Going Fishing
Matthew 4:12-23
January 27, 2008
Leslie A. Klingensmith

Many years ago, when I was probably 10 or 11 years old, I had the chance to spend a day fishing at a farm that belonged to some family friends of ours. I had only fished a couple of times before, and really did not know what I was doing. For some reason, though, and it was probably no reason other than random chance, but I had great luck fishing that day. It was a good experience. I still remember it as a late summer or early fall day. The sun was warm but not too hot. There was fried chicken in the picnic basket. Best of all, the fish were biting, and especially for me! I think I caught seven or eight fish that day, and still remember the thrill of feeling the tug on the end of my line and the exhilaration of reeling in the squirming fish. My dad called me a "fishing fool," that day, but he said it with pride in his voice that made me feel proud of myself.

It is a pleasant memory, but that day is not one that I locate as a turning point in my life. Fishing did not become my new hobby. There is no big story about me having a vision there on the banks of the pond that compelled me to completely change the course of my life. I can count on one hand (or maybe two) the times I have actually been fishing - the most recent was probably 25 years ago. I have never done any of the nasty parts like bait my own hook or actually clean whatever I caught. However, I have occasionally thought back to the quiet of that day and the relative laziness of enjoying the cool breeze over the pond as I waited for the tug on my pole. That day and a few others like them probably gave me a misguided impression of what fishing is all about. Recreational fishing is one thing, but when Jesus called the first disciples, exclaiming that they would "fish for people," he was not inviting them to a laid back picnic or inviting them to take off their shoes and relax.

Perhaps people who fish for their vocation have a clearer idea of what Jesus meant when he kicked off his public ministry by calling these disciples. I had no idea what hard work fishing is until I read The Prince of Tides and got a glimpse of the difficult life of a shrimp boat captain. Likewise, both the non-fiction book and movie The Perfect Storm show us the confinement, stress, and backbreaking labor that is the lot of those who provide us with swordfish. For people who catch fish for their livelihood, fishing is serious business, not a way to pass the time on a sunny afternoon.

Before I go too much farther, I need to say that in terms of our call as disciples of Jesus Christ, the "fish" metaphor only goes so far. I think of those catfish and bass that I reeled in that day, writhing and squirming on the end of the string, only there because they had a sharp hook down their throats, and I think "That is not how we want it to be for people who want to explore a life of faith. We want people to choose to come on this journey because it is fulfilling and meaningful and purposeful and healing and life-giving and oftentimes really really fun, joyous. On the one hand we want people to feel that they cannot not be part of the journey of discipleship, but only because their lives would be so hollow without it. On the other hand, the idea of forcing or coercing people into a relationship with Jesus Christ is repugnant. So, as we explore together this idea of fishing for people, maybe it would be best if we concentrate more heavily on the noun "people" instead of the verb "fish."

What is most interesting to me about Jesus using the metaphor of fishing is that it shows that he was prepared to meet people where they were. He did not go to Peter and Andrew, James and John and say "Go read these books and then come back and work for me. Go acquire this knowledge and you will then be ready to minister in my name." No. Those of you who know me know that I like studying and am an avid reader. I firmly believe that reading of almost any type of literature can enhance our spiritual lives. In this case, though, academic training is not a qualification for following Jesus. For that matter, neither are so many of the other things that we think of as conferring status or making people qualified for special privileges. These guys were laborers, ordinary everyday people. There is no evidence that they were wealthy, learned, or powerful in the conventional sense of the word. But Jesus does not hand them a grocery list of what they need to do to prepare. He gives them one simple command: follow.

The other thing I mean about meeting people where they are is that Jesus used a metaphor to which they could relate. What are they? Fishermen. What are they going to be doing? Fishing for people. If they were physicians, maybe he would have said something like "Follow me, and you can heal peoples' spirits as well as their bodies." Maybe if they were bankers or stockbrokers he would have said "Follow me, and I guarantee you an investment that no economic market can diminish. Maybe if they were professional chefs he would say "Follow me, and feed peoples' souls." What I am trying to get to here is that Jesus calls anyone, of any vocation, to follow and to serve. That day by the Sea of Galilee, he met fishermen. Perhaps they remained fishermen even after they were among the twelve first disciples, but with a new dimension to their work that made it more meaningful. In any case, Jesus spoke their language, articulating what they were going to be doing in a way that was familiar and yet so compelling that Peter and Andrew (and later James and John) could not NOT follow. Furthermore, Jesus went to them. He did not build a palace, or even a cabin, and stick his head out the window and say "Ya'll come." He went where they were and beckoned them to try something new.

At first glance, it may seem as if this story from Matthew is disjointed, that there are disparate things happening and they all got stuck together somehow. If we look more closely, however, we do find some threads that connect these thoughts and give us some insight into how we too can hear that call from Jesus on our lives, inviting us to follow and fish or build or teach or heal or cook or organize or agitate - whatever it is that we can do, whatever skills we have, I'll venture a guess that Christ can find a way to use those skills to build his kingdom here on earth. On any given day, Jesus is going fishing - seeking the lost and looking for the ones who want to live in community with him and with each other.

I see this series of events that Matthew describes as Jesus' point of no return. Where I began reading today comes immediately after the series of temptations that Jesus faces out in the desert with the devil. Jesus has come through those tests and is firm in his resolve to begin the ministry that will lead him to confrontations with civil and ecclesiastical authorities and eventually lead to his execution. Jesus hears of John the Baptist's arrest by the soldiers of King Herod. This is another cue for him - Jesus and John have parallel but independent ministries. If John, the one who came to prepare people for Jesus' radical teachings, has been removed from the picture, it must be time for Jesus to begin in earnest. Verses 13-16 quote the prophet Isaiah almost verbatim - this quotation probably was added in later, after generations of oral tradition. Linking Jesus' actions and locations with one of the prophets would lend credence later to the idea that Jesus is who the believers say that he is. Tying Jesus to their own biblical heritage was one way of portraying him as the fulfillment of these prophecies.

"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near," says Jesus. Again, this passage is all about clues - visual and oral hints that a new day is dawning, that Jesus is here to bring a message of hope, peace, and justice. "The time is now," he is saying, "for you to turn your life around (that is essentially what the Greek word that we translate as "repentance" metanoia, means), get engaged in the parts of life that truly matter, and make God's kingdom the reality within which we live. COOL! Let's do it - let's go fishing! (PAUSE)

How do we follow? How do we "fish" for people? Perhaps this last verse that we look at today can provide us with something of a roadmap. Following and fishing are both drastically simple and incredibly complex. Verse 23 is only one sentence, but it is a string of action verbs - teach, proclaim the good news, cure disease. It boils down to Jesus - we go where he went and we do what he did. There are some diseases that we cannot cure, but we can cure someone's loneliness and isolation. Neil Cole, a church planter from the west coast said recently that if we want to follow Jesus, we are going to have to go sit in the smoking section. I mean no disrespect to smokers by saying that, and do not think that smokers are any more sinful or toxic or lost than any of the rest of us. What I think Neil Cole meant is that to follow Jesus we have to get out of our comfort zone, even when it makes us uncomfortable. To fish for people who are desperate to hear of the gift of life that Christ offers us, we have to go to them. I am not one for in-your-face proselytizing, but when people ask what motivates us to care for them and want a relationship with them, we do have to speak unapologetically about who we are and who Jesus is to us. More importantly, we have to listen to who they are, find out where they have been, and where they are, and meet them there. So, what do the next few days hold for us, after we scatter from this place today? Some of us will be going to schools to learn or to teach, some to hospitals and care facilities, some to banks and retail stores and restaurants and coffeehouses. I hope that wherever we find ourselves, we are going fishing. For people. Not to "save" them. Not to "bring them to Jesus." I hope we are fishing to bring Jesus to them. Amen.