Text: Matthew 4:12-23
As Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fish for people." Immediately they left their nets and followed him.
The Sea of Galilee is a fishy place. There you smell the earthy scent of fish in the wind. The water is green and rugged. The Sea of Galilee is really a very large lake. You can see all the way across it - barely. There in the distance is the other side of the lake. That is where we are going today, to the other side of the lake. We are going to learn to fish for people.
There is something special about this large lake called the Sea of Galilee. Mark's account of Jesus' message says, "The time is fulfilled" (1:15), but for Matthew the place is fulfilled, "Galilee of the Gentiles" (v. 15). Matthew raises the issue of the mission to the Gentiles when he introduces the wise men from the East. (2:1-12). Jesus mission to the Gentiles is the theme of this story that is set among the green, gently rolling hills that undulate around this side of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus is here to fish for people who are fishermen by trade. Before he leaves these sacred shores, he will have caught two fishermen whom he will make fishers of men.
Growing churches today have one thing in common. They teach their newcomers how to be fishers of people. By that, I mean they teach them how to go out and reach other people and get them to come to church with them. That is good as long as it is done "decently and in order."
Yet when Presbyterians here this "fishing for people" language it doesn't smell right to us. It smells fishy in the negative sense of that term. We don't want to get manipulative in "fishing for people." We don't want to sit around at meeting figuring out what bait shall we use this time? What are the young families biting on these days? Where are the children schooling? Is the church a business? Do we need to market ourselves to the community in order to attract new members. Judging by our church budget the answer is no. The amount of money we spend on outreach compared to evangelism is somewhere around 50 to 1 for outreach. Yet we wonder why St. John's remains a well kept secret like a fishing story that never gets told. The very phrase "fishers of men" is a familiar phrase but is not endearing in application. It sounds off flavored today due to lack of inclusive language: "Fishers of MEN." Even from earliest times the church never warmed to this phrase: "fishers of men." The shepherd analogy became more popular.
We have our suspicions about evangelism. We do not want to be manipulative. We don't want to play the politics of the left versus the right to haul in an unsuspecting catch. Perhaps some churches grow their membership by emphasizing issues on the left wing or right wing of the political spectrum but St. John's does not cater to either the left or the right wing. Such political calculations are not what Jesus had in mind when he called out to Peter and Andrew by the Sea of Galilee, "Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of people."
On the other hand, Jesus was having a conversation with fishermen. Fishing was their business. It was their bread and butter. That is how they paid their bills. They were professionals. They fished for a living. So of course Jesus talked to them about fishing for that is what they knew. No wonder Jesus said to these fishermen, "Follow me and I will make you fish-for-men."
That is the way Jesus is. He comes to us where we are and meets us there. He takes us where we are and adjusts us a bit. He makes use of the job skills we already have and builds on them.
I've been imagining some other calls Jesus may have extended. How about these?
Follow me you retired folks and I will employ you in an everlasting project of eternal significance.
Follow me you senior citizens and I will multiply your remaining days in service to others.
Follow me you teenagers and I will make you cool and wise in the ways of God's compassion.
Follow me you loan modifiers and I will make you modifiers of the spirits of human beings.
Follow me you architects and I will make you builders of my kingdom.
Follow me you teachers and I will make you symbols of truth.
Follow me you artists and I will help you draw the best out of people.
Follow me you musicians and I will make you instruments of good news.
Follow me you business women and I will make God's kingdom your primary business.
Follow me you engineers and I will help you figure out how to make a difference in people's lives.
Follow me you accountants and I will help you store up treasures in heaven.
Jesus meets us where we are and takes us to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. This sounds like a great place to be as a faith community. How do we get there? Our text today gives us a hint. Jesus gathers crowds of people from Galilee, Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan (v. 25). This demonstrates that Jesus' teaching is for everyone -- even for people who are not currently members of the church. Jesus wants to teach us how to be a blessing to all those who are living outside of an experience of God's love.
Yesterday we had our new year "kick off" weekend at the church. This was the annual "All Committee Day" and first Session meeting of the year. The theme of the day was how our congregation may make a few small "shifts" that will make a big difference. These shifts come from Reggie McNeal's book Missional Renaissance. We learned about this book from the Presbytery council who used it as a study guide last year. This year the presbytery is offering grant money to congregations who will study the book and develop a strategy to implement the shifts recommended by the book. Here are those shifts as described by New Covenant Presbytery.
Shift #1: Internal focus to an external focus
The shift is from the church at the center to the Kingdom of God at the center. Ask yourself if
this particular ministry will "bless the world." Will this ministry, as it is lived out, reveal God's
heart for the world? Is it bigger than the church in your place? In this shift, the church is no
longer seeing the ministry as a way to attract new members, but rather as a way to point back to
the church's mission in the world. The mission is beyond the individual church. We already practice that here. How may we be more intentional about it? That is the question.
Shift #2: Program development to People development
This mission is beyond well-conceived programs. The church is not looking for another well
received program. The mission should attract people in the church and also beyond the church. "We should feed the hungry people; but when their stomachs are full, we should also teach them or mentor them or find them work, whatever we can do to elevate their capacity to provide for themselves." The ministry should move the church from a participation mindset to a mindset that encourages spiritual maturation. Let us create ministries that move to the development of individuals and their lives. Growth through service! That is already a familiar theme at St. John's.
Shift #3: Church-Based to Kingdom-Based Leadership
The shift here would be from the old model of the church which is institutional, maintenance-
oriented, positional, pastoral, church-focused and highly controlled to Kingdom-oriented
leadership where words such as organic, disruptive, personal, prophetic, kingdom-focused,
empowering can be used. Those who participate in this ministry will, in all likelihood, have a
focus on the kingdom and how to draw individuals into a ministry. This shift no longer looks at
the leadership of the church as directors, but rather producers. Training is to move the
individuals out! Jesus gathers crowds of people from Galilee, Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan (v. 25). We should gather crowds from Meyerland, Westbury, Bellaire, Houston, Harris County, and Texas.
We are already doing some of these things at St. John's. In fact, I would say we are already 85% or so ahead of other congregations in implementing these shifts. Our challenge now is how to be more intentional about doing more of them. I wonder how your committee or small group at St. John's may make one or more of these shifts? That is a worthy question for this new year. Perhaps we may be like those fishermen, Simon and Peter, and become "fishers of people" in a way that is relevant to our society and faithful to our heritage.
You may recall another gospel story that happened here in the Sea of Galilee. Simon and Andrew and some of the other professional fishermen had been fishing all night but they had caught nothing, not one single fish. Jesus was standing on the shore and called out to them as they were coming in to shore, "Hey, take the boat back out and throw the nets on the other side of the boat." This seemed like nonsense but they had tried everything else with no success so they decided to humor Jesus. These fisherman took the boat back out and cast the net on the other side. And the haul of fish they brought in was so great they could barely pull them all in the boat without breaking the nets!
That subtle shift - casting the net on the other side of the boat - made all the difference in the outcome. So it may with St. John's in 2011. As we begin this new year, let's make a few small shifts that may make a huge difference in how many people we bring in to join us. We want them to join us not so we can brag we have some new members. We want them to join us so we may continue and expand our mission to this community.
Where do we begin? It's not as hard as you might think. Christ always starts where we already are. Let's take a deep breath…and follow.
The Rev. Dr. Jon Burnham preached this sermon at St. John's Presbyterian Church on January 23, 2011.
