“Follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fish…

          “I will make you fish for people.”

                   We have a tendency to think of fishing as leisure activity –

                             something we might do on vacation,

                                      or on a stolen morning or afternoon

                                                on a beautiful summer’s day.

                   So maybe we start to think of following Jesus

                             as an activity we can do at our leisure.

                                      Not so!

 

For Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John fishing wasn’t leisure time.

          It was their work!

                   And it was hard work – a major industry in Galilee,

                             and one at which even Zebedee, with his own boat

                                      and two sons to help,

                                                was hardly in a position to make a lot of money.

                   Hauling in those nets full of fish – when they did get full of fish –

                             was backbreaking work, not for the weak or old,

                                      but for strong young men.

                   And – like farming, fishing is weather dependent.

                             When one of those storms came up on Galilee,

                                      and they came up fast,

                                                they had to batten down the hatches

                                                          and head for shore as fast as possible.

 

So … when Jesus told those four young men “Follow me,”

          they were probably only too ready to leave their nets.

                   Of course, he had said they’d still be fishing …

                             but fishing for “people”?

                                      That thought must have been intriguing.

 

I’ve always been somewhat skeptical at how fast they followed,

          leaving not only the only livelihood they knew, but also their families.

          We know that at least Peter had a wife,

                   since we read about his mother-in-law in all three

                             of the synoptic Gospels:  Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

          I wonder what Zebedee thought when Jesus lured both of his sons away!

 

And when Jesus invites the four to follow, he doesn’t say

          I wonder if you would consider the possibility of tagging along –

            if you have the time, and it’s not too inconvenient … [Rev. Dr. George Hermanson,

            sermon “Light Cannot Be Divided”]

 

“Follow me” doesn’t just mean follow,

          but as one preacher pointed out, it means

                   accompany, learn from, respond to, imitate, be loyal to, bond with,

                   abide in…  [Hermanson]

 

And somehow, in spite of any misgivings they may have had –

          not reported by any of the Evangelists,

                   but posited by me, just because they were after all human –

                             in spite of that, they saw something in Jesus

                                      that made them want to follow,

                                                if only to find out more about this

                                                          “fishing for people” thing.

 

How did their lives change?

          First, they began to work with Jesus,

                   and as they traveled around with him

                             they developed a close relationship with him.

          But they didn’t only come into relationship with Jesus and each other,

                   but they also met many, many people,

                             most of whom were looking for something from Jesus.

          And he called other disciples, too,

                   and those others came into close relationship.

                             We have some evidence in the Gospels

                                      that those relationships weren’t always sweet and lovely!

 

Fishing – even fishing for people – is hard work!

          Even though we tend to think of fishing as mostly solitary,

                   the way Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John practiced it –

                             and the way they learned to fish for people –

                                      it was a group effort.

 

No fishing poles and fly fishing lures for them …

          they had nets, and those nets took a lot of team muscle power

                   to set up, to drag, and to haul in full of fish.

 

I am not a fisherperson.

An Episcopal priest, Samuel G. Candler, who is a fisherman,

          has suggested that there are aspects of fishing and discipleship

                   that help us to see that both are hard work:

                             first, there’s endurance:

                             we don’t know if we’ll be successful at once or whether

                                      it will take hours, or days, or even years …

                             second, Candler puns on angling,

                                      saying that being a Christian is about

                                                looking at everything from the angle of grace.

                             third, fishing teaches about discipline.

                                      Fishing takes practice, preparation, and self-discipline.

                                                We can’t become fishers of people

                                                          by only trying it once in awhile!

                             and fourth, there’s patience:

                                      waiting until the time is right,

                                                noticing the weather, the environment,

                                                          the atmosphere.

                                      Fishing for people means paying close attention

                                                to the people around us, what they need,

                                                          the language they speak,

                                                                   and how they respond to our message.

 

Perhaps most important of all is that once Jesus “catches” us,

          we don’t simply lie passively in his net.

                   He wants us to fish, too.

 

Candler says that Jesus is saying to us, not

          “Follow me and I will bring you into the net” but

                   Follow me and I will let you drag the net.  I will let you cast the net, mend the net,

                        care for the net.  Follow me and I will let you go out into the deep even up to your

                        heads.  Follow me and I may make you struggle against the current. 

 

Fishing for people doesn’t mean scaring folks into confessing Jesus as the Christ.

          Fishing for people doesn’t mean browbeating people into believing,

                   nor does it mean laying a whole bunch of rules on them.

 

Fishing for people means seeking out people to follow

          even through difficult and dark places and times,

                    but with the compassion, love, and light that Jesus brings.

 

Hard work?  Certainly!

          But following is like coming out of the very darkness

                   into God’s heavenly light.

 

To God be the glory, forever and ever.  Amen.