Readings: Isaiah 6:1-8 [9-13], Psalm 138, 1 Corinthians 15:1-11, Luke 5:1-11

Big Themes: Calling. Isaiah is called to speak God’s word. Paul is called, as one “untimely born,” and Jesus calls his first disciples.

Isaiah 6 is the famous vision of God’s calling of Isaiah. The prophet has a vision of the Lord sitting “high and lofty”, surrounded by angels. Isaiah has the same reaction as many of the prophets when they are first called. He feels unworthy. He is a man of unclean lips, from a people of unclean lips. An angel comes and purifies his mouth, touching his lips with a live coal. It blots out his sin and sends his guilt away, so that he is able to accept God’s calling with enthusiasm.

Dad joke of the day: I was in a Sunday School class one time where the pastor reminded us that a hot coal would hurt, and that there was no chap stick available at that historic moment. And my dad said, “But is there no balm in Gilead?”

The call of Isaiah is beautiful, but verses 9-13 are deeply troubling. My congregation won’t be hearing them in worship this week. God says that he will dull the minds of the people so that they may not understand enough to turn and be healed. “How long, O Lord?” Isaiah asks. Until desolation reigns and everything is empty. This stump of a community will be the holy seed for what God will do next. It’s an image of hope, but there’s a lot of pain to come before the hope appears.

I Corinthians 15 skips ahead in the letter we’ve been reading for the past few weeks. Paul is wrapping things up and highlighting a few things for the church in Corinth. “Of first importance” is the death of Jesus for our sins, his burial, his resurrection, and then his appearance to the disciples. We don’t usually see Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances listed as being of the same importance with the resurrection itself. Not only, Paul says, has Christ died for us and our salvation, but Christ also let us know in person what he has done for us.

Then, Paul talks about his own calling. Jesus appeared to Paul personally, well after he had ascended into heaven. Paul happened to be persecuting Christians at the time, so he needed a little more dramatic revelation than most. He credits himself and God’s grace for the hard work he has done. Without the grace of God, Paul worked hard, but tore down the church instead of building it up. God’s calling pointed all that energy in the right direction.

Luke 5 has Jesus calling the first disciples. The crowds are already following him, and Jesus commandeers a fishing boat in order to get a little space in which to teach.

After the teaching, Jesus gives fishing advice to fishermen. They are exhausted, but they let their nets down for one last catch anyway. Simon Peter sees the full nets for what they are: a sign of God’s presence. He talks like Isaiah. “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!”

The reassurance he gets is not that he personally is better than he thinks. He gets the reassurance that God is calling him anyway. “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” Somehow, that’s enough. Peter, James, and John leave their boats and their nets to follow Jesus.

Takeaways for this lot include that God’s expectations are not higher than we can provide. Every single person called to follow God in these readings is a sinner. Paul wasn’t even aware that he was sinning at the time, though he’s clear on it after the fact. As a sinner myself, I find that extremely heartening. God already factored in my quirks and my flaws before calling me to share the good news.

It’s also interesting the different ways God appears. First, it’s a vision of the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty, huge and surrounded by six-winged angels. Then it’s a blinding light and a voice (see Acts 9 for full details). Then, it’s a miraculous catch of fish. God refuses to be one-size-fits-all. God individually tailors the experience to the people involved.

Questions I’ll be pondering as I get ready for Sunday this week include:

How does the messenger shape the message? God clearly chooses specific people. Why them? Why us?

Where have I seen God appear in this life? What language has God used to talk with me?

It is of first importance that Jesus Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, and that he was raised, and that he appeared to Peter and then more and more people. How is my life different today because I know that? Where am I more confident, more loving, more visible, more something because of what Jesus Christ has done for me?