One day Jesus was passing along the Sea of Galilee and he saw Simon and Andrew casting a net into the sea as they normally did being fishermen. Jesus said to them “Follow me and I will make you become fishers of men.” When you read this it sounds like Jesus just all of a sudden decided to call these two men whom he has never met. That is not the case. More than likely these two had been in the crowds that had listened to Jesus speaking. No doubt a spark was kindled within them and when Jesus called them to follow him, that spark ignited into a flame of faith.
We notice that Peter, Andrew, James and John were all simple people. They were not of the aristocracy. They were not highly educated. They did not have doctorates nor were they part of the well heeled society. And yet, Jesus called them to become a new type of fisherman.
Notice here that Jesus used something to connect with them with which they could relate. He didn’t say “Follow me and I will make you evangelists who will proclaim the gospel.” No, he used an image with which they were familiar. This is a good thing to remember when we want to talk to our friends about Jesus. Use analogies that they can understand.
When Jesus called them to be fishers of men the fish instantly became a Christian symbol. The Greek word for fish is “Ichthus.” Christians would later assign a meaning to each letter in the word fish. So the Christian symbol for fish represented Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior. During times of persecution Christians who wanted to know if the person they were talking to was a Christian would often draw part of a fish in the dirt. If the person to whom they were talking was a Christian that person would draw the other half of the fish. By this they knew that it was safe to talk about Jesus.
When Jesus called Simon (which was St. Peter’s name before Jesus changed it) and Andrew their priorities changed. They were no longer going to be focusing on fishing for fish, but fishing for people. When Jesus calls you and me, our priorities begin to change. We begin to think more about Jesus, more about the importance of sharing him with others, and more about what God wants to do with our lives.
When Jesus was about ready to ascend to the Father after his resurrection he told his disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they were clothed with power from on high. That power, we find out, was to give them a boldness, a courage and an ability to more effectively tell others about Jesus and the gospel. Jesus said, “You WILL BE my witnesses.” You will be fishers of people.
In order for us to be more effective as we fish for people I believe there are some analogies we can draw from these fishermen to help us.
First, there are three main kinds of fishing in Jesus’ day. Fishermen fished with big nets that they would throw over the side and scoop up a whole bunch of fish. They also used the types of nets spoken of in our gospel lesson today, a smaller one person net that could be thrown into the water by hand to catch fish. The net fishing image could speak of the type of fishing I do on Sunday mornings when I preach to a larger group of people. The small net analogy could speak of the opportunity that you and I might have to witness to a small group of people to whom we might be talking.
The third main kind of fishing in Jesus’ day was what we might call pole fishing. That is fishing with a pole, line, hook and bait. We might relate that to sharing the gospel one on one with another person.
With pole fishing we must use the right kind of bait.
There was a game warden that came to a lake and heard a big explosion. He looked out on the lake and saw a man lighting sticks of dynamite and throwing them into the water. Dead fish would come to the surface and the man would scoop them into his boat. The game warden got his boat and went out next to the man’s boat and said to him, “Don’t you know it is against the law to fish with dynamite? And he proceeded to quote the statutes to the man. After a few minutes the man lit a stick of dynamite and handed it to the game warden and said, “Are you going to fish or talk?”
When we are trying to interest others in the Lord we don’t want to cause an explosion. We don’t want to leave our efforts dead in the water. We want to use the right kind of bait.
Before we can talk about what kind of bait to use, we must first be convinced and determined that we want to catch fish. I have met Episcopalians who have not even seen the need to share the gospel with someone else. It is almost, in their view, tacky, and you know tacky is about the most unpardonable sin an Episcopalian can commit, at least according to some. Before we can be motivated to fish for people we must realize that people are perishing without Jesus, and this must break our hearts. Until we realize that each person without a saving relationship with Jesus needs that relationship, we are never going to be motivated to share the gospel with others or to try to catch fish.
The second thing to know about fishing in order for us to be successful in fishing for people is that we must go to where the fish are. A boy was walking along the lake one day and he came upon a man fishing. He asks the man, “How many fish you got mister?” “None yet,” he was told. “That ain’t bad,” replied the boy, “There was a fellow who fished here for two weeks and didn’t get any more than you got in a half hour.”
It is so easy for us to surround ourselves with church people and Christians to the extent that we never have any contact with unbelievers or non-churchgoers. We must be willing to befriend people in environments which may not be church related. Neighborhood associations, bridge clubs, health clubs, service organizations, sports leagues, PTAs, and the list goes on. If we are in a place and we are not having success catching fish, or even getting them to nibble on our bait, then perhaps it is time to move on to another fishing hole.
When we go out to fish we must use the right kind of line. It is a line that is an honest line. We dare not speak falsely concerning ourselves or our Lord. Christian Comedian Mike Warnke many years ago made many false statements about his life before he came to Christ. His powerful comedy witness for Jesus was tarnished because he misrepresented himself. We must use a line to which people can relate. What are their interests? Can we relate the gospel to something they are interested in?
I began to talk to a friend who was really into the party scene. He lived for the weekends and he lived to party. As I started talking about the Lord I was able to relate to him that at one time I was a real party sort of guy. I related to him how I did that to try to fill an emptiness that I had inside. I then shared that when I gave my life to Jesus He filled up that emptiness that I had inside to the point that I no longer had a need or desire to party for the sake of trying to fill this void. This line opened the door for many other chances to share the gospel with him. We must use the right kind of line and it must be an honest one.
We must also use the right kind of bait, as I said earlier. One of the best kinds of bait we can use is the bait of a changed life. If Christ has really changed our lives and made them better perhaps others might believe that He can change their lives. If people see a joy, love and peace about us; if they see an excitement about our faith, then they want to see what makes us that way. If they lack hope, we can show them that Christ can give them hope. If they lack purpose, we can lead them to the one who can give them purpose.
Another kind of bait we can use is a genuine interest in the person we are trying to catch for the Lord. When people see us wanting to know them, to learn about them, and to share our lives with them, they will begin to trust us and want to find our about us. It is then that the door of sharing the gospel will be open. We can ask questions to help us to find out where they are coming from spiritually. We can then be ready to give them our perspective on how the gospel relates to the answers they give.
The Word of God can be a great bait to use. It is powerful and used correctly can cut to the heart of person and connect to their deepest needs.
Assuming we are using the right bait, we must then use the right hook – the hook of Jesus Christ. We are not the hook, Jesus is. We lose our effectiveness when we try to hook them on the church or an experience or any thing. As we present the beauty of Christ and what he has done for all then they can have a chance of being hooked by Jesus.
You may say to yourself, “Well, I know about all the equipment and I know a lot about fishing but I can’t catch fish. I have no training. I don’t know the Bible very well. I’m not a good speaker. I’m afraid the fish will reject me. I don’t like fish.”
Some are very unselfish. They say, “I’ll bring them to church and let Fr. Roger catch them.” I appreciate your desire to be unselfish, but you need to fish too!
If you feel uneasy about fishing for people you are not alone! Jeremiah was called by the Lord to prophesy. He said, “How can I do this, I am only a child, I do not know how to speak. We see in our first lesson how this fearful young man was filled with the Word of God and with the Spirit to the point that he was able to boldly proclaim what the Lord was saying.
Moses, when given the charge by God to lead his people out of bondage, said, “I am afraid to speak to the people. I stammer, I’m not the one to lead this people.” God said, “You can do it! I will be with you and give you the ability and the words you need.”
Gideon said, “I can’t be the leader of these people.” God said, “Yes you can!” St. Paul could have said, “I can’t be a witness for you. I can’t speak to others about you. Look at what I have done in the past. I persecuted Christians. I sinned against you.” God said, “I have wiped out your past. Now your past will only be used to show my power and my grace.”
Do you want to become a successful fisher of people?
You must first have been caught by Jesus. Author Paul Achtemeier sums it up well:
“Our lives are never the same after contact with Jesus. For one thin, he opens our insight into ourselves. He is dangerous to the way we have lived and the way we want to live. He lets us see dimensions of ourselves that are not pleasant to see. In the light of his grace, the dark corners of our lives come into view, and we are forced to admit we are not what we pretend to be, or even what we want to be. With Peter, we must confess that we are sinful people. But that is not the end by any means. Contact with Jesus also means we have a task set before us. Contact with him may change the way we carry out our whole lives. We may not, with Peter, abandon our old vocations, but we will surely carry them on in a new pattern of relationships with our fellow people. Thus, Peter acts out the only response appropriate to contact with Jesus of Nazareth: he, Jesus, must become supremely important in our lives.”
If our lives have been changed by Jesus then surely he can change the lives of those we encounter. We are called to fish as individuals, we must go where the fish are, we must use the right kind of line, the right kind of bait, and the right hook – Jesus Christ.
And remember, Jesus said, “I will make you fishers of men.” He didn’t say we had to clean the fish up first before we catch them. We often get so caught up in the sinful behavior of unbelievers that we forget that the main reason they are living a life like that is because they have not yet been cleaned up by Jesus. You catch ‘em, He’ll clean ‘em.
The type of fishing I’m talking about does not require a license. You don’t have to be good at it. You don’t have to have theological or biblical training. You simply must love people enough and love the Lord enough to want to bring them together.
SO LET’S GO FISHING!