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Isaiah 6:1-8
1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. 2 Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 3 And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory." 4 The foundations of the thresholds trembled at the sound of their voices, and the house filled with smoke.
5 And I said: "Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!" 6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. 7 The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: "Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out."
8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I; send me!"
Epiphany
The Epiphany season continues with its focus on revelation, light, and Jesus (Light of the World!) for all people and all creation. God self-reveals in countless ways: scripture, circumstances; dreams we have when we sleep; dreams and visions when we're awake; memories, hopes, creation, conversations, sacraments… Epiphany is about God's people in turn revealing God's ways of inclusive grace to the world, which makes stories of God calling people so appropriate to the season.
During Epiphany we hear the opening acts of Jesus' public ministry in versions from the gospels of Luke on Epiphany 3—blog from 2019 and from John on Epiphany 2; those are call stores, too, with Jesus announcing God's call and claim on him.
Today's Readings
This week brings us two more call stories: the call of the prophet Isaiah and Jesus' calling his first disciples, who worked in the fishing profession in Luke 5:1-11.
Isaiah is 66 chapters long; it spans at least two centuries with writings from at least three different people. Today's passage is early in First Isaiah or Isaiah of Jerusalem, who was a temple priest in the lineage of Moses' brother Aaron.
All three sections of Isaiah particularly affirm God's lordship and sovereignty. Today's reading opens with the historical circumstance of the death of King Uzziah. Probably as he was offering a sacrifice of incense in the holy of holies, Isaiah receives a vision of the God he knew as the real king, the true ruler of all creation. Commentaries all say the dating here is accurate.
Although this is one of the texts for Trinity Sunday every year, and relates to that favorite Trinitarian hymn, "Holy, Holy, Holy," Holy, holy, holy in this passage is not a trinitarian proclamation. It's an artifact of Hebrew, Aramaic and other semitic languages that don't have comparative and superlative adjectives, so you repeat the word once or twice. Instead of good, better, best, you'd say good, good, good. In this first reading for today, God is holy-holy-holy or the holiest.
Call—and Response
In addition to Jesus' call to ministry, besides Jesus calling disciples or followers that all three lectionary years include in their gospel readings, scriptures for recent Sundays include Jeremiah's call on Epiphany 4—blog from 2022 that echoes Moses' call from Exodus 3 and models God's many callings to each of us.
For discussion, journaling, or other considerations, think of your own major life calling/vocation or series thereof. At least since latish in the twentieth century most people have had four or five or six separate careers, or sometimes engage in two or three different ones at the same time. Most of us have many smaller circumstantial callings we receive literally all the time. What are some you've discerned and responded to?
Where We Live
Epiphany reveals Jesus as light of the world, Jesus as savior of all.
All of these scriptural call stories are mostly about God's gracious action. Our own call stories are primarily about God acting in grace. Epiphany reveals Jesus as light of the world. Epiphany is about us in turn revealing God's inclusive grace to the world. For us as holy people of a holy-holt-holy God, holiness means being baptized, set apart, and called; holiness means forgiven and set free; holiness means responding with loving, merciful, justice-seeking lives.
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