Here We Are: Send Us

Sermon

November 20, 2011

Consecration Sunday

Rev. Dr. Craig Strobel

Isaiah 6:1-8

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another and said:
‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory.’ 
The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. And I said: ‘Woe is me! I am lost, 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 one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: ‘Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.’ Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I; send me!’

If you go to the Vatican Museum in Rome, one of the interesting statues you will encounter is a bust of a man’s head with a face in front and a face in back. This is a bust of the Greek God, Janus or Ianus. According to a legend, he had received from the god Saturn, in reward for the hospitality received, the gift to see both future and past. Janus is, of course, the namesake for our month of January, which is a time of looking back as well as looking forward into the future.

On Consecration Sunday, we look both forward and backward. We look backward and recall all that God has blessed us with. We give thanks for these blessings and then reflect upon how we might pass those blessings on to others. A blessing hoarded is a blessing lost, so we keep those blessings alive by moving them on! We look to the future by considering how we can be a part of blessing the world.

This morning, I would like to look backwards and forwards by thinking for a moment about the legacy of blessing of which we are the beneficiaries every time we walk through these doors. We are all the inheritors of many legacies, in our lives and in this church especially. What is the legacy you have received from the fact that the Pocatello First United Methodist Church exists here in this place? How has God touched your life through the ministry and presence of this church community?

What will be your legacy? How will the world be different for your having been here? What legacy for the next generation of worshippers at Pocatello First United Methodist Church will you leave?

Here at this Church we are part of a long ongoing stream of history that goes back not only 100 years, but hundreds and thousands of years. We have each entered this stream at various points in time, but we each contribute to it with our own unique individual gifts.

So what is the legacy you will leave for this church? As Paul says, to each of us a grace has been given as Christ has apportioned it. We have gifts that can be used in service, we have gifts that can be used in prayer, we have gifts of our active and engaged presence, and we have gifts of money that we can give to enable ministries to happen, to pay for future leadership of the church, to go out across the world in mission and in response to disasters.

Here We Are:

Isaiah’s Call Vision in Isaiah 6:1-8.

Call of God: Who will go for me?

But this call occurs after Isaiah has been ushered into the presence of God, and after he has confessed his uncleanness and unworthiness, and then been cleansed and made ready.

Then and only then is it that he steps forward, in response to God’s action.

All followers of Jesus Christ, who have had their lives touched and cleansed and forgiven and transformed by Jesus, are in the position of Isaiah. Isaiah is a model for responding to the Grace and Love of God. The visitation of God within any believer’s life carries with it the next step: a step into commitment and service.

This is echoed by Jesus:

·      Go into all the world… ("All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:18-20)

·      Follow me… (Matthew 4:19-22)

·      Not only will you do these things, but you will do greater things… (“I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.  And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.  You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” John 14:12-14)

·      As I have done, so should you… (“I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.  Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” John 13:15

As followers of Jesus, we are the body of Christ, engaging in the ministry and mission that is his. We are not on our own mission. Remember that Paul says, “you have been bought with a price.” We are no longer our own. We are the servants and friends of Jesus, sent out on his mission. Jesus has no hands but our hands. Jesus has no feet but our feet. Jesus has no mouth but our mouth. Jesus has no time but our time. Jesus has no bank account but ours. We are the presence of God in this community. We make God’s grace and mercy and love and justice real in the world through what we do in this community.

So now, I bid you to be in an attitude of prayer as you fill out or finalize your commitments and pledges to God and to the mission of Jesus Christ through this church this next year.

Let us be in prayer.

Consecration litany:

Leader: Romans 12:1 reads, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”

When we consecrate something, we set it apart for God's use.  It is the setting apart of all we are, all we have, and all we expect to have or be, to God first of all. We recognize that consecration is not easy, but it is worth the discipline and the sacrifice. In the act of consecration, we acknowledge with Paul, that we were “bought with a price,” and in deep, everlasting gratitude we offer ourselves and our substance to God for the ministry of Jesus Christ in our world.

All: All that I have and all that I am is a gift from You. O Lord.

Here I am: I give myself to You.  

Unto You, O Lord, do I bring my entire life.

Receive and consecrate this commitment of my prayers, my presence, my gifts and my service.

I lay it on Your altar.  

Do what You want to do with me and with these commitments.  

Make a difference in your world through me.  

You have everything about me available to You for You to utilize according to Your plans and purposes."