February 4, 2007
Isaiah 6:1-8, I Corinthians 14:12-20, Luke 5:1-11

Today is our church's annual congregational meeting or convention. Today we will plan our church activities in order to do the work of Christ. Today's Bible readings are about people called to do the work of God, so we can learn from them. We can get encouragement and guidance from the Holy Spirit as we read about the Prophet Isaiah, the Disciple Peter and the Apostle Paul.

First there was the call of Isaiah. He saw a frightful vision of heaven and of God on his throne full of splendor and glory and power. The seraphim sang so loud that the whole temple building shook and the smoke from the altar filled the air. Isaiah was scared! "Woe is me, for I am lost." cried Isaiah. "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!" Then the seraph cleansed the prophets lips with a live coal from the altar. It blotted out his sin. Then the prophet heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" And Isaiah said, "Here am I; send me!"

In faith, we have seen a vision of the glory of God. Especially the glory of Jesus on the cross and in the resurrection. We know our sin and we know our unworthiness to speak the Gospel. But we have been cleansed by the fire of the Holy Spirit and our lips have been touched by the Body and Blood of our Lord from the Altar. This makes us worthy to answer the call. "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" And we say, "Here am I; send me!"

St. Peter was a fisherman. He didn't see seraphim and smoke, but he saw the miracle of the great catch of fish. His reaction was the same as Isaiah. He felt he was in the presence of God Almighty. He was afraid. He fell at Jesus' feet and said, "Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!" Jesus showed his love and forgiveness. He would not go away from Peter, rather he asked Peter to follow him in his mission. Jesus said, "Do not be afraid, from now on you will be catching people."

Peter was a fisherman, so he could catch people. Matthew was a tax collector, so he could collect people. We all have talents and gifts that we can use for the mission of Christ. Teachers, builders, singers, prayers, players, etc. And together as a congregation we work for Christ.

Paul wrote the letter to the Corinthians because that was a church with many problems. We can read that letter and get hints to help us, too. In today's reading, the emphasis was on good order in the church. Things must be done so that the Gospel can be proclaimed in a way that it can be best understood and so believed.

Our congregation's biggest communication problem is not that we use both English and Japanese and not everyone understands both. If we are both speaking English, sometimes we don't communicate. If we are both speaking Japanese, sometimes we don't communicate. However, we pray that the Holy Spirit will translate our thoughts and hearts for us. The Holy Spirit will speak the language of love and forgiveness and peace and joy in Christ.

That is why I enjoy church congregational meetings. It is fun to see us working together in the Holy Spirit. And that is seeing a miracle greater than the big catch of fish.

Amen.

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