Rise within us like the star
And make us restless
Till we journey on
To seek our peace in you
Song “Beauty for brokenness”
Confession- a time of silence and reflection
The Lords Prayer in our own language
Reflection on Luke 5v1-11
Jesus has chosen to preach in the open air beside lake Galilee. As the crowd presses in on him, Jesus takes over a fishing boat as a pulpit. Following his teaching, Jesus tells Peter, the boat's owner, to push out from the shore to deep water and cast out his nets. The son of a carpenter is telling the fisherman where to throw their nets. The heat of the day is no time to fish, and in any case, they have worked all night and caught nothing, so, what's the point. But Peter has respect for Jesus and so does what Jesus asks. Boats usually worked in pairs so Peter and his crew are signalling to their business partners, James and John, probably still with their boat on the beach.
The catch is incredible, and other men are needed to bring it in with James and John. The two boats begin to sink with the weight of the catch. Peter sees the catch as a sign, of Jesus' authority and exposes his own inadequacies in the face of God. He falls on his knees and asks Jesus to step back from him.
Jesus tells Peter that from now on he will catch people instead of fish. They leave their boats and follow Jesus.
This all takes place at Lake Galilee. The crowd had pressed near him, straining to hear him give his message about God. As usual, Jesus sat to teach. They had been washing and repairing their nets after a night of fishing.
Peter has recognised himself to be a sinful man. Peter and everyone with him are shocked by what happened. But they need not be afraid. They will stop catching fish and instead catch people for God which is what happened. The sense of catch is save, bringing salvation, rescue to people.
The disciples follow Jesus. They abandoned their work and changed their profession although we know there were ups and downs which is an encouragement for us, but the presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives is what makes the difference, as it does for us. We cannot just rely on our own human reserves if we are to save, rescue lost humanity. Amen
Song “Be still”
Our prayers for our world
Song “Sing Hallelujah”
When the star in the sky has gone
And the wise men have gone back to their homes
The real work of Christmas begins
To find the lost, heal the broken, feed the hungry and release the prisoner
