Reading: Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him. (Luke 5:1-11)
Reflection: As I read this scripture, I thought back to my call story into ministry. I relate to Simon when the call of Jesus came. Simon seemed hesitant to put the nets back into the water, but he did obey. I was very hesitant when I was first approached about going into full time ministry. I had been working with my church’s youth group off and on during my college years. My pastor approached me when I got out of college, and he said that I should go to seminary to study youth ministry. I was not ready to go back to school, so I just laughed at that comment. It took me a few years before I realized that was the path God was calling me to take. It was in working with the youth more, and in seeing God’s work in my life and in their lives that I realized that was what I was supposed to do. Throughout my time in seminary though I felt like Simon and that I was not worthy of such a call. Of course, I was told to not be afraid and that I was on the right path in helping youth and children in their faith development. Then like the disciples I followed Jesus’ call. I left my home in PA, and I took my first church job in Kansas. Since then, I have followed God’s call into many other jobs, but in all of them I have helped people in their own faith development and in their calls to follow God. --Charlene Rineer Prayer: Gracious God, we honor you and praise your holy name. We thank you for the stories of Jesus and the call of the disciples. As we see ourselves in their story, we thank you that you call us to follow you as well. Help us in our faith journey and helps us lead others to follow you as well. Amen. Our devotions are based on this Sunday’s Revised Common Lectionary (RCL). The RCL is a three-year cycle of readings telling the story of our Christian faith and corresponding to the season church calendar. On any given Sunday, we are hearing and praying and examining the same Scripture with millions of Christians around the world. In our current Year C, the Old Testament readings progress through the Prophets and have the theme of the day that it is connected to the Gospel reading. The Psalm, a song the congregation sings in response to the Old Testament reading, most often corresponds to the theme of the Hebrew Lessons and/or that of the Gospel Lesson. The lesson from the Epistles or from Acts typifies the church’s focus on the meaning of Christ for today. The Gospel lesson is connected to the season of the Church Year. This year, our gospel readings are from Luke, who writes that Jesus is the universal Savior and the perfect Son of Man. In the current season of Epiphany, Christ is revealed, the disciples are called, and we see the early ministry of Jesus.
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