In reading these four scripture passages the first thing that leaped out at me was that both Isaiah and Simon, when they realize that they are in the presence of the Lord  also realize that they are sinful and unworthy.  Yet God calls them.  In Corinthians Paul says that he was the least of all the apostles, not even worthy to be called an apostle, yet the Lord appeared to him.  He states "I am what I am."  And I think that God reaches out to each of us where we are, who we are.  I am what I am and yet God loves me and calls me into relationship and into belonging.

That's a good observation. (And Paul's shame/sin was that he had persecuted the church.)

It's not exactly a comfortable message - being in the presence of God may make us feel sinful and unworthy.

"And he said, ^'I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God." - Exodus 3: 6 (ESV)

And I guess Psalm 138 (esp. v.7 ?) gives the other side - the willingness that follows the encounter with God.

Isaiah said, "Here am I; send me".

In Luke, the disciples "left everything and followed him".

In 1 Corinthians, Paul "worked harder than any of [the other apostles]".

(And Moses too, after a little hesitation.)

Thanks for posting this thread RAN.  Better late than never I say, and I'm still working on my reflection!

To me the lectionary speaks to our purpose.  As Seeler said,  God reaches out to us where we are and accepts us as we are.  Our lives have a bigger purpose than we may understand. 

i have entitled my reflection "What Are You Fishing For?".  Like Simon we go out and do what we do each day.  What are we fishing for?  What is the purpose of what we do?    Some days it may feel like we're "catching fish", other days our nets seem empty.  To be a good fisherman/woman you need to have passion for what you're doing, patience, love, knowledge (know where to fish, what to fish with, and what the fish are biting on), experience (it takes practice),  and a positive attitude.

Sometimes fisherman can catch fish from the shore.  Sometimes they have to wade out and get their feet wet.  Other times they have to go deeper still.  There are fish out there.....lots of them.  How far are we willing to go to be fisher's of men? 

Am I headed in the right direction?

Busymom, if it's your direction, it's the right direction. --Each of us receives a mesage that we and our community need.

Thank you to RAN, seeler, and match3frog.  I teach all week, so appreciate your observations as I prepare my message.  As we approach Lent, I am considering the need, once we have answered the call, to taking time to develop our ability to answer the call (prayer life, bible study, faith exploration, clarifying our call --any and all of these are specially important activities for Lent.

Isn't it grand that God chooses whomever God will, regardless of how the world may judge us?

Jim

Yes, those are always important questions to ask.

Hm... I believe the word is "fisher."

"As it is written, 'For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.'" - Romans 8:36 (ESV)

Indeed.

I see that part of the lectionary is Jesus calls the first disciples.  Here are my wonderings that could be worked into a sermon/reflection

I WONDER - what it would take for me to walk away from my well paying job, my family who loves me, to follow a complete stranger, a wanderer with a strange message that really pisses off the church leaders.

I WONDER - how their hearts/souls must have been prepared so that when they were called, they knew beyond a shadow of a doubt the message they received in their brains.

I WONDER - how family, friends, co-workers, church leaders must have responded. Did they believe that they had lost their minds, one step away from the loonie bin or maybe a midlife crisis. After all it's just plain stupid and crazy to drop their lives and go wandering after a street corner preacher

I have been thinking about the word "holy". So far as I understand it, the original meaning is something like "set apart" and then becomes more like "set apart for God", "reserved for God", "dedicated to God's use", etc.

In this week's famous passage from Isaiah, the seraphs were calling (6:3) And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory."

If the LORD of hosts is so holy, so "set apart", then what does it mean to say also that "the whole earth is full of his glory"? What does it mean for both of these to be true of God?

Thanks Jim for your comment.  I thought about it a lot and  considered what message would be best shared for the congregations.  We have 2 small congregations (smaller each year) and I went with the direction I had originally planned but went a little deeper.  I also included the excitement that I am feeling that one of the churches has been selected for Living the Faith event, and what an awesome opportunity it will be for us, as fishers of people.  It went well I think

Again thanks for the thoughts on this thread.  This sharing is always helpful to me, whether i am leading worship or not.