**Please note this service is based on the format of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church of Canada. Unless otherwise indicated, all prayers come from
Evangelical Lutheran Worship (ELW). Hymns and other prayers have been sourced
to give appropriate credit.
**NRSV translation used for the readings, unless otherwise stated.
Introduction to the Day
The fifth Sunday after Epiphany continues to highlight unlikely
instruments and circumstances appointed to reveal God’s glory. “Who will go for
us?” God asks. A person of unclean lips, a former persecutor of the church of
God, and three fishermen who couldn’t catch a thing. More surprising still,
perhaps, is that we are also called.
Thanksgiving for Baptism
Blessed be the holy Trinity, ☩ one God, the fountain
of living water, the rock who gave us birth, our light and our salvation.
Amen.
Joined to Christ in the waters of baptism, we are clothed with God’s
mercy and forgiveness. Let us give thanks for the gift of baptism.
We give you thanks, O God,
for in the beginning your Spirit moved over the waters
and by your Word you created the world,
calling forth life in which you took delight.
Through the waters of the flood, you delivered Noah and his family.
Through the sea you led your people Israel from slavery into freedom.
At the river your Son was baptized by John and anointed with the Holy
Spirit.
By water and your Word, you claim us as daughters and sons,
making us heirs of your promise and servants of all.
We praise you for the gift of water that sustains life,
and above all we praise you for the gift of new life in Jesus Christ.
Shower us with your Spirit,
and renew our lives with your forgiveness, grace, and love.
To you be given honour and praise
through Jesus Christ our Lord
in the unity of the
Holy Spirit, now and forever.
Amen.
Gathering Song – Holy, Holy, Holy,
Lord God Almighty! (ELW #413)
Greeting
The grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God,
and the communion
of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
And also with you.
Kyrie – Kyrie Eleison
Canticle of Praise
– Glory to God
Prayer of the Day
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Let us pray.
Most holy God, the earth is filled with your glory, and before you
angels and saints stand in awe. Enlarge our vision to see your power at work in
the world, and by your grace make us heralds of your Son, Jesus Christ, our
Saviour and Lord.
Amen.
Readings
A reading from the Book of Isaiah 6:1-13
In the year that King
Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of
his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six
wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet,
and with two they flew. And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is
the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is
full of his glory.”
The pivots on the
thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with
smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I
live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord
of hosts!”
Then one of the
seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with
a pair of tongs. The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: “Now that this
has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.”
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go
for us?” And I said, “Here am I; send me!” And he said, “Go and say to this
people:
‘Keep listening, but
do not comprehend;
keep looking, but do
not understand.’
Make the mind of this
people dull,
and stop their ears,
and shut their eyes,
so that they may not
look with their eyes,
and listen with their ears,
and comprehend with
their minds,
and turn and be healed.”
Then I said, “How
long, O Lord?” And he said:
“Until cities lie
waste
without inhabitant,
and houses without
people,
and the land is utterly desolate;
until the Lord sends
everyone far away,
and vast is the emptiness in the midst of
the land.
Even if a tenth part
remain in it,
it will be burned again,
like a terebinth or
an oak
whose stump remains standing
when it is felled.”
The holy seed is its
stump.
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Psalm 138
I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole
heart;
before the gods I sing your praise;
I bow down toward
your holy temple
and give thanks to your name for your
steadfast love and your faithfulness;
for you have exalted your name and your
word
above everything.
On the day I called, you answered me,
you
increased my strength of soul.
All the kings of the
earth shall praise you, O Lord,
for they have heard the words of your
mouth.
They shall sing of the ways of the Lord,
for
great is the glory of the Lord.
For though the Lord
is high, he regards the lowly;
but the haughty he perceives from far away.
Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you
preserve me against the wrath of my enemies;
you stretch out your
hand,
and your right hand delivers me.
The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me;
your
steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.
Do
not forsake the work of your hands.
A reading from the First Letter from Paul to the Corinthians 15:1-11
Now I would remind you, brothers and
sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received,
in which also you stand, through which also you are being saved, if you hold
firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you—unless you have come to believe
in vain.
For I handed on to you as of first
importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in
accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised
on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to
Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers
and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died.
Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one
untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles,
unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by
the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain.
On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them—though it was not I, but the
grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and
so you have come to believe.
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Gospel Acclamation – Alleluia
The Holy Gospel according to Luke 5:1-11
Glory to you, O Lord.
Once while Jesus was standing beside
the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word
of God, he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone
out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one
belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then
he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When he had finished speaking,
he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a
catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught
nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had done this,
they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. So they
signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came
and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it,
he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful
man!” For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that
they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were
partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on
you will be catching people.” When they had brought their boats to shore, they
left everything and followed him.
The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O
Christ.
Sermon
May only truth be spoken and truth heard.
When
doing my research for this week’s sermon, most commentaries leaned towards
speaking on the resurrection. For many clergy, the message today will be “Christ
died for our sins. He was buried, and on the third day he rose” and then going
on about the proof and witnesses (leaving out the women, of course, as Paul
does) of Christ’s resurrection.
I
mean, as Christians, the Easter message is the biggest piece of good news we have!
It is our Gospel! Why wouldn’t we talk about it every chance we have?
But
there is a little nugget in line 10 from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians that
appears to have been glossed over, overshadowed by Christianity’s most important
event.
“But
by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in
vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them – though it was not I,
but the grace of God that is with me.”
Just
before this line, Paul shows his doubts and expresses his unworthiness to stand
in the presence of a God of such great mercy and grace. When Paul refers to
himself as “one untimely born,” he uses harsh language to contrast his own
worth in the presence of the wondrous gift of the God’s resurrection of Christ.
But
still, he recognizes that by God’s grace he is able to stand with confidence in
God’s presence. “I am what I am”, he says.
I
am what I am. Quite the statement.
A
lot of people struggle to accept themselves. Perhaps they have been bullied, or
abused, or fall outside societal norms, or know they are different but can’t or
won’t name it, or have experienced rejection from friend, family, or church.
To
say to yourself “I am what I am” is one of the hardest things to do.
And
even if you can say that to yourself, can you say it to everyone else? Can you push
aside how you are treated by the public so that you can live the life that you
love, to be the person that you are?
Many,
I might even throw out the word most, people struggle with this on a daily basis.
Instead of being themselves, they push it down (whatever “it” might be) and try
to live how their friends, family, society, want them to be.
Deciding
to live by the phrase “I am what I am” will determine your relationships.
In
the case of the verse in question, Paul is putting his trust in God’s grace and
that he knows that relationship has not been in vain.
I
am what I am, and God loves me anyway. Living as yourself strengthens your
relationship with God, even if it weakens it with others.
I
can tell you that many queer folx struggle with this question. Being told they
are an abomination, they go against nature, they go against God…eventually it
becomes easier to hide than to take the bullying and negativity.
But
one can only hide for so long before it eats away at you. When you hear “no” enough
times, you begin to believe it.
For
queer Christians, there is a battle raging on whether or not they will be
accepted by church peers, and more importantly by God.
But
line 10 here can definitely be used to reassure us all, and I am definitely looking
at my queer cohorts, the God does indeed love us and accepts us, just the way
we are.
“But
by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in
vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them – though it was not I,
but the grace of God that is with me.”
I
am what I am. Period.
God’s
grace exists for me just as much as it does for you. Period.
I
am what I am by the grace of God in a private capacity and upon a level with
other Christians.
I
am a chosen vessel of salvation, not by works, nor on account of faith, or any
holiness on my part, but by the grace of God.
I
am regenerated, called, sanctified, justified, pardoned, and adopted by God’s
grace.
I
am a believer in Christ through faith, as a gift of God's grace, and having a
good hope of eternal glory the same way.
I
am what I am – a minister of the Gospel, an apostle – and I am in that office
purely by the grace of God.
I
did nothing to earn God’s grace and love except to be who I am – a child of God
in the perfect way that God made me.
I
pray that you can say the same for yourself.
I
am what I am. You are what you are. We are what we are. And God loves us
anyway.
Amen.
Hymn of the Day – You Have Come Down to the Lakeshore (ELW #817)
Creed
Let us confess the faith of our baptism, as we
say the Apostles’ Creed:
I
believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator
of heaven and earth.
I
believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord,
who
was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born
of the virgin Mary,
suffered
under Pontius Pilate,
was
crucified, died, and was buried;
he
descended to the dead.*
On
the third day he rose again;
he
ascended into heaven,
he
is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and
he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I
believe in the Holy Spirit,
the
holy catholic church,
the
communion of saints,
the
forgiveness of sins,
the
resurrection of the body,
and
the life everlasting. Amen.
Prayers of Intercession
The Spirit of the Lord is poured out upon us in abundance; so we are
bold to pray for the church, the world, and all that God has made.
Silence
Equip your church to proclaim the good news that we have first received:
the forgiveness and grace shown to us through Jesus Christ. Send us out as
apostles, sharing the hope of your salvation with a waiting world.
God of grace,
Hear our prayer.
Holy are you, O God of hosts. Heaven and earth are filled with your glory.
Reveal your splendor in fiery sunsets and in deep blue twilights. Teach us to
recognize you in the beauty of our natural world.
God of grace,
Hear our prayer.
Soften the hearts of rulers and governments that they perceive and tend
to the needs of their people. Remove corruption and the impulse toward
violence. Protect first responders and military personnel who risk their lives
in service of others.
God of grace,
Hear our prayer.
Your steadfast love endures forever; do not abandon those who look to
you for
hope and healing. Bless doctors, nurses, social workers, therapists, and
all caregivers. Draw near to those who are scared, sick, or in pain.
God of grace,
Hear our prayer.
The disciples received help from partners as they brought in an abundant
catch of fish. So strengthen this congregation’s partnerships with community
organizations and ministries. Multiply our shared efforts and bring joy to our
relationships.
God of grace,
Hear our prayer.
Please take time to offer your own intercessions or pray in silence.
We give thanks for our ancestors in faith who boldly answered your call.
By their example give us courage to live in faith and to proclaim your mercy
until the day that you gather us into your glory.
God of grace,
Hear our prayer.
Since we have such great hope in your promises, O God, we lift these and
all of our prayers to you in confidence and faith; through Jesus Christ our
Saviour.
Amen.
Peace
The peace of Christ be with you always.
And also with you.
Offering Hymn – Here I Am, Lord (ELW #574)
Offering
Prayer
Let us pray.
Blessed are you, O God, Sovereign of the
universe. You offer us new beginnings and guide us on our journey. Lead us to
your table, nourish us with this heavenly food, and prepare us to carry your
love to a hungry world, in the name of Christ our light.
Amen.
Dialogue
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the
Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give
our thanks and praise.
Preface
It is indeed right, our duty and our joy,
that we should at all times and in all places
give thanks and praise to you, almighty and
merciful God,
through our Savior Jesus Christ;
who on this day overcame death and the grave,
and by his glorious resurrection opened to us
the way of everlasting life.
And so, with all the choirs of angels,
with the church on earth and the hosts of
heaven,
we praise your name and join their unending
hymn:
Holy Lord – Listen Here
Thanksgiving at the
Table
Blessed are you, O holy God:
you are the
Life and Light of all.
By your powerful word you created all things.
Through the prophets you called your people to
be a light to the nations.
Blessed are you for Jesus, your Son.
He is your Light, shining in our darkness
and revealing
to us your mercy and might.
In the night in which he was betrayed,
our Lord
Jesus took bread, and gave thanks;
broke it, and
gave it to his disciples, saying:
Take and eat;
this is my body, given for you.
Do this for the remembrance of me.
Again, after supper, he took the cup, gave
thanks,
and gave it
for all to drink, saying:
This cup is
the new covenant in my blood,
shed for you
and for all people for the forgiveness of sin.
Do this for the remembrance of me.
Remembering, therefore,
his preaching
and healing,
his dying and
rising,
and his
promise to come again,
we await that
day when all the universe
will rejoice
in your holy and life-giving light.
By your Spirit bless us and this meal,
that,
refreshed with this heavenly food,
we may be
light for the world,
revealing the
brilliance of your Son.
Through him all glory and honor is yours,
Almighty
Father, with the Holy Spirit,
in your holy
Church,
both now and
forever.
Amen.
Lord’s Prayer
Gathered into one by the Holy Spirit, let us
pray as Jesus taught us.
Our Father, who art
in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our
daily bread;
and forgive us our
trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us;
and lead us not into
temptation,
but deliver us from
evil.
For thine is the
kingdom,
and the power, and
the glory,
forever and ever.
Amen.
Invitation to
Communion
Come to God’s table.
There is a place for you and enough for all.
Sharing of the Eucharist
Table Blessing
The body and blood of our Lord
Jesus Christ strengthen you
and keep you in his grace.
Amen.
Prayer After
Communion
Let us pray.
We give you thanks, gracious God, for we have
feasted on the abundance of your house. Send us to bring good news and to
proclaim your favor to all, strengthened with the richness of your grace in
your Son, Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Blessing
God, who leads you in pathways of
righteousness, who rejoices over you, and who calls you by name, ☩ bless your going out and your coming in, today and forever.
Amen.
Sending Song – Will You Come and Follow Me (ELW #798)
Dismissal
Go with Christ into a weary world.
Share the good news.
Thanks be to God.
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