3 Epiphany Year B 1/21/2024
Jonah 3:1-5, 10; Psalm 62:6-14; 1 Corinthians 7:29-31; Mark 1:14-20
Rev. Mark A. Lafler
Similar to last week’s Gospel reading, we have another call story…
When Jesus calls his disciples to follow him.
And one of the things that stand out is that so many of Jesus’ disciples were fishermen.
Have you ever wondered why it seems that the majority of the disciples of Jesus were fishermen?
In our reading we find out that four of the twelve disciples were fishermen by trade – Peter, Andrew, James, and John.
In John chapter 21, we find out that Thomas and Nathanael along with two nameless disciples went fishing as well.
Everyone seems to be fishing… at least 8 out of the 12 disciples.
Either Jesus really liked to eat fish, or he enjoyed the company of these fishermen.
And everyone who fishes…
has a “fish-story.”
Many years ago, I borrowed my grandfather’s boat… a 10-foot skiff. Two of my friends met me early in the morning to take the boat into Sarasota Bay to fish…
I filled up the two 10-gallon tanks with gas on the way there and we lowered the boat down the ramp into the water.
We got into the boat and started the engine.
Suddenly, my friend said, “Stop! Turn off the engine!”
As I turned it off and peered over my shoulder,
I saw that the engine was on fire…
In the history of humankind, there has never been three young men jump out of a boat and run up the dock so fast.
Once we were at a safe distance, we all turned around…
In great anticipation…
for the blast of 20-gallons of gas exploding…
waiting for the boat, the wooden dock, flying into the air…
But alas… Anticlimactically… nothing happened…
we slowly and cautiously walked back to the dock…
back onto the boat.
I went and got the truck… our fishing day was over…
I took the boat back to my Grandfather’s house.
When he saw me…
he mentioned something about it being a quick fishing trip… yeah.
And I was just thankful I still had a boat to return to him.
You see fishing takes more than just putting a line in the water and hoping something happens.
It takes patience, know-how, study, diligence…
It takes knowing how to operate a boat.
There are different kinds of fishing… casting, deep sea, fly fishing
(In fact, on this day we celebrate Scotland, it is important to note that she has some of the best fly fishing in the world) …
Fishing involves knowing where to fish…
listening to others talk about their fishing trips…
knowing what fish to catch at different times of the year…
weather patterns… seasonal patterns…
It takes skills to be good at fishing…
So, it’s no surprise that
Jesus called fishermen to be his disciples…
But not to catch fish…
He said:
“Follow me and I will make you fish for people.”
The heart of why Jesus came was to transform people.
So that they would know him… and they would make him known.
In his own words he said,
“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10).
St Paul wrote to the young minister Timothy and said:
“…that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”
(1 Timothy 1:15).
Jesus came to set people free from their sins…
through the power of the cross and resurrection…
we can live a life to the full…
through the power of the Holy Spirit.
We can receive the grace of Jesus…
the gift of Jesus through faith.
God so loved the world that he gave his only son….
That whoever believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life.
Jesus gave lots of moral truth…
But he came not to be just a moral teacher…
He did not come just in hopes to make the world a better place…
He came to save his creation from the curse of sin.
And he did this through his life, death, and resurrection.
And when Christ ascended to the Father he left this mission with his people… the church… his disciples – the “fishers of men”
Jesus said:
“…Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. The one who believes and is baptized will be saved;
but the one who does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:15-16).
And the disciples did just that…
They went into the world proclaiming the good news of Jesus.
St. Andrew went to Turkey and then to what is today Russia.
St. Thomas went as far as India.
St. Philip went to North Africa.
St. Matthew went to Persia and Ethiopia.
Others went around the Roman Empire.
(Eventually the gospel of Jesus Christ was preached in Scotland in the 3rd century)
And just as the disciples were called to be fishers of people…
so are we…
the church…
we are called to be fishers of people.
Not to build the kingdom of the church…
Not to build a country club, a political party, or a charity…
But to transform the world for the Kingdom of God.
And, in our country, we have the freedom to share the good news of Jesus with the world around us…
This was not so in the early church…
They shared the gospel and gathered together for worship under the threat of being arrested… tortured… and possible death.
The Christian faith was illegal for 275 years under the Roman Empire.
And so, Christians met in secret on the Lord’s Day…
on Sunday.
They worshipped, sang songs, shared in the breaking of bread,
and listened to the teaching of the apostles…
at secret locations…
in homes with the windows shut…
eventually out growing some of these locations they would meet in the catacombs under cities…
or in other remote places…
they gathered together.
And to identify with other Christians…
to let them know where church was taking place they would put the symbol of a fish on the wall or chiseled onto a stone…
The fish symbolized the place where they met.
Why a fish?
Why not a cross or a chalice?
You would think they would be more holy symbols…
But they chose a fish.
Because the fish symbolized the mission…
Jesus words:
“Follow me and I will make you fish for people.”
They knew the only hope for the world…
was Jesus.
In the 14th century, Robert Bruce of Scotland was leading his men in a battle to gain independence from England.
Near the end of the conflict,
the English wanted to capture Bruce to keep him from the Scottish crown.
After capturing his bloodhounds…
they put them on his trail.
When the bloodhounds got close,
Bruce could hear their baying.
His attendant said,
“We are done for. They are on your trail, and they will reveal your hiding place.”
Bruce replied, “It’s all right.”
Then he headed for a stream that flowed through the forest.
He plunged in and waded upstream a short distance.
When he came out on the other bank, he was in the depths of the forest. Within minutes, the hounds, tracing their master’s steps, came to the bank.
And they went no farther.
The English soldiers urged them on,
but the trail was broken.
The stream had carried the scent away.
A short time later,
the crown of Scotland rested on the head of Robert Bruce.
The memory of our sins, prodded on by Satan,
the places we come from…
the guilt that reminds us how unworthy we are…
can be like those baying dogs coming after us…
But there is a stream…
A stream that flows red,
with the blood of God’s own Son.
By grace through faith we are safe in him.
No sin-hound can touch us.
The trail is broken by the precious blood of Christ.
The purpose of the cross is to repair what we can’t repair.
This is why Jesus came.
So that we can be freed from our sins.
If you have never experienced this freedom…
If you are not sure of your faith…
Today is the day to walk in it…
To humble yourself…
confess your sins…
he is faithful and just to forgive your sins.
He is fishing for you…
he is fishing for all people…
to know him.
As St. John wrote:
“…if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ the righteous;
and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins,
and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world”
(1 John 2:1-2).
This is what we are called to…
A life of grace…
through faith…
trusting in Jesus.
And this is what we are called to share…
The good news of Jesus Christ…
Christ is saying to all of us today:
Come…
follow me…
and I will make you fish for people.
Amen.