The Adventurous Lectionary – The Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany – February 6, 2022

Last updated on: February 4, 2022 at 7:49 pm by Bruce Epperly

The Adventurous Lectionary – The Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany – February 6, 2022 2022-02-04T19:49:07-05:00 Bruce Epperly

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Isaiah 6:1-8, Psalm 138, I Corinthians 15:1-11, Luke 5:1-11

Get ready for a wild ride! Strap on your seat belts and put on your helmet! We’re entering the amazing realm of the Twilight Zone, Narnia, the Lord of the Rings, and Hogwarts, an enchanted world, wild and wonderful, where mysticism and miracle, signs and wonders, where God shows up and turns our world upside down. Where God shows us the divine glory, asks the impossible, and then empowers us to be more than can imagine!

Isaiah’s mystical experience in the Jerusalem Temple awakens us to the possibility that there may be “thin places” everywhere, as the Celtic Christians say. Places where the veil between heaven and earth is pierced and we see life as it is – Infinite. Where God’s grandeur abounds and angels guide our paths. That God can show up out of nowhere and transform our lives and the world. In a time of political upheaval, Isaiah comes to the Temple, perhaps looking for a moment’s rest or a wider vision on the affairs of the nation. The great king Uzziah has just died, and uncertainty is in the air. Uzziah’s leadership brought safety and stability to the land. His steady hand gave the people confidence in the future. But, what now? Will the next ruler be wise and strong, or unsteady and prevaricating?

Out of nowhere, God shows up – a theophany that rocks Isaiah’s world. Angels chant “holy, holy, holy, the whole earth is filled with God’s glory.” The doors of his perception open and Isaiah experiences the majesty and wildness of the world – the mysterious, fascinating, and tremendous, as Rudolf Otto proclaims. He is speechless, overwhelmed by his intergalactic vision and his own finitude. His imperfection and mortality compel him to bow down in unworthiness. Isaiah stammers, “You are God, and I am a mortal. My best actions are finite and imperfect. My nation is fallible and prone to injustice. Woe is me! Woe is Jerusalem!” And we might add, “ Woe is the USA!” or any other national identity.

Rather than a dead end, Isaiah’s mystical experience is an open door. Recognizing one’s finitude and imperfection opens the door for God’s initiative. Just as he is without one plea, as the hymn asserts, undefended and transparent, Isaiah receives God’s transforming and healing touch and a blessing beyond belief. He is anointed by fire, and then given a task. “Whom shall send?” The God of the universe needs someone to speak the divine word to a thoughtless people. God needs our gifts and creativity to transform our social order and bring our nation back to holiness and justice.

Isaiah’s encounter with God is a model both for worship and the spiritual life. Grandeur and praise lead to confession and forgiveness, to divine affirmation, and then the call to commitment. In our finitude, we share in Infinity, in our sin, we share in blessedness. When we hear these words, “Whom shall I send?” what will our response be? Surely God calls us each moment of the day with nudges, intuitions, insights, and encounters. Will we discover the Infinite in the finite and then respond to be God’s humble and agnostic – not claiming to fully know or be the only repositories of divine revelation – representatives in the word? Will we step up and become God’s partner in healing the world.

Psalm 138 joins a sense of God’s grandeur, protection, and our faithful response. Confronted by a world of praise, we experience a sense of security that enables us to be faithful to God’s calling in our time and place. God’s fidelity inspires our own fidelity, and God’s power empowers us to be God’s companions and champions in our world. The God of the universe, the God of big bangs and national deliverance, inspires fidelity on our part.

In I Corinthians 15, Paul proclaims the amazing resurrection story. There is nothing ho-hum here, and surely this was initially beyond belief to Paul’s listeners. Yet, Paul sees Christ’s resurrection rooted in history. It is an objective observable event, even if it pushes us to embrace the mystic dimensions of life. Paul also expresses his improbable calling – unworthy yet gifted by grace and called to be more than he ever imagined. Like Isaiah, Paul’s mystical encounter with the Living Resurrected Christ turned his world upside down and gave him the vocation of ministry with the Gentiles. This passage gives us confidence in God’s power in the world and invites us to consider our own calling. No one is bereft of God’s grace or power. We can begin anew despite an ambiguous past. God uses concrete and imperfect persons like us to do God’s will – to embody God’s vision and be God’s representatives in the word. Resurrection inspires life-giving agency and a willingness to take our role as actors in God’s vision of wholeness.

While we may differ in our understandings of the resurrection – as did the first century Christians – resurrection, by whatever metaphysic we use, transforms our spirit, bidding us to come a life in a death-filled world.

The encounter of Jesus and Peter, described in Luke 5, also joins epiphany and theophany, our awakening to God’s appearance in our lives. God is present everywhere, but some places and persons are “thin,” as the Celts say, transparent to the holy, mediating divinity in our daily lives. The whole earth is full of God’s glory, as the angels sing, and yet most of the time, we are oblivious. God can come to us, as Christ did to Peter, in our failures as well as our successes. Not expecting anything, and disappointed over an unsuccessful night’s fishing, Peter is welcomed into a world of wonders. Jesus calls him to go farther than he can imagine.

Peter’s experience mirrors the experience of many pastors and congregations. We have worked hard and sought to be faithful and yet our congregation shrinks in size, budgets are tight, and the demographics are against us. We have tried all the latest church growth programs and the downward trend continues. COVID has turned everything upside down. And, yet, God offers one more thing – launch out into the deep, go toward the horizon, awaken to new possibilities. Don’t give up, be faithful and join your imagination with faithful action, that goes beyond church survival to healing the world.

Like Isaiah, Peter is overwhelmed and protests his inadequacy. He knows his imperfections and he fears that he’s getting in over his head (which he is), and yet when Jesus says, “Follow me,” Peter and his friends join Jesus’ holy adventure.

Isaiah and Peter alike trust God to use their finitude and imperfection – the concreteness of their lives – to become blessings to the world. In the concreteness of success and failure, God calls us to see more deeply into reality, to expect more of ourselves and God’s blessings, and then respond, taking our place in God’s holy adventure of world transformation.
+++
Bruce Epperly is a theologian, spiritual guide, pastor, and author over 60 books, including PROPHETIC HEALING: HOWARD THURMAN’S VISION OF CONTEMPLATIVE ACTIVISM; WALKING WITH FRANCIS OF ASSISI: FROM PRIVLEGE TO ACTIVISM; 101 SOUL SEEDS FOR PEACEMAKERS AND JUSTICE SEEKERS; and MYSTICS IN ACTION: TWELVE SAINTS FOR TODAY.

Previous Post

February 4, 2022

The Adventurous Lectionary - The Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany - February 13, 2022

Next Post

February 11, 2022 Adventurous Lectionary - Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany - February 20, 2022

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Book Reviews The Adventurous Lectionary Uncategorized

Select a Month November 2026 October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 December 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz