Mass readings for the 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time:
Isaiah 6.1-8 Psalm 138.1-8 1 Corinthians 15.1-11 Luke 5.1-11
It may be the way we read the Biblical story that the impression is created that God intervenes in human affairs in times of crisis. Indeed, we can think of figures from both the Old and New Testaments, from Church history, who do come to the fore in a time of emergency – Moses, the prophets, Jesus Christ, St. Paul, St. Athanasius, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Francis – they arrive on the scene and affect a necessary change, save the situation, set us back on a correct course, initiate the necessary reform, and so on. But really, God does not initiate things in the midst of the turmoil; he plans well ahead. God anticipates through his perfect knowledge of us what we will need, and puts it in place, and then it is for us to be wise enough to use it.
As Jesus says at one point in the gospels, “you see a cloud rising in the west, and say, it’s going to rain.” But that’s not instantaneous. We see the clouds gather and know the storm is coming. God knows the weather well in advance, we might say, and he sends us his word, not in the midst of the storm, but well before, so if we are attentive, we can be ready.
If we are called to grow in holiness as individuals and as a community in communion with our God; that means becoming more and more like him. That divine aspect of foresight we see in God the Father tells us that we need to think ahead, and work ahead; that our plans must be laid for, not a year or two into the future, but for the next generation. With respect to ourselves, our thoughts should be about how we reach that goal of sanctity in Christ that is eternal life – and what we will leave behind as a legacy of faith for others. That divine aspect of obedience and humility that we see in Christ the Son of God, tells us we need to prayerfully pay attention to what God will show us, that he will give what is necessary to accomplish our plans. And our being in the Holy Spirit, allowing that to animate our thoughts and works, that will tell us what are plans are to be.
Consider the career of the prophet Isaiah. It’s an important little data point that begins today’s reading from the prophet. He tells us his story starts in the year King Uzziah died. Now, we can just read past that to the good part, Isaiah’s vision of God enthroned in the Temple! That’s when God calls Isaiah into his service in advance of the time of the people’s testing.
Who is King Uzziah, and why would we care to know? Well, to briefly review the history of ancient Israel, we know that it was established with its capital at Jerusalem by King David as the head of the twelve tribes. That kingdom reaches it zenith under David’s son Solomon. However, Solomon grows corrupt, and he becomes inattentive to the kingdom; he dies and his successor is incompetent. The ten tribes of the northern part of the kingdom secede and call their new kingdom “Israel.” What is left to the House of David are territories of the two loyal tribes, the larger of which was Judah. And so, the kingdom centred on Jerusalem is henceforth known as Judah, its people Judeans.
Uzziah is the most successful king of Judah – he grows that kingdom to its largest extent; he builds up its treasury such that the kingdom will never be wealthier. But it’s under Uzziah that a spiritual rot sets in. Uzziah commits blasphemy, and it’s understood that when he is afflicted with leprosy, that is God’s punishment. And during Isaiah’s life, there will be three successors to Uzziah: one tries to set things right with reforms, but the last two abandon the faith, introduce new gods and new cults to Judah, become fashionably metropolitan like all the other kings of that part of the world. They forget God is the guarantor of the nation; they get clever in their politics and diplomacy – they put their faith in that and the storm clouds begin to gather.
If you are familiar with the book of the prophet Isaiah, you’ll know that the first five chapters are a lengthy oracle concerning the corruption of the people and of the king; there is a prophecy of eventual destruction, but there is also a promise of redemption for the faithful, words of comfort offered in advance to those who will in innocence suffer the calamity brought about by the sins of the king and the people.
But as I said last week, what will regenerate and so, rescue the nation, will be God’s Holy Word – and that is given to them through Isaiah, and kept for the day it will be needed, and it will revive the people and get them ready for the next chapters of the history of salvation.
We see this again with the story of Christ calling Peter, James and John and the spectacular catch of fish. This is in the time of the early Roman Empire; and Tiberius is the emperor. If you know your Suetonius and your Pliny, ( Roman historians), you will be aware that Tiberius was pretty good as emperors go, but toward the end of his reign he began slipping, morally, and administratively; he grew paranoid and by accounts degenerate. And then his successors, much like those of Uzziah, were three men, one of whom tried to set things right, but in the end, we get Nero who was a vicious persecutor of Christians, who put faithful followers of Jesus to death for his entertainment, who had St. Peter crucified upside down, but who could not, for all his cruel efforts, destroy the Church even as he managed to burn much of the city of Rome to the ground.
Today, we need to be ready for what will come; we’ve got to be attentive to the signs of the times, but moreover, we need to be confident that it will be through our fidelity to God we will not only survive, but succeed whatever may come; and not for a few more years, but truly beyond our mortal lifetimes. The fruit of our faithfulness will be a Church here in Dundas, and throughout the world, that will greet our Saviour at his second coming.
But there is something we must overcome; and we hear this said by Isaiah, as he stood in the Temple and beheld God enthroned; we hear it from Peter who recognizes, however partially and imperfectly, what is going on with Jesus as he calls his disciples – they both say they are unworthy. And while that is true, and a testament to their humility, it cannot be a reason to refuse the commission from God to be his messenger, to be sent into the world with his word. And what we see in Isaiah’s story is that God purifies the messenger – by a burning coal pressed to the mouth of the prophet, unclean lips are purified. And for the people of unclean lips, those who accepted God’s word, repented and believed, the fire of God’s love cleansed them too. As for Peter, we will see that slow progress of Christ preparing him to take up the divine commission; a preparation that can only be completed in our Lord’s sacrifice, and in Peter’s acceptance of the cross and its message – by his knowing Christ in his ministry, in his Passion and in his resurrection, and then uniting himself to these, is he made fit and ready.
We must prepare, and plan, but also be purified. We must apply ourselves to learn what Christ would teach us through scripture and sacrament; examine what we have among us to accomplish the work, learn of what we need, and then ask God to make us ready with knowledge, but also through cleansing us of our sin. Through all this we will find what we need — he will guide us to it, as assuredly as he told the James, John and Peter where to find those fish.
Amen.