Isaiah 6: 1–8; Psalm 138; I Corinthians 15: 1–11; Luke 5:
1–11
This is the homily prepared to be given by Fr. Gene Tucker at St. John’s,
Huntingdon, Pennsylvania on Sunday, February 10, 2019.
“HERE AM I, LORD, SEND
ME!”
(Homily texts: Isaiah 6: 1–8 & Luke 5: 1–11)
The
designers of the lectionary cycle of readings usually do a pretty good job of
selecting an Old Testament reading which has something in common with the
appointed Gospel reading for the day. In the case of the readings chosen for
today, they’ve done an excellent job of pairing up Isaiah’s call, as it is
heard this morning from chapter six, with Peter’s call, from Luke, chapter
five.
This
morning, then, let’s consider God’s call to Isaiah, and some eight hundred
years later or so, Jesus’ call to Peter. For in our examination of these two
incidents, we can discern a good deal about God’s call, issued to each one of
us.
The
two calls have similarities.
The call is issued: In Isaiah, God’s call comes in the form of
the voice of the Lord, perhaps in a vision. In Peter’s case, Jesus tells Peter
that “From now on, you will be fishing for people.”
An acknowledgment of God’s holiness and the
unworthiness of the one being called:
Isaiah is given a vision of God’s holiness, as the seraphim call out to
one another, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts the whole earth is full of
his glory”. In response, Isaiah says
that he is a “man of unclean lips, dwelling in the midst of a people of unclean
lips,” while Peter tells Jesus that He should go away, for he (Peter) is a
sinful man.
A willingness to obey the call: Isaiah says, “Here am I, send me,” in
response to God’s call. Peter drops everything and gets up and follows the Lord
into discipleship.
A new course in life: As a result of following the call, each man’s
life changes completely. Isaiah becomes a prophet, conveying God’s truth to a
rebellious people, while Peter follows the Lord into the work of spreading the
Good News of God in the world. It’s safe to say that each man’s life trajectory
radically changed as the result of being willing to say “yes” to God.
The
question that should be in our minds whenever we encounter a passage of
Scripture arises at this point in our consideration of Isaiah’s response and
Peter’s response to God’s call. That question is: “What does this imply for me
and for my relationship with God?”
God
issues a call (or calls) to each one of us. Certainly, one of the most
important calls God offers to us is the call to follow Him in Baptism. For in
Baptism, we are saying “goodbye” to one way of life, a former life of
separation from God, in order to be folded into a new way of life, following
God.
As
life unfolds, God often (usually) makes more calls on us. That might involve a
call to some sort of a ministry, ordained or otherwise….for example, a person
might sense a call to begin a feeding ministry in a church or in a local soup
kitchen. Other such calls might involve becoming involved in a campus ministry
of some sort or another. These are just two examples. (Notice that I’ve not
mentioned a call to ordained ministry at all, that’s because we so often think
of a sense of call most often in connection with ordained ministry. I think, by
limiting our concentration to that one way that God calls us, we may miss
seeing other ways in which God issues calls.)
In
order to take up a call, we need to acknowledge our own lack of worthiness or
suitability to follow God’s call. As we look down through history, to cite an
example, we see that many of our most wonderful Bishops are those who, when
they were chosen, either said (in so many words), “Nope, not me, you’ve got the
wrong guy,”, or who leave town and have to be tracked down and brought back in
order to undertake God’s work. (And just because I can’t resist adding, let me
say that anyone who seeks to become a Bishop, or who puts their own name
forward in nomination, is – in my humble estimation – manifestly unqualified to
be chosen!)
God
can’t and won’t work with individuals who are proud or who are full of
themselves and their own self-importance. The Old Testament phrase that is
often used to describe such a mindset is “stiff-necked”.
Once
we acknowledge God’s call, and say “yes” to it, then a new course in life will
unfold. To others who might encounter us, at times such a
change in course won’t prompt much notice. But there’ll be something new and
different about it, even if the change mostly involves the individual’s
approach and attitude toward the ministry that they’ve been called to.
Rest
assured, God is ready to issue calls to us throughout out life’s journey. May
we say with enthusiasm, “yes, here am I, send me!”
AMEN.
