4th Sunday before Lent – morning
Sunday 10th February 2019
4 before Lent – morning
Isaiah 6.1-13
Luke 5.1-11
Revd Preb Maureen Hobbs
“Imposter Syndrome”…. how many of us will admit to having suffered from this at some time in our lives?
I know I have and I suspect pretty much all clergy do (or should do!) on occasion. That feeling that we have no right to be in the place where we are; doing the job we are doing; exercising the power or authority that has been granted to us. That any moment someone will call us out for being unworthy of our position. Sound familiar anyone?
I generally get that feeling every time I stand here to preach to you on a Sunday morning – but by the grace of God I am still here after 10 years….
Our readings this morning give us pretty good examples of people going through just such feelings.
Isaiah is overwhelmed by the majesty of the Divine presence. He cries out “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips;”
But God needs Isaiah for his purposes and is not about to accept any excuses. So he purifies the unclean lips and Isaiah then feels he can beg to be sent on God’s behalf…. “Here I am, send me!”
Not that there is much promise of a successful outcome… In fact it seems that God is calling Isaiah, sanctifying or ordaining him, commissioning him and then expecting him to fail! (but not entirely!) There will a stump left when the land has been laid waste and God’s holy seed will be in that stump. God can snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
And turning to the Gospel for today, how we love to hear the familiar story and Jesus’ promise that Peter and his fellow disciples will become fishers of people! But Peter’s initial reaction to witnessing something of Jesus’ power – rather like that of Isaiah, is to try and send God away. “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!” But again, Jesus is not about to take ‘no’ for an answer.
A long time ago and in another existence, I was what is called a ‘headhunter’. Working in the recruitment industry, I was tasked with researching particular fields of expertise – be they technological or scientific or financial, and contacting people to ask if they might be interested in applying for particular jobs that were vacant at the time. This was long before the days of social media – I can’t help reflecting that such a tool would have saved me a lot of time in those days! And again, often people were surprised to be contacted – and a little flattered to be considered worthy to apply.
The thing is that God is just as capable – in fact infinitely more so – than any headhunter at determining the right person for any particular task. His logic might not be immediately apparent to us – think of Moses at the burning bush, arguing that his brother would be much better at arguing with Pharoah, because he did not have the speech impediment that Moses did! And think again of poor Peter – a down-to-earth fisherman, being told that not only is he to be a disciple, but that eventually he is to lead those disciples and become the leader of a great church – a worldwide religious movement.
There is a lot of talk at present about the need to make our theology more contextual. Which is another way of saying that it needs to be relevant to our lives today – we need to “get real” if the church is to have much future.
But Jesus showed us the way over 2000 years ago. When talking to a bunch of fishermen, he spoke about using their skills learned in their boats but applying them in a completely new way – to ‘hook’ people for God instead.
And when speaking to other people in a society that was strongly agricultural, he often used images of seed and harvest. Because he knew these images would speak to his listeners. He was always ‘getting real’.
And I think God is still doing the same today. God appreciates the skills we have as individuals and as a church. He doesn’t ask us to do something completely foreign to us. He may nudge us from our comfort zone a little by asking us to apply those skills in new ways, but he always builds on what we have to offer in the first place – even though we may think that is precious little. Think of the loaves and fishes story.
And he doesn’t only call people to do things inside the church! Of course if someone feels that God is prompting them to consider preaching, or leading worship, or reading the prayers or singing or even making the coffee, that is wonderful and we thank God for you!
But God may equally well be calling you to spread the word outside this building – that is mission and evangelism – scary words I know, but actually much simpler than it sounds. Just talk to your friends and neighbours; your colleagues at work; your customers; your children especially! Let them know how helpful you find it to come and spend time with God in the company of other Christians. Maybe, if they start to show interest, invite them to come along with you. But don’t try and push your faith onto them…. That is not how a fisherman does it! No, put the bait on the hook; cast out the line and just sit and wait to see who comes along and nibbles! Then you can begin (carefully) to reel in the line (anyone would think I know what I am talking about, but I have never been fishing in my life!) But I have seen how they do it on the TV! Oh well, imposter syndrome strikes again – but you get my drift?…
Thanks be to God