02/10 – Isaiah 6:1–8 – Have we Lost Respect for God (Scout Sunday)

Isaiah 6:1–8 (9–13)

In the year King Uzziah {oo-ZYE-ah} died, I saw the Lord sitting on a high and lofty throne. The train of his robe filled the temple. Seraphim angels were standing above him. Each had six wings: With two they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. They called to each other and said, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Armies! The whole earth is filled with his glory.” Their voice of each shook the foundations of the doorposts, and the temple filled with smoke.

So I said, “Woe to me! I’m doomed. For I have spoken unclean words I live among people with sinful lips, and I have seen the king, the Lord of Armies!”

Then one of the Seraphim flew to me. In his hand was a burning coal that he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said, “This has touched your lips. Your guilt has been taken away, and your sin has been forgiven.”

Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom will I send? Who will go for us?”

I said, “Here I am. Send me!”

He said, “Go and tell these people, ‘No matter how closely you listen, you’ll never understand. No matter how closely you look, you’ll never see.’ Make these people close-minded. Plug their ears. Shut their eyes. Otherwise, they may see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their minds, and return and be healed.”

I asked, “How long, O Lord?”

And he replied, “Until the cities lie in ruins with no one living in them, the houses are without people, and the land is completely desolate. The Lord will send his people far away, and a large area in the middle of the land will be abandoned. Even if one out of ten people is left in it, the land will be burned again. When a terebinth tree or an oak is cut down, a stump is left. The holy seed will be the land’s stump.”

1 Corinthians 14:12b–20

Since you are eager to have spiritual gifts, try to excel in them so that you build up the Church. The person who speaks in another language should pray for an interpretation of what he says.

If I pray in another language, my spirit prays, but my mind is not productive. So what does this mean? It means that I will pray with my spirit, and I will pray with my mind. I will sing psalms with my spirit, and I will sing psalms with my mind. Otherwise, if you praise God only with your spirit, how can outsiders say “Amen!” to your prayer of thanksgiving? They don’t know what you’re saying. Your prayer of thanksgiving may be very good, but it doesn’t help other people grow. I thank God that I speak in other languages more than any of you. Yet, in order to teach others in church, I would rather say five words that can be understood than ten thousand words in another language.

Brothers and sisters, don’t think like children. When it comes to evil be like babies, but think like mature people.

Luke 5:1–11

One day Jesus was standing by the Sea of Galilee. The people crowded around him as they listened to God’s word. Jesus saw two boats by the lake. The fishermen had stepped out of them and were washing their nets. Jesus got into the boat that belonged to Simon and asked him to push off a little from the shore. Then Jesus sat down and taught the crowd from the boat.

When he finished speaking, he told Simon, “Take the boat into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.”

Simon answered, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but if you say so I’ll lower the nets.” After the men had done this they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to tear. So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. Their partners came and filled both boats so full they began to sink.

Simon and everyone who was with him, including James and John, Zebedee’s sons and Simon’s partners, were amazed to see the large number of fish they had caught. When Simon Peter saw this, he knelt in front of Jesus and said, “Leave me Lord! I’m a sinful man!”

Jesus told Simon, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will be catching people.”

Simon and his partners brought the boats to shore, left everything, and followed Jesus.