"Fishing for Something New"

Rev. Debbie Cato

Jonah 3:1-5 and Mark 1:14-20

Peace Presbyterian Church

January 25, 2015 (Annual Meeting)

“Fishing for Something New”

This morning, we have two different Scripture passages that have the same theme but they are from two different perspectives. In both these passages, God breaks into an ordinary day and forever changes the course of these individual lives. In both these passages we see that God calls ordinary people to serve him who are not that different from you or me.

If you know the story of Jonah, you know that Jonah wasn't real excited when God first called him. In fact, Jonah resisted. He rebelled against God's call to go to Nineveh. But God didn't give up. God had a plan and Jonah was going to be a part of it. So, God did the only thing he could. He got Jonah's attention. Only then, did Jonah – still reluctantly mind you – complete his mission. Jonah went to Nineveh and announced that in forty days their city would be overthrown.

It's important for us to understand that even though Jonah resisted; even though he rebelled; even though he did everything he could to not follow God's call; God's mission was a success! “The people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth.” God's purposes could not be thwarted by a reluctant messenger. Jonah's message from God to the Ninevites saved them from destruction.

In our Gospel passage this morning, we find God calling four more unsuspecting, ordinary men. Jesus arrives in Galilee after spending 40 days in the wilderness and as he is walking along the Sea of Galilee, he sees Simon and Andrew who are brothers. They are fishing. It's their family business.

Jesus says, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” When Jesus calls Simon and Andrew, they respond differently than Jonah did. They don't resist. They don't rebel. Mark tells us that “immediately Simon and Andres left their nets and followed Jesus.” These two brothers, busy fishing for the family business, just drop their nets and follow Jesus. James and John do the same thing when Jesus calls them while they are fishing with their father. They too immediately follow Jesus.

Now, you have to wonder a little bit what these men thought they were saying yes to. There is no indication that they knew who Jesus was. There isn't even an indication that they were religious. And what in the world does “fish for people” mean anyway? But each of them says yes, they drop what they are doing, and they follow Jesus.

Instant decisions for Christ. Simon, Andrew, James, and John drop everything and become disciples, just like that; “immediately.” But this is not the end of the story. This is just the beginning of “the beginning.” Ahead for them, there is much to learn. There is much stumbling, much misunderstanding, and much backsliding. The decision to follow Christ takes both a moment and a lifetime.¹   You see, the initial decision to follow Christ is relatively easy compared to the discipleship journey.

How did you respond to God's call; to the call to believe and follow Him? Were you like Jonah – reluctant and rebellious, not really wanting to follow Him? Or, were you more like those four fishermen, responding immediately?

Honestly, it really doesn't matter how you come to follow Christ. Jonah fought against the call and God still used him to save a town. Simon and Andrew, James and John responded immediately, but their quick decision still needed to be reaffirmed and even corrected, time and again. And yet, they began a movement that has lasted over 2,000 years.

We all – no matter how quickly or how long ago we answered God's call, stumble,

misunderstand, and backslide. Jesus' call is a long-standing commitment.

Christianity is for now and for the long haul. The call is both a moment and a 

lifetime. It is a journey full of ups and downs, twists and turns, and unexpected detours. You see, when you say “yes” to Jesus, you say yes to His mission; to priorities; to His way. You say yes to setting aside your own plan and saying, “Yes. I will go where you call me. I will do what you call me to do.” Saying yes is life-changing. It is transforming.

When Jesus called those four fishermen, Jesus did not just ask them to add one more task to their busy lives. He called them to a new way of being. He says, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of people.” Jesus gives them a new way to be; a new vocation that promises a whole new life. You see, there is a difference between discipleship as a task and disciples as an identity.

When Jesus called those four fishermen in Galilee, he basically said, “I know you are fishermen. But now, instead of fishing for fish the way you always have, I'm going to give you something new to fish for.

I believe that God is saying the same thing to us. The way we have always been is no longer the way we can continue to be. God is calling us to new life. Life that exists outside our sanctuary and outside our fellowship hall. It's a little scary – change always is. But God is with us; he has gone before us; and he loves us.

We need to be a church that sees discipleship as an identity. That means this Christian thing is not just something we do on Sunday's for an hour. It means that everything we do; everything we say; everything that we are emulates Jesus

Christ. It means that we don't exist for ourselves and what makes us comfortable but rather we exist for the world that doesn't yet know Christ. It means that we spend more time “out there” than we do in here. It means that we are willing to be uncomfortable because we are following Jesus.

God called you to Christ for the same reason he called those original 12 disciples: because you make an excellent object lesson on the depths of God's grace and the scope of God's power:

• You, with your rebellious heart.
• You, with your secret struggles.
• You, with your lack of faith and your long list of faults.
• You, who knows deeps down that you are unworthy to tie God's shoes let alone be called God's child.

God called us together as His Church in this place at this time. His Spirit is alive and well within us and among us. We are not in this alone! But just maybe, like those 4 fishermen so many years ago, we too are being called to something new. To something bigger than we are now.

God chose you so that the world might look at you and see that God is indescribably merciful and incredibly powerful. And God planted us right here at Peace Presbyterian – in this particular body of Christ. God didn't have to choose us, but He did. God doesn't have to use us, but God uses us anyway. He chooses us and uses us both individually and as a church. And the end result is not just blessings for us and those God calls us to serve. The end result is glory for God's name.² What will that look like for this church in the coming year? Amen.

1Feasting on the Word, Year B, Vol. 2. Brown, Elton W. (Pastoral View) pg 286.

2“Jesus Chooses His Disciples – And They're Not Genuises.” Homiletics. January/February 2015, Volume 27, Number 1. pg 42.