I love the call of Isaiah and remember first reading Frederick Buechner's sermon on that text. But lately I've also been pondering the words that immediately follow Isaiah 6:1-8 that are actually a part of the call and thankfully part of the OT reading for the day; words I think we need to heed if we are honest about the work God gives us to do. So I said this:
This sixth chapter of Isaiah is familiar to anyone who has ever attended an ordination service, but I am frustrated that it usually stops at verse eight. Poor Isaiah was called to a very difficult ministry. He will speak, but people will not comprehend; they will look, but not understand. Isaiah’s task is to put the hard demands of God before a people who are not yet ready to let go of their comfortable lives. And there is nothing Isaiah can do about that except to hold the vision of the Holy God before them. That is frustrating, to say the least; but that is the work that God calls Isaiah to do. It is a reminder that ministry is about being faithful, not successful. It is a reminder that the message is what is important and it cannot be compromised to make it more palatable to a hard-hearted people in a hard-hearted time. The teacher who dares to teach, in spite of the obstacles the educational system puts before him or the doctor who dares to practice medicine in spite of the obstacles that our health care system puts before her; the junior officer who tells his general the truth and not just what he wants to hear or the mother who says no to her child even when all the other moms have said “ok”—all of them know what it is like to be in Isaiah’s shoes. All are to be commended for their willingness to be faithful in untenable circumstances, always with God’s help.
The entire sermon is on the St. Francis website for anyone who may be interested.
No comments:
Post a Comment