Sermon for the Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany, February 9, 2025
Isaiah 6:1-8+Psalm 138+1 Corinthians 15:1-11+Luke 5:1-11
The word "vocation" first appears in the English language in the 15th-century and referred to a summons to a religious life. Many people today speak of their vocation as a job that they love and for which they are especially suited, and I think that plenty of people can say that they were called to their chosen profession. The late author Frederick Buechner defined vocation as that place where our deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet.[1] If, for instance, you are a public health nurse, then you certainly are meeting the world's deep hunger, but if you dread getting up and going to work every day, then your deep gladness is not being filled. On the other hand, if you are an online influencer, that may be your deep gladness, but there is not much worldly hunger being satisfied there.
In our readings this morning, we have three different vocation stories, and I am pretty sure that they meet both parts of Buechner's requirements.
First there is Isaiah who lived in the 8th century BCE and began prophesying about the restoration of a moral and ethical compass for the southern kingdom of Judah in order to save it from destruction by the Assyrian empire. In the famous calling of Isaiah that we read in chapter 6 this morning, he is wholly unprepared for this call.
"Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!" (Isaiah 6:5)
It's a terrifying scene, really. He has a vision of God on the throne and six-winged seraphs flitting around and one of them takes a hot coal and touches it to his lips. I mean, this is the stuff of nightmares.
The life of a prophet - any prophet - is challenging because people, for the most part, are not going to want to hear what it is you have to say. That includes Isaiah. But he was called, anointed by fire, to this work, and while he might not have called it his deep gladness, he was a chosen servant of the Lord, and what he said and did over the reign of four kings of Judah certainly met that world's deep need - words of warning, words of comfort.
The Apostle Paul loves to talk about what a great Pharisee he is and how he followed all the law and proper rituals of a pious Jew, but in 1st Corinthians 15, he is the least and the last to be called.
Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:8-10a)
If the world was going to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ, Paul was going to have to bring it to them. He understood the assignment and will later write that he had learned to be content in any circumstance.
And finally, we have Simon Peter, James, and John. We don't know what these last two thought about all this, at least in the beginning, but Peter - much like Isaiah - is not prepared. "Go away from me Lord for I am a sinful man" (Luke 5:8). Jesus does not seem to care much about that. He's just looking for people to go fishing for other people.
This scene with Jesus basically commandeering Peter's boat is curious. He must have known Peter because he goes to his house in the previous chapter and heals Peter's mother-in-law. Yet, it's a curious scene. Jesus is not renowned just yet. It hasn't been long since he gave his inaugural manifesto in the synagogue in Nazareth. He's healed a few people but hasn't called any followers when he comes to the shore of Gennesaret (or Galilee) and is about to be pushed into the water by the crowds who gather round. And he just hops into Peter's boat. Peter, James, and John had just spent all night out fishing, they've come to shore with nothing to show for their efforts, and they have cleaned their nets which is a dirty and time-consuming business. I would imagine that they are tired and smelly and frustrated and just want to go home for breakfast, a shower, and a soft bed.
But Jesus says. "throw out your nets" and they just...do? And they bring in a miraculous haul of fish? In John's gospel, there is the story of the breakfast of grilled fish on the shore of the lake with the risen Jesus as the host. And there are miracles in all the gospels about bread that doesn’t run out until everyone is fed and then some. This same image is invoked here. Fish was not a luxury. It was a staple, a necessary part of the diet of the people in this region. I don't think that these fishermen were counting the potential profits from this miraculous catch. I think their hearts were burning - their deep gladness was being reached in a way that fishing for fish would never give them. So, when Jesus says come, even if Simon protests at first, they pull their boats up onto the shore and walk away.
Given all the chaos in the world around us over these past weeks, I wonder what deep need we are being called to and what of these needs touches some place of gladness in us. We may not all be called to prophetic witness or to go stand at the state capitol to protest. Can we offer a kind gesture to someone who is hurting? Can we be even more generous in supporting a ministry or community that has extra need right now? Can we comfort a friend who is struggling or a child who is afraid? Grand gestures are great, but it's the small, daily acts of love that will save this world.
But I have a warning for you. Answering a call from God may not win you any popularity contests. Of the five people I just spoke of - Isaiah, Paul, Peter, James, and John - only one escaped execution by the state. And the one who did, John, was exiled and tortured.
I don’t expect any of that to happen to any of us, but it may cost you friends or family or privilege or security. But Jesus says, "do not be afraid" (Luke 5:10), to which the only response, really, is "Here am I; send me" (Isaiah 6:8).
[1] https://www.frederickbuechner.com/quote-of-the-day/2021/7/18/vocation