FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY - Year C - February 6, 2022
· Isaiah 6:1-8, (9-13) • Psalm 138 • 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 • Luke 5:1-11
I realize it has been over a month since Christmas, but I’m wondering if anyone received a lump of coal for Christmas.
Most often said, tongue in cheek, about Santa dropping a lump of coal into the stocking of someone who has been badly behaved, our lump of coal might have a whole new spin after exploring the scripture readings for this weekend.
Our first reading comes from the prophet Isaiah, who had a vision of the Lord on a high and lofty throne. The enormity of God is such that the mere hem of his robe filled the whole temple. The imagery of this enormous hem is simply to present us with a picture of the complete and utter superiority of our God.
The vision speaks about a particular kind of angelic being, identified as Seraphim. This kind of angel has six wings and its name means “burning one”, probably signifying its burning devotion to God. The seraphim call to one another and declare words which echo those which are part of our service each week, "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory."
This vision of Isiah is a declaration of a spiritual reality. We come to church each week and we might say, we come into the presence of God, usually meaning we come to become aware of God’s presence with us, but our awareness is so limited. In Isaiah’s vision just the hem of God’s robe filled the whole of the temple and now we read that the Seraphim are declaring that in the same way as the hem of God’s robe filled the whole temple, the whole earth is full of the glory of God.
To have any understanding of Isaiah’s vision we need to take a minute to let these images sink in. We might watch a movie about Chris Hemsworth as Thor and mistakenly think that our God is not much bigger than this fantastical image of a demi-god. Also, we might read the stories of Jesus and think of God contained to the image of a man. In fact, we probably do. But just for a moment, let’s open our minds to the vision of Isaiah and realize just what it is that God is showing him….. God is showing Isaiah and us, through him, that God is bigger and so completely beyond our finite comprehension.
God does relate to us personally and through the person of God the son, Jesus, but we should hold in our minds, that fact that God is bigger.
A man said to me recently, “God is simply a megaphone for the individual Christian’s self.” Meaning, that what we preach about God is simply a megaphone of ourselves, and not God at all.
I can tell you that made me stop and think. The problem that the Pharisees of Jesus time had, was this very thing… they promoted God as a megaphone of their own voice. They failed to recognize Jesus as the Messiah because they thought that they knew God. They had an image of God that suited them and they were sticking to it, and they would crucify anyone who might preach otherwise.
We can not make God in our own image. God made us in his image and Jesus is the visible expression of our God, but we need to know the magnitude of God, the enormity, the majesty, the holiness and even the mystery. We don’t know everything and it is ok to sit with that mystery and question because God is bigger and what’s more, quite amazingly, God loves us. But let’s not make the mistake of limiting God into an image that suites us.
Confronted with the enormity of God, Isaiah becomes acutely aware of his deficiency.
Fast forward to our story of Jesus in the Gospel reading. We find that a group of fishermen have been out fishing all night. They had washed and cleaned their nets when Jesus came aboard so that he could speak to the people without them crowding in on him. After he had finished, he told the men to go back into deep waters and cast out their nets again. Can you imagine how you might feel? Exhausted…. Just got everything cleaned and ready for home and then Jesus needs to use the boat to preach from… when he finishes, instead of going home he wants you to start fishing again.
Simon Peter doesn’t really feel like doing this, but because of who Jesus is, he complies. How often, when we don’t really feel like it, do we comply with God’s will? Though we don’t feel like it, it is always wise to do what God asks, as Peter discovered, God comes through with surprises beyond our imaginings.
The nets were so full of fish that Peter had to call their partners in the other boat to come and help. Now, I’m only guessing, but my guess is, this was a haul of great financial reward. And this was something that God did for the people whose boat he used to preach from. After fishing all night with little to show for it, to suddenly have this huge haul in just one cast was phenomenal and a huge gift from God, who really does want to delight and give gifts to his people.
People often think that to go that extra mile and do the will of God… to give our lives to God, means poverty and hardship. And honestly there is an element of sacrifice – no doubt, but in the end there is a harvest of plenty and God provides abundantly. God certainly provides, but we also have our part to play. We don’t simply clean our nets and go home…. We cast them out again when God asks us.
At this point of provision in our story, Simon Peter has a glimpse into that image of God…. He realizes that God is bigger than he had previously imagined. And, he realizes, Jesus is part of this majesty. Suddenly Peter is aware that he is in the presence of the majesty and glory of God and he is overwhelmed…. He is a person of “unclean lips” also and falls at Jesus feet saying, "Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!"
Both Isaiah and Peter, when presented with the reality of the majesty of God, become acutely aware of their deficiency and confess their inadequacy. In our Gospel story Jesus simply says, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people." Isaiah’s story has something more.
A Seraph takes a live coal from the altar and touched Isaiah’s mouth with it. The explanation is that the altar is holy and so, all that it touches is also holy. The altar coal touching the prophet’s mouth, makes him holy. He is told, “Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out."
It has been suggested that there is deep meaning in this vision. That the coal from the altar is actually a rock… maybe a cornerstone? Signifying Jesus. It is Jesus who takes away our guilt and blots out our sin. It is Jesus who makes us holy and acceptable to God.
In the letter to the Corinthians, we read this; “For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.”
At the center of our faith is this most important fact that Christ died for our sins. And also, that he undeniably rose from the dead.
In recent times, SIN has become a rather unpopular word. In recent times the church has become less and less relevant to people. After all, if none of us are sinners, then none of us need Jesus to die for our sins and his death is irrelevant.
The truth of the matter is that the prophet Isaiah who proclaimed the word of God was a good man, but in the presence of the glory and majesty of God he still cried out that he was unclean. Are there any among us who would be different? If Isaiah needed Jesus to blot out his sin, then we surely do also… and it isn’t so much about the evil we do, but the fallible nature that we are. God knows who we are, and what we are, and actually, the best Christmas present we could get is a lump of coal.
That live coal, that represented Jesus, is what we need. But the point of the death and sacrifice of Jesus is greater than taking away our sin. Jesus came to take away our sin so that we could truly live.
In both the case of Peter and Isaiah there was a realization of their unworthiness and separateness from God. That separateness was impeding them from the call of God. After his confession, and God’s absolution, Isaiah then responded to God’s call declaring, “Here I am, send me”. After the confession of Peter, Jesus assured Peter that he would be catching people in the future and Peter left everything and followed Jesus.
What would be your thoughts if I said, “God is calling you”. He is! And in the reality of the majesty of God, we do feel acutely aware of our shortcomings and somewhat inadequate for the call, but that is why we need our lump of coal.
The truth is, that even though we are mere humans, God so loves us, that he sent his only begotten son to save us. And the truth is also, that God is calling each of us to respond to him all the time. There are so many who need the encouragement of God. So many who need to know about God and that God loves them and they will only know this if we answer God’s call.
We are worthy, not in ourselves, but because Jesus Christ really did live and die and rise from the dead, and HE makes us holy. Figuratively we all received that lump of coal for Christmas… the rock that makes us holy.
It is no fairy tale. There were eye witnesses to the story of our faith. But what will we do with this story? Will we compartmentalize it so that it fits inside our comfortable existence or will we acknowledge that God is bigger…. Respond to the call and say Here I am, send me.
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