Fifth Sunday after Epiphany; 6 February 2022; Epiphany 5C (RCL); Isaiah 6:1-13; Psalm 138; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11; Luke 5:1-11.
Isaiah must have been a little bit of crazy — Here am I, send me. No other prophet ever volunteered for the job, because almost by definition, it won’t go well. This call narrative places Isaiah’s call in the year King Uzziah died, which was really the last good year for the southern kingdom of Judah. Aram and Ephraim began expansionist tendencies almost immediately. And then it was Assyria, and then Babylon. Isaiah narrates his call against this background.
In the old Prayer Book lectionary, we stopped reading at verse 8, which is Isaiah’s response, Here am I. Send me. The RCL adds the optional verses from 9 through 13 which is the content of the message. Isaiah is in the Temple while the heavenly court is in session, and God is looking for someone to carry the message of judgment against his people. Isaiah volunteers. The message is bleak indeed. Isaiah’s message to this people is that they should not listen to God’s warnings, so that they might not turn and be healed. And when Isaiah asks “How long,” (a standard introduction to a psalm of lament), God responds that the message will last until the land is totally destroyed, except perhaps for a seed in the stump of a tree.
Many of the books of the prophets included in the canon have this same feel. The prophet has a message to which no one will listen. Certainly, there were other prophets (Jeremiah tells us of them) who preached much smoother messages, and yet none of those prophets had their works included in the canon. It is rather startling that in putting together the canon, the editors would include such bleak messages, painting such a dark picture of the people of God. It’s not a message that would work well for proselytism, attracting others to join the movement.
After the catastrophe of defeat and exile, perhaps the repentance was called for, but flagellation seems a bit excessive. Perhaps the community in exile preserved these works to guard themselves against any kind of triumphalism going forward. Isaiah’s message my seem more and more germane as the climate crisis deepens. The scientists have been telling us of impending doom for decades now, and we shut our ears. How long, O Lord? How long, indeed.
The Gospel reading presents a very different call narrative. This passage has a parallel in John’s Gospel, where it appears as a post-resurrection appearance. The two stories are parallel in too many ways for them to represent independent traditions. I suspect the Lucan story is a post-resurrection appearance retrojected into the Gospel narrative. One clue is Peter’s address to Jesus: he addresses Jesus as “Master” — epistata, which translates something like commander. Only Luke uses the word, and he uses it here, and at the sea-crossing, the healing of the woman with the flow of blood, the transfiguration, and the healing of the ten lepers. The sea-crossing and the transfiguration both have the feel of resurrection appearances.
Peter’s claim of sinfulness would certainly fit with the element of the Johannine story of Peter’s rehabilitation, which follows the miraculous catch of fish. Luke may have used the element of the miraculous catch of fish to help explain why the first disciples would have been willing to leave their livelihoods behind and follow Jesus. But the fact that they leave the catch on the shore and follow is an odd detail.
Luke has Jesus tell the disciples that from now on, they will be catching people. The net was an early image of the church and its mission. When John’s Jesus has the disciples let down the net on the other side of the boat, many believe this hints at the “Gentile mission.” Luke will certainly highlight the shift from a Jewish mission to a Gentile mission in the Book of Acts. Perhaps he is hinting here, at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, at what is to come.
Luke’s call narrative is certainly much more attractive than Isaiah’s — it looks forward to something positive, rather than a message of judgment. Certainly Peter and Stephen will have some harsh words in Acts for their coreligionists, but the message to the Gentiles is one of hope, and participation in the promises, rather judgment for failure. How might we carry a message of hope rather than judgment?