5 Epiphany, Yr C (2025) The Rev. Karen C. Barfield
5 Epiphany, Year C (2025) The Rev. Karen C. Barfield
Luke 5:1-11 St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
In the name of the one, holy, and loving God:
in whom we live, and move, and have our being. Amen.
“When they had brought their boats to shore,
they left everything and followed him.”
Sounds like all of the stories of calling in Scripture, right?
Somehow over the many years that I’ve listened to Bible stories,
I’ve conjured in my mind the remembrance that any time God calls,
people drop what they’re doing and follow.
But if we really think about the many stories of calling…
like that of Jeremiah
and Isaiah…
and now Peter
and the apostle Paul,
we are reminded of the reality that when God calls,
very often people resist.
They find objections in one form or another…all apparently legitimate.
I’m not a good public speaker,
I’m too young,
I’m not experienced,
I am unworthy.
Or, in the case of Paul, I have persecuted Christians!
Those all seem like pretty good excuses.
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In today’s Gospel reading, we hear the story of the calling of Peter and James and John.
They have been out fishing all night -
when it’s dark and the fish are near the surface of the water -
and they’ve caught nothing at all.
Now, when it’s full daylight,
Jesus tells them to put out into the deep and let down their nets for a catch.
“BUT,” Peter objects, “we have worked all night long and have caught nothing.”
Why in the world does Jesus think they’re going to catch anything in broad daylight –
when the fish are taking cover nearer the bottom of the lake?
Peter is full of doubt,
yet he puts out the nets into the deep once more
AND
he pulls in the catch of a lifetime!
There are so many fish that his nets are breaking,
and his boat is sinking.
He has to call in reinforcements for help!
At that moment the full truth of who Jesus is hits Peter square in the face.
He falls at Jesus’ knees and tells Jesus to go away,
feeling unworthy.
It is the same story one more time…
Folks are going about their daily lives,
minding their own business,
when God seemingly picks them out of a crowd and bids them follow.
And, most often,
no one feels worthy of such a call.
Now….my question is this:
how do we know when God is calling us –
and where might that happen?
I have not yet experienced God’s voice audibly
nor have I seen Jesus in the flesh, as far as I know.
But thinking back over my life…
I have heard God’s voice through others,
in prayer,
and in places of beauty.
I suggest that the first part of hearing God’s call is that we must listen,
recognizing that sometimes we don’t even know we’re listening.
Perhaps something grabs our attention one day and pulls at our heartstrings,
and we follow the lead,
not really knowing where we will end up…
like Peter having some inkling that Jesus just might know what he’s talking about,
so he casts his nets out one more time into the deep to see what happens.
My sophomore year in college I got this idea in my head that I wanted to study overseas.
I don’t know why…
I wasn’t exactly the adventurous type.
The only thing I knew was that I wanted an English-speaking country;
although I had studied French in high school and college,
I wasn’t near fluent.
I decided to go to the University of St. Andrew’s in Scotland.
The way I chose was that I was flipping through a folder of brochures of overseas schools, and when I saw the pictures of St. Andrew’s, I thought it was one of the most beautiful places I had ever seen.
It turned out to be one of the best years of my life.
I ended up in the Divinity School there for that year,
testing out my vocation as a priest on people I had never met before.
Initially, I had heard God’s voice calling me through the beauty of a place.
Have you ever experienced God’s calling you through the beauty of a place?
And then following college, I knew I wanted to spend a year doing service work.
I ended up interviewing with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps.
We each applied for three jobs.
At the time I was considering being a high school counselor,
so two of the jobs I chose were in that field.
For the third job I decided to apply for something completely different –
a soup kitchen in Atlanta, GA.
The director of the Community Kitchen called me first,
and by the time I hung up the phone,
I knew that’s where I needed to go.
The relationship the director and I developed in the course of a 1-hour phone call was God’s voice calling me.
I was so sure that I didn’t even interview at the two high schools!
Have you ever experienced God’s calling by just knowing it was the right thing to do?
And then there was the final leg of my journey toward the ordained priesthood.
The thing that finally led me to talk to my priest and apply for Holy Orders
was an email from a friend in Scotland,
whom I had met 15 years before.
He asked me when I was going to be ordained.
He was still waiting.
Have you ever heard the call of God through the voice of another?
So, how do we know God is calling – and where?
We listen.
We listen to what our hearts tell us.
We listen to what our family and friends tell us.
We listen to our yearnings and our longings.
What is so remarkable to me is that
in all the stories of people being called throughout the Bible,
and despite each person’s objections,
God uses them.
And God blesses them abundantly!
It is not always easy,
and, in fact, their lives are often very difficult,
BUT they are blessed.
It took me 21 years to be ordained after I first sensed God’s call.
Apparently, sometimes we can object for a very long time!
But, as a friend reminded me:
God does not waste time.
God patiently waits for us to respond to our invitations.
Even when God calls and folks resist,
God continues to call us and work on us
and work through us.
I invite you to listen to your life this week
and in the weeks and months and years to come:
What is God calling you to do?
Even if you think God is calling you to something that seems absurd –
like letting your nets down for a catch after the sun has come up –
I hope you will take the time to listen and test the waters.
God’s abundance is waiting for us just around the corner.
Come
and see!
Amen.
