Today I want to talk about three people from the Bible - 3 people who were weak and sinful.
The first person is the prophet Isaiah, the author of today’s first reading. It seems that Isaiah had a habit of going to the Temple for a time of prayer each day. During his prayer time one day, God called him to be a prophet. “I can’t do it.” Isaiah said, “I just can’t do it.” “Why not?” God asked. “Because I am a sinful man.” Isaiah said “I am a person with unclean lips. I like to gossip and I like to stretch the truth so that people will be shocked and listen to me.”
Then God took a burning coal from the altar of sacrifice and touched it to Isaiah’s lips. “Now you are purified.” God said “You are no longer a man of unclean lips. You are now ready to serve my people.”
That story shows us that God calls people who are not perfect. God calls people who are weak and sinful and then God purifies them and prepares them to serve their faith community.
The second person is Saint Paul. A few moments ago we heard Paul telling the people of Corinth, “God called me to be an apostle when I least expected it. I did not deserve to be an apostle because I was persecuting the church. But God kept calling me and when I was baptized God purified me and helped me to see things with the eyes of faith.” So Paul was a person who was weak and sinful until God purified him and prepared him to serve as one of the apostles and missionaries of the church.
The third person is Saint Peter. He was called to be an apostle while he was washing his nets on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. When Jesus asked him to set sail and lower his nets, Peter was sarcastic “Lot of good that will do.” He said “We were fishing all night and didn’t catch a thing.” Once again Jesus said, “Please lower the nets.” This time Peter complied with his request and soon the nets were full of fish. They were filled to the breaking point and the boat was beginning to sink.
Then Jesus said, “Now I want you to leave your nets behind you. I want you to go forth and catch disciples for my New Covenant.” Then Peter said, “O Lord, I am not worthy. I am a sinful man. Can’t you see that I am filled with doubt.” But Jesus would not take No for an answer. When he finally said Yes, Jesus blessed him and purified him and Peter became one of his apostles.
So far, we have looked at three people who were weak and sinful and yet were chosen to be leaders of faith. We could look at more - there’s Moses and David and the woman at the well in Samaria. But the pattern is clear. God chooses people who are not perfect and blesses them and fills them with His gift of grace.
Now why does this happen so often in the course of salvation history? Because the heart of God sees the holy place in the heart of every person. God sees into our hearts and sees the holiness of each person. And that leaves me with three questions:
Question Number One: What does God see in your heart? Do you think that God sees the holy place inside of your heart or do you think that God condemns you? Yes, what does God see in your heart?
Our church thinks that God sees your sincere efforts to do what is right and good. Our church says that salvation comes to those who seek God with a sincere heart. Twenty two years ago, Pope John Paul II said that he is not sure that anyone is in hell. We just can’t be sure what God sees when God looks into the human heart. If a person turns away from sin and repents, God sees that sincere heart and God saves that person.
So that’s the first question. Do you think that God sees your holiness when God looks into your heart?
Question Number Two: Do you see the holy place inside of your heart or do you condemn yourself for not being perfect? Sometimes we are harder on ourselves than God is. Our Bible readings today reveal to us that God is looking for sincere hearts, not perfect hearts.
Question Number Three: Do you see the holy place inside of your neighbors’ heart or do you condemn them because they are not perfect? When Jesus was presenting his Sermon on the Mount, he warned us about the danger of judging others. He said, “Judge not so that you may not be judged.” He also said that he came to save, not to condemn. In other words, whenever we are judging and condemning we are not putting on the mind of Christ.
I want to conclude by going back to Isaiah, Paul, and Peter. God saw their sinfulness, but God also saw their goodness and called them to discipleship.
I will close by repeating my three questions for today:
Number One: What do you think that God sees in your heart?
Number Two: Do you see the holiness inside of your heart?
Number Three: Do you see the holiness inside of your neighbor’s heart?