Fishing for People: Last Sunday's Sermon

The Readings

The Epistle

1 Corinthians 1:10-18

Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose. For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters. What I mean is that each of you says, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Christ.” Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name. (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power.

For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

The Gospel

Matthew 4:12-23

When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

“Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali,
on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—

the people who sat in darkness
have seen a great light,

and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death
light has dawned.”

From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.

The Sermon

Paul is writing to the people of Corinth and he starts out with a lot of praise for them but then quickly gets into correction mode. He tells them they are all part of the body of Christ and they should not align themselves with one religious leader or another. He reminded them that they were all followers of Jesus and not anyone else.

When Andrew and Peter saw Jesus, they came to the realization that Jesus was the one, the messiah, they immediately followed him and they never turned back. When the sons of Zebedee recognized Jesus as the messiah they did the same. They never turned back.

Jesus clearly told them they would no longer be fishing for fish but fishing for people. I am pretty sure they understood the metaphor. Jesus was taking them down a path where they would change peoples lives and save their souls.

This passage makes it all sound so easy. You just tell people who you are and what you are about and they drop everything and follow you.

Have you ever gone fishing? I assume most of you have. As a youth I spent a lot of time fishing creeks, ponds and lakes. Some days when the fish were biting it seemed so easy. I could cast out anywhere and I would catch a fish. Then there were other days. On those days nothing seemed to work. I could literally see big fish out in the water and they would slowly swim right by my line as if it wasn't there. There were good and bad fishing days.

To take the fishing metaphor a little farther, Jesus and his disciples had those days as well. Jesus was rejected many times. He was even rejected in his own town of Nazareth. Jesus did not let these occurrences stop him. In Luke we here the story of Jesus sending 72 disciples out to spread the good news. He sends them out two by two and he cautions them that they will not always be well received but he tells them also to not lose heart and to carry on.

The same is true for us. We go out and share our story and our good news and not everyone is ready to listen. They may simply not be hungry for a change in their lives and that is OK. We have still planted a seed. We have offered them a chance to share our faith and the joy that comes with it. You don't always catch a fish every time you throw out a line or to use the method of the Galileans, cast out a net.

Yet, those who are hungry will listen to the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ.