I. Theme – Unworthiness
“Calling of Peter and Andrew’ – Duccio di Buoninsegna (1318/1319)
The lectionary readings are here or individually:
Old Testament – Isaiah 6:1-8, [9-13]
Psalm – Psalm 138
Epistle – 1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Gospel – Luke 5:1-11
There’s a common theme running through all of today’s readings. That theme is “unworthiness.”
The unworthiness felt by Isaiah in the presence of the Lord; the unworthiness of St Paul even to be called an “apostle”; and the unworthiness of St Peter – who is so acutely aware of his own weakness, that he asks Jesus to go away: “Leave me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”
A sense of unworthiness is probably something most of us experience at some time or another. We may feel unworthy for a particular task, unworthy of another’s trust, unworthy of another’s love. And that’s not surprising. We know our failings and our weaknesses better than anyone. When someone puts their trust in us, even though we want to do our very best for them, we are afraid – afraid that we’re not up to the task. And sometimes, sadly, we’re not. Sometimes we do fail, sometimes we do let others down, sometimes we do betray their trust.
In calling Peter to become his disciple, Jesus places immense trust in him. Equally, some might say, Peter’s willingness to put out the nets one more time, showed his trust in Jesus. Peter, after all, was a professional fisherman; he’d grown up alongside the Sea of Galilee. Jesus, on the other hand, came from Nazareth; he knew nothing of the sea or of fishing. So it does seem incredible that Peter should have gone along with Jesus’ suggestion when all his better instincts must have told him it was pointless.
What makes it all the more surprising is that, as far as we know, Peter has no particular reason to trust Jesus. At this point he probably doesn’t know him very well. Jesus hasn’t yet proved himself with any great miracles. So maybe it’s not trust we see in Peter’s response to Jesus, maybe it’s something else entirely. Peter, we can imagine, isn’t feeling too good about himself. The night’s fishing has been a complete disaster. He’s failed at the one thing he’s supposed to be good at. He is no doubt extremely tired, completely fed up. He’s been out all night; he needs some sleep.
He’s just finished packing up his nets and is about to head off home to bed, when along comes Jesus. He climbs into the boat, and starts one of his talks; a talk which goes on forever. When at last he’s finished, and just as Peter thinks he can get off home for a kip, Jesus tells him to head out into deep water and put out his nets. I’m not at all sure Peter’s response does demonstrate his trust in Jesus. I think it shows his complete exasperation, his irritation even: “Master we worked hard all night long and caught nothing – the fact is, there are no fish. I know it, James knows it, even young John knows it. Still, you know best, you say there are fish, so I’ll pay out the nets.” And it’s then, when Peter is at his lowest ebb, when he’s tired, irritable, feeling completely useless – that the miraculous catch of fish occurs.
Often, it’s when we are at our lowest, when we have failed, when we are most acutely aware of our weakness, that Jesus comes to us and works his miracles. And it’s then we have to trust in him, to launch out into deep water, knowing that it’s not our strength or our talents that matter, but his.
II. Summary
Old Testament – Isaiah 6:1-8, [9-13]
The Call of Isaiah is dictated in chapter 6 with a glorious vision of God as a king seated on a throne surrounded by his attendants, the six-winged seraphs above the Lord. Even the seraphs seem not worthy of God, covering their feet and their faces, not daring to touch the holy space of heaven, not daring to look upon the face of God. Isaiah feels unworthy to speak in God’s presence, until the coal is pressed to his lips and Isaiah is purified. We are reminded through Isaiah’s vision that God is beyond our understanding, beyond our comprehension, but we do have a way of responding to God: through our answering God’s call, through our saying “yes” to God, to our saying, “Send me!” We may not understand God, but God understands us, and calls us into the world to carry God’s message.
Psalm – Psalm 138
Psalm 138 is a psalm of praise and thanksgiving to God for deliverance from some kind of trouble. Its content suggests that the psalmist’s enemies have done all they can to silence that praise. However, the psalmist remains utterly determined. Perhaps his foes’ opposition has even made him more determined than ever to praise God with “all of his heart,”
In eight brief verses, the singer of Psalm 138 gives thanks to God in the presence of three groups: the gods (verses 1-3); the kings of the earth (verses 4-6); and enemies (verses 7-8).
In verse 1, the psalmist gives thanks to God, singing God’s praise. It’s instructive that the psalmist praises God first of all not for what God has done, but for God’s faithful nature. Its only then he praises God for what has been done and that is not until v7. There he praises God for God’s preservation of him against his enemies
In verse 2 of Psalm 138, the psalm singer continues the words of thanks, this time to the “name ” of god, because of God’s “steadfast love and faithfulness. “Name” was an important concept in the ancient Near East. Names reflected the natures and characters of the person who bore them and were conceptually equal to the essence of ones being.
In verse 3, the psalm singer states what has prompted these words of thanks to God. “When I called, you answered me” suggesting a particular point in time when the psalmist cried out.
In verse 4, the venue of thanks and singing to God shifts from the realm of the gods (verse 1) to the earthly realm of kings, the second part of the Psalm. The reason that kings ought to join the psalm singer in giving thanks and singing to God is three-fold: 1) The kings have heard the words (verse 5b) The glory of the Lord is great (verse 6b); and the Lord is exalted, seeing and knowing the states of the lowly and the haughty alike (verse 7).
It’s also that those kings may have been some of the enemies who threatened the psalmist. Yet the psalmist prays not for their restraint, punishment, or even destruction, but for their conversion. Right in the middle of a psalm that both praises God and pleads for God’s help, the psalmist turns her attention away from herself and onto the kings whose praise God longs and deserves to hear.
The third section of the psalm (vv. 7-8) speaks of another group whom one might expect to have power over the psalmist, the enemies or those who bring trouble.
God stretches out a hand (verse 7); God’s hand delivers (verse 7); and the psalmist asks God not to “forsake” the “work of your hands” (verse 8). In spite of his troubles, God preserves the psalmist, exercising divine power against his foes. (God’s power is his “right hand”, v. 7.)
Even when the psalmist gets around to praising God for what God has done, he starts with God’s name emphasizing God’s glory and that the Lord “be high”. This God whom the psalmist praises from her very core faithfully pays loving attention to “the lowly,” perhaps including the psalmist herself. While people naturally take notice of those who can do something for us, of the high and mighty, God pays attention to both the ordinary and the extraordinary, to the common and the uncommon. In fact, God is so attentive to human affairs that God knows the proud from “afar.” In other words, God knows the evil intent of the proud.
God has even graciously granted the psalmist “boldness” and “stoutheartedness.” So even though her enemies may angrily threaten her, the psalmist can courageously praise God with her whole being
As Working Preacher writes “Psalm 138 celebrates the name, the steadfast love, the faithfulness, and the intimate care of God in the myriad places in which we find ourselves in life — our sanctuaries of safety; our chaotic social, political, and economic world; our daily trials and troubles. The psalm singer reminds the faithful that their God is a God who remembers and cares; that their God is a God worthy of thanks and worship; and that their God is a God above all gods.”
The poet ends this psalm of wholehearted praise to God with a plea for God not to abandon the works of God’s hands.
Epistle – 1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Paul’s letter to the Corinthians speaks of the resurrection as a contemporary event that continues to save us, not just once but throughout our lives. Paul recognizes that his resurrection experience is anomalous, different in kind from Jesus’ first followers who met him in the world of the flesh. Paul has a mystical encounter with a being of light. Perhaps, like the burning bush Moses encountered, that light had been guiding Paul’s way, even in his persecution of the church. It might have been revealed in feelings of restlessness, uneasiness with his actions, and insights that he could not fully fathom…until that mystic moment when the doors of perception were opened (William Blake) and he experienced Christ in all his infinity, and heard God’s magnificent word, “Yes!” – “Yes” even to a persecutor of the faith.
Paul proclaims that his resurrection journey has been synergetic. Paul has worked hard. He believed he has excelled his fellow apostles in ardor, but his efforts were never solitary nor were his achievements entirely of his making. The grace of resurrection has energized, guided, and inspired him every step of the way. God’s vision has become the center of Paul’s reality in a way similar to Jesus’ alignment and unity with God’s aim toward healing, wholeness, and transformation. Christ is in Paul, and Christ’s presence fills him with hope for a glorious future and confidence that he will have the resources to share good news wherever he goes.
Gospel – Luke 5:1-11
Luke’s story of Jesus calling the first disciples is unique. While Mark and Matthew speak of Jesus walking along the Sea of Galilee and abruptly calling Simon, Andrew, James, and John to follow him only Luke tells the story of a miraculous catch of fish preceding the call.
Simon had been fishing all night with no success, then working from the early morning hours cleaning his nets. So it must have seemed a bit of an imposition when Jesus got into Simon’s boat and asked him to put out a little way from the shore.
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.
Simon is caught by surprise by nets so full of fish that they begin to break, boats so full of fish that they begin to sink. In the midst of his ordinary daily grind, and in fact, after a particularly lousy night at work, he is encountered by one who changes everything.
Amazed by the power of God displayed in the abundant catch of fish, Simon is immediately aware of his sinfulness and unworthiness. He sees the overwhelming disparity between God’s power manifest in Jesus and his own mortal, compromised life. Jesus calls them to a new mission of “catching people” .
Although they have just brought in the greatest catch of their fishing careers, Simon Peter, James, and John leave those boatloads of fish behind and follow Jesus (1:11). Their encounter with Jesus has completely reoriented their lives.