Sermon Based on : Luke 5. 1-11; Isaiah 6. 1-13; 1 Corinthians 15. 1-11
Preached on: -4th Sunday before Lent 10.02.19
As John said in his sermon last Sunday one of the tasks of a lectionary preacher is to link the three readings or connect the three readings. Which was rather easy for me to do, so, today all three readings speaks about the Call.
Our First Lesson is the majestic text from Isaiah 6:1-13, which tells us the call of the prophet Isaiah. The Second Lesson is from Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, in which he alludes to his own call as an apostle (1 Corinthians 15:8). And, the Gospel tells us the call of the first disciples.
When God’s servants hear his call, this is usually accompanied by a profound awareness of their own sinfulness. The prophet Isaiah declares himself “lost” in the presence of God because he is “a man of unclean lips” who lives among “a people of unclean lips”. Paul declares himself to be “the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God”.
And in the Gospel, as Jesus’s power is revealed in the miraculous catch of fish, Peter falls at his knees, crying: “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!”
In seeing the Lord they saw themselves in the light of the LORD. They saw themselves far differently what they saw themselves in the light of this world. Once we really see God then we see ourselves in the light of God and what we see is often shocking. Your never see yourselves in true light until you see ourselves in the light of God. We have a tendency to see our outer appearance in a mirror and our inner being when we introspect and when we compare ourselves with others we don’t do too bad. But when I stand in the light of God, ‘Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips. Seeing yourselves in the light of God, you see yourselves as you truly are.
Today’s readings also encourage us to see God the way God is and to rely on GOD’S Abilities. It is interesting to know a little bit of the background of Isaiah 6.
verse-1 says; “In the year that King Uzziah died”, Uzziah was one of the best kings of Judah. He began his reign at age 16, reigned 52 years in the 8th Century BC. Under his reign the nation prosper tremendously. His reign was a time of prosperity, it was a time of physical strength. So the people came to rely upon king and they did not have many worries. He reigned powerfully over the people for 52 years. There is an interesting verse that describe Uzziah and I think this verse expresses the principle of God; it says “As long as he saw the Lord the Lord made his ways to prosper” (2 Chronicles 26.5). As long as he kept God first. But, Here is the king who survived the pressure of adversity but unfortunately he did not survive the pressure of prosperity. We read that in his later years when he was strong and powerful, his heart was lifted up. Toward the end of his life, he entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the alter of incense. The priest rebuked him and then Uzziah was angry and God afflicted him with leprosy (2 Chronicles 26:20). And king Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death, and being a leper lived in a separate house, for he was excluded from the house of the Lord. And Jotham his son was over the kings’ household. Jotham was weak spineless so people did not have confidence in Jotham. He was really nothing like His father. So, when Uzziah died there was this feeling of panic among the people that what are we going to do the throne is empty. Our great king Uzziah is dead and there was that uncertainty of the future. People were afraid what the future will hold because of the weak leadership of Jotham. It was like the throne was empty. It was at this time when everyone was thinking what is going to happen…that it was In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty.
It is more or less the Lord is saying to his servant Isaiah do not be afraid, do not worry about the future, I am still on the throne.
You know, there are times when because of curcimstances we are prone to panic- what is going to happen what will be the future. But the word of God says look at me.. I am still on the throne.
In our Gospel this morning Luke does not tell us what Jesus taught the crowds that morning. The focus is on what follows. Jesus tells Simon to put out into the deep water and let down his nets for a catch. Simon obviously believes this will be a futile exercise. He is the professional fisherman, after all. We can almost hear the irritation in his voice when he responds, “Master, we have worked all night but have caught nothing.” But then he continues; “Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets” (5:4-5).
We
know what happens next — nets so full of fish that they begin to
break, boats so full of fish that they begin to sink. Seeing what is
happening, Simon is overwhelmed with fear and wonder, sensing that he
is in the presence of divine power. He responds by falling down at
Jesus’ knees and begging him, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a
sinful man!” (5:6-8)
Simon is caught by surprise. Amazed by the power of God displayed in the abundant catch of fish, Simon is immediately aware of his sinfulness and unworthiness. He sees himself in the light of God. He sees the overwhelming disparity between God’s power manifest in Jesus and his own mortal, compromised life.
Jesus responds to Simon by saying, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people” (5:10). The Greek word for “catching” used here (zogron) is rare in the New Testament, but means “to catch alive.” Of course, fishing with nets was a matter of catching fish alive, but those live fish would soon be dead. Here Jesus calls Simon and his partners and all of us to a new vocation of catching people so that they might live, a life-giving vocation of being caught up in God’s mission of salvation for all.
Throughout Scripture we see that human sin, failure, and inadequacy are no obstacles to God’s call. God calls imperfect people to do God’s work, people who are aware of their unworthiness and are often doubting and resistant to God’s call ( Exodus 3:10-12; Isaiah 6:1-6; Jeremiah 1:6-8.) God doesn’t wait for them to shape up. God calls them as they are and then works on shaping them into faithful servants.
How often do we resist Jesus’ claim on our lives because what he is calling us to do seems too difficult, too impractical? How often do we avoid seeing God on the throne or seeing God the way God is-mighty and powerful. How often we avoid putting out into the deep waters of following and bearing witness to Jesus because we are convinced that we will not see any results?
God’ mission does not wait until we think we are ready. The need for the gospel in this broken world is far too urgent. We are called right now — even in spite of our frailty, failures, and doubts, even in the midst of our ordinary, busy, complicated lives. Jesus’ word to Simon Peter is also a word to us: “Do not be afraid.”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen