Called to follow Christ
Invitation to Worship
Our God is holy, our God is mighty.
We come into his presence in awe and wonder.
Let us still our hearts and prepare to meet
the Lord of heaven and earth.
Hymn: StF 250 Jesus calls us! O’er the tumult
- Jesus calls us o’er the tumult
Of our life’s wild, restless sea;
Day by day his sweet voice sounding,
Saying, “Christian, follow me.” - As of old apostles heard it
By the Galilean lake,
Turned from home, and toil, and kindred,
Leaving all for His dear sake. - Jesus calls us from the worship
Of the vain world’s golden store,
From each idol that would keep us,
Saying, “Christian, love me more.” - In our joys and in our sorrows,
Days of toil and hours of ease,
Still he calls, in cares and pleasures,
“Christian, love me more than these.” - Jesus calls us—By your mercies,
Saviour, may we hear your call,
Give our hearts to your obedience,
Serve and love you best of all.
Cecil Frances Alexander (1818 – 1895)
Opening Prayers
Blessings abound when you call us, Lord:
when we encounter you in expected and unexpected places,
when you speak to our need,
are comfort in our troubles,
are a guide in our confusion,
an anchor in our uncertainty,
and love beyond measure.
How can we not live in awe of all you are,
have been and will be?
We thank you that you nurture our faith, helping us to believe
and to live out our lives through your calling to us.
We thank you for your constant love and faithfulness.
We thank you that you hear us, answer us and strengthen us.
We thank you for your promises and your care.
We thank you that we cannot hide from you
and for the assurance that you are always with us.
Holy God, we know that on our own we fail and fall,
falter and stumble, but we know that with you we can be better.
You call us to be the best we can be, and we know we have failed.
We confess those failings and seek your forgiveness (silence).
Our holy God has heard our prayers,
felt our pain, knows our desires.
God has forgiven us,
renewed us, freed us, refreshed us.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.
Reading: Luke 5:1 – 11
5 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. 2 He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.
4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”
5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”
6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 So they signalled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.
8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.
Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.
Reflection
Luke’s story tells of the career change to end all career changes. Simon Peter and his colleagues are relatively prosperous fishermen – they have boats and the equipment they need to run their business, as least when they can locate the fish. There are suggestions elsewhere in the Bible that Peter is married, so others would be dependent on him. Yet when their boats come to shore, filled to the brim with fish, they leave it all behind and follow Jesus.
Peter must have looked at those boats full of fish with awe and disbelief. Where on earth has all this come from? His first encounter with Jesus is a revelation of the incredible generosity of God. And this keeps on happening. When a wedding party runs short of wine, Jesus presents them with gallons and
gallons of the very best. When he is speaking to five thousand people in the wilderness, he feeds every last one with the five loaves and two fish. And here are two boats bursting with fish. God comes into Peter’s life with stunning generosity – and his life is never the same again.
Yet his first reaction is not wonder but terror. His experience echoes that of Isaiah seven hundred years earlier. ‘In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and lifted up…. And I said, “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell among a people of unclean lips”’. Peter’s sense of his sinfulness becomes terrifyingly clear in the presence of Jesus. Yet Jesus’ response is not to condemn him but to say ‘do not be afraid’. He does not pretend that Peter is free from sin, but offers him a way forward which leaves that sin and dread behind.
Peter would learn far more about Jesus in his years as a disciple. He would see Jesus transfigured, standing alongside Moses and Elijah in glory. He would see Jesus on trial for his life, and run away. He would meet Jesus by the lakeside again, Jesus risen from the dead. But these first steps of discovery were enough to change his life for good. He learnt that he could depend on a recklessly generous God, and he learnt that this same God was able to overcome the mistakes and foolishness of his past, and give him a new way to live. And so he left everything, and followed Jesus.
Hymn: StF 673 Will you come and follow me if I but call your name?
- Will you come and follow me
if I but call your name?
Will you go where you don’t know
and never be the same?
Will you let my love be shown,
will you let my name be known,
will you let my life be grown
in you and you in me?
2, Will you leave your self behind
if I but call your name?
Will you care for cruel and kind
and never be the same?
Will you risk the hostile stare
should your life attract or scare,
will you let me answer prayer
in you and you in me?
- Will you let the blinded see
if I but call your name?
Will you set the prisoners free
and never be the same?
Will you kiss the leper clean
and do such as this unseen,
and admit to what I mean
in you and you in me?
- Will you love the ‘you’ you hide
if I but call your name?
Will you quell the fear inside
and never be the same?
Will you use the faith you’ve found
to reshape the world around
through my sight and touch and sound
in you and you in me?
- Lord, your summons echoes true when you but call my name.
Let me turn and follow you and never be the same.
In your company I’ll go where your love and footsteps show.
Thus I’ll move and live and grow in you and you in me.
©1987 WGRG, Iona Community, Govan, Glasgow G51 3UU, Scotland
Prayers for others and for ourselves
Lord God and Father of all, over all, in all and through all: we give thanks that we are called to your service; may all your people listen to your calling.
Lord, hear your people and answer our prayers.
Lord of all, we give thanks that you call some to be apostles, sent out to do your work. May they be continually filled with your Spirit and empowered to follow your calling.
Lord, hear your people and answer our prayers.
Lord of all, we give thanks that you call some to be prophets. We pray for all whom you have called to speak out and proclaim the values of your kingdom. May they be continually filled with your vision, and have courage in their calling.
Lord, hear your people and answer our prayers.
Lord of all, we give thanks that you call some to be evangelists. May they be filled with your love as they share the good news with others.
Lord, hear your people and answer our prayers.
Lord of all, we give thanks that you call some to be pastors. We pray for all whom you have called to care for others through prayer and through service. May their lives be channels of your love and grace.
Lord, hear your people and answer our prayers.
Lord of all, we give thanks that you call some to be teachers. May they speak your truth, and help others to grow in wisdom. Lord, hear your people and answer our prayers.
Lord of all, you have called each of us to serve you in your world and in your Church; strengthen and equip us by your Spirit to recognise your call to us, and give us grace and courage to fulfil that calling, through Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen.
Closing hymn: StF 547 Beyond these walls of worship
Beyond these walls of worship
In the stress and joy of life,
Can we offer you our bodies
As a living sacrifice?
Will we keep you at the centre
Far beyond the Sunday call?
Will we turn to you, be transformed by you;
Still declare you God of all?
Beyond these walls of worship,
In the times of work and rest,
Will we display your love for all
When our faith’s put to the test?
When the people that surround us
Deny that you are there,
Will we display our faith in you
In life, in praise, in prayer?
Beyond these walls of worship
may your spirit strengthen us
To make the whole of life our worship
As we witness to your love.
From this hour in your presence
Send us out now to proclaim
That will live our life as a sacrifice
To the glory of your name.
© Ian Worsfold and Paul Wood
Blessing
Lord of the deep,
be with us when we feel out of our depth.
Lord of the waves,
send us where we are most needed.
Lord of the shore,
bring us safely home.
In Jesus’ name.
Amen.
