HYMN FOR EPIPHANY 5 The Summons/Jesus Calls us O’er the Tumult/Lord of all, You know our Hearts

Text: Gracia Grindal Tune: James E. Clemens Lord of all, you know our hearts, Show us now whom you have chosen. One who's able to impart Treasures from your Spirit’s ocean You can see what we cannot, Ev’ry thought.   Like Matthias who had seen Jesus baptized in the river, Watched him die and rise again, Give us one who can deliver Living witness to your Son, All he’s done.   Lead and guide us as we choose One to lead us by your gospel, Preaching, teaching your good news So that we may grow and prosper. Show the love your Spirit sends Never ends    REFLECTION Jesus Calling Peter The most amazing thing about the gospel is that Jesus, true God, becomes human. He is born into the most modest of families in the most modest of places, Bethlehem and a manger in a stable. He grows up among the simplest people, and follows in the trade of Joseph, the carpenter. When he assembles his disciples, he calls those from most the ordinary of professions—fishermen—to be his disciples. He transforms them into fishers of men and women, and they go out into the world to change it.   He doesn’t go to the elite or the most privileged. He finds Peter, Andrew, James and John, and the others who will be changed by his teachings and death and life. On seeing his resurrection, they will believe and go forth to all the world to testify to this new thing. As their listeners hear it, they will be moved by the Spirit and come to faith in Jesus. All the world will be changed.   Every one of his disciples will be utterly changed, even Judas whose despair at what he has done, causes him to commit suicide. The others will go from Jerusalem unto the uttermost parts of the earth and tell the story of Jesus to all who will listen. Soon the Christian faith will be proclaimed the religion of the Roman empire by Constantine in 325. For the next 1700 years, it will be the major religion of the west.   Some see that Christianity may be dying and losing its impact in the west, although it is growing in other parts of the world. God, however, has a way of continuing the work of calling people to faith even today. I have lately been encouraged by signs of new life. Some in leadership to say nothing of thousands of young people looking for connection and meaning, who had declared themselves to be atheists, are coming to a living faith in Jesus. They have heard the call to discipleship and are following the voice of our Lord as he calls out to them.   It is our vocation as Christians to issue the call on behalf of our Lord. Without hearing that call, many will continue lives of quiet desperation. This is an emergency. We need to pray, on behalf of those who are lost and despondent, that we can issue the call to those around us so they hear the good news. This is also the vocation of a call committee in a congregation—praying they may choose the right person to witness to the gospel in their midst. And be changed by that witness—and maybe even change others around them. It is our calling. Go forth!   HYMN INFO There are many hymns on the call to discipleship. The most popular one today is John Bell’s The Summons, Will you follow me, but the church also treasures O’er the Tumult Jesus calls us. My text is specifically about the call of Matthias who was chosen by the disciples to take the place of Judas. The only requirement for his being chosen was that he had been a witness to the life of Jesus, his baptism, his suffering and death, and his resurrection. The eleven chose two and then let God make the decision as they cast lots for him. Although we hear little of Matthias in succeeding accounts of the disciples, we understand that one who would be a disciple had to be a witness to the life, death and resurrection of our Lord, whether in person or, later, as a believer in the life, death and resurrection of our Lord. Jesus blesses those after his encounter with Thomas, commending those who will believe without seeing. Some call it a final Beatitude. It can be used for congregational call committees and congregations calling a pastor. What we do is urgent--to bring life to the dying!   LINKS to others hymns on Jesus Calling the Disciples Jesus Calls me O'er the Tumult https://www.hymnfortheday.com/post/hymn-308-jesus-calls-us-o-er-the-tumult The Summons by John Bell https://www.hymnfortheday.com/post/hymn-for-pentecost-13-will-you-follow-me