Fishers of Men

We are beginning a three week series today that we are calling Hooked: followers fish.  As we are going to see in today’s Gospel, when Jesus called the first apostles he promised that if they followed him, he could transform and change them.  He could give them a certain skill. He would make them into something.

Jesus didn’t promise to make them smarter or wealthier or more popular or better looking.  He didn’t promise anything that we see marketed or advertised to us. Those are essentially what every product and company promises, but Jesus didn’t promise that. Interestingly, Jesus didn’t even promise the apostles that if they followed him that he would make them holier or more religious, whatever that means.

Jesus told his first followers that if they followed him, they would become fishers of men. He would teach them how to use the same courage, patience and determination and faith they used as professional fisherman to bring people into a relationship with him.  It is an interesting fact that 7 of Jesus’ 12 apostles were fishermen. Rather than choosing religious leaders or the well educated to carry on his mission, Jesus chose these hard-working blue collar guys who worked with their hands and went out into the sea every day.

So the metaphor of fishing has been used throughout the history of Christianity to describe our efforts to share our faith in Christ.  Jesus invites us to capture the hearts of people with the truth of the Gospel, the truth that God so loved the world he gave us his only beloved Son.

Followers fish.  What do we mean when we say followers fish?  Follow Jesus long enough, and close enough, and you will bring people into a relationship with him. You will help people, who don’t know Jesus, personally come to know him.  You will make disciples. That’s what Jesus said, that we followers are to make disciples, but that’s not necessarily the lived reality, especially in the Catholic Church. In our lifetimes anyway, this skill of evangelization, of making disciples, which we are calling followers fish, wasn’t taught, and it wasn’t encouraged.

For generations before us, the plan for making disciples was two-fold. Catholics would send missionaries to foreign countries and then would take making disciples literally by having very large families.

The days of foreign missionaries and very large families are pretty much gone.  Our mission field or opportunity to bring people to Jesus is no longer in foreign countries – it is in our own backyard. It is in our workplaces, our schools, on the ball field, in our families. We have opportunities all around us to bring people to Jesus.

Since we don’t have a history of it, we tend to think of sharing our faith as unnecessary or just for the super Christian. We think of it as an add on or unnecessary.  Over the course of the next few weeks I hope to help you see two truths. One, the most crucial way to love people and help them, is to bring them into a relationship with Christ.  We fish, we look to share our faith in Christ because want to help people live a better life. Second, sharing our faith is a crucial part of deepening our faith. It is crucial for us if we wish to have a life of significance. To get us started on that journey, we are going to look at a passage from the Gospel of Luke which we heard today. Luke tells us:

Jesus is standing by the lake of Gennasaret, also known as the Sea of Galilee, and he is teaching the people.  A huge crowd of people has gathered to hear Jesus. Over and over again the Gospels tell us that crowds gathered to listen to Jesus.  People wanted to be around him. They wanted to hear him speak. They found Jesus fascinating. Jesus had no trouble drawing crowds of people.  People liked him and wanted to be around him. When people meet the real Jesus, the Jesus in the Gospels, and not the overly spiritualized conversation about Jesus, they like him and want to be around him.

This crowd of people is so engaged, and people are straining to hear that they are pressing in on him so much so that Jesus is being pushed back toward the water.  So Jesus has this problem of the crowd pushing in on him and he sees two boats. The boats were available because the fisherman were done working for the day. When you were done fishing, you washed off the seaweed and all the gunk off the nets and then left them out to dry because otherwise they would rot and break.

Jesus jumps into Peter’s boat and asks him if he can go into the shallow water, just a little way from the land.  Peter agrees. He makes himself and his boat available to Jesus.

Jesus sits down continues to teach people from the boat.   When Jesus finishes up his message. He tells the crowd he is done and to go home.   So they all leave. Then he turns to Peter and tells him to move out into the deeper water, let down his nets, and there will be fish to catch.

Remember, Followers fish.  If you want to go deeper in your relationship with Jesus, from time to time, you have listen to Jesus when he says it is time to fish.  It is time to go out and bring some people into a relationship with him. Going into deeper water is not always comfortable.  In fact it might get pretty uncomfortable. But anything in life worth doing can get uncomfortable.  The first time you do anything or attempt anything it can feel uncomfortable, but we acclimate over time.  The first few times I got up in church to speak I was so nervous my knees were shaking and my voice quivered.  I’m still almost always nervous speaking in front of people, but I have acclimated to it. There is also something uncomfortable because we are seeing ourselves differently, when we think about talking about our faith.  You might think “I’m not a Jesus freak.” I am not someone who talks about Jesus or brings someone to Church. That just isn’t who I am.

Maybe you are not there yet, but let’s work to get there. For our relationship with Jesus to be meaningful, we have to be willing to introduce him to others.

For those of you who are married, remember the first time you introduced your spouse to your family or friends.  It was awkward. It might have been uncomfortable. But imagine if you never had introduced them. It would be pretty strange wouldn’t it?  At some point you have to go through that discomfort for a relationship to grow.

Jesus challenges Peter to go out into the deep and to let down his net.  Peter tells Jesus this is the wrong time to fish. They fished at the time of day when you are supposed to be able to catch fish, and they got nothing.  Fishermen would fish at night because it was cooler then, and the fish would come up towards the surface of the water. Now that it is warm the fish are in the deeper water.  Furthermore, if Peter lets down the nets then he has to wash them all over again. And more than all that, Peter could say to Jesus, “You are a rabbi and a carpenter, but I am the fisherman.

However, Peter doesn’t say any of that. Even though he doesn’t know Jesus all that well at this point, there isn’t a long history, Peter has seen enough of Jesus that he respects him.  He seems to have insight and authority into life. People who met Jesus liked him and they respected him, even a guy like Peter, who was a fisherman, and would have been a no nonsense kind of guy.  Peter had a business to run and earned his living by working hard and yet Jesus impressed him. So Peter let down the nets because he liked and respected Jesus.

Peter and his fishing partners let down the nets, and instead of getting nothing, they catch a whole bunch of fish.  In fact they catch so many fish in their nets that they begin to sink. They have to call their other partners who have another boat to come and grab all the fish otherwise they will sink.

The great catch reminds us that Jesus knows what he is talking about.  He is the authority and expert on life. He isn’t just the expert on religion.  He is the expert on every aspect of life. We don’t introduce people into a religion but into a relationship with the one person who knows and understands life.  We introduce people to Jesus because he makes our lives better and makes us better at life.

We heard in the gospel that when Peter saw this great catch of fish, he fell down at Jesus’ knees saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the catch of fish which they had taken. Peter understands the gap and the distance between him and Jesus.  He sees the huge catch of fish, and realizes Jesus’ power and authority – that he is so much better than him.

But Jesus said to Peter, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”  Jesus does not just say this to Peter. He tells people over and over again. Do not be afraid.  Following Jesus and fear are mutually exclusive. Jesus tells Peter he doesn’t have to fear because Jesus has a plan for him.

When it comes to sharing our faith, it can fill us with fear. Jesus says the same thing to us.  Don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid that you are not good enough to bring others to Christ. Don’t be afraid that you don’t have all the answers to the tough questions.  Don’t be afraid that you don’t know why bad things happen to good people, or why a good God allows suffering or how many days it took God to create the world, or how Noah got all the dinosaurs on the ark.

Don’t be afraid because if Jesus who is the master and authority on life sends you out to fish, you have nothing to fear. Certainly acknowledge your fears, acknowledge your discomfort, but don’t let that drive you. Jesus invites you into an adventure.  He gives you an opportunity to bring people into a relationship with him. This story ends this way: When they had brought their boats back to land, they left everything and followed Jesus.

Peter and his partners left everything and followed Jesus. They saw something in Jesus that made it work for them to leave behind their boats and their business and devote their lives to him.  After seeing the great catch of fish, they realized that it was worth it to follow Jesus rather than go back to their old way of life.

In fishing for people, we don’t have to leave everything aside, but just our own fears, our  discomfort, maybe some laziness or apathy.

Our strategy is not about leaving aside our lives as much as it is about approaching our lives a little differently.  As you are living your life, be on the lookout for friends, family members and co-workers who don’t have a relationship with Christ and his Church.  Invest in those people. Invest in them through prayer. Invest in them by fasting in some way. Invest in them in the same way you would invest in any relationship.  Then, when appropriate, invite them to come to Mass.

You are not out there all on your own, but you have fishing partners or fishing buddies in the Church.  Together, we are all working together to create an irresistible environment so that people come to know their Savior.  That’s why we invest time in the music and the message series. It is why we are working to create a spirit of hospitality with our volunteer ministers.  All of us are working together so that people are drawn into a relationship with Jesus. We work together to create a great environment and then we go out into the world to invite people to it.

So over the next few weeks, we are asking you to commit to impacting just one person.  Make a focused effort to pray for them on a daily basis. Fast for them. Skip a lunch or fast from something you love over the next few weeks such as coffee or chocolate.  Invest in the person relationally by looking for opportunities to talk and connect, and then invite the person to join us for our Lenten series which begins the first weekend of March.

Jesus is the authority on life.  He knows how life works. He makes people’s lives better.  He invites us to bring people to him. It is part of following him.  Followers fish. Are you a follower of Christ? Followers fish.
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