… This BIG! The fifth Sunday after Epiphany continues to highlight moments of revelation. I like to think of epiphanies as “aha” moments. This week we read about such moments for Isaiah as he is called to be a prophet and for the first disciples as they are called to follow Jesus in his ministry. All of those called see themselves as unlikely instruments to reveal God’s glory. “Who will go for us?” God asks. A person of unclean lips (Isaiah) and three fishermen who couldn’t catch a thing (Simon, James, & John)!?! More surprising still, perhaps, is that we are also called by God. We might feel ill-equipped for this call of catching people for Christ, and yet, perhaps like Simon Peter we realize that before we catch others we recognize that we ourselves have been caught – caught by God’s grace. It is this grace that prepares us for service and propels us into the world in Christ’s name. As a friend and colleague of mine would often quip, “God doesn’t call the qualified; God qualifies the called.” Isaiah and Simon Peter resemble that remark… and so do we! So join us this week as God renews this call, and we are invited to respond, “Here am I. Send me!”
The scriptures for this Sunday are Isaiah 6:1-8, Psalm 138, and Luke 5:1-11. The songs for this Sunday are “How Great Thou Art/How Great Is Our God,” #817 “You Have Come Down to the Lakeshore” and “Start a Fire”.
Image: Great Catch by John August Swanson (watercolor). Copyright © 2021 John August Swanson/Eyekons. Used by permission.