Suggested hymns (All ELW)
Gathering: #876 “Let the Whole Creation Cry”
Hymn of the Day: #574 Here I Am, Lord”
Communion: #492 “Eat This Bread, Drink This Cup”
Sending: #798 “Will You Come and Follow Me”
The three readings assigned for the 5th Sunday after Epiphany provide us with three stories of people being called by God. What struck me as I meditated on the three callings was that each of these callings happened within moments of ‘epiphany’ and ‘theophany.’ Isaiah, Paul, and Simon Peter each had a moment when they suddenly understood something in a new way. That was their moment of ‘epiphany.’ Because these moments of epiphany also occurred within the context of being in, experiencing God’s presence, they were also ‘theophany’.
In our First Reading, Isaiah has an amazing vision where he sees God–a theophany. Here he hears the seraphim calling out to each other, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of God’s glory.” I discovered that in Hebrew, when a word is repeated it becomes a superlative or totality. So holy, holy would be holiest. By repeating it three times it becomes a super superlative, as we have here, the holiest holy. J. Alec Motyer in his commentary on Isaiah tells us, “this transcendent holiness is the total truth about God…just as holiness is the ‘whole truth’ about God himself so it is the ‘whole truth’ about his immanence in creation: the whole earth is full of his glory. Holiness is the Lord’s hidden glory; glory is the Lord’s omnipresent holiness” (71).
As we continue in our reading, we encounter Isaiah’s ‘epiphany.’ When
Isaiah says, “Woe is me! I am lost:..” he is also saying “I am silenced” and “I am sinful.” When the seraph touches Isaiah’s mouth with the coal that had been taken from the altar, where sacrificial offerings are made to atone for sins, his sin has been forgiven and he hears God’s voice asking, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” he responds, “Here I am, send me.”
In our Second Reading, Paul does not retell the story of his call, but we are reminded of it here. Paul, in spite of his attempts to persecute the new church that was forming after Jesus’ death and resurrection, receives a call from God on the road to Damascus. His theophany, his encounter with God, comes in the form of sudden light flashing around him and then hearing Jesus’ voice, asking Saul (he had not yet been renamed) why he is persecuting him. When the vision is gone, Saul discovers that he cannot see. He is blind. Through Ananias, his sight is returned, he believes, and is baptized. Here is his ‘epiphany.’
In the Gospel reading it is Simon who experiences a theophany when Jesus instructs him to go back out into the lake and put down his nets. The nets that had caught nothing during the night are now filled to breaking. Through this event Simon recognizes that Jesus is not just his Master, but his Lord. Like Isaiah and Saul, he thinks of himself as just an ordinary, sinful person. Nothing special. He is amazed that in spite of his previous actions, Jesus is calling him to become one of his disciples. Jesus addresses him with the words that are often used when someone is asked to do or experience something out of the ordinary, “Do not be afraid…” Simon, now Simon Peter, responds by leaving everything and following Jesus.
We know that all of Creation is God’s. But how does it change our thinking if we view all of Creation as full of the glory that is God’s omnipotent holiness? What difference does it make if we don’t just see an earth that reflects God’s glory, but an earth that reflects God’s holiness. When I think of something being holy, I may also consider that something to be sacred. We attribute greater value to those things we consider sacred. But whether we see all of Creation as sacred or holy, it is time for us to step up and hear God’s call to care for all Creation, which includes increasing our awareness of how climate change and environmental degradation is increasingly affecting those who are already feeling the weight of injustice and inequity.
How does God make God’s self visible to you? How can we provide moments of epiphany to others who have not seen God’s glory in creation? Our task is challenging. When you read the optional verses for our First Reading in Isaiah, God gives Isaiah, who was silenced by sin, a voice. But this voice that God will give him is to proclaim a message that will seem futile, for it not be received by its hearers. In the years to come, Assyria will conquer Israel and Babylon will take people captive, and yet Isaiah continues to do what God commands. He perseveres.
We too are hearing God’s call to speak up. How should we respond when it seems like those around us have minds that are dull, ears that do not hear, eyes that do not see? How do we get them to look with their eyes, listen with their ears, comprehend with their minds so that all of creation might be healed? As of January 20th, Inauguration Day, it appears that our challenge has just become more challenging. Many of the steps we have taken are already being reversed. Where will we find the hope and strength to keep going?
Perhaps, like Paul, we have to look not to our feeble selves but act by the grace of God, remembering that we are not called to act alone. Hear the words of the Psalmist:
When I called you answered me;
You increased my strength within me…
Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you keep me safe’
You stretch forth your hand against the fury of my enemies.
Your right hand shall save me.
You will make good your purpose for me;
O Lord, your steadfast love endures forever;
Do not abandon the works of your hands. (Psalm 138:3, 7-8)
Kristin M. Peterson
SAM Bethlehem Lutheran Church
Twig, Minnesota
Kristin M. Peterson and her husband Tracy Close live in rural Hermantown outside of Duluth, MN. Kristin currently serves as the Synod Authorized Minister for Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Twig. She has a B.A. in Church Music as well as an M.A. in Religion and an M.M. in Music Education. For 27 years she taught courses in music and philosophy at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College in Cloquet, MN. She has also served a variety of churches as organist and/or choir director. Living in the Northland provides her with daily reminders of how important it is to care for this wonderful creation that God has entrusted to us.