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As Jesus calls these fisherman disciples… he tells them, “I will make you fish for people.” This is a way to explain discipleship to these men… using what they already do. And while those of us gathered here today are not fishermen by trade… we get the analogy… we get what Jesus is trying to say here… at least, I hope we do. Jesus is telling us that part of being a disciple… part of following Christ… a large part even… is bringing other people to faith… what we might call evangelism... yes, the dreaded “e” word… telling people about Christ… about the gospel… the good news that Christ lived, died, and was resurrected to show us God’s love for us… to deliver God’s forgiveness and the promise of everlasting life. //And calling us fishers of people… gives us very specific imagery for how we go about sharing the good news… and bringing others to faith. Our job is to… catch people for Jesus, right? So we cast out a lure… “hey, there friend… standing invitation to come to church with me… what’s that? You haven’t been to church in a while… well, mine’s pretty cool… you should check it out… oh, you’ve been going through a lot lately? I’m so sorry to hear that… I always find I feel better after being at church… talking to God and being around my church family really helps… I know, I know… there’s so much going on… it’s so hard to find the time… life can be exhausting… but, my faith has always been something that gives me strength… it’s always good to be reminded how much God loves me…” So we cast out that lure… and see if we get a nibble… and patience, people… this part takes time… “oh, you’ll think about it… great…” …and then you wait for it… wait for it… wait… for it… and then there’s the hook, “Well, there’s Sunday school for you and the kids… and our pastor has great sermons… totally not boring at all… and the music is well-done… and have I mentioned our pot-lucks?” And we reel them in… “so, you know… you can sit with my family, so you won’t feel weird and wear whatever you want, it’s totally cashz… I could even pick you up… how’s Sunday sound?” Not too fast, now… we don’t want them to break the line, “or, you know, whenever you’re free.”Some of you laughed… I was hoping you’d find some of that funny. It is funny… and not because there’s anything inherently wrong with any of that… it’s really great to talk about our faith… it’s really great to talk about our congregation… and the positive things we associate with being a part of a community of faith… it’s certainly great to invite others to come to church… and honestly… we don’t do any of that enough… And while “fishing for people” is a useful way for us to think about our Christian call as disciples to evangelize… to bring others to faith in Christ… sometimes I think we take the fishing metaphor a little too literally… and we confuse faith in Christ… with “butts in the seats.” We should absolutely talk about our faith… encourage others to explore their own faith… we should absolutely invite others to worship with us and happily share the ways God is active in our community of faith as well as in our individual lives… but the support of a church community isn’t bait… it’s blessing… the “programs” we “offer” aren’t a hook… they are a vital part of ministry… we don’t lure people through our doors… we invite and welcome and affirm. And what about after? After we’ve been “fishers of people?” Because here is where our zealousness to be fisherman… where following the analogy too closely gets even more problematic… because what do you do with fish after you catch them? // You either throw them back… or you eat them… neither of which are good options if we’re talking about fishing for people.But all too often… I think that’s exactly what ends up happening, isn’t it? We catch some people… we get people through our doors… and we think our job as fishermen is done. We throw them back. We let them go… we never check back with them again… we stop talking about our faith… stop inviting, welcoming, affirming… We throw people back… we throw people back without even realizing it… we throw people back through our inaction… through our lack of care… we make the mistake of thinking that the our call to be fishers of men ends with the catching. It doesn't. Then there’s the flip side… we don’t throw them back… we consume them. We look at visitors and new members… people we invited to hear the good news of God’s love for them… people others invited to share in our celebration of God’s grace and love… we look at them as fresh meat… someone to teach Sunday school… someone to serve on committees or council… someone to give to the budget. //Now… there’s nothing wrong with hoping that everyone takes an active role in the life of a congregation… being a part of the Body of Christ… being a part of a community of faith… means we are… all of us… ministers of the gospel… servants of Christ… workers in God’s vineyard. But encouraging everyone to be an active part of our community of faith is very different than saying things like, “we need to get more young people involved,” with an obvious subtext of… “someone else needs to help shoulder our burden” often with the caveat, “provided they still do it our way.”Christ calls us to be disciples. Christ calls us to be fishers of people… but we need to seriously think about the kind of fishermen we ought to be… the kind of fisherman Jesus asks us to be. Being fishers of people is not about butts in the seats… it’s about cultivating deep relationships… being fishers of people is not about selling a product hook, line, and sinker… it’s about a faith that is active and alive in everything we think and do. Being fishers of people is not about what we can get from others… but about what we have to give. And believe it or not… being fishers of people is not about saving souls… salvation is God’s department… //rather, it’s about making sure that every person knows that they are loved… that they are a beloved child of God who has been gifted grace and received forgiveness. As Christians… this is what it means to be fishers of people… this is what it means to evangelize… this is what it means to spread the gospel… the very good news of Jesus Christ our savior who lived, died, and was resurrected to show us God’s love for us… and to reveal God’s grace, forgiveness, and the promise of everlasting life. As Christian disciples… as followers of Christ… we are called to be fishers of people… so let’s be fishers of people… and more than that, let’s be good ones. ................
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