[Propertalk] Fw: SermonWriter: Feb. 7 (Epiphany 5C) Luke 5:1-11

[Joe Parrish]

The following are SermonWriter materials for Feb. 7 (Epiphany 5C). They
focus on Luke 5:1-11, the call of the Peter to be Jesus' disciple.


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Dick Donovan


A THOUGHT ON PREACHING: The preacher brings a report from the battlefield of
the conflict between Christ and Satan.  The news is that for the whole of
humankind Jesus Christ has won the victory in his death and resurrection.
(James W. Cox)


TITLE:  Foolish Invitations


SERMON IN A SENTENCE:  Christ calls us to obedience and service in ordinary
places and in ordinary and challenging times.


SCRIPTURE:  Luke 5:1-11 & Isaiah 6:1-13

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FOR MORE SERMONS ON THIS TEXT, GO TO:
http://www.lectionary.org/SermLinks/NT/NT03luke.htm

Scroll down to the correct chapter and verse.


TRUE STORY:

In his book, Bob Pierce: This One Thing I Do, Franklin Graham tells the
story of Dr. Charles McCoy, the pastor of a church in Oyster Bay, New York.
At age 72, his denomination forced him into retirement.  A bachelor, he
wasn't sure what he would do with the rest of his life.  He already had a
Ph.D., and didn't want to go back to school.

Shortly before Dr. McCoy retired, he happened across a missionary from
India, and invited him to preach.  The man accepted the offer, and then
asked Dr. McCoy to come to India to preach.  That seemed like an incredible
thing to suggest, but Dr. McCoy couldn't get the invitation out of his mind.
He felt that the Lord was calling him to India -- so he booked passage to
Bombay.

During his journey, his trunk was lost and his money stolen, but he found
missionaries in Bombay who made him feel welcome.  He decided to call on the
mayor, who had rebuffed the requests of the missionaries to see him -- but
the mayor was impressed by the academic degrees printed on Dr. McCoy's card,
and made room to talk with him.  The mayor invited other notables to that
meeting, so Dr. McCoy began to make friends in high places.  Soon he found
himself invited to speak to influential people --large groups -- even the
students at India's "West Point." Wherever he went, he witnessed to Jesus.

Dr. McCoy lived for another 16 years.  During that time, he founded several
churches and became a much sought-after public speaker.  Well-known in
India, he also traveled to a number of Middle Eastern countries -- and even
to China -- speaking to large groups and witnessing to Christ.  It seemed to
him that the last 16 years of his life were more important than the first 72
years.

All of that happened because he heard the call of Christ -- and answered.


THOUGHT PROVOKERS:

Love's secret is always to be doing things for God,
and not to mind because they are such very little ones.

Frederick W. Faber

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

God has created me to do Him some definite service.
He has committed some work to me
which he has not committed to another.
I have a mission.
I may never know it in this life
but I shall be told it in the next.
Therefore I will trust Him.
If I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him.
He does nothing in vain.
He knows what He is about.
He may take away my friends.
He may throw me among strangers.
He may make me feel desolate,
make my spirits sink,
hide my future from me--
still He knows what He is about.

John Henry Newman

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper,
sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures,
sweep streets like Beethoven composed music,
sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry.
Sweep streets so well
that all the hosts of heaven and earth will have to pause and say:
Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
speaking to a group of Jr. High School students

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Christ calls each person to a particular calling, individually tailored for
that person.  Those who obey their particular call can be assured that their
lives will not be wasted.  Franz Joseph Haydn once spoke of his calling.  He
said:

Often when I was wrestling with obstacles of every kind,
when my physical and mental strength alike were running low
and it was hard for me to persevere in the path
on which I had set my feet,
a secret feeling within me whispered:
"There are so few happy and contented people here below.
Sorrow and anxiety pursue them everywhere.
Perhaps your work may, some day, become a spring
from which the careworn may draw a few moments rest and refreshment."

If you obey the call to which Christ is calling you, you will sometimes grow
weary.  But be assured that Christ is faithful and will make something
beautiful out of what appears to be only tedium at the moment.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

I long to accomplish a great and noble task,
but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks
as if they were great and noble.
Green, the historian, tells us that the world is moved along,
not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes,
but also by the aggregate of the tiny pulses of each honest worker.

Helen Keller, who became blind and deaf in early childhood,
and who inspired millions by her wisdom and achievements

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

HYMN STORY:  Dear Lord and Father of Mankind

John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892) grew up on a farm in Massachusetts.
While he did not have the advantage of a higher education, a teacher in the
district school that he attended as a boy introduced him to poetry.  He
became particularly fond of the poetry of Robert Burns.

Whittier was a lifelong Quaker whose faith shaped his life and much of his
writing.  He didn't intend to write hymns for two reasons:  First, he didn't
feel competent musically.  Second, in his Quaker tradition, hymns were not
sung in worship.  Nevertheless, several of his poems were set to music by
other people.  Many modern hymnals include one or two of his hymns, but
"Dear Lord and Father of Mankind" is the only one that has had nearly
universal acceptance.

The verses of this hymn come toward the end of a longer poem entitled, "The
Brewing of Soma."  Soma was an intoxicating drink used in Hindu worship to
induce religious frenzy.  Whittier, who was appalled at the frenzied
revivalism of his day, asks God to "Forgive our feverish ways."  He honors
quiet qualities of religious devotion -- "purer lives" -- "deeper
reverence" -- and "simple trust" -- qualities that he learned from his
Quaker faith.

Whittier's faith led him to become a strong advocate of the abolition of
slavery.  William Lloyd Garrison, the famous abolitionist, was the first
person to publish his poems, and the two men became lifelong friends.
Whittier was one of the founders of the Republican Party -- Lincoln's
party -- devoted to the abolition of slavery.  He lived long enough to see
the slaves freed in the United States.

NOTE:  See other hymn stories at http://www.lectionary.org/hymnstories.htm


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