Fifth Sunday after Epiphany: Week of February 6, 2022

Begin your devotion time by praying this prayer: God of love, just as Jesus called the first disciples, so you call us to walk with Jesus in the way of love. Grant us the courage to go and follow him. Amen.

Reflect on the Way of Love together: This week’s practice on the Way of Love is GO. Imagine how the first disciples felt when Jesus called them to go and follow him. How would you feel? What is easy about following Jesus, and what is hard?

Adult and Small Child

Read: Luke 5:1-11

Reflect: In this story, we hear about Jesus calling his first disciples, or followers. Jesus’ disciples were unexpected people (like fishermen!) who dropped everything to go and follow him. I wonder if those people found it hard or easy to drop everything and go follow Jesus? They make it look so easy, but if I were in their place, I think I would find it hard to do.

We might not drop our fish nets to follow Jesus, but we follow Jesus, too! No matter who we are or what we do, we are called to walk with Jesus. We go out to learn about Jesus’ love and how to share this love with other people.

Respond: What do you think it looked like when Jesus called the first disciples? Color a picture of that scene. Share your pictures with others in your household. Then, go share your pictures with someone who doesn’t live in your home (like a friend or a relative.)

- Victoria Hoppes

Adult and Elementary

Read: Luke 5:1-11

Reflect: I am going to make a guess that, over the past year and a half, you have experienced boredom. Was your school closed? My school was. Did you have the opportunity to visit your friends? I didn't have a chance to visit any friends. Every single day had a boring sameness to it. I learned to make my own fun by going on nature walks. Did you come up with some ways to prevent boredom? While reflecting on the reading, I imagined that the disciples felt bored after a long night of fishing. When Jesus directed the disciples to let down their nets just one more time, they caught so many fish that their nets were breaking! When Jesus gets involved, we can give ourselves one more try and we can expect the unexpected!

Respond: Go on a nature walk with a trusted adult. As you walk, take mental notes of the trees. Are there any leaves in the trees? What are the birds doing? When you return from your walk, say a prayer of thanksgiving for the natural world.

- Imani Driskell

Adult and Youth

Read: Luke 5:1-11

Reflect: In this passage, Jesus calls his first disciples. The disciples had fished all night and caught nothing. They were cleaning their nets to go home when miraculously, at the command of Jesus, their nets were overwhelming with fish. They actually needed another boat to come and help them load all that they had caught. Then, they even had to call their friends for help and their boats were so full of fish they even began to sink. Can you imagine how much money this would have brought them at the marketplace? However, the disciples left it all behind to follow Jesus. Can you imagine the feeling that James, John, and Peter had looking at the once in a lifetime catch and then choosing to walk away from it all? In front of them is Jesus and an uncertain future but they believed and trusted so strongly that something even better lay ahead of them.

Respond: All of us are called to different places and careers. But no matter where we go or what career paths we choose, we are all called to follow Jesus. What is something weighing you down this week? Let go of something today that you are still holding on to. This could be a feeling or something weighing heavy on your heart or it could be something as simple as a closet full of clutter that maybe you need to clean out. What can you let go of to be a better follower of Christ today?

- Lauren Wainwright

Adult and Adults

Read: Luke 5:1-11

Reflect: This gospel story is one of my favorites, partly because of how radically counter-cultural it is, both in Jesus’ time and our own; partly because every time I hear it, I recall comedian Jim Gaffigan’s hilarious set where he enacts this scene and tells us that the first thing this group of fishermen do after Jesus calls them is argue about whether they should call themselves “the apostles� or the ‘disciples� and then beg Jesus to be allowed to make matching team jackets with a bird on the back. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s almost exactly how it went. The first followers Jesus picks are so relatable and so not what would’ve been expected. These were poor, uneducated teenagers who didn’t spend much time out in the world, mostly because they stank. I can only imagine what that particular combination of “eau de teenage boy� and fish juice would’ve been like!

Respond: Luke tells us that the people Jesus chose to be his closest advisors were: Simon, James, and John, Simon’s brother Andrew (all fisherman), Philip (a spiritual pilgrim who was following John the Baptist, then suddenly wanders away and follows Jesus), Bartholomew (a disdainful scholar who thinks Jesus can’t be the savior because he’s from a backwater town), Matthew (a publican/tax collector), Thomas (the doubter),another James (Jesus’ brother and possibly the first ever bishop), another Simon (the zealot), Judas (no, not the one you’re thinking of, this one was possibly Jesus’ brother, and is the “patron saint of lost causes�), and Judas Iscariot (yes, the one you’re thinking of). There weren’t any non-men listed in this first wave of followers, though they might have existed, but Luke goes into detail describing Jesus’ “second wave� of followers, all women. Which of these people do you identify with most? What gifts and talents might each of them bring to a new ministry and who in your church might you connect with that has those same gifts and talents to share?

- Jessica Davis