They’re Not My Fish

Over 20 years ago I was invited to speak at a conference to discuss evangelism - reaching out to others - “winning them for Christ.” The theme, printed on a banner and expressed to me in the letter of invitation was “Fishers of Men.” The text I was to use as the basis for my message, was from the Gospel of Matthew - Chapter 4 - the very beginning of the ministry of Jesus, as he calls his first disciples, saying, “follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” I don’t think I did my best at that conference.

Part of my problem was born out of a sense of awkwardness or hesitation – I was uncomfortable. First of all, I don’t like that expression, “fishers of men” – we have more gender sensitive translations now, and we should use them – “men and women.” But even more than that – I don’t like the whole idea of the image of fishing as the image to be used for bringing people to faith. I was uncomfortable with it. Do you use a hook? “Hook ‘em and reel ‘em in!” I’ve been on the receiving end of that you know? People calling at my home, not knowing who I was, not caring really. But they use the old hook – toss it out there.

There have been workshops on the kind of bait to use to get people. How you can make things appealing so they’ll come to your worship service, join your church. There was a good bit of that going on at this conference where I spoke. Do you use a net? It seems more humane, but if you see a fish in a net – thrashing around – in desperation and fear, until the gills stop moving and the tail stops flopping, then that’s it, not much better.

And when’s the best time to fish? Well, when somebody’s down and out, they’re more likely to join. The church can be turned into an ambulance chaser: “Catch them when they’re in trouble!” Because when they’re not in trouble, you’ll never get them. They don’t need you anymore. I think I got away with it at the conference,but I wasn’t comfortable.

Actually, I prefer this same story as it’s told in the Gospel of Luke - Chapter 5 - we read it today. It’s a similar story – really the same story, but I like it better in Luke. And I wonder if the writer of the Gospel of Luke, had the same problem with the way Matthew told the story, as I did. Luke tells it in a very different way.

When Luke tells the story of the call of the first disciples, the story is found a little further along in the gospels, after these people have had a chance to get acquainted with Jesus – to see him heal, to hear him teach, to hear him preach. Simon Peter, and James and John and Andrew, have been experiencing the ministry of Jesus. In fact, Jesus has been to Simon’s home, has healed his mother-in-law. They know what kind of man he is.

But in Matthew, it’s just the very beginning and Jesus is simply walking beside the Sea of Galilee. Then he stops and says to these four people who are fishing, “Follow me!” In the Gospel of Luke, they have some understanding of who Jesus is, what he’s about, what they’re to do if they follow him, but not in the Gospel of Matthew. In Luke, the crowds are gathering. There are no crowds in the Gospel of Matthew. But in Luke,a huge crowd presses against Jesus, they just want to touch him. They want a piece of Jesus, just touch his sleeve, get his autograph, do something, they just want to be with Jesus – hear him.

But Jesus can’t preach, the crowds are pressing in so tight on him, he can’t be heard or seen. So, he gets in one of the boats, pushes out a little ways from shore, and with the cushion of the water in between, he sits in the boat and speaks to this huge crowd. When he’s finished talking to the crowd, he turns to those in the boat with him and says, “Now, lets go out there into the deeper water, and we’re going to catch some fish!”

“Well, we fished all night and didn’t get anything. What do you know about fishing? What is a carpenter doing, telling us how to fish, BUT, if you say so Jesus.” And so they put down the net, and they catch so many fish, one boat won’t hold them, and they get the other boat, and both boats are about to sink – two boatloads of fish!

Now, I need to tell you, the response of Simon Peter is unusual. Peter falls down in the bottom of the boat at the feet of Jesus and he says, “Get away from me! We don’t even belong in the same place. We’re not the same kind of people.” What does Jesus of Nazareth have to do with Simon the fisher. “We’re not alike. We have nothing in common. Get away from me. “I am a sinful man.” That’s what Peter says.

I don’t know why Peter called himself a sinful man. Is it the power of Jesus? The knowledge Jesus had about the fish? Does Peter think to himself, “If Jesus can look in the murky waters of the Sea of Galilee and know where the fish are, he can look in my soul and know what kind of person I am!”

Maybe, but Jesus looks at him and says, “You are not to disqualify yourself! You’re a sinful man? Okay, you’re a sinful man. Whatever you’ve done in the past, whatever blunders you will make in the future is not the reason I’m here. I’m not here to judge. I’m here to sign up workers! Now, will you sign up?”

Well Simon Peter has a decision to make; and I think it would have been easier to make that decision a little earlier in the story – at the point when he’d fished all night and had not caught a thing. When you’re at the bottom, when you’re a failure – have no success - following Jesus looks pretty good. When Peter was not a success , when you’re not doing anything else, “Maybe I’ll try following Jesus.”

But now, Peter has two boat loads of fish – hundreds of pounds! I’m sure the thought occurred to Peter, “We’ll invite Jesus to be with us in the fishing business. With Jesus, we will really make it! I mean, what’s the point of Jesus anyway, if he’s not going to help you do what you want to do, get what you want to have!”

That’s what I read on the paperback rack in the drugstores and the grocery stores. There are not just self-help books there – there are religious books, and they tell you, if you just add a little Jesus to what you want, you’ll get it! Trouble sleeping? Not a success? Want more of this? Want more of that? Want more of something else?

As I heard one evangelist say, “Give God a nickel, and God will give you back a dime!”

“You want to have more, Look! I recommend Jesus.” Maybe Peter’s saying to himself, “You know, if we had Jesus on our team, we would be loading these boats every day. I think I know the answer, “Not have Jesus call me to follow him, but I will use Jesus to feel better, be more serene, sleep at night, have more money – be healthy, wealthy and wise!” What’s the point of religion if it doesn’t get me something?

But, Simon Peter knows better. Simon Peter has one question he has to answer, “Those fish we just caught, whose fish are they?” That’s it. “Whose are they?” Now, if you had to go to court, Simon Peter would get them, there’s no question about it. “Whose boats?” “My boats!” “Who did the work?” “I did the work – my friends and I – we did the work. It was our boats, we did the work, we hauled them in … our fish! Any questions? They’re ours!”

But Simon Peter knows it’s not that simple. “Whose fish are they?” And Simon Peter concludes, “They are not mine, they are not my fish.” “Then whose are they?” “They’re God’s fish.” “Well, what’s God going to do with them?” “Feed that crowd! They’re not my fish.”

Simon Peter, whatever sins of his past, whatever rough edges on his personality and character, whatever blunders in the future – and he would make many a blunder! I give him credit for this, Simon Peter has got the point, “They are not my fish.” And so he leaves the fish – two boat loads! The crowd has a good meal, and Peter leaves everything and follows Jesus.

Now, I want to make this just as clear as I can – clear on what I believe this passage tells us with regard to the meaning of following Jesus Christ. It’s not about “Hook ‘em and reel ‘em in!” The question we have to ask ourselves: “Whose fish are they?” Every good and wonderful thing you have in life, where does it come from, does this belong to me?

It’s not mine, they’re not mine. They’re God’s fish for the people of God. How liberating that is - to be truly convinced of that in a world of “gimme and get” and “it’s mine, it’s mine!” In a world of profit and greed all the time! This man – the disciple Peter, is faced, in a moment of truth with one question, “Whose fish are these?”

Now, I hope this church has said, “They’re not our fish.” I hope many of you have said, “They’re not mine.” But I will not rest, until we all say, “It’s not mine. It doesn’t belong to me! And then we’ll be free, totally free, and our lives will be different and the world will be different.

They’re not my fish, everything, everything, it’s all a gift from God.