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For Sunday, February 10, 2019, 5th Sunday after the Epiphany, Year C, Readings: Isaiah 6:1-8, (9-13); Psalm 138, 1 Corinthians 15:1-11,
Luke 5:1-11
One of the
seraphs…holding a live coal…touched my mouth with it and said, “...your guilt
has departed and your sin is blotted out.” Then I heard the voice of the Lord
saying, “Whom shall I send…” And I said, “Here I am, send me!” [Isaiah 6:6-8]
All the kings of the earth will praise you, O Lord, when
they have heard the words of your mouth. They will sing of the ways of the
Lord…The Lord will make good his purpose for me…O Lord, your love endures
for ever…
[Psalm 138: 5,
6a, 9a]
I would remind you…of the good news that I proclaimed to
you…by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in
vain. [1 Corinthians
15:1a, 10a]
…[Jesus] said to Simon, “Put out in the
deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” …they caught so many fish that
their nets were beginning to break…when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at
Jesus’ knees saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!”…Then Jesus
said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching
people.”…they left everything and followed him. [Luke 5:4b, 6b, 8, 10b, 11b]
In religious circles – as well as secular – we often hear and/or
use the word call as, for example, “I/She/He/They
are called to ordained ministry, working with homeless shelters, political
activism, or medical training, etc. In the lessons and the Gospel, and to some
extent in the Psalm appointed for this week we are hearing the language that expresses
a calling. The dictionary defines calling in this context as, 1: a strong inner impulse toward a
particular course of action especially when accompanied by conviction of divine
influence; and, 2: the vocation or profession in which one customarily engages.
We also use the word commission when one has been more formally launched into her or his
chosen path. And that is defined as, 1: an
instruction, command, or duty given to a person or group of people; and, 2: a group of people officially charged with a particular function.
People may be “called” without
being further commissioned for a variety of reasons such as ignoring or
declining the call. A commission, doesn’t necessarily require a “call” in that
it may simply be a matter of accepting a job as a means to an end and being
instructed in its parameters. You can decline a call, you can quit a job, but
that divine spark, that still small voice
within that nags and niggles will continue to make itself known whether or not you
accept. When a sense of a divine call is then allowed to bubble up, one may then
be commissioned to engage with it all
the way throughout the entirety of one’s life, in many and various and surprising
ways.
Isaiah engages us
immediately with his vision that places him in the presence of the Divine. In
the Lord’s presence, Isaiah declares that he is unworthy as a man of unclean lips. The description
that Isaiah then gives when the seraph touches his mouth with a burning coal makes
me want to put ice on my lips! Seraph is the highest order of angels and that informs
us that this encounter is clearly significant. The angel tells him that now his
guilt has been sent away and his sin is
blotted out. God speaks asking “Whom shall I send?” Isaiah answers, “Here I
am, send me.” He then clearly accepts the commission of the Lord who tells him
all that he must do. When Isaiah asks, How
long, O Lord?, the answer is stark. It is a very long time indeed.
For the Psalmist, the
call is accepted within his heart and all
the kings of the earth will be commissioned when they hear God’s words, and
“sing of the ways of the Lord.” Presumably, this will be enough for the kings to reign accordingly.
Paul’s call was
abrupt and startling when we read it in Acts 9 and it is Ananias who is then
called to commission him on behalf of Jesus. In this letter to the Corinthians,
Paul reminds us of his own feelings of unworthiness when he tells us that Jesus
also appeared to him as he had to many others. Paul, feeling especially unfit
as a persecutor in his former life, now speaks of his sense and earnestness of mission
in his words, But by the grace of God I
am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain…I worked harder…though
it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
And then we come to
our favorite fishermen. Jesus calls them to go to the deeper water with their
nets. You can almost hear the sigh of Simon, who, weary after a full night of
fishing with no yield, says, “…if you say so, I will…” Simon has perhaps felt
the call and although he is still uncertain, he follows an instinct and does as
Jesus says. In a parallel to Isaiah and Paul, Simon stunned by the overly
abundant haul of fish, and realizing the reason, spontaneously tells Jesus to go away
from him because he is a sinful man. The initial commissioning for Simon who becomes
Peter, and for all those with him comes with the words of Jesus, Do not be afraid; from now on you will be
catching people. And they all accepted by leaving everything to follow him
and embark on an unexpected new life. They are given the Great Commission by
Jesus after the Resurrection [Matthew 28:19-20] which fills the rest of their lives.
Isaiah, the Psalmist,
Paul, Peter and those who became disciples/Apostles, were in it to win it for God,
for Jesus, for the abundant catch of people, for whatever came to them and at
them for the length of their lives. They acknowledged, accepted, and obeyed the call. We, too, are what we are by God’s creation.
Now all we have to do is acknowledge that we are each called by God to discern and accept the commission
through the words of the Gospel, then work it every day so
that God’s grace within us is not ever in vain. The Good News in Christ is that we are in this together, for the long haul.
Leader: ~ O Lord
Most High, cajole us to delve into the depths of our faith, that we may be captured
in the net of Christ and the bounty of Your grace toward us may never be in
vain.
O
God of Grace
RESPONSE: Your Love endures forever
~
O Lord Most High, open the ears of
all who wield the power of government across this planet, in our country, and within
our community, that they may hear Your Word and give You praise by moving
according to Your ways. Guide them to make good Your purpose for the
emancipation of all Your people from injustice, intolerance, and incessant injury.
We pray especially for: add your own petitions
O
God of Grace
Your Love endures forever
~
O Lord Most High, bind the wounds
and heal the hearts of all who suffer in body, mind, or spirit and give
strength to those who give them care. We now join our voices to pray aloud for
those in need…
O
God of Grace
Your Love endures forever
~
O Lord Most High, brighten the
shadows for all who are bereaved, as those who have stepped from the constrains
of this life, now delight in the glory and radiance of new and unending life in
Christ. We pray especially for:
O
God of Grace
Your Love endures forever
~ O Lord
Most High, we pause in this moment to
offer You our other heartfelt thanksgivings, intercessions, petitions, and
memorials, aloud or silently…
O
God of Grace
Your Love endures forever
~
O Lord Most High, renew and
empower those who welcome us to the sacred feast at Your table and proclaim the
Good News of Christ’s Gospel, that together we may know and experience Your
blessings and abiding love. We pray especially for: add your own petitions
O
God of Grace
Your Love endures forever
The Celebrant adds: O Holy Lord
of Hosts, so immerse us in the confidence of Your love that we feel our guilt
depart and we stand in Your strength with the courage to say, “Send me.”
Diminish our fear of the deep as we set our sails for Christ and bring others along
to our glorious destination. We ask through Jesus, Fisher of Souls; and the
Holy Spirit, our Navigator; who together with You are One God in Glory, now and
forever more. Amen.
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