In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord!
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord!
And, the Lord was not Uzziah. The Lord was not Solomon. The Lord was not David.
The Lord was not.
For the Lord WAS. The Lord of hosts, the King. And the WHOLE earth was full of his glory!
And, the seraphs shout,
Holy, holy, holy!
And, the prophet writes,
Holy, holy, holy!
And, the people say,
Holy, holy, holy!
Even now, especially now, holy, holy, holy!
For God remains true.
Christ remains true.
The Spirit remains true.
And, we are reminded, by the people and prophets of long ago, of the supremacy of God.
Above kings, above presidents, above billionaires and oligarchs, fascist, and petty prince, there is and will always be our God.
And God is no servant of the state or the status quo.
And God is not subject to our sin.
God is not subject--to our sin or our shame, our failings or our fears.
God is not swayed by wealth or any show of power.
Thank God.
God, in Christ, who brings good news to the poor, the captives, and the oppressed. (Luke 4:14-21). God, in Christ, whose way is one of liberation. God, in Christ, whose limitless compassion extends salvation beyond the boundaries of our own, limited, imaginations.
This God, this God we proclaim as “holy, holy, holy”, calls people of all genders, social classes, and creeds. Which I say not because I’m some progressive, lefty, liberal—but, because I have studied the scriptures, I have immersed myself in our tradition, and I have experienced, for myself, what it is to be broken.
Jesus, have mercy on me, a sinner.
This is a prayer. This, often enough, is my prayer. A prayer that is a product of trust. Trust in the teaching that it is God’s nature to ever have mercy, and that I am reliant upon that generous compassion. Humility, in this, becomes thanksgiving and the act of contrition an expression of trust.
Will you renounce evil?
Will you turn towards Christ?
Will you put your trust in God?
Be careful what you pray and be mindful of your promises--for Christ’s mercy is from everlasting, and responding to that mercy, with devotion, leads us beyond the now and into the unknown.
In “The Chronicles of Narnia” --Edmund, the betrayer becomes Edmund the just. In “A Christmas Carol”, Scrooge himself brings the feast. There is the turn, there is the choice…
“I am lost”, and now I’m found.
Isaiah, Paul, Peter.
“I am lost, woe is me, here I am, the least of the apostles, unfit, but by grace, a sinful man, you will be catching people”
Isaiah, Paul, Peter, you and me. If we turn, if we follow, if we repent…
Repent, not that we will be made perfect but that we may be set free. Repent, not that our lives might be easy, but that we might live.
This is what I hope for. Hope beyond hope. That kings will become kind; the presidents might give pause; that oppressor’s hearts will open; that emperor and empathy would not be an anathema. And yet, even while I hope, I recognize the distance between this and that, between freedom and reality, between the kingdom of God and the country we inhabit.
So, what then? What do we do then? What do we do now? When we face a crisis of world view and self-understanding. When apocalypse is not hyperbole. When we are unwilling participants in those “evils done on our behalf”. When…what then? What now?
James, John, and Simon Peter. What now? The old ways no longer make sense. The practices you have observed since your youth have failed you. What now?
“from now on you will be catching people”
And, this, this for me, is a new hope and a new way of being. It matters, to me, that the Gospel is not about kings, or princes, or oligarchs, or presidents—it is about Christ. And, because it is about Christ, it is about ALL OF US. About all of us who abide in Christ and in whom Christ abides. The Gospel cannot be bought or sold. The good word of God is for all of creation. And, oh, this is what catches me.
This is what draws me in—not that I will somehow cast the net or even draw it in, but that I will be IN the net. I will be in it, with all of you and in this and in that we will be drawn towards God and this is good and this is hope and this is what it means to be be and have a community that recognizes our shared humanity. Neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female. Just us. Us, brought together by the Christ who draws us in.
Holy, holy, holy!
Amen.
