"In the Year King Uzziah Died"

 

The protests are beginning to happen now as we ended Week Three of the new administration. Democratic members of Congress are now being denied entry into government buildings such as the Department of Education, which is in danger of being shut down completely. The unelected president of the United States, Elon Musk, is busy destroying the USAID program which helps our farmers deliver necessary food resources to nations facing famine. He's also accusing the Lutherans, who have been very active for decades in helping to resettle refugees in this country, of being a money laundering operation. Wow. 

All of this motivated a wave of protests--50 in 50 state capitals on one day--to raise our collective voices against this authoritarian takeover of our country. 

And it made this week's First Reading from Isaiah more relevant than ever. The Gospel provided a nice touch, too. 

See what you think. 

Texts: Is.6:1-3; Luke 5:1-11

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I think all of us have those moments where we can remember where we were when some major newsworthy event happened.

We know where we were when we heard about the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Or the attack on September 11^th.

Or when major figures of the 1960s…such as JFK or Martin Luther King Jr. were assassinated.

Or even moments of human triumph like the moon landing in 1969.

Big historic events punctuate the timelines of our lives.

Which is why the first seven words of our First Reading this morning from Isaiah are critical for us to take some time with and consider.

Because these words have resonance not just with the prophet Isaiah but with us today.

So let’s just start with who is King Uzziah…Azariah…I’m sticking with saying, “Uh-ZYE-uh.”

Uzziah was king of Judah…the southern kingdom.  Israel was the northern kingdom. That split between the two happened after the death of Solomon.

Uzziah ruled Judah for 52 years from 791-739 B-C-E.

Under Uzziah’s leadership…the southern kingdom had a lot of prosperity.

They acquired land and had a good agricultural economy.

He fortified their cities such as Jerusalem…and modernized their military…building watchtowers and the invention of catapults.

Things were looking very promising for them…despite the regional tensions of the Assyrian empire…which existed in the areas mostly to the north and east of Judah.

 The Book of Second Chronicles…has lots of praise for all the marvelous works of King Uzziah.

But like so many leaders…both then and now…pride and his own sense of self-importance…got the better of Uzziah.

He decided that as the king…he had the right to enter the temple in Jerusalem and offer incense… a role restricted to the priests.

A politician claiming a religious role.

Eighty priests confronted the king and the chief priest denounced him for violating the sanctity of the space.

At that moment…Uzziah got struck with leprosy.

He was hustled out of the temple…and serves out the remaining final years of his kingship in seclusion…as his son takes over.

Needless to say…things for both the kingdom of Israel and Judah began to spiral downward.

In less than forty years…Assyria would invade and takeover both kingdoms…scattering the Israelites and conquering their land.

The death of Uzziah indicates a time of great uncertainty and political turmoil.

And it’s into this period that the prophet Isaiah has a vision of God…one that is so overpowering and awesome.

Just the hem of God’s robe filled the whole temple.

Seraphs…these six-winged creatures are flying around and singing praises to God’s holiness.

This vision is overwhelming.

This scene of such a powerful figure…leaves Isaiah feeling every bit of his total inadequacy to be in this space.

He’s trembling inside…wondering…

” Why me? How am I in this place…seeing the Holy One? I am not worthy of any of this!”

Friends, this is the most honest and appropriate response to those moments when we find ourselves in a place where it feels truly holy.

I remember having this same sense of awe when I was standing by one of the lakes in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

Surrounded by these natural structures of weathered granite rock several thousand feet high…I felt how small and vulnerable I was while also admiring and appreciating these old mountains of creation.

Isaiah is scared out of his wits.

The belief in his day was that no one was to see God and live…let alone a man of “unclean lips.”

This is a pretty typical response of anyone who finds themselves being called by God.

Lots of prophets…Moses…Jeremiah…Jonah…try to wiggle out of being a prophet.

You might even remember that Mary was a little on edge when Gabriel came to tell her that she was going to give birth to the Son of the Most High.

Prophets have the difficult task of being messengers for God.

But when the Holy comes calling… no amount of arguing or pleading is going to get in the way of God accomplishing God’s purpose.

To Isaiah’s protest…God basically responds…

“Unclean lips? Hmm…OK…Seraph: do your job. Touch his lips with a hot coal! Now your sin…your perceived inadequacy is removed…so who will now do what I need to have done?!”

And we get those famous words from Isaiah: “Here am I: send me!”

Yay!! Isaiah is accepting the assignment! Cool, right?

Now…we had the option to stop the reading there.

And that would’ve been acceptable…maybe for some of us…even preferable.

But mean priest decided we needed to hear what came next.

Because…again…this is important for Isaiah’s time…and our time as well.

The assignment given to Isaiah is to go to the people…in this time when Uzziah has died…and they’re in the middle of political and cultural transition…and speak to them.

These are a people who have become pretty comfortable and complacent in the prosperity they’ve been enjoying.

Isaiah must tell them to get ready for some dark and troubling times.

And they won’t listen.

And they won’t understand.

They’ll refuse to see what is coming and what is coming is going to be the invasion of a very powerful and methodical Assyrian force that will up end their lives.

It’s a pretty terrifying prophecy laid upon Isaiah to deliver.

But even in that litany of horribles…God…who is the one constant in this story…also gives the promise that all will not be lost as things are falling apart.

There will be that remnant who will rise up out of this upheaval.

These are the ones who stick with God…follow the path that leads in a Godward direction.

That path…as the prophet Micah tells us… is the one that is about doing justice…loving kindness…and walking humbly with God.

This is the hope that has kept countless generations going and surviving through periods when the political and cultural worlds are feeling desperate…uncertain and even dangerous.

This is the same hope we need to keep alive in our own lives and with our own communities as we face some of the most difficult and unsettling events in our lives.

But it is often amid times of great uncertainty and peril…that God shows up.

Such is the case here with Isaiah.

Isaiah didn’t just wake up one day and strike out on his own.

God comes to him…and Isaiah…confessing his limitations…is nonetheless empowered by God and encouraged by God to go.

Speak up.

Have courage.

We’re in a moment where the church as a whole…and individuals in the church in particular…are sensing that God is calling us to not sit by but to stand up.

50501 protest at the Florida Capitol February 5, 2025.

We’re being sent to be the beacon we have promised to be…to do justice…be merciful…defend the defenseless.

The church is charged through the love of God to be like that bright beam of a lighthouse cutting through the fog to help those lost in the sea of hurt and hopelessness to find their way on these choppy waters.

Which brings us to Jesus with Simon in the boat.

Notice how Simon doesn’t have much luck catching fish in the same waters that he and the others have been trolling with their nets day after day.

That’s when Jesus tells him to go out further….go a little deeper…get away from the shore.

And—voila—Simon is catching so many more fish that other boats need to come and help bring in the haul.

Because the fish…or as Jesus notes…the fishing for people…means we need to not to stick to the same places we’ve always been.

Jesus is calling us into deeper waters.

As we are being sent out….we need to be ready to take the message of loving the neighbor…no matter who that neighbor is…what language they speak…who they love…or how they identify.

And even as we go out…we need to be prepared that our message may not be received.

Indeed…loving the foreigner may not be welcomed in some quarters.

So take that message out further… and wider.

There are others beyond our own kin that need to experience the true love of Christ.

And we are the bearers of that light.

God is calling us to this task.

May we be ready to respond to God with Here am I; send me.

In the name of our One Holy and Undivided Trinity.