The Fisher of People, 26 January 2020, Epiphany 3

A friend of mine told me this story – he found himself sitting next to a very attractive young lady on the top deck of a London bus. He wanted to speak to her, but he was a bit shy. You don’t normally talk to people do you, on the bus or tube! Well, the stop arrived where he had to get off. And he walked down the stairs of the bus, the bus doors opened…. he hesitated. Stood still, and the bus doors closed with him still on it. He slowly walked back up the upstairs. And there she was, sitting still looking rather shy and embarrassed – hello, my name is Edwardo… and the conversation began. That was about 15 years ago. Now they are married and still very much in love and have three children.

 A significant turning point in life. I wonder whether you have examples of such moments in your life.

 In today’s Gospel reading Jesus is living in Capernaum – this is on the north side of the sea of Galilee. Jesus decides to take a stroll by the sea. And then he has what seems like a chance encounter. He sees some fishermen and stops. He could have walked on… but he didn’t. I wonder what he observes in those fisherman that makes him stop.

 There are two fishermen who are brothers, Simon and Andrew. Jesus invites them to follow him; to fish instead for people. Jesus then saw two other bothers, James and John, also in their boat with their father Zebedee. He called them too.  Immediately they left the boat and their father’s fishing business and followed Jesus.

 Through this seemingly chance encounter, the fishermen’s lives were transformed to become Jesus’ disciples. It would be a path they couldn’t have conceived where it would lead. I’m sure if they had known what the path was going to entail, they might never have left their nets.

Try to imagine it from the fishermen’s perspective. Their decision to follow Jesus a huge risk. We’ve read Matthew’s Gospel; we know the back story. We know the stories of Jesus’ birth. We know about the heaven’s opening at Jesus’ baptism, and God proclaiming his love his Son. Those fishermen didn’t have the benefit of any of those hints. There was no obvious inducement, no mention of fame and glory and fortune and success and excitement. Jesus invites them to join in a mission, a chance to attract others, as they had been attracted.

 Jane Williams puts it like this. She says, the disciple’s acceptance of Jesus’ invitation starts the ‘chain reaction that has never quite fizzled out, despite many wrong turns and shameful misunderstandings’ (Jane Williams).

 And what’s the calling, what’s the mission Jesus is calling the fisherman to?  It’s a journey from darkness to light – a theme we’ve become used to in Advent, Christmas and Epiphany. Into the dark oppressive situation of the Jewish community of Isaiah, the poem promises this:

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness — on them light has shined…

 This is the ministry of Jesus – one that brings wholeness and healing to those in darkness of various kinds. One important point to make is that Jesus’ call to fish for people is not about cajoling, manipulating, bullying, or even persuading others to follow Jesus.  That’s not the way of Jesus.

 If we were to ask ourselves what might fishing for people mean today? Perhaps part of the answer is asking what the good news of God’s all-embracing and limitless love means for people who are caught in the nets of exploitation, corruption, poverty, war, exile, homelessness, disease, climate change, racism, sexism, homophobia… the list goes on and on.  It’s asking: how is Jesus good news in these contexts? And how might we be part of the answer?

 So, the fishermen make a decision to follow Jesus, to share in his mission. It’s a radical turning point in their lives. The story of the disciples, as well as accounts like the conversion of St Paul, a dramatic Damascus encounter, they emphasis lives that are abruptly and suddenly transformed. And it’s the experience of many Christians today – a chance encounter with someone; a radical paradigm shift after reading a book; a conversation that forever changes one’s perspective; the experience of a crisis which opens up a hardened heart to God’s healing love. Dramatic, sudden, unforgettable.

 But what about those of us for whom following in the footsteps of Jesus has never involved such a dramatic encounter? In fact, most people describe their spiritual journey as being gradual. For many children who have grown up in church, there may never be a time in their life when God wasn’t in some way present. John Westerhoff is a priest who has looked at the various dimensions of faith. He suggests that faith for such children is likely to be a slow process characterized as the movement from 'affiliative faith' – the faith of one’s parents, community, church - to 'owned faith'. ‘Owned faith’ is like the step of getting confirmed. In short, it’s saying ‘yes’ to your baptism. It’s saying, ‘yes’, I want to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, I want to affirm my commitment of turning from darkness to light, even if there are somedays I’m rubbish at it. That’s the road I want to be on. And it’s a path that will include times of questions and doubts, all part of the journey.

 In conclusion, whatever our particular experience has been of faith – dramatic, sudden, unforgettable, or slow and almost imperceptible; we are invited Sunday by Sunday to respond to Jesus call to become followers of the Way. We are invited to participate in God’s mission to bring wholeness and healing to those living in the darkness of poverty, pain, loneliness, distress, grief. To allow God’s light to shine through us.

 Reference: Debie Thomas