June 29, 2025
“Can You Hear Me Now?”
Luke 5:1-11
Rev. Shannon Jordan
We are continuing our sermon series, “How Can I Keep from Singing” as we explore some of
our congregation’s favorite hymns. Today we are looking at the hymn “The Summons: Will You
Come and Follow Me.”
Please hear the word of the Lord as I read our text from Luke 5.
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
gotten 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 burst. 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’s knees, saying, “Go
away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” For he and all who were with him were astounded
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.
Imagine a phone ringing right now. If you have different ringtones, you know who is calling. I
know if John is calling, or one of my children. For everyone else it is Bon Jovi’s “Living on a
Prayer.” Wouldn’t we love to receive a call with maybe the hymn “Will You Come and Follow
Me” as the ringtone and we would KNOW it was God giving us a job! Unfortunately it doesn’t
work this way! This morning we are going to explore how do we hear from God. Assuming none
of us want to miss God’s call to “Come and Follow Me,” how do we do this as faithful
Christians?
In the hymn in focus this morning, titled “Will You Come and Follow Me?”, Jesus is asking “Will
you come and follow me? To be transformed, to change the world, to make a difference?” I think
if I could see little thought bubbles over people’s heads I would get a whole variety of answers.
A few may have something that says, “Yep, doing what God wants!” Others would be, “How
would I even know?” Maybe a few, “Wow, I am afraid God would ask me to do something
really, really hard.” There could be a, “I think I know what God wants, but I am not sure.” There
are probably 20 more versions of these as well. Today we are going to explore how to know if
God is calling and discerning what God is saying.
Let’s look at Jeremiah first. Jeremiah 1 is a classic call narrative. Call narratives in scripture are
the places where God comes to someone and gives them a job. Usually the person states a reason
that they are not a good fit for God’s job, God counters, and then the person steps in. We see this
in Jeremiah. God calls, Jeremiah says he is too young, God says “don’t say you are only a boy,
go and say what I tell you to say.”
Many places in Jeremiah there are words to the people of Judah about their actions and how far
they have come from God’s way of doing things.
Jeremiah was called to speak God’s truth to God’s people and show them how to live God’s way.
We can see a version of this in the calling of the disciples in Luke 5. Luke’s version of the calling
of the disciples is the longest and most detailed.
Prior to their calling, Luke has Jesus teaching in the synagogue, healing a demon possessed man,
and even Peter’s mother-in-law. He had so many people following him to listen to him teach that
he asks Peter if he can use his boat to go out into the water to preach so the crowds could better
hear. He then performed the miracle of the fish.
How do we set ourselves up for successfully following the call of Jesus found in this favorite
hymn so that we can do what God has called us to do like Jeremiah or the disciples? What is our
place in the system of gifts God has put in place here at FPCA right now? We can’t do it all. We
shouldn’t do it all. But we each have a place or a purpose, and it is our calling to figure that out.
Three steps come to mind to help us discern God’s call: attention, awareness and action.
First, Attention – Are we even listening? How do we hear God call us to follow? Unfortunately, it probably won’t be a phone call.
Looking at the Luke passage, we can notice that people are putting themselves into God’s path
through spiritual practices like going to the synagogue.
The future disciples had paid attention. They heard him teach. They saw him heal people. They
put themselves into his presence.
Jesus showed his power to the disciples in the miracle of the fish and then he called them to be
fishers of people—he spoke to them in a language they could understand. They paid attention.
We all need to regularly be asking ourselves how tuned in to God are we? Are we cranking along
in the fast lane and missing God’s direction or call in our lives?
We laughed about how great it would be for God to call us up on our phone, even with a special
ringtone…so that we could hop to and do what God wants us to do.
But the reality is, just like there are people who put their phones on do not disturb, or vibrate, or
leave their phone at home and only check it periodically, do we do that ourselves in some way or
another? Do we have practices in our lives to help us pay attention? Are we living at a pace that
allows us to pay attention? We can do this by spending time reading and studying God’s word.
When we come together and worship. When we join Koinonia Groups, the choir, or help out in
our children’s program or with the youth, we are bathed in God’s word and God’s way of doing
things. It changes our perspective, and we start seeing the world differently.
Second, Awareness – How do I know it’s God’s voice?
You may have had a nudge to do something and wondered if it is God. You may be wondering
how to know if it is my idea or God’s? Is this Culture’s idea or God’s?
To begin with, we need to get to know God and God’s will. God’s way of doing things. We need
to be paying attention and we need to learn to be aware of when things are according to God’s
will and when they are not. As David said so well in his sermon last week Christ as our Looking
Glass on “Be Thou My Vision,” when we learn to let God be our vision, we can learn to see things
God’s way. We become AWARE of what needs to be done and can start responding in small
ways to do that. We learn to see God at work around us.
One of my favorite social media reels or videos is the one about the Magic Coffee Table.
A woman comes in after a hard day at work. The man is sitting on the sofa vegging out and says
“What’s for dinner? I am hungry.” The woman replies why can’t you make dinner? I have been
working too. She is angry and frustrated that she has to do it all. The man says to just chill,
he would let her in on a secret. He shows her a basket on the counter and explains that it is a
magic basket that washes and folds clothes. You put clothes in and the next day, they are clean
and folded. She asks him if he is serious, and he said yes, but there is more. Then he explained
that she should just put all of the clutter on the coffee table and go to bed. When she got up in the
morning, it would be magically cleared off. Pizza boxes, dishes, dirty tissues, anything,
magically cleaned off. She looks at the guy in shock. The scene cuts to him talking to the police
explaining she wouldn’t have left him, that maybe she had fallen on the magic coffee table. The
one police officer says “are you serious?” and the other says he has the same coffee table.
We need to be living our lives where we are aware of our surroundings and looking for ways to
be God’s people in the world. We need to look for ways to love our neighbors and care for the
marginalized, and not just because we are told to. We need to be paying attention in our daily
lives and not waiting for a magic coffee table to make our world better. God wants us to be a part
of the solution.
Becoming aware of God’s call comes down to our practices. Spend time with God. Read
scripture. It is incredible how the Spirit speaks to us perfectly in the word of God. As we tune in
to God, we can absolutely discern God’s will for us over time. Spend time with God’s people.
Pay attention to what stirs in your heart as you read our bulletin, or as you read the news. God
will let you know.
Attention, Awareness, and now Action.
Action – What does it mean to follow?
At some point we have to do what God calls us to do. It may be something small that is our first
step towards something bigger. Our hymn this morning has many options for how to follow God.
How we open ourselves up to God’s will in our lives. How God transforms us more and more
into Christ’s image.
I encourage you to do something. It can be what you are already doing, but open yourself up to
God’s leading in the midst of that. It can be doing what you are doing but in a nicer, less stressed
way. It can be creating enough margins in our lives so that we can spend more time with God
and/or be more responsive to the needs of others. It can be something new and big. The key is to
hear God’s call.
In Luke it started with Peter sharing his boat with Jesus, then dropping his nets on the other side
of the boat. It was the wrong time of day to fish and it wasn’t logical to just put nets on other side
of boat, but Peter does the illogical and there were great rewards through the power of the Spirit.
It was something he had done countless times. This time it was with God’s timing and power and
the results were astounding. After seeing God’s incredible work, the disciples were able to leave
everything and follow Jesus. Did they do it perfectly? No, they were a bit bumbling, but God
used their less than perfect actions to do amazing things.
And God can use us too. We don’t have to be perfect—nor do the others in the church!
Sometimes God calls us to do big things, and sometimes small things and sometimes God calls
us to do nothing.
Some people think that a call is only for pastors or missionaries, but as Christians, we are all
called to live like Jesus. We are all called to live according to God’s will in our daily lives. We
know not to lie, cheat or steal. We know we are to love not only our neighbors but our enemies.
Letting the Spirit transform us into the people who can do that is a call. God may a call us to be
married, or parents, or single. Those can be calls on our lives. We can also have a call to serve in
some capacity, here at church or in the wider community. Scripture says we all have gifts to be
used for God’s world.
A call is often something that we can’t say no to. The idea keeps coming up and if we pay
attention we can discern that it is God’s call to change the status quo and go in a new direction.
God’s call for us will be consistent with Jesus’s life and teachings and can be confirmed by other
faithful people—someone in your life who can help you discern God’s will. Some of us have
friends or spouses who can help confirm. Others have spiritual directors or they come to their
pastor. If you are wondering, reach out—Patrick, David, Caitlin, and myself, we would all love to
be a part of that conversation and discernment—that is our call!
I do imagine God being in some way like the Verizon guy asking Can you hear me now? We
may not hear God’s call through a ringtone or a flash of lightning, but in the quiet moments, the
stirring of your heart, the nudge that won’t go away… God is speaking. And just like with
Jeremiah, just like with Peter, James, and John, that voice calls us not to perfection but to
participation. We are called to pay attention, to grow in awareness, and to take faithful action.
It may not always be comfortable or convenient. It may not look like much at first. But when we
say yes, when we follow, we become part of something deeper, wider, and more holy than we
ever imagined. It is so worth it so say yes!