Welcome to Sunday Worship in Leesfield Parish on the Fourth Sunday Before Lent, also Racial Justice Sunday. Our church services today are at the usual times of 9.15 am at St Agnes' and 11 am at St Thomas'.
If you are unable to be with us in person, you will find resources below to worship at home.
Our first hymn this morning is "Will You Come and Follow Me"
Today's Gospel
Luke 5:1-11 The Calling of the First Disciples
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.
Reflection
Luke’s account of the calling of the first disciples is far more descriptive than those of Matthew and Mark which merely say he called Simon and Andew to follow Him and become fishers of men and they did so. Luke takes time to put more narrative and context into the tale - he gives us some of the back-story.
We know that Simon and Andrew had finished their day’s fishing, albeit unsuccessfully, and were cleaning up ready to go home. We also know that the first thing Jesus did was to ask them to take him out a little way from the shore on Lake Gennesaret, (Sea of Galilee) so that He could preach to the gathering crowds.
Although it was very early in Jesus’ life of ministry, He was obviously very popular, and even though we are not told what He preached about, He was clearly recognised as an engaging speaker. “Someone capable of drawing a good crowd,” as folk say!
We also see that teaching was Jesus’ first priority. I wonder how Simon felt at His request. Maybe he was overjoyed that this popular teacher had chosen his boat or maybe he was a little disgruntled because he’d had a rubbish day so far and had been looking forward to going home.
We do not know if Simon knew Jesus before this encounter and some argue that it was likely he would have in such a small region.
After addressing the crowds, Jesus turns His attention to Simon Peter and asked him to start fishing again. Again I wonder what thoughts initially went through Simon’s head.
Maybe along the following lines:
“What on earth does this religious preacher know about fishing? Everyone knows the best fishing is at night, and all those crowds you attracted will have scared the fish away. We’ve worked all night, we’re tired and we’ve already washed our nets . Let’s just go home.”
But nonetheless, Simon goes along with what Jesus asks – not to humour Him, but because He believes in Jesus and is willing to listen to Him and put his trust in Him.
Sometimes we can feel like no matter how hard we try it’s difficult to get results. But when we let Jesus direct our work, we see results. However, if we make excuses and just give in, maybe we will miss an opportunity to see Jesus at work.
We see Simon’s faith and trust in Jesus is amply rewarded. Suddenly, they have an abundance of fish, more than two boats can handle. There is so much that they need the help of others to bring the catch in.
The amount of fish is way beyond their own immediate needs, beyond the ‘daily bread’ required to feed their families. All the fishermen will have enough to take to market and sell to meet their financial needs for the foreseeable future. Moreover, what they sell will be able to sustain others in the community. – No-one need go hungry for some time to come.
We are then told that Simon was amazed at the power of Jesus that he said, "Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!" Simon truly recognised who Jesus was, and was in total awe of Him. He knew that Jesus was the Lord and he also recognised his own spiritual inadequacies and weakness, as a man and a sinner. He was humble in the presence of the Lord.
Jesus responds with His characteristic love and compassion, He wants to relate to us on the principle of love, not the principle of a cowering fear. So He calls Simon to follow and put his skills to ‘fishing for men’. Just like Simon and his friends needed help to land the fish in the boats, Jesus wanted Simon’s help to recruit new disciples. And He calls for us to follow Him in the same way - no skill or expertise in fishing needed because Jesus will show us how when we spread his word and follow His example and teaching. Paul
