{"id":2603,"date":"2019-02-10T16:56:18","date_gmt":"2019-02-10T16:56:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pattinghamchurch.org.uk\/web\/?page_id=2603"},"modified":"2019-03-10T11:35:48","modified_gmt":"2019-03-10T11:35:48","slug":"sermon-10th-february-2019","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.pattinghamchurch.org.uk\/web\/information\/sermons\/sermon-10th-february-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Sermon – 10th February 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sermons index<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

4th Sunday before Lent – morning<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Sunday 10th February 2019 <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

4 before Lent – morning
\nIsaiah 6.1-13
\nLuke 5.1-11<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Revd Preb Maureen Hobbs<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\"Maureen<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\u201cImposter Syndrome\u201d….\nhow many of us will admit to having suffered from this at some time\nin our lives?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nI know I have and I suspect\npretty much all clergy do (or should do!) on occasion. That feeling\nthat we have no right to be in the place where we are; doing the job\nwe are doing; exercising the power or authority that has been granted\nto us. That any moment someone will call us out for being unworthy of\nour position. Sound familiar anyone?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I generally get that feeling every time I stand here to preach to you on a Sunday morning \u2013 but by the grace of God I am still here after 10 years…. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nOur readings this morning give\nus pretty good examples of people going through just such feelings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nIsaiah is overwhelmed by the\nmajesty of the Divine presence. He cries out \u201cWoe is me! I am lost,\nfor I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean\nlips;\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nBut God needs Isaiah for his\npurposes and is not about to accept any excuses. So he purifies the\nunclean lips and Isaiah then feels he can beg to be sent on God\u2019s\nbehalf…. \u201cHere I am, send me!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nNot that there is much promise\nof a successful outcome… In fact it seems that God is calling\nIsaiah, sanctifying or ordaining him, commissioning him and then\nexpecting him to fail! (but not entirely!) There will a stump left\nwhen the land has been laid waste and God\u2019s holy seed will be in\nthat stump. God can snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nAnd turning to the Gospel for\ntoday, how we love to hear the familiar story and Jesus\u2019 promise\nthat Peter and his fellow disciples will become fishers of people!\nBut Peter\u2019s initial reaction to witnessing something of Jesus\u2019\npower \u2013 rather like that of Isaiah, is to try and send God away.\n\u201cGo away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!\u201d But again, Jesus\nis not about to take \u2018no\u2019 for an answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nA long time ago and in another\nexistence, I was what is called a \u2018headhunter\u2019. Working in the\nrecruitment industry, I was tasked with researching particular fields\nof expertise \u2013 be they technological or scientific or financial,\nand contacting people to ask if they might be interested in applying\nfor particular jobs that were vacant at the time. This was long\nbefore the days of social media \u2013 I can\u2019t help reflecting that\nsuch a tool would have saved me a lot of time in those days! And\nagain, often people were surprised to be contacted \u2013 and a little\nflattered to be considered worthy to apply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nThe thing is that God is just\nas capable \u2013 in fact infinitely more so \u2013 than any headhunter at\ndetermining the right person for any particular task. His logic might\nnot be immediately apparent to us \u2013 think of Moses at the burning\nbush, arguing that his brother would be much better at arguing with\nPharoah, because he did not have the speech impediment that Moses\ndid! And think again of poor Peter \u2013 a down-to-earth fisherman,\nbeing told that not only is he to be a disciple, but that eventually\nhe is to lead those disciples and become the leader of a great church\n\u2013 a worldwide religious movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nThere is a lot of talk at\npresent about the need to make our theology more contextual. Which is\nanother way of saying that it needs to be relevant to our lives today\n\u2013 we need to \u201cget real\u201d if the church is to have much future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nBut Jesus showed us the way\nover 2000 years ago. When talking to a bunch of fishermen, he spoke\nabout using their skills learned in their boats but applying them in\na completely new way \u2013 to \u2018hook\u2019 people for God instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nAnd when speaking to other\npeople in a society that was strongly agricultural, he often used\nimages of seed and harvest. Because he knew these images would speak\nto his listeners. He was always \u2018getting real\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nAnd I think God is still doing\nthe same today. God appreciates the skills we have as individuals and\nas a church. He doesn\u2019t ask us to do something completely foreign\nto us. He may nudge us from our comfort zone a little by asking us to\napply those skills in new ways, but he always builds on what we have\nto offer in the first place \u2013 even though we may think that is\nprecious little. Think of the loaves and fishes story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nAnd he doesn\u2019t only call\npeople to do things inside the church! Of course if someone feels\nthat God is prompting them to consider preaching, or leading worship,\nor reading the prayers or singing or even making the coffee, that is\nwonderful and we thank God for you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nBut God may equally well be\ncalling you to spread the word outside this building \u2013 that is\nmission and evangelism \u2013 scary words I know, but actually much\nsimpler than it sounds. Just talk to your friends and neighbours;\nyour colleagues at work; your customers; your children especially!\nLet them know how helpful you find it to come and spend time with God\nin the company of other Christians. Maybe, if they start to show\ninterest, invite them to come along with you. But don\u2019t try and\npush your faith onto them…. That is not how a fisherman does it!\nNo, put the bait on the hook; cast out the line and just sit and wait\nto see who comes along and nibbles! Then you can begin (carefully) to\nreel in the line (anyone would think I know what I am talking about,\nbut I have never been fishing in my life!) But I have seen how they\ndo it on the TV! Oh well, imposter syndrome strikes again \u2013 but you\nget my drift?…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks be to God<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 \u201cImposter Syndrome\u201d…. 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 … <\/p>\n

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