Service of worship Wembley Downs Uniting Church, 9 August 2009 - Commissioning of Elders

Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 6:1-8
For the young at heart - Who, me?

That reading from Isaiah picks up the ideas of kingly glory, brightness and fire that we heard in the song Shine, Jesus, Shine, but it adds another idea. How would you feel in the midst of all that magnificence? Perhaps you’d feel right at home, but I think I’d feel pretty much like Isaiah did in his dream – out of place, not good enough, forgot to wash his hands and face and put a clean shirt on.

Then the seraph flies down and touches him and tells him that now he is clean. He IS right at home, because God says so. Wow! It would be kind of cool to sit back and take it all in, the throne, the seraphs, the smoke and, of course, the King.

But then the King speaks. He’s got a job, and he’s looking for a volunteer! A few seconds ago Isaiah would have said, “Forget it, I’m not good enough!” But now things have changed, he has been pronounced acceptable. So he doesn’t say “Who, me?” No, he says “Here am I, send me!” – a willing volunteer.

Jesus tells us that we have all been pronounced acceptable to God and ready for work. And God keeps on needing volunteers. “Volunteers” is the way God works. Later on in the service we will have the commissioning of some Elders. God needed some volunteers to help run our church here and these ones didn’t say “Who, me?” they said “Here am I, send me”.

Isaiah heard God calling to him in a dream. We hear God in all sorts of ways, most often in the needs of people around us or in the wider community. Don’t think “No way, I’m not good enough” or “What’s the point, what difference can I make?” Join God’s volunteer army and say “Here am I, send me!

Gospel reading: Luke 5:1-11
Reflection You’ve got the wrong man!

The Bible is littered with “Who, me?” moments. Here’s just a short list:-
• Moses – tried four times to get out of the job, but God had an answer every time
o “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh?” – “I will be with you”;
o “Who will I say has sent me?” – “Say I AM has sent you”;
o “Suppose they don’t believe me?” – “Here are some magic tricks”;
o “I can’t talk, send someone else!” – “Aaron will help but you’ll tell him what to say and I will be with you!”
• Gideon – you remember how he tested God by putting sheepskins out over night to se if they were wet or dry?
• Elijah – when the pace got too hot he ran away and hid in the mountains, but the still, small voice followed him.
• Isaiah – as we heard earlier “Woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips” but God didn’t let him get away with that. “Your sin is blotted out!”
• Jeremiah – “I don’t know how to speak, I’m only a boy” – “I’ve put my words in your mouth!”
• And of course there was Jonah, who took a boat and headed off as fast as he could, was miraculously saved from the fishy jaws of death only to find that the instructions hadn’t changed.
• And finally, from our gospel reading, Peter – “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” – but as Paul reminds us in Romans, all have sinned. If God wants humans to do his work, he’s going to have to settle for sinful ones because that’s the only kind he made! None of us is good enough, but the good news is that God says we are!

It seems to me there are several common threads to these stories.
1. Each of these people couldn’t escape from a conviction that God needed them to do something.
2. Each of them was convinced that they weren’t up to the task – either the task was impossible, or they weren’t holy enough or skilled enough or old enough (or young enough we may be tempted to add?).
3. Each of them ended up doing what God asked (eventually) and
4. In each case they found that they could do the job. That didn’t make it easy, but God clearly was with them and it worked out far better than they dreamed.

Tonight, as we move into the next part of the service, the Commissioning of Elders, those stories have something to say, not just to the candidates but to all of us. When I looked at the job description for Elders I realised that most of their tasks apply to all of us. Listen to this:
• to share with the minister in building up the congregation in faith and love: “What minister?” I hear you say. Exactly! That makes it all the more important that we all build each other up in faith and love!
• to nurture the members in their growth in grace: Let me quote from our mission statement on the front of In Touch: “Our congregation seeks to be a community of Christian people who affirm, support, nurture and accompany each other on their spiritual journeys”.
• to visit regularly the members and adherents: Our church has decided that pastoral care is a task, indeed a privilege, in which the whole congregation are involved. Your fellow members are depending on you, and you on them, where pastoral care is concerned.
• Even this one – to share with the minister in the conduct of worship (Well, here I am!) and the administration of the sacraments (our new third Sunday liturgy ensures we all share in that).

So, as we move soon to the Commissioning of the Elders, don’t feel remote and uninvolved, we’re commissioning each other as well! And, in that spirit, let’s hear what Paul has to say in Romans 12.

Epistle reading: Romans 12:1-21