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Sermon: The Fifth Sunday after Epiphany (C) - 7th February 2010
St Alban's Anglican Church Epping 7, 8 & 10 am
Readings: Isaiah 6:1-8, Psalm 138, 1 Corinthians 15:1-11, Luke 5:1-11
Last week we read of the call of Jeremiah. This week we have the call of Isaiah and Luke’s account of the call of the disciples. Last week I spoke of the need to balance our faith with doing good works. This week I wish to point out that God reveals God’s self in the day-to-day happenings of life.
Isaiah’s call did not appear out of thin air. He was worshipping in the Temple, probably as he had done many, many, times before and then out of the blue, in normal worship, he is encountered with the presence of God. He is moved to confess his uncleanness in God’s presence. He feels that he undergoes a ritual of purification. He overhears the Lord addressing the heavenly council and then as a result he accepts the commission. “He am I; send me!
It is important that God does not address Isaiah directly, but the one purified by the divine messenger is able to hear the call and accept the commission to go as God's representative, to take the place of the angels. The prophet was called to proclaim the most difficult message because he had experienced the presence of the God whose glory fills the whole earth; all this in the ordinary things of life.
It is part of the process of anyone being called to feel unworthy in one way or another. Moreover, it does not go too far to conclude that one test of an authentic call is to identify with the accused. “I live among a people of unclean lips”. Last week it was, “I am just a boy”, you can’t mean that I am called to act on your behalf. Isaiah questioned the harsh message and interceded for the people. In the Old Testament, one is allowed to resist, to disagree with and to challenge even the God whose glory fills the whole earth. Questions are always allowed. Our questions today when we think that we are called are also allowed. God does not want unthinking zombies.
If standing in the presence of God were not enough, the biblical prophets believed that their words had genuine power. Because their words are the human expression of the words of God, what they say changes the course of events. What could be more intimidating to a messenger? Our words and actions can change the course of events. The prophet is given words and actions that will bring judgment and repentance. Although we seldom believe that our words are the direct Word of God, we know that words have power. Some words have more power than others, but none are "off the record". Rituals and official language are particularly powerful. If one says, for example, "In the name of God I declare you to be husband and wife", then reality has been changed, even if the marriage does not last. Other words such as “Go in peace to love and serve the Lord. In the name of Christ. Amen”, can change the world!
One other point concerning the prophetic call deserves consideration. The vision in the Temple, the hymn, the smoke of the offering and the ritual of purification show that the prophet is in the Temple. It is difficult to drive a wedge between a prophetic and a priestly vocation. The contemporary call to respond prophetically to social problems such as racism, poverty and other forms of injustice typically is experienced in the context of prayer and worship. Likewise, prophetic words and actions gain conviction and force when expressed out of genuine faithfulness. Moreover, worship and prayer are shallow without awareness of and concern for the specific and concrete problems of our human society.
The reading from Luke is Luke’s account of Jesus’ call of the first disciples. Peter's call to leave everything and "catch people" is the like that of Paul in Acts, where both Peter and Paul were called dramatically, through a miraculous event, while they were in the midst of their routine activities. Both were given a commission to devote themselves to bringing others to Jesus. Peter would become the leader of the early church in Jerusalem; Paul would become the great apostle to the Gentiles. These call scenes are important because, although not everyone experiences such a dramatic conversion or call, these scenes contain elements that continue to mark experiences of God's calling in our own context; our everyday life. It is similar to the moment in our lives when as the sayings go, “the penny drops” and “suddenly a light went on”; a new perspective is gained and we are enlightened.
The miraculous catch of fish should probably be understood as a sign that, as the Messiah anointed by the Spirit, Jesus did mighty works not unlike the works of Moses, Elijah and Elisha. This is the first miracle that was not a healing or an exorcism. Jesus does not command the sea or the fish, nor does he instruct the fishermen to do anything out of the ordinary. Like Moses, whom God used to supply manna and water in the wilderness, or Elijah, who supplied an abundance of meal and oil and Elisha, who provided an endless supply of oil and fed a hundred people with twenty loaves of barley bread, Jesus provided an abundance of fish. In that abundance in the ordinary things of life God’s purpose and meaning were revealed. In the midst of the ordinary, signs of God’s gracious love, therefore, will demonstrate the work of the kingdom. If we accept God’s call to us, it will inaugurate a time of abundance and blessing through each of us in our corner of the world.
The call of the fishermen shows some detail of who are called to be disciples. We like, the fishermen have done nothing to warrant or merit Jesus' call to us. Regardless of what Jesus may have seen in the fishermen, we must understand that he did not call the most capable or most qualified to be his disciples. The fishermen were not called because of their qualifications, character or potential. God's call is as unpredictable as it is unmerited. As noted earlier, the fishermen’s call to discipleship did not come in a holy place (the temple or a synagogue) but in the midst of their daily work. Also, worthy of note is that Luke's account of the call to discipleship in does not include the familiar words "follow me". Rather, Jesus commissions the fishermen for kingdom service: "catching people".
“Catching people”, suggests various aspects of the disciples' call in relation to Jesus and the kingdom and because of their call, they will live by Jesus' teachings and call others to him just as they themselves have been called. Their work will be evangelistic in nature and infused with urgency. We too are called to that ministry but do not forget the wise words of Saints Francis and James,
“It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching.”
“Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.”
“… So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.”
Finally, the call of God on our lives requires a reversal of priorities and a reordering of commitments. The disciples left and "they followed him". The last word in Luke's story is Jesus. He will order their lives from now on. May it be with us too as we take up Jesus’ call to follow him in our daily lives.
This sermon produced using The New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol’s VI and IX, Abingdon Press, Nashville, 2001 and 1995.