Fish for People?
Text: Matthew 4:12-23
Let me begin with a story…
“Now it came to pass that a group existed who called themselves fishermen. And lo, there were many fish in the waters all around. In fact, the whole area was surrounded by streams and lakes filled with fish. And the fish were hungry.
Week after week, month after month, and year after year, those who called themselves fishermen met in meetings and talked about their call to fish, the abundance of fish, and how they might go about fishing. Year after year they carefully defined what fishing means, defended fishing as an occupation, and declared that fishing is always to be a primary task of fishermen.
Continually, they searched for new and better methods of fishing and for new and better definitions of fishing. Further they said, “The fishing industry exists by fishing as fire exists by burning.” They loved slogans such as “Fishing is the task of every fisherman.” They sponsored special meetings called “Fishermen’s Campaigns” and “The Month for Fishermen to Fish.” They sponsored costly nationwide and world-wide congresses to discuss fishing and to promote fishing and hear about all the ways of fishing such as the new fishing equipment, fish calls, and whether any new bait had been discovered.
These fishermen built large, beautiful buildings called “Fishing Headquarters.” The plea was that everyone should be a fisherman and every fisherman should fish. One thing they didn’t do, however: They didn’t fish.
In addition to meeting regularly, they organized a board to send out fishermen to other places where there were many fish. The board hired staffs and appointed committees and held many meetings to define fishing, to defend fishing, and to decide what new streams should be thought about. But the staff and committee members did not fish.
Large, elaborate, and expensive training centres were built whose original and primary purpose was to teach fishermen how to fish. Over the years, courses were offered on the needs of fish, where to find fish, the psychological reactions of fish, and how to approach and feed fish. Those who taught had doctorates in fishology, but the teachers did not fish. They only taught fishing. Year after year, after tedious training, many were graduated and were given fishing licences. They were sent to do full-time fishing, some to distant waters which were filled with fish.
Many who felt the call to be fishermen responded. They were commissioned and sent to fish. But like the fishermen back home, they never fished. Like the fishermen back home, they engaged in all kinds of other occupations. They built power plants to pump water for fish and tractors to plow new waterways. They made all kinds of equipment to travel here and there to look at fish hatcheries. Some also said that they wanted to be part of the fishing party, but they felt called to furnish fishing equipment. Others felt their job was to relate to the fish in a good way so that the fish would know the difference between good and bad fishermen. Others felt that simply letting the fish know they were nice, and land-loving neighbours, and how loving and kind they were was enough.
After one stirring meeting on “The Necessity for Fishing,” one young fellow left the meeting and went fishing. The next day he reported that he had caught two outstanding fish. He was honoured for his excellent catch and scheduled to visit all the big meetings possible to tell how he did it. So he quit his fishing in order to have time to tell about the experience to the other fishermen. He was also placed on the Fishermen’s General Board as a person having considerable experience.
Now, it’s true that many of the fishermen sacrificed and put up with all kinds of difficulties. Some lived near the water and bore the smell of dead fish every day. They received the ridicule of some who made fun of their fishermen’s clubs and the fact that they claimed to be fishermen, yet they never fished. They wondered about those who felt it was of little use to attend the weekly meetings to talk about fishing. After all, were they not following the Master who said, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people?”
Imagine how hurt some of them were when one day a person suggested that those who don’t catch fish were not really fishermen, no matter how much they claimed to be. Yet it did sound correct. Is a person a fisherman if, year after year, he never catches a fish? Is one following and answering the call if he isn’t actually fishing?”[1]
It’s a good story… asks some good questions…
We continue our trip through the Season of Epiphany, wondering exactly where it is that we’re going. Epiphany is about God revealed in our midst, beginning with these big, expansive and distant encounters, but then becoming closer and more personal with each passing story that we tell. Last week, it gets so personal that Jesus looks Peter in the eye, and gives him a nickname. If we felt uncomfortable last week that Christ knows us so closely as to give us nicknames, then this week it goes a step further. Why? Because this week, Jesus says, “Follow me.” And we were getting comfortable simply sitting and listening.
More specifically, Jesus says, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people!”
Well… he said that to Simon Peter and Andrew… who themselves were Fishermen… yet certainly when I was growing up, this was one of the big texts for evangelism, and catching people. “Fishers of Men” as the King James Translation has it. It’s not “follow me, and I’ll give you something to think about…” it’s “follow me, and I will make you fish for people.”
I have to admit, that I heard this a lot as a child during the 1970’s in the various churches that we attended… I think it was interpreted as a call for evangelism, but that whole concept was lost on me at the time. I was also under ten years old, with a really overactive imagination. So when I heard “fishing for people” or “fishers of men” I took it rather literally… but not in a good way. I had been to the Maritimes, and saw the fishing boats. I thought that it would be rather uncomfortable being caught up in some large net, ripped out of my comfortable, safe environment, flipping about on a ship’s deck gasping for breath and finally ending up on someone else’s dinner plate. Needless to say, the image didn’t really work for me.
We tend to read, hear, and interpret this passage from an evangelistic point of view… but is that what Jesus was really after? Treating people like a mass of fish to be caught is frankly not one that is particularly appealing, especially from the point of view of the fish. Yet since it is something that we’ve been taught to hear since we were children, we tend to stick with it.
But we’re missing something… it’s not really all that clear of what Jesus is saying. Is he saying to these fishermen that he’s going to have them fishing for PEOPLE, or fishing FOR people. It all depends on where one put the emphasis. Is the point to catch people up in a net, or hook them by the cheek, or is it to be able to provide spiritual food for people? In other words, instead of a call to be recruiters, is Jesus calling them to become servants who feed?
But Jesus is layering something else on here that we miss entirely, because we’re so far removed from the context. Whenever fishing comes up in the Old Testament, it’s often associated with hunting. Again, being the prey… the hunter’s target, is not exactly a place that one wants to be. Animals and fish usually end up dead in the hands of their captors. Yet that’s the idea; those that are being hunted or caught are ones upon whom God is pronouncing judgment. The ones who are doing the fishing/hunting are bringing about God’s justice, their targets are the rich and powerful, those who have wronged the people of Israel. The target Jeremiah, Amos, and Ezekiel all use image of fishing as God’s disapproval of how things are, and that God is bringing about change that overturns the structures of power and privilege. Everything is turned on its head… and in that sense, those who oppress the poor are the ones that get caught up in God’s net. I would imagine that the poor Galilean fishermen might have enjoyed the mental image of a Roman official wriggling about on a deck like a fish, caught up in a net.
The problem is, because we didn’t grow up with the prophet’s cry for justice, we tend to hear the words of Jesus like a recruitment video. What we have collectively forgotten is that Jesus was invoking images from Hebrew Scripture as a way to inspire people to come and follow him.
When Jesus calls Andrew and Peter to follow him, he calls them to join him in being part of the kingdom of God, which will turn the world upside-down, and make the world a better place.
The Epiphany moment for us is realizing that Jesus is calling us to be a part of this. The kingdom of God is at hand, the time is fulfilled, God is doing something new, and we are invited to be part of it. In that sense, maybe the point is that we’re fishing FOR people… being servants who tend and feed in the name of Christ.
Amen.
[1]Robinson, Darrell W. People Sharing Jesus. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1995. Page 21-23.
Let me begin with a story…
“Now it came to pass that a group existed who called themselves fishermen. And lo, there were many fish in the waters all around. In fact, the whole area was surrounded by streams and lakes filled with fish. And the fish were hungry.
Week after week, month after month, and year after year, those who called themselves fishermen met in meetings and talked about their call to fish, the abundance of fish, and how they might go about fishing. Year after year they carefully defined what fishing means, defended fishing as an occupation, and declared that fishing is always to be a primary task of fishermen.
Continually, they searched for new and better methods of fishing and for new and better definitions of fishing. Further they said, “The fishing industry exists by fishing as fire exists by burning.” They loved slogans such as “Fishing is the task of every fisherman.” They sponsored special meetings called “Fishermen’s Campaigns” and “The Month for Fishermen to Fish.” They sponsored costly nationwide and world-wide congresses to discuss fishing and to promote fishing and hear about all the ways of fishing such as the new fishing equipment, fish calls, and whether any new bait had been discovered.
These fishermen built large, beautiful buildings called “Fishing Headquarters.” The plea was that everyone should be a fisherman and every fisherman should fish. One thing they didn’t do, however: They didn’t fish.
In addition to meeting regularly, they organized a board to send out fishermen to other places where there were many fish. The board hired staffs and appointed committees and held many meetings to define fishing, to defend fishing, and to decide what new streams should be thought about. But the staff and committee members did not fish.
Large, elaborate, and expensive training centres were built whose original and primary purpose was to teach fishermen how to fish. Over the years, courses were offered on the needs of fish, where to find fish, the psychological reactions of fish, and how to approach and feed fish. Those who taught had doctorates in fishology, but the teachers did not fish. They only taught fishing. Year after year, after tedious training, many were graduated and were given fishing licences. They were sent to do full-time fishing, some to distant waters which were filled with fish.
Many who felt the call to be fishermen responded. They were commissioned and sent to fish. But like the fishermen back home, they never fished. Like the fishermen back home, they engaged in all kinds of other occupations. They built power plants to pump water for fish and tractors to plow new waterways. They made all kinds of equipment to travel here and there to look at fish hatcheries. Some also said that they wanted to be part of the fishing party, but they felt called to furnish fishing equipment. Others felt their job was to relate to the fish in a good way so that the fish would know the difference between good and bad fishermen. Others felt that simply letting the fish know they were nice, and land-loving neighbours, and how loving and kind they were was enough.
After one stirring meeting on “The Necessity for Fishing,” one young fellow left the meeting and went fishing. The next day he reported that he had caught two outstanding fish. He was honoured for his excellent catch and scheduled to visit all the big meetings possible to tell how he did it. So he quit his fishing in order to have time to tell about the experience to the other fishermen. He was also placed on the Fishermen’s General Board as a person having considerable experience.
Now, it’s true that many of the fishermen sacrificed and put up with all kinds of difficulties. Some lived near the water and bore the smell of dead fish every day. They received the ridicule of some who made fun of their fishermen’s clubs and the fact that they claimed to be fishermen, yet they never fished. They wondered about those who felt it was of little use to attend the weekly meetings to talk about fishing. After all, were they not following the Master who said, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people?”
Imagine how hurt some of them were when one day a person suggested that those who don’t catch fish were not really fishermen, no matter how much they claimed to be. Yet it did sound correct. Is a person a fisherman if, year after year, he never catches a fish? Is one following and answering the call if he isn’t actually fishing?”[1]
It’s a good story… asks some good questions…
We continue our trip through the Season of Epiphany, wondering exactly where it is that we’re going. Epiphany is about God revealed in our midst, beginning with these big, expansive and distant encounters, but then becoming closer and more personal with each passing story that we tell. Last week, it gets so personal that Jesus looks Peter in the eye, and gives him a nickname. If we felt uncomfortable last week that Christ knows us so closely as to give us nicknames, then this week it goes a step further. Why? Because this week, Jesus says, “Follow me.” And we were getting comfortable simply sitting and listening.
More specifically, Jesus says, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people!”
Well… he said that to Simon Peter and Andrew… who themselves were Fishermen… yet certainly when I was growing up, this was one of the big texts for evangelism, and catching people. “Fishers of Men” as the King James Translation has it. It’s not “follow me, and I’ll give you something to think about…” it’s “follow me, and I will make you fish for people.”
I have to admit, that I heard this a lot as a child during the 1970’s in the various churches that we attended… I think it was interpreted as a call for evangelism, but that whole concept was lost on me at the time. I was also under ten years old, with a really overactive imagination. So when I heard “fishing for people” or “fishers of men” I took it rather literally… but not in a good way. I had been to the Maritimes, and saw the fishing boats. I thought that it would be rather uncomfortable being caught up in some large net, ripped out of my comfortable, safe environment, flipping about on a ship’s deck gasping for breath and finally ending up on someone else’s dinner plate. Needless to say, the image didn’t really work for me.
We tend to read, hear, and interpret this passage from an evangelistic point of view… but is that what Jesus was really after? Treating people like a mass of fish to be caught is frankly not one that is particularly appealing, especially from the point of view of the fish. Yet since it is something that we’ve been taught to hear since we were children, we tend to stick with it.
But we’re missing something… it’s not really all that clear of what Jesus is saying. Is he saying to these fishermen that he’s going to have them fishing for PEOPLE, or fishing FOR people. It all depends on where one put the emphasis. Is the point to catch people up in a net, or hook them by the cheek, or is it to be able to provide spiritual food for people? In other words, instead of a call to be recruiters, is Jesus calling them to become servants who feed?
But Jesus is layering something else on here that we miss entirely, because we’re so far removed from the context. Whenever fishing comes up in the Old Testament, it’s often associated with hunting. Again, being the prey… the hunter’s target, is not exactly a place that one wants to be. Animals and fish usually end up dead in the hands of their captors. Yet that’s the idea; those that are being hunted or caught are ones upon whom God is pronouncing judgment. The ones who are doing the fishing/hunting are bringing about God’s justice, their targets are the rich and powerful, those who have wronged the people of Israel. The target Jeremiah, Amos, and Ezekiel all use image of fishing as God’s disapproval of how things are, and that God is bringing about change that overturns the structures of power and privilege. Everything is turned on its head… and in that sense, those who oppress the poor are the ones that get caught up in God’s net. I would imagine that the poor Galilean fishermen might have enjoyed the mental image of a Roman official wriggling about on a deck like a fish, caught up in a net.
The problem is, because we didn’t grow up with the prophet’s cry for justice, we tend to hear the words of Jesus like a recruitment video. What we have collectively forgotten is that Jesus was invoking images from Hebrew Scripture as a way to inspire people to come and follow him.
When Jesus calls Andrew and Peter to follow him, he calls them to join him in being part of the kingdom of God, which will turn the world upside-down, and make the world a better place.
The Epiphany moment for us is realizing that Jesus is calling us to be a part of this. The kingdom of God is at hand, the time is fulfilled, God is doing something new, and we are invited to be part of it. In that sense, maybe the point is that we’re fishing FOR people… being servants who tend and feed in the name of Christ.
Amen.
[1]Robinson, Darrell W. People Sharing Jesus. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1995. Page 21-23.
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