Leaving and Following Luke 5:1-11; Isaiah 6:1-8; 1 Corinthians 14:12b-20

 

Grace, mercy and peace to you, from God, our Father, and our Lord, Jesus Christ, whom we trust and follow.

 

Our message is based on our Gospel Reading, which is Luke’s account of Jesus calling His first disciples to follow Him and become fishers of men.

 

And we’ll connect this to Isaiah’s calling in our Old Testament Reading.

 

Life with Christ is a life of leaving, following, and going.

 

When Jesus calls us to belong to Him, and by faith we answer, He doesn’t leave us in the same place; we may remain in the same place geographically, but not personally and spiritually. The Holy Spirit sets our minds and lives into motion.

 

The disciples likely never imagined how much their lives would change when they first heard Jesus invite them to follow Him. But they must have suspected that it was going to be something special because of the amazing way He called them.

 

No other teacher or rabbi or philosopher, ever called his students or disciples in the way Jesus called His. He called them in an extraordinary way, from an ordinary place. 

 

He connected with them and called then from where they were, in their daily occupation as fishermen. 

 

Jesus met them at their place of work, at the Sea of Galilee, where they lived much of their lives. 

 

Likewise, Jesus calls us to serve Him where we live our lives, in our places of 

work, of learning, or at play, at home, at church, in the community, wherever 

we are.

When Jesus called His first disciples, He got their attention in a way they couldn’t deny or overlook, by doing something miraculous.

 

Peter and his partners had been fishing all night with no results, no catch, because by this time, the Lake of Galilee was probably pretty badly overfished. 

 

As He so often did, Jesus asked something of them that would require a step of faith, that they let go and trust Him. He told them to go farther out into the lake, and cast their nets.

 

Peter answered Jesus, “Because it’s You who’s telling us, we’ll do it.”

 

They did, and their nets were so full, they almost sank their boat. 

 

Peter and Andrew signaled their fishing partners, James and John, to come and help. And both boats were filled with fish. 

 

Never before had they had seen anything like it. It was clearly a miracle.

 

Peter recognized that the man who had done this was no ordinary man, but much more: He was a man of God sent by God; even more, the very Son of God. 

 

Peter’s response wasn’t to embrace Jesus, but to send Him away, because he felt so sinful and inadequate in the presence of this holy, miraculous man. 

 

But Jesus wasn’t going anywhere; He was coming into their lives to stay. 

 

He told Peter, “Don’t be afraid”, don’t be intimidated by me, “from now on, you will be catching men.” 

 

That’s exactly the way Jesus spoke throughout His ministry, using those relatable kinds of metaphors and analogies.

 

We, too, are flawed and sinful beings; but God tells us to not to fear or feel inadequate to serve Him, but to do so in confidence and joy, because He forgives us, and helps us.

 

Luke says, And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

 

Leaving and following. They left much, but in following Jesus, they gained more. 

 

Isaiah’s call was similar, in that it involved God’s grace and forgiveness, but

it was unique in that it happened in a vision… and what a vision it was. 

 

It was a vision of the Lord and His holy angels in the innermost holy room of the Heavenly Temple.

 

Isaiah tells us he looked up and saw the Lord, “sitting on a throne, high and exalted”, surrounded by seraphim, six-winged angels. 

 

With two wings they flew; with two they covered their eyes, so as not to look directly at the glory of the Lord and be blinded by it, and with two they covered their feet, a sign of humility.

 

And they were praising God, shouting holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory! 

 

And the temple quaked at the sound of their praise, and was filled with smoke by holy presence of God.

 

When Isaiah realized that He was in the presence of almighty, holy God, he was terrified.

 

He cried, “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

Isaiah’s reaction was similar to Peter’s in our Gospel. In the presence of divine purity and holiness, they both felt the guilt and shame of their sin.

 

That’s because God created us for the opposite of sin, for love; to love Him and one another is the reason we’re alive; it’s the justification for our existence. 

 

Sin breaks that covenant of creation, that we were made in the holy image of God, entirely and only to love and help and do good, and not at all to sin, and hurt and harm. 

 

Love, perfect, holy love, brings and keeps life; sin destroys love and brings death. 

 

Knowing this, Isaiah panicked when he realized it was the Lord he was looking at.  

 

“Woe is me! I’m a dead man.”

 

He knew that in the presence of the holy, triune God, because of his sin, he deserved immediate death. 

 

But God immediately intervened.

 

One of His angels flew to Isaiah, with a burning coal in his hand, taken from the altar, that place from where forgiveness is dispensed, and the angel touched his lips and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

 

The fiery coal signified the purity, forgiveness and perfect righteousness Jesus won for Isaiah, and for us on the cross 

 

Isaiah was now forgiven and purified to live, love and serve God.

 

Isaiah continues his story: 

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”

 

With purified lips, and a forgiven heart, Isaiah would proclaim God’s Word as His prophet. 

 

And he was excited and enthusiastic to do so. ”Send me!”

 

Isaiah’s ministry would not be an easy one; he was often opposed… sometimes violently opposed.

 

For Isaiah and the prophets, and later, for Peter and the apostles’, when they answered the call to serve and follow the Lord, their lives changed dramatically. 

 

Their lives didn’t get easier or more comfortable; their lives became more challenging and difficult… but it was so well worth it.

 

And it is for us, too. 

 

We are called and purified, our sins washed away, not by fire like Isaiah, but by water and the Word in holy Baptism. 

 

By the gift of faith in Jesus, He covers our sin with His perfect love and righteousness, and that’s how God sees us now, through His Son’s holy love and righteousness.

 

Through Jesus, our life, our existence, is justified. 

 

In the eyes of God, and by His decree, it is now just and right that we should, not die, but live, and love, both now in time, and forever in eternity. 

 

Being justified by Christ to live and love, we leave behind that life that didn’t know or care about Him and His holy love.

 

By the power of the Holy Spirit, we turn around, go forward, and follow Christ.

 

Let us follow Him enthusiastically, with joyful love and devotion, even in times of challenge and difficulty, because the way of the Gospel is of far greater worth, and much higher gain, than the worldly way of life we leave behind and bid farewell to forever. 

 

The apostle Paul says it well in Philippians 3:13-14: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

 

May we press forward with Jesus, even in adversity, following by faith, living in grace, and serving with gladness. 

 

And as we follow, the peace of God, which passes understanding, will guard our hearts and minds, in Christ Jesus, our Lord, who calls us to come close to Him and follow! Amen