Friends, I want to talk a little bit this morning about, primarily, this passage in Luke. I really like Luke's version of Lord's call to Simon Peter, James, and John to be His disciples. And, honestly, I like it better than what you hear in Matthew and Mark as they describe it. Matthew and Mark we're told as soon as Jesus started His ministry; He walks up the shore of Galilea and spots these fishermen, and says come on, follow me. And, they dropped what they were doing and followed. That doesn't sound as plausible to me as what we hear here. This is one of the reasons it sounds more believable. Let's talk about it a little bit. According to Luke Jesus had already started His ministry for some time. He had built a reputation. In fact He is standing on the shore, and there are so many people...maybe like me a little bit...I can relate to this...He gets uncomfortable and He needs some boats to step in to get away from everybody. People came to see Him. They had already heard what He had shared. He had been preaching in synagogues around town, he had been performing miracles, these large crowds had been following Him. So these two boats he spotted happened to belong to Simon Peter and his friends. As you can imagine, in those moments, Simon Peter got to hear everything Jesus was telling those crowds. We don't know exactly where Jesus ended up. But, I imagine it's in line with what we do hear from Jesus in other places. And, when Jesus had finished He suggested...rather, basically told, Simon Peter to go out into the deep area and put down your nets for a catch. Now, Simon Peter was very quick to point out that he and his partners had been fishing all night and had not caught a single fish. Yet, right after, he agreed. Now, I don't know if you missed this or not in there - what were Simon Peter and them doing before Jesus called them over? They were cleaning their nights. They fished all night, those nets had been in the water and hooked who knows what. They were cleaning them out...

About six weeks ago Jan Jones, as a spokesperson for the Worship Committee, gave me this assignment date for my message. We had completely agreed on it. I said, "Jan, that's Groundhog Day."

And, she said, "Oh!"

One of the most spectacular events in American. 'Spectacular' meaning spectacle. You probably saw it on the news this morning. Puxatowny Phil, two time zones east of us, DID see his shadow. Which meant, for them, six more weeks of winter.

However, I looked out the window this morning...

Today's readings come from the lectionary, and today is the third Sunday after epiphany, in ordinary time. It is 4 and a half weeks since Christmas day. I do want you to look back though, on your own Christmas season of giving and receiving. Because we are going to talk about those special gifts. Did you have a special gift or time to always cherish? There's going to be a slide where those special gifts are going to talked about. From this last Christmas did you receive a gift or was there time that you were always going to cherish? Or, unfortunately, it was a whirlwind of travel or hosting and coordinating family, and when it was all over you just glad it was behind you? As you think about that...

Today's readings come from the lectionary, and today is the third Sunday after epiphany, in ordinary time. It is 4 and a half weeks since Christmas day. I do want you to look back though, on your own Christmas season of giving and receiving. Because we are going to talk about those special gifts. Did you have a special gift or time to always cherish? There's going to be a slide where those special gifts are going to talked about. From this last Christmas did you receive a gift or was there time that you were always going to cherish? Or, unfortunately, it was a whirlwind of travel or hosting and coordinating family, and when it was all over you just glad it was behind you? As you think about that...

Early in our marriage we received the wonderful opportunity to join an organization called World Vision International. We were blessed with twelve years with this organization. We got to serve in 6 countries. Wonderful blessed years they were; the first of those was Vietnam. Right at the very end of the Vietnam War. That's the story we're going to share with you this morning.

Actually, it all started way back in 1966. I was a senior in college in Portland, Oregon...

When churches get in to conflict. People get dug-in and so much of it is about ego, and couch it in spiritual terms. Clergy like to think of themselves as martyrs when that happens. And, they think of themselves as Daniel being thrown to the lion's den. Or they think of the early Christians being thrown to the animals in the coliseum. There's an author I like who had, in my opinion, a far better analogy for the trials of being a clergyperson. And that is, that being a clergyperson is like being nibbled to death by ducks. That always stuck with me. And as you go home today and think about that, you'll think that's awful. But, it's true.

When I was quite new to the faith, I was always impressed by the story of young Solomon praying to God for wisdom. I thought that was a very good thing to aspire to, so I thought I would pray for wisdom. Yet, when seeking the wisdom of the faith one quickly learns that true wisdom is costly. To gain wisdom one must live through their own failures, and humiliations, and losses, and mistakes, and experiences, and defeats. And, equally important, not just live through them, but NOT deny them. But, be willing to own them and reflect on them...