Catching Fish
When it comes to sharing Christ with others, I tend to be rather reserved. I’m hesitant to bring Christ up in conversation, and I can never imagine what I should say. I don’t feel prepared, I don’t have all the answers, and to be honest I’m not really worthy of the Gospel at all. I can’t say I had a “And then everything changed” moment, but today at Ecclesia, the passage we covered today did give me a different perspective on things.
We’re going through the book of Luke at Ecclesia, and this week we covered Luke 5:1-11. Ryan spoke specifically about a miracle performed (the catch of an incredible number of fish, enough to nearly sink 2 boats) and the response of the soon-to-be disciples. I won’t go over much of that at this point – you should be able to listen to the podcast at www.ecclesianewnan.org soon, assuming I didn’t screw up the recording. What I want to talk about is something that occurred to me as we were reading the passage. I do need to cover some of the background though.
And when he [Jesus] had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep, and let down your nets for a catch.” And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.
- Luke 5:4-11 (ESV)
To summarize, Simon and his partners, being fishermen by trade, had been out all night fishing and had caught nothing. Then here comes Jesus, who isn’t even a fisherman, telling them to put out their nets during the day. They obviously had their doubts, but because they had come to respect Jesus, they did as he asked. Because they did so, they caught an incredile number of fish. They caught so many fish that they knew it was a miracle. Jesus didn’t just luck out – a catch like that just doesn’t happen. This had to be God. Simon realized this, and knew he wasn’t worthy of such a gift – let alone be in the presence of someone who is at least on par with Elijah and Elisha. Jesus does not respond to Simon’s statement, but instead gives these men a new purpose. And as soon as they reach shore, they leave behind the mounds of fish they just caught, and followed Christ.Just taking this passage at face value, we can learn a lot, and not just about the history of Jesus and the disciples. I would love to talk about it a bit, but for the sake of staying on subject (ever a challenge for me), I’ll move directly to my point. In brief, it is this: We “fish,” but it is Christ who provides the catch.
Growing up in the church, I’ve heard about being “fishers of men” all my life. I didn’t have much context in my mind, but I knew we were supposed to reach people. I guess a lot of other people also miss the context, because you don’t have to look hard to see people trying out all kinds of bait, trying to catch people. I think they missed a massive, if subtle, point the text – Christ provided the fish. Remember, Christ told them they would catch men immediately after they nearly sank their boats with hordes and hordes of fish! Think about it from their perspective – they just experienced Christ providing a catch beyond their wildest dreams, and then he tells them they will be fishing for men from now on. Do you think they started thinking about what bait to use, what time of day they should “fish,” or how much work it would be? No, I believe it to be a safe assumption that when Jesus told them they would be catching men, they immediately thought of the fish they just caught – the fish that Jesus / God has so obviously provided.
What it all boils down to is this: Christ told them to fish. They could well have said “No thanks, we’ve had enough failure for today,” and blown it off. And if they had done so, they would have missed out, to say the least. But because of their obedience, Christ provided the catch. In the same way, we follow Christ by being “fishers of men.” It’s not our efforts that bring the hearts of men to Christ, nor is it a result of our ideas, our tracts, or our programs. It is solely through the provision of Christ that we are successful in his mission. To make a long story short (yet again), if we obey and put out our nets when he tells us to, he’ll take care of the rest. Sure, there is work involved on our part, but the hardest part of the work is obedience.
