The Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
February 9, 2025
Luke 5:1-11

“Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.” That’s a line from Shakespeare, it’s in the Twelfth Night. “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.” Now, we don’t especially like the people that are born great. You know, born on third base but thought they hit a triple. And people who achieve greatness can rub us the wrong way, because we get jealous.

It’s that third group, those who have greatness thrust upon them, that we admire most. The people who, simply because of circumstance, must rise to the occasion. The ordinary people who become extraordinary. And these are the type of people we read about today in holy scripture.

Isaiah is a priest in the ancient Temple in Jerusalem. There is nothing special about him. He’s just a run-of-the-mill priest doing his job when suddenly, the whole Temple quakes with the presence of the Almighty and Isaiah sees the six-winged seraphs. “The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. And [Isaiah] 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!’” (Isaiah 6:4-5). And yet, it is that man, that sinful man, that is called by the Almighty. Greatness is thrust upon him.

Then, Saint Paul is writing to the church in Corinth. You can hear it in his voice, the emotional burden he carries. Paul says that the risen Jesus “appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all,” Paul says, “as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God” (I Corinthians 15:5-9). And yet, this is the great Saint Paul, who becomes such a passionate follower of Jesus that he was willing to die for the Lord. 

And then we come to Simon Peter. Just a simple fisherman. “But when Simon Peter saw the [catch of fish], he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!’” (Luke 5:8). Think of it, think of this man. Smelling of fish, burned by the sun, hands hardened by the water and the nets and the scaly fish. This, this is the one who Jesus calls to follow him, this is one on whom Christ will build his church; this is the man who is to go out fishing for people. Peter was not born great, he did not achieve greatness; no, Simon Peter was called to it.

So think of it – all three of these heroes of our faith, they knew they were not perfect. Each of them knew all too well their sins and brokenness. And yet, they were called. And perhaps it was actually because they acknowledged their sins and brokenness that God could use them. Because they were honest with themselves. Because they realized they had not been born great, they realized they could not achieve greatness, but that God did want to do something with them anyway.

That is what I want to say, more than anything this morning. You, you are good enough to receive God’s call upon your life. And this is not just about clergy. All too often in the church, when we talk about call, we are talking about people like me. But I want to talk about people like you. That yes, even you, are being called by God to do or to be something. We are seeing that today, as we install new members of the Order of the Daughters of the King. They were not born into it, they did not achieve this, but they have been called to it. They will be taking vows, promises, to pray and to serve. None of them are perfect, I hate to break it to you; but that is what is so inspirational about it. That people who are not perfect are acknowledging who they are, and pleading for God’s grace. And the same for you. I firmly believe that each of us, each of you has some purpose; God has something in mind for each of you to do for the sake of the Kingdom of God. There is a job, a role, a responsibility, some grace that you are supposed to deliver; I don’t what it is – it could be that God is calling you to make that difficult phone call, to show up bravely to the doctor’s office, to have that hard conversation, to give so much even though it will hurt your bottom line, to take up that position. God is calling you to give something or to serve someone, through the mercies of Christ. Yes, even though you are not worthy.

Because I know what you are doing, even now. You are coming up with the excuses. I’m not good enough, I’m not smart enough, the timing isn’t right, I’m too old, I can’t do it because of my kids, what will my friends say? But what Saint Paul told those early Christians, he also says to you: “Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God” (I Corinthians 1:26-29). When it comes to following Christ, no one is born into it, no one achieves it; no, we are called to it. It is time for you to drop your nets, and chase that call.

And this, I believe, is one way out of the unhealthy dynamics that we have created for ourselves. As you know, we are a people, a society, and yes, even a church, that does not all agree about everything. That should come as no surprise. The way out of this, though, is not to meet in some manufactured middle. No, God is calling us to something higher. Something holier. I do not think that Isaiah was called by God, to just become a little bit better of a priest. Paul was not called by the Lord God, just to follow Jesus as a hobby. Peter was not called because that was a convenient way to catch more fish. No. They were all called, as all of us are, to a higher plane. So that’s what I hope. For each of us, for our church, for our society. That would we go higher together, rather than further apart. I hope that we would all acknowledge the ways we have all committed the sins of division, the ways we have all refused to see the grace of God in others; this means dropping our nets like Peter, quaking before God like Isaiah, and allowing Christ to give us new ideas like Paul. 

“Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.”

The odd thing about that quote from the Twelfth Night, well, it’s meant to be ironic. It’s from one of Shakespeare’s comedies. But maybe that all actually makes it work together anyway. That there is irony that it’s just a fisherman who becomes such a saint; that it was one who persecuted the church that now has churches named after him. I look in the mirror, I look at my life, and sometimes I just have to laugh. That the Lord God would call me to be a priest. So I think that’s the final thing I want to say. Sometimes we make this language about calling and discipleship and following Jesus so serious. Lighten up. There is joy and humor and irony to this life with Christ. Isn’t it funny, that the Holy Spirit would use even you to be a vessel of grace in this world? Isn’t it funny, that such an eclectic group of people would get together on a Sunday morning and do this thing together? Isn’t it funny, that people like us would dare to follow Christ? So when you consider yourself, and when you consider the hard things God is calling you to do, give it a smile. You won’t be born into it, you won’t achieve it. The great irony is that even you can pick up the cross and follow Jesus.