Paul says. To enter into the pain and despair of the other and find some semblance of hope. God wants us and invites us to get out of our boats and follow beyond what we ever thought we could do. But that’s the problem, isn’t it? God’s call to us very rarely lets us stay within the realm of what we think we can do. And we’re usually called to do hard things during volatile times and sometimes we worry we don’t have what it takes.
We see this huge gap between who we are in this moment and who we think we need to be to embrace God’s call. We get scared that we won’t be able to bridge that gap, and ashamed that we’re not where we’re “supposed to be.” We disqualify ourselves before we even have a chance to prove these doubts wrong. The fear of doing the wrong thing, or saying the wrong thing, or not having the right resume, and the shame of all the ways we’ve screwed up or missed the mark paralyzes us. And instead of acting in love, mercy, and justice, fear causes us to retreat into ourselves, to stay in the familiar and build walls around what we think can and can’t do. Questions and doubts start running through us–how could I bring any good to such a time as this? But I’m probably too messed up and broken for this, right? Why would God ever want to use me? Beloved, hear this, if that’s ever been you, then you’re in the company of people like Isaiah and Peter and most other people who God calls in the Bible.
Because even after these two witness these manifestations of God’s divine power and God makes it very clear that Isaiah and Peter are wanted and needed for God’s mission in the world, this is how they respond: “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips” says Isaiah. “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man”, Peter cries. Peter and Isaiah’s hearts race, as they remember all the ways they’ve missed the mark, all the moments they didn’t do the right thing or say the right thing.
And what a gift their reactions are to us! This is Isaiah, one of the most prolific and influential prophets in the Hebrew Scriptures, and Simon Peter, the one who Jesus later called the rock that the church will be built on. And THIS is where their God-given call starts. Afraid, doubtful, overwhelmed, ashamed. Remembering all their past failures, and not believing they have what it takes. But God still calls them. If that’s true for them in their doubt and worry, why not us? Not even our doubts in ourselves can keep us from the mission God’s given each one of us. We are still called. We are still needed.
And God continues to send out the invitation despite Peter and Isaiah’s knee-jerk self-deprecation. Isaiah needed forgiveness, so God gave him forgiveness. Peter was afraid, and Jesus took care of his fear. Almost as a way of saying, “yeah, what you’re worried about, that’s not really the main concern here. Now go, I’ve got work for you to do.” And the same can be said of you. Despite the problems, the inadequacies, and the sinfulness you might hyperfixate on, God sees you for what you are: a beloved child perfectly made for the moment you’re in. God sees you for all that you can do, all the people and places that need you to live as Christ, in a way only you can.
And so Isaiah and Peter take their next steps in their journeys, with an enthusiastic “Here am I, send me” from Isaiah, and Peter dropping all he’s ever known to follow a divine stranger. Their trust in God grows greater than their fear of inadequacies, and they follow. And with God as their strength and sustainer, they begin to do immeasurably more than either believed they were capable of. Isaiah preaches judgment and deliverance to the Israelites as the threat of exile comes closer, and Peter is a key leader in the earliest movements of the church. And their transformation is a promise to us. Because God molds our hearts and grows our capacity with each faithful next step. And step by step, the things you believed you were out of reach yesterday become the possibilities of today. You can trust that even if you stumble, God’s grace will pick you up and transform your insecurities into trust that God will give you what you need to be healing agents.
And it all starts with a call from God and a “yes” from us. And continues with us trusting God and doing the next right thing. To trust that God is with you and is a sure foundation. Trust that God is leading you to where you’re supposed to be. Trust that you are the work of God’s hands, that you are equipped for the moment you’re called to. Trust that you are not a mistake, and you are needed in this very moment.
And especially in those moments that make us feel small or powerless, or not good enough, like the world’s problems are too big and too hard for us to handle, we can call out to God, who strengthens our soul as the Psalmist says. We can trust that God will meet us where we are to give us the courage to take the next step forward, even if it is scary. We can trust that God will fill us with the love and compassion, the thirst for justice that we need to be agents of healing in the world and to be living manifestations of Christ. We can trust that God will give us a community to support and encourage us along the way, as food for the journey. And even though we don’t know where our journeys will lead, our faith and support for each other will give us the boldness to do the next right thing.
To take the next step. Do the next loving thing, the next compassionate thing. Love the next neighbor in front of you. Take the next step toward justice and mercy in whatever way you can. Do the next thing that creates joy that drives out fear. Breathe love into the next moment you’re in. The next thing the Holy Spirit leads you to.
And to trust that though we have been called to ventures that we’re not even sure if we’re good enough to walk, God will give us the faith and foundation to go out with good courage, to do the next right thing. And that along the way, it’s the God who created us and loves us dearly that is sustaining and supporting us, calling us beyond what we believe we can do and into deeper trust in our God and in ourselves.
In the name of the Father, and of the ☩ Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
