"EYES THAT SEE" 

Isaiah 6:1-13   ▪   Psalm 138   ▪   I Corinthians 15:1-11   ▪   Luke 5:1-11

When I was 11 my family began attending a fundamentalist church.  In many ways it was a great experience, and I learned a lot.  One thing I learned quickly was that you attended Church three times a week, no matter what - Sunday morning (dress pants required), Sunday night (jeans allowed) for night church, and Wednesday night for Bible study.  One Sunday night the sky threatened hail, and the weather man on TV said we were in a tornado watch.  We loaded up and went to church for the full hour.

However, one day a year Sunday night church was cut down to 15 minutes.  I always marveled at what great event would change the course of that weekly habit.  Any guesses?  Christmas, Easter, or even July 4^th?  No, it was the SuperBowl.  In order to catch the 6:25pm kickoff, we had to worship expediently. 

Looking back that seems silly, but it was clear that the church calendar did get interrupted by the world's calendar, at least once a year.  I'm reminded of that during Epiphany when it seems our church calendar gets interrupted by the world's calendar with things like new year's resolutions, the federal budget, or even the SuperBowl.  But if we pay a little attention to it, I think there's something marvelous to be found in Epiphany.

The season of Epiphany is about God's revelation and appearing.  With today's readings in mind, I'm struck by this notion of "seeing God," especially at this time of year when I'm focused more on seeing a line item in the budget, and maybe, a date for Valentine's Day.  What does that mean, really, to see God?

I'm guessing that most of us, maybe all of us, doubt that we have seen God or will ever see God, at least not in the way Isaiah did, or Paul and the apostles did, or even the way Peter did in his boat.  This may be lovely symbolism that helps move the plot along, but people don't really see God in visions or miracles anymore (if they ever did), right?  Seeing God is just a nice way of saying "learning something new" or "gaining a new perspective" that makes us wiser.

That may all be true.  But what if there is more?  What if there is more to seeing God than symbolism or insight?  Looking at the readings for today, perhaps there is more than meets the eye.