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Today’s Readings: 1 Corinthians 15:1-11; Luke 5:1-11.
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Let us pray.
Almighty God,
by whose grace alone we are accepted and called into your service:
strengthen us by your Holy Spirit and make us worthy of our calling;
through Jesus Christ our Lord
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.
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A Reflection from Carola Darwin
One sunny morning, I was sitting at my desk comparing the prices of toilet rolls and I looked up and thought – why am I doing this? The Internet makes it easy to get distracted and end up doing something pointless, so I try to look up and check, occasionally, that what I’m doing really is the best use of my time. But in this case, I thought, as I looked out of the window, yes, this really is the best thing I could be doing, and I’d like to try and explain why. I’ll start with today’s gospel, but (I don’t know if this is a threat or a promise!) I will come back to toilet rolls.
There are lots of tired, busy people in today’s extract from the Gospel of Luke. Jesus is being mobbed by a crowd of people ‘pressing in on him to hear the word of God,’ while Simon, James and John have been fishing all night and caught nothing. Can you imagine how Simon’s heart sank when Jesus got into his boat – a sleepless night, no fish and now instead of going home to bed you’ve got this itinerant preacher who wants to borrow your boat and to keep you awake and working. But something made Simon say yes and there he was in his boat, listening to Jesus talk about God. We don’t know what Jesus said to this particular crowd, but we can have a guess. Perhaps he talked about God’s love for us and our need for forgiveness, and our need to forgive each other. And something about the way that Jesus spoke, and the way the crowd listened, meant that when he’d finished instead of going home, Simon went along with Jesus’s suggestion, and rowed further out into the deep water.
Pause the story for a moment and imagine how Simon feels. His eyes ache from the glare of the water, he’s tired and probably hungry – and there’s no fish for breakfast because they didn’t catch any. We know, because we’ve heard the whole story, that it will all be worthwhile, that, miraculously, Simon is about to catch the biggest haul of fish he’s ever seen in one net, so big that he has to get his friends to help him. But at the moment Simon doesn’t know that, he’s just tired and hungry and thinking about what Jesus said to the crowd. The cost of doing what Jesus wants is pretty high, and he hasn’t yet seen the reward.
The cost of following Jesus can be high, there’s no doubt about it. Not just because it may be difficult to forgive your enemies, expensive to feed the poor, embarrassing to tell the truth, though that’s hard enough. But because in following Jesus, we may have to admit that in the past we have often failed to do what was right, we have indulged in revenge, turned our backs on the poor, told the easy lie. And this is how Simon responds to the miraculous catch of fish. He doesn’t say “Hooray! that makes it all worthwhile”. He falls at Jesus’s feet and says, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man,” – in effect “Leave me alone, I don’t deserve this miracle.”
Jesus understands Simon’s fear, and his sense of inadequacy “Do not be afraid” he says. But he also has a job for him – he knows how to catch fish, now he has to learn to catch people, to bring them the Good News and help them to understand Jesus’s message. And though in the months and years to come, Simon Peter – as he became – must often have been bewildered and afraid, he will participate in something amazing, events which will reverberate into a future he could not possibly have imagined.
Our generation were born too late to be part of Jesus’s story in the way that Simon Peter was. But we have choices and opportunities, too, and the most important ones at the moment, though also some of the most difficult, are about our stewardship of God’s earth. Looking after Planet A (there is no Planet B!!), rescuing it from the mess we’ve made of it, finding ways to live more sustainably, are all difficult, costly and mean admitting that we’ve got it wrong – badly wrong – in the past. The reason I was checking the price of toilet rolls that sunny morning (I told you I’d come back to them!) was to estimate the extra cost to this church of using recycled toilet paper.
The answer is: it’s not too bad, it doesn’t cost that much more than the cheapest of the ordinary stuff. But it’s also not much of an improvement, and I’d like us to do a lot more. Could we heat the church with a ground heat pump instead of our ancient and unreliable gas boiler? Could we use the church’s land as an eco-garden to grow our own fruit and encourage wildlife? Could we make changes in the rest of our lives to reduce waste and burn less fuel? It’s all difficult and expensive and time-consuming and it means facing up to all the things we’ve done badly in the past. But perhaps – just perhaps – there’s a great catch of fish, a wonderful miracle waiting to happen, if we can only do what’s right. Or, even better, perhaps this is our chance to walk with Jesus, to hear God’s word and do his will.
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Organ Voluntary
Pavane – William Byrd:
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Today’s hymn
All people that on earth do dwell:
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Music from Matthew
At the Offertory this morning Sophie will sing an elegant snippet from the Gloria of Haydn’s Harmoniemesse, ‘Gratias agimus tibi’. Here is a recording of the whole Gloria movement, displaying that classical lyricism which puts Haydn’s music in a class of its own:
We give thanks to thee for thy great glory.
‘Gloria’ from Harmoniemesse by Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Arnold Schönberg Chor, Concentus musicus Wien, Nikolaus Harnoncourt (director)
https://youtu.be/WL3iwzcBzlY
During communion, another part of the mass, the Agnus Dei from Mozart’s evergreen ‘Coronation’ Mass – an oblique reference to the 70th anniversary of the Queen’s Accession! The work was composed in 1779. Although most probably premiered at Salzburg Cathedral during Mozart’s tenure there, the first documented performance was at the coronation of Francis II as Holy Roman Emperor in 1792.
‘Agnus Dei’ from the ‘Krönungsmesse’ by W.A. Mozart (1756-91)
Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world; have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world; grant us peace.
Kathleen Battle (soprano), Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan (conductor)
https://youtu.be/M2jG-_GbcYc
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Inclining the ear of the heart
An online retreat based on weekly audios with accompanying prayer and reflection exercises
February 6, 13, 20, 27, March 6
The Bible is a story of the relationship between a God who calls us into life, and vulnerable human beings who sometimes struggle to understand the invitation held out to them, and hesitate to respond. In Inclining the ear of the heart we will reflect on the nature of God’s call to us: how do experience it and where might it lead us? What might this mean for you? For a bit more information on this new series listen to Chris here.
With Fabian Wuyts, Lyndall Bywater, Harriet Johnson, Gemma Simmonds and Christopher Chapman
We will email these audios and worksheets; and also load them our new Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/staugustinescollegeoftheology/
Becky
r.young@staugustinescollege.ac.uk
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For your prayers
Please pray for Donald Dille and Chloe Rolfes, nearing the end of their lives.
Also, for the repose of the soul of Seddy Bouzebiba who died this week, leaving a wife and young children.
Also, for Adam Clayton who has returned to hospital.
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A Recipe from the piste – Tartiflette
Tartiflette is one of those recipes with lots of variations but is basically onions, lardons, potatoes and cheese. Traditionally, it is made with Reblochon cheese (which I have now seen in M&S) but I have heard of people substituting with Camembert. I don’t normally use the Crème Fraiche, as here, but will try it. Personally, I think he put too much cheese on it and would use less:
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