Scripture: Isaiah 6:1-8; Luke 5: 1-11

“‘Leave me Lord; I am a sinful man… But Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now it is people you will catch.’”

-- Luke 5: 8 & 11(JB)

Today we have two of the great “call” scenes in the Bible for our instruction, and so our question is, “What do they teach us about our experience of God, especially with reference to the possibility that God might be calling us also?” I say that it is a question because the two central characters in our stories, Isaiah and Peter and not ordinary religious folk like you and me, but very special servants of God. Each one plays a pivotal role in the unfolding of God’s work in the world. Isaiah sets the tone for divine prophecy in the kingdom of Judah in the 8th century B.C., and Peter is the premier apostle, who, according to Matthew (16:18), is the rock on which Jesus founds his church. So we ask whether it is legitimate to deduce from these “call” narratives anything that might illumine our experience and obligation before God, or must we simply learn from them how God does His significant work in the world, through special people.

Rather than trying to answer our question directly let us reflect on the stories together and separately and see whether an answer emerges. Firstly, what do they have in common? The most striking common feature is the unworthiness that the two express when God confronts them. Before they know that God wants to commission them in His service they register their utter unworthiness. Isaiah sees a vision in the temple and exclaims “What a wretched state I am in! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have looked at the King, Yahweh Sebaoth (Isaiah 6: 5 JB). Peter sees Jesus, and the miracle of the great catch of fish where recently there were none, and falling to his knees says, “Leave me Lord; I am a sinful man (vs. 8).” This reaction of recoil is a standard element in the literature of what are called “epiphanies,” not only biblical literature but also Greek and Latin for instance. When human beings encounter the divine we are overwhelmingly aware of our vulnerability and imperfection and the inappropriateness of our being close to such power and perfection. Most religious traditions recognize this. It is the existential fact expressed in the biblical motto, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” We might at this point ask whether we have ever felt the presence of God so powerfully that we have feared in any sense, or whether our God is always a warm and fuzzy friend, or something in between.

The second common feature is that God takes the initiative to make them worthy, to cleanse their sin and make them ready. God makes the first move to call, and the second move, to equip the servant for the task. The God who calls them cleanses and equips them for the task, and from this we learn that God knows what He is doing and does not ask us to do anything He will not also enable us to do.

Thirdly, the structural parallel between the two stories tells us that Jesus is to Peter as God is to Isaiah, and that of course has the effect of identifying Jesus with God. Both stories are epiphanies, that is, appearances of the divine to humans, the one appearance in the form of a vision, the other in the human person of Jesus, albeit wrapped in the mantle of miracle and mystery. God appears as a human being.  

Having seen what they have in common we now ask what is special to each of the stories. Isaiah is commissioned to preach judgment, the destruction of the nation because of its sins, with a hint of redemption through a descendant of the House of David, (“The stump is the holy seed,” vs. 13), and Peter is commissioned to preach salvation and restoration in the name of that promised descendent, Jesus. So the two call events are related as promise to fulfillment. Isaiah promises us by the symbol of the tree stump that is the holy seed of David, that there will be a sprig of green from the stump and that sprig will again grow into a mighty tree, and Luke tells us by the miracle of the great catch of fish, that Jesus is that new growth and that his Gospel will renew the world. So one story is about promise and one about fulfillment.

A sermon is expected to point out the lessons for us in the Bible stories, and so we expect to be able to read them not only as historical or theological presentations but also as existential symbols, telling us something about how we ought to live and what help we might expect from God in our daily lives. The category of “calling” comes to mind. Do these stories mean that we too, each one of us, is called like Isaiah and Peter? Immediately we faced the problem that no one of us is a prophet and no one is the “Prince of the Apostles.” Too easily, I believe, we identify ourselves with Peter and hear the call and promise to be “fishers of men/women” as an instruction to be vigorously proselytizing. A certain kind of Christian is busy proselytizing all the time, hardly does any good deed without the ulterior motive of “leading people to Christ.” The Jesus of our call story does not instruct us all to be fishers of men/women, but only Peter and the other Apostles present. I think this point should be taken seriously if we are not to burden ourselves with an expectation of ourselves that is impossible to fulfill and for the most part, at least in our cultural circles, causes people to leave the room when they hear that one is a Christian, to avoid the often manipulative interactions with fishing Christians that they have come to expect. Think of it, fishing, leads to fishy, that is inauthentic, insincere.

I do not think “fishers of men/women” is a call to each one of us, rather Peter functions here as representative of the whole Apostolic ministry, which in turn means the whole church, and so this is a call to be authentic members of the church. The church as a whole is called to be a “fisher of men/women,” and we individuals are such as we remain loyal members and honest witnesses to the benefits of faith in Jesus.  To be sure, there is an appropriate individual concern for spreading the Gospel, but it must be kept in the context of the overall witness and work of the church as a whole. This means that the whole range of service the church performs serves the aim of bringing people to Christ, whether we are conscious of it or not. I must say that I have been surprised quite often by the effect of something I say or do, mostly unintended, on people seeking God. Evangelism of this type takes place through the church as a whole, and that is why the health of the church is important.

Our Gospel story therefore is primarily a witness to the divinity and supremacy of Jesus and a call to be faithful to his godhead and worship within the context of the Apostolic ministry, which is the whole church. We are called to worship, adore and serve Jesus first, and then he will make us “fishers of men/women,” in the way that he wants.

There are other points in the story we should notice, because they put this central point in context and bridge the gap between Christ’s divinity and our humanity. First we notice that Jesus asks to sit in Peter’s boat, and Peter to row him out from the shore a bit. Peter has worked all night, caught nothing, and is cleaning up. One can imagine his frame of mind; not the relaxed and sunny mood that would cheerfully do a favor for a stranger. It was an effort. Next we get a direct sign of this weariness when, in reply to Jesus’ instruction to row out into deep water and send out the nets again, Peter says, “Sir… we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but if you say so I will pay out the nets (vs. 5).” Peter contains his impatience and frustration and does what Jesus says. They catch so many fish that the nets begin to tear from the load. So obedience to Jesus brings a good return. And what might we say about the matter of the deep waters? Could they be signs standing for risk taking, the willingness to dare, to go deep and take a risk.

I hope I do not have to explain too precisely how these symbols in the story give us hints of how to live our own particular, much humbler callings. They are symbols precisely so that we can make our own personal applications of the story. Taken in general, however, they urge us to be willing to take Jesus into our boat when he asks; to be willing to go again out in the deep; to be willing to do again what so often we have found fruitless and frustrating, just because Jesus says so. Clearly these narrative signs mean at least that we receive Jesus into our lives by faith, that we take risks in order to obey him, that we persevere, and that we expect a good return when we do. 

Amen.