FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY
Holy Makes Us
Holy February 6, 2022
God calls us to be His holy people. Through the words of the prophet Isaiah and through his experience in God’s presence, the Lord reassures us that in love He forgives our sins and makes it possible for us to be holy in His sight. In the Hebrew language, to express what we would call a comparative word, you would say the “base word” twice—so “holier” would be expressed “holy, holy,” and that which is the holiest would be spoken of in the superlative as “holy, holy, holy.” And that is what our God is! Yet He knows us and cares for us individually. How amazing is that!
HYMN “Holy, Holy, Holy” [LSB 507]
1 Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty! Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee Holy, holy, holy! merciful and mighty! God in three persons, blessed Trinity!
2 Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee, Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee, Which wert and art and evermore shalt be.
3 Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide Thee, Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see, Only Thou art holy there is none beside Thee, Perfect in pow'r, in love, and purity.
4 Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty! All Thy works shall praise Thy name in earth and sky and sea. Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty! God in three persons, blessed Trinity!
PRAYER
O Lord God, our loving Father, through the grace of Your Holy Spirit You call us, as You called the first disciples, to follow You as fishers of men. Make us to love You with our whole strength and with our whole heart and do the things that are pleasing in Your sight through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
OLD TESTAMENT READING Isaiah 6:1–8
In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up and the train[a] of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he 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 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “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!” 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” 8 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.”
HOLY GOSPEL Luke 5:1–11
On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, 2 and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3 Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. 4 And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” 6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. 7 They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” 9 For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, 10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid from now on you will be catching men.” 11 And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts the whole earth is full of his glory!” The reaction of Isaiah and Peter is the same. “I am a man of unclean lips.” “I am a sinful man.” By ourselves we cannot stand in the presence of God’s holiness. This is why what the angel says to Isaiah is so important. “Your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” Isaiah and Peter both understood that our forgiveness comes to us through Jesus Christ. Through His death and resurrection we are reconciled, brought back, to God. We are given the holiness of God through Jesus Christ. The holiness of Christ covers our sins. We are acceptable to God through faith in Jesus Christ. We are acceptable to God not because of who we are but because of who God is. Because of Christ we become what God needs us to be.
LORD’S PRAYER Matthew 6:9–13
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
BENEDICTION Numbers 6:24–26
The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord look upon you with favor and give you peace. Amen.