Caught by grace
Commentary
A pastor was asked why he never delivered a sermon about sin. He replied, "I hate to talk to such nice people about such a dreadful subject." The answer is right in step with our cultural trends. The word sinner seems such a down-putting word. Martin E. Marty passes along some comments of Brian Able Ragen, assistant professor of English at Southern Illinois University, about the way the lyrics of hymns can be changed to reflect current sensibilities of middle-class Americans. Ragen cited one hymnal where the second line of "Amazing Grace" had been changed from "That saved a wretch like me" to "That saved and strengthened me." Ragen commented, "Our culture does not believe in wickedness -- that is, in culpability. The conviction of sin is hardly possible to us. We believe not in sin and forgiveness but in illness and recovery. It is the endless message of our culture that everyone is basically good and most of our problems will be solved when we realize this -- in other words, when we build up our self-esteem."1 He observed that in our churches we avoid the idea of real sinfulness, yet sentimentally cling to the idea of redemption, which if there is no wickedness, or captivity, or lostness is emptied of meaning. Out of the readings for today leap three confessions that challenge the way the great doctrines of the faith can be trivialized in an "I'm okay, You're okay" culture.
Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts."
-- Isaiah
Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!
-- Simon Peter
For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am."
-- Paul of Tarsus
Sermon Seeds In The Lessons
Isaiah 6:1-8 (9-13)
The death of King Uzziah indicates more than a change of monarch with the normal anxieties that might be engendered. That Uzziah died of leprosy would be interpreted by many as an ominous sign of Divine disapproval. 2 Kings 15:4-5 attributes his disease to religious compromise over the shrines. 2 Chronicles 26:6-22 states the king became a leper because he violated priestly prerogatives. There is a cloud over the land and a malaise abroad. In this troubled time Isaiah goes into the temple with his own dark thoughts. Who has not felt the need at some time just to sit quietly and alone in the sanctuary? The prophet is caught up in an overwhelming faith experience that brings a new insight and perception. We are at pains to interpret such a vision in a culture in which the sense of a mysterious and transcendent dimension has gone into eclipse. Someone has said that the mission of the church is "to keep alive the rumor that there is a God," -- high and lofty, who sees and knows and cares and to whom we are accountable, a God beyond human control and manipulation. That is the vision renewed within Isaiah. Do not waste time talking about the title king, the focus is the throne and the point is the claim upon conscience of the transcendent God whose grandeur and holiness evokes our confession.
The word sinner is not a down-putting term; on the contrary, it is a way of understanding ourselves as created by God and as objects of his concern. We want to note that Isaiah saw himself as part of the moral and spiritual problem of the nation along with his brothers and sisters. We are all, more than we realize, captive in some way to the culture around us. Does his use of the word "unclean" signal a recognition that the really ominous fact was not Uzziah's leprosy but the contamination of the whole community? In a "down time" Isaiah looked up, looked at himself, looked around, heard a whisper of the awaiting God, and offered himself. Does this suggest the possible ribs for a sermon? Do not forget the hymn by John Haynes Holmes, "The Voice Of God Is Calling." Verses nine through 13 sound as if the prophet is called to a frustrating task. But then the prophet knew the depth and tenacity of human sinfulness and wickedness.
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Paul also had been caught by grace. The phrase, "not I, but the grace of God," is suggestive. Paul never stole the credit line. The phrase comes in almost as if Paul sensed his own boasting was sounding like that of some of the Corinthians. Verses eight through ten also remind us that with God it is not where we have been or what we have done in the past that counts, but where we are heading now and what we are doing now.
Verses three through seven list the sequences of resurrection appearances. No women are listed. The New Revised Version has changed verse six to read, "Then he appeared to be more than five hundred brothers and sisters," but the Greek word is masculine. There is a conflict here with the gospel traditions about the women at the empty tomb and especially John 20 where Mary Magdalene is the first to encounter the Risen Lord. This raises the question as to whether the tradition Paul quotes is a later one that has either ignored the empty tomb tradition or edited women out of the tradition. The larger world around the church was misogynist. As the church settled into history, was the radical approach to women on the part of Jesus toned down in the interests of blunting criticism or was there a reassertion of male dominance in the church? Perhaps a bit of both. Do the latter household codes like Ephesians 5:21-32 and Colossians 3:18-25 represent a step back from the Jesus we met in the gospels? We have to ask questions like this and seriously cope with them. All parts of the New Testament are not of equal value, but those of less value can be understood within a particular context without considering them binding upon the church.
Luke 5:1-11
An overarching theme in this section of Luke is the beneficence of God and that shines in this story. Luke has a way of telescoping history. In this story of the overflowing catch of fish, the point has been reached in his mission when Jesus needs helpers. The story also points us ahead to the time when the disciples will be gathering in people. The theme of grace abounding dominates this story. Peter collapses not under criticism and censure, but in the face of overwhelming bounty and goodness. The fisherman himself was caught by another kind of hook. This too is an epiphany story showing forth the character of the God who presides over the created order. The greater miracle is not about fish but about Peter and you and me and our coming alive to this audacious Lord and his crazy commands that contradict our expertise.
It was an audacious thing to just step into Peter's boat and start giving orders. If I who live in the midst of fishermen ever stepped into a lobster boat and started giving orders I would end up either in the harbor or with an earful of some very earthy language. But that is the way the Lord is. He steps right into our familiar worlds of livelihood and responsibility. That is where we reach and reassert our expertise. "What do you know about meeting a payroll, Jesus?" Maybe that is why miracles do not happen for us. It is to Peter's credit that he put his own expertise on hold. The carpenter from Nazareth had something to teach the fisherman. Maybe we should try things his way.
1. Reprinted with permission from Context, published by Clarentian Publications, 205 W. Monroe St., Chicago, IL 60606.
Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts."
-- Isaiah
Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!
-- Simon Peter
For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am."
-- Paul of Tarsus
Sermon Seeds In The Lessons
Isaiah 6:1-8 (9-13)
The death of King Uzziah indicates more than a change of monarch with the normal anxieties that might be engendered. That Uzziah died of leprosy would be interpreted by many as an ominous sign of Divine disapproval. 2 Kings 15:4-5 attributes his disease to religious compromise over the shrines. 2 Chronicles 26:6-22 states the king became a leper because he violated priestly prerogatives. There is a cloud over the land and a malaise abroad. In this troubled time Isaiah goes into the temple with his own dark thoughts. Who has not felt the need at some time just to sit quietly and alone in the sanctuary? The prophet is caught up in an overwhelming faith experience that brings a new insight and perception. We are at pains to interpret such a vision in a culture in which the sense of a mysterious and transcendent dimension has gone into eclipse. Someone has said that the mission of the church is "to keep alive the rumor that there is a God," -- high and lofty, who sees and knows and cares and to whom we are accountable, a God beyond human control and manipulation. That is the vision renewed within Isaiah. Do not waste time talking about the title king, the focus is the throne and the point is the claim upon conscience of the transcendent God whose grandeur and holiness evokes our confession.
The word sinner is not a down-putting term; on the contrary, it is a way of understanding ourselves as created by God and as objects of his concern. We want to note that Isaiah saw himself as part of the moral and spiritual problem of the nation along with his brothers and sisters. We are all, more than we realize, captive in some way to the culture around us. Does his use of the word "unclean" signal a recognition that the really ominous fact was not Uzziah's leprosy but the contamination of the whole community? In a "down time" Isaiah looked up, looked at himself, looked around, heard a whisper of the awaiting God, and offered himself. Does this suggest the possible ribs for a sermon? Do not forget the hymn by John Haynes Holmes, "The Voice Of God Is Calling." Verses nine through 13 sound as if the prophet is called to a frustrating task. But then the prophet knew the depth and tenacity of human sinfulness and wickedness.
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Paul also had been caught by grace. The phrase, "not I, but the grace of God," is suggestive. Paul never stole the credit line. The phrase comes in almost as if Paul sensed his own boasting was sounding like that of some of the Corinthians. Verses eight through ten also remind us that with God it is not where we have been or what we have done in the past that counts, but where we are heading now and what we are doing now.
Verses three through seven list the sequences of resurrection appearances. No women are listed. The New Revised Version has changed verse six to read, "Then he appeared to be more than five hundred brothers and sisters," but the Greek word is masculine. There is a conflict here with the gospel traditions about the women at the empty tomb and especially John 20 where Mary Magdalene is the first to encounter the Risen Lord. This raises the question as to whether the tradition Paul quotes is a later one that has either ignored the empty tomb tradition or edited women out of the tradition. The larger world around the church was misogynist. As the church settled into history, was the radical approach to women on the part of Jesus toned down in the interests of blunting criticism or was there a reassertion of male dominance in the church? Perhaps a bit of both. Do the latter household codes like Ephesians 5:21-32 and Colossians 3:18-25 represent a step back from the Jesus we met in the gospels? We have to ask questions like this and seriously cope with them. All parts of the New Testament are not of equal value, but those of less value can be understood within a particular context without considering them binding upon the church.
Luke 5:1-11
An overarching theme in this section of Luke is the beneficence of God and that shines in this story. Luke has a way of telescoping history. In this story of the overflowing catch of fish, the point has been reached in his mission when Jesus needs helpers. The story also points us ahead to the time when the disciples will be gathering in people. The theme of grace abounding dominates this story. Peter collapses not under criticism and censure, but in the face of overwhelming bounty and goodness. The fisherman himself was caught by another kind of hook. This too is an epiphany story showing forth the character of the God who presides over the created order. The greater miracle is not about fish but about Peter and you and me and our coming alive to this audacious Lord and his crazy commands that contradict our expertise.
It was an audacious thing to just step into Peter's boat and start giving orders. If I who live in the midst of fishermen ever stepped into a lobster boat and started giving orders I would end up either in the harbor or with an earful of some very earthy language. But that is the way the Lord is. He steps right into our familiar worlds of livelihood and responsibility. That is where we reach and reassert our expertise. "What do you know about meeting a payroll, Jesus?" Maybe that is why miracles do not happen for us. It is to Peter's credit that he put his own expertise on hold. The carpenter from Nazareth had something to teach the fisherman. Maybe we should try things his way.
1. Reprinted with permission from Context, published by Clarentian Publications, 205 W. Monroe St., Chicago, IL 60606.
