Theme for the day - Call

This Sunday we hear two stories about “call”.  We hear Paul’s call to let go of all his fear and follow this Jesus he chased to Damascus. He understood the consequences of what Jesus taught more than just about anyone else then or since. His yes led him to be the great planter of Christianity among those he would once not even eat with. His eyes are opened in so many ways. His yes turns him into a very unpopular radical.

Peter too is called although we often miss that. Around a charcoal fire he had denied his call to be a disciple, a follower of Jesus. While Jesus’ resurrection was amazing, it changed nothing. His call was still denied. He didn’t know how to respond to a risen Jesus. So with no way forward he went home with some others, and tried to make some money. And even that bore no fruit, or fish. In the darkness of his despair and lostness Jesus meets him around another charcoal fire. Three times Jesus invites him to be his disciple – “feed my sheep”. Peter is invited to live a resurrected life and be God’s agent of change, to live as Jesus had lived – washing feet, living love, sharing justice with food for all symbolised with this meal of bread and fish – honouring all who ate.

As we hear these stories, I wonder what Jesus is saying to us as individuals and as a church. How do we answer the call to love? As we look ahead to a world changed by covid, how are we invited to live a resurrected life and “feed my sheep”?