Sermon for January 24, 2021 Epiphany 3B House of Prayer Lutheran Church

Mark 1:14-20 Rev. Karl-John N. Stone

Last week we looked at the Old Testament story about how God’s call came to a boy named Samuel. And we saw how, for Samuel and his mentor Eli, as well as for us today, that understanding the call of God in our own lives comes down to listening and working together. And that for most people, we put that calling into practice by loving and serving people right in the middle of everyday life.

Well, the Bible has lots of other “call stories”, and today we hear another one, this time in the New Testament, in the Gospel of Mark, as Jesus calls his first disciples. Jesus walks along the shore of the Sea of Galilee--just picture it: a large inland lake, known for its unpredictable weather patterns and harsh storms, yet also surrounded by beautiful mountains and lush meadows. Jesus walks along the shore near the small town of Capernaum, and there he finds Simon and Andrew, and James and John--two sets of brothers, all fishermen. And as Jesus calls out to them, they respond to one of the most famous plays on words the world has ever known: “Hey fishermen! Follow me and I will make you fish for people.”

Fish for people. There are a lot of directions we can go in understanding this play on words, but one thing it points to is that Jesus’ ministry focused on people. Jesus focused on people. Jesus cared about people. Jesus loved people. Not flawless people, or ideal people, or famous people, or people who wanted to make a name for themselves. Just regular people; people who put in an honest day’s work. Like fishermen. That was a job where, when they succeeded, they not only came home safely and supported their families, but also a job where succeeding meant they provided nourishment to others. It was a job that ultimately was done to help others.

So, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people,” Jesus said. I will make you fish for people. Where should we put that accent in that phrase? Usually, I think we put that accent on the word “people”. As in, go out there and catch people. How about instead, we put the accent on the word “for”? Fish for people. As in fish “on behalf of” people. Fish for the benefit of people. Fish to nourish people. Fish to build up people. Fish to serve people. Fish to help people. Fish to love people. Fish to care for people.

I mean, isn’t that what Jesus was about in the days he walked this earth? He came down from heaven and lived among us in order to be for people. To be an advocate for people when they were in trouble. So it seems to make sense, to me anyway, that as Jesus was teaching the first disciples how to follow in his footsteps, that he would teach them his same mindset: whatever you do, do it for the betterment of people.

Today, you can still fish for people. Or you could be a nurse for people. You can teach for people. Work a cash register for people. Cook food for people. Crunch numbers for people. Design projects for people. Manufacture products for people. Be a parent for people. Volunteer in the community for people. Play music for people. Shovel snow for people. Whatever you do, find the ways that you can make it about caring for people, helping people, making life better for people--and you will, in your own way be “fishing for people”.

That’s what Jesus was inviting those first disciples to do, and they started small, and they didn’t know how it was all going to turn out. Simon, Andrew, James, and John--they listened to this call from Jesus as he walked past them on the docks, “follow me and I will make you fish for people”--and these fishermen found the invitation so compelling that they put aside (at least for a time) their work catching fish on their own, and began working together. They began with just a small group of four like minded friends (plus Jesus), who each had different personalities, talents--but they learned how to do the ministry of Christ for people. For others.

We often look at this story and emphasize how the disciples left their nets, and left their boats, and followed Jesus. We often interpret this as the disciples making a clean break with their past. But I don’t think that is accurate. Because if you keep reading the gospel accounts, you find that these disciples were back in their boats later on. Even as they learn how to follow Jesus, they don’t give up fishing. They don’t give up sailing. But they do find a new purpose with the fishing, with the sailing. A new purpose within the normal life they’d always known.

And this is, I think, one of the meanings we get when we look at the words Jesus said when he began his ministry in Galilee: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” Now, I could go into a lengthy Bible study on that sentence alone. Each phrase that Jesus said within that sentence has layers of meaning. But this is one of the meanings:

When Jesus enters your life, the influence of God is always available to you through faith; through faith, you can gain a new mindset right in the middle of the normal life you’ve always known. You can gain a renewed sense of purpose in life by being for people in the manner of Jesus. That’s what the disciples gained. They were still fishermen--only now they were fishermen who were for people, like their teacher Jesus was for people.

Another thing about fishing--it always comes with an element of uncertainty. When you take your boat out on the lake, and cast your net or line into the water, there is never any guarantee that you will catch anything.

And that is the same way when we try to follow Jesus. There is no guarantee that life will be easy, or that you’ll find easy answers to all of your problems, or that you’ll achieve great success according to the world’s standards. Faith is no guarantee for any of that. But even with the uncertainty of life, and the uncertainty that comes along with living a life of faithfulness to God, there is something we can be confident of.

And that is, when Jesus asks us to join those disciples in fishing for people, it’s because he has already been fishing for us. Jesus is for us because he’s already accomplished what we could never do for ourselves--that is, die on the cross to defeat the power of sin and death forever, and be raised to new life in order to make renewed life in God possible for each of us and for all of God’s creation.

Because of what Christ has done for us, he has made us free to give of ourselves for others; to give our efforts to God’s calling for a more caring and just society. And to get there we start--just like those fishermen by the Sea of Galilee--by gaining a new mindset through faith, and finding a new purpose to be for people right in the middle of the normal things we do in everyday life. Amen.