"To catch fish, you have to go fishing"

Luke 5:1-11
Dr. Anne M. Cameron
August 8, 2010
Lake Highlands Presbyterian Church

      If you grow up in a family who likes to fish, you will probably learn something about fishing.  You learn, first of all, that fishing is desirable.  Your parents take you fishing, and you see they really like it, and (wanting to be like mom and dad), you like it, too.   When you are really small they may even get you a toy rod and reel.  When you are a bit older and you go out to the lake with them, you start to pick up a few things.

      One of the first things you learn is you have to do what they tell you to do. You do things you may not really feel like doing, like wearing a life jacket, like sitting still.  Then (if you're lucky) someone who really knows how to fish will show you the ropes.  Fishing is an art, and it is also a science.  There is a lot to it, and if you don't practice and do it, you may as well forget fishing.

      Dad lets you hold the fishing pole, and you begin to get a feel for the correct tension.  Mom shows you how to hook a worm; you get over your squeamishness.  You find out that bait is necessary, and you learn about the proper bait for the fish you're aiming to catch.  You untangle a line, set a weight, read the weather.  You cast your line, you tie a fly, you go find the best fish.  Most of this you learn mostly by doing.

      Fishing, like most everything in life, has its good days and its bad.  There's pleasant parts of it, and also some very unpleasant parts.  Most of the time you have to be very, very patient to catch something.  You have to go out and do it, time after time.  When you keep doing it, you get better at it.  It takes time.

      When you actually put into practice what you've learned, when you get yourself out to the lake or the river and go fishing, it can be wonderfully satisfying.  Sometimes you even bring home a big haul.

      Listen to this parable about fishing:

      “There was a group of people who called themselves fishermen.  There were many fish in the waters all around.  In fact, the whole area was surrounded many streams and lakes filled with fish. And the fish were hungry.

      Week after week, month after month, year after year these people, who called themselves fishermen, met in meetings and talked about their call to go about fishing. . .These fishermen built large, beautiful buildings called "Fishing Headquarters."  The plea was that everyone should be a fisherman and every fisherman should fish.

      One thing they didn't do; they didn't fish.

      All the fisherman seemed to agree that what was needed was a board which could challenge fisherman to be faithful in fishing.  The board was formed by those who had the great vision and courage to speak about fishing, to define fishing, and to promote the idea of fishing. . .

      Now it's true that many of the fishermen sacrificed and put up with all kinds of difficulties.  Some lived near the water and bore the smell of dead fish every day. . .They anguished over those who did not attend their weekly meetings to talk about fishing.  After all, were they not following the Master who said, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men?"

      Imagine how hurt some were when one day a person suggested that those who don’t go fishing and catch fish were really not fishermen, no matter how much they claimed to be.  Yet it did sound correct.  Is a person a fisherman if year after year he never catches a fish?  Is one following the Master if she isn‘t fishing?”  (adapted from Win and Charles Arn, “The Master’s Plan for Making Disciples”, pp. 14-15)

      I'm sure by now you realize I am not talking about trout.

      Presbyterians are at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to fishing.  Most Presbyterians have not grown up in families that loved to fish.  Most of us have not even been taught to fish.  We avoid it!  Some of you may have fled the Baptist Church, or another church, because you thought they spent too much time fishing.  Presbyterians are extremely squeamish about fishing.  We'd would much rather talk about it and plan for it than actually go out there, bait a hook, get our hands slimy, and pull in some fish.  Most Presbyterians (including most Presbyterian ministers!) are not even trying to fish.  No wonder our denomination is drying up.

      Christ makes it clear that discipleship is about fishing.  We learn some things from the Bible today about fishing.  First, we hear God commands us to do it.  In order to obey the Master fisherman, we have to go fishing.  We put out our nets, even when we don't want to.  Even when we have been trying on our own with no result.  We do what the Master asks us to do, even when we feel foolish, or tired, or hopeless.  Even when we think we know more than He does!  We fish.  We obey.  We use our gear and we get in gear.

      We learn it's not enough just to talk about fishing . It's not enough just to buy the equipment.  We have to DO something.  Action is required.

      A second thing we learn is we can't stay in the shallows.  We have to venture out, to go into deep water.  The Master wants us to go deeper and further than we have gone before.  The deep water is unfamiliar territory, and it can be a little frightening.  We still have to go there if we are going to be obedient.

      A third thing we learn in today's lesson is it's a good idea to be prepared for a big catch.  Because there are so many hungry fish out there, once they jump into our net we need to know what to do with them!  We need to be prepared for all the mess that will come, the carpets that will get dirty, the parking lot to be full, the new ideas that will come and maybe not always agree with our old ones.

      We may think we are "done for the day" but the Master calls us all back to work.  We may think we have put in our time as fishermen, but have we really?  Have we actually caught some fish?  Are we still catching fish?  If not, we have not been obedient.  You may think you are too young or too old to go fishing, but if you can talk to people, you are neither too young nor too old . And the Master calls.

      Why? You may ask. Why do this?  Isn't our little school of fish just fine as we are?  Why get more fish?  Why worry about the fish floundering out there?  Why double our worship attendance?  Why create more groups, more work?  Why strain the budget?  Why strain ourselves?

      Two Reasons:  #1 The Master commands it.  And #2 People (the floundering fish) need it.

      There's more.  There is the promise of great and overwhelming abundance when we go fishing.  This takes many forms.  There is the abundance of diversity in our congregation, a strength which comes from diverse people and perspectives.  There is the abundance of people from all generations coming together to become better people, to share in others' joys and sorrows, to bear one another's burdens.  Nowhere else can you find a place where people of different generations gather for a common purpose.

      There is such a thing as critical mass.  Even the disciples had to have big enough boats and enough hands to pull in the catch.  Think what God will be able to do when we are double the size we are today.  There will be many practical concerns which will no longer take so much time and energy, as the congregation becomes even more self-sustaining.  There will be more people to do more ministry.  Think of the people who can be fed, of the families who can be helped, of the ministries that can grow when we grow larger.  Think of the impact LHPC will make in Lake Highlands, in Dallas, in our Presbyteries and in such places as Guatemala and Belize and God knows where else!

      Imagine the buzz of people and the synergy that happens when God's people get together and invoke the Holy Spirit.  Think of the friendships we will have, the bounty we will share, the good we can start, the good that will multiply.  Think of nets full of fish to the breaking point, of boats so laden with blessings they spill over.

      There is abundance that awaits us, too, as individual fishermen.

      We have the promise and indeed the experience of changing lives, and of our own lives being changed in the process.  We have the God-given blessing of re-orienting our lives to something bigger and more important than we are.  We have the joy of knowing we introduced someone to Christ.  The amazing sense of purpose that comes about when what we are doing truly makes a difference in someone's life.  For all we know, we may have been the one to help save someone's life.

      The joy of knowing God is using us to do a great work.

      The joy of knowing God in a new and fresh way.  Of getting a glimpse of the divine all because we were willing to stop talking about fishing, we were willing to stop wishing to go fishing, and we just went out and fished.

     

      Over the next year the leadership of the church challenges you, will equip you, and help you go out and fish.  We are all going fishing, and we invite you to follow the Master's command to go and do the same.

      Today on your communication card, write down the first names of at least four people you know who are not currently connected to a faith community.  (friends, relatives, neighbors, co workers).  Your goal this week is twofold: to actively pray for them to find Christ and a community of worship.  And 2nd, to deepen your relationship with them to prepare them to listen to you.

      We will come back to these names over the next couple of months, so jot them down on your bulletin to take home.  As an act of response to God's word, as an act of offering, place these names before God in the basket/plate as we give of ourselves and our material blessings for the great work God has in store for us.

      Let us continue to worship God.

      Master and provider of all good things,

      Shake us out of complacency to heed your call

      Cast us out of retirement to do your will, if that is what is needed

      Apprentice us to disciple others, if we have never done so

      Forgive us for ignoring your call to go fishing. So disturb our thoughts and spirits that we might not rest until we are obedient in your call to share our faith with others.  Give us courage and strength that we may overcome our fears and anxieties.  Make us rest secure in the knowledge that when we speak to others of you, you will bless them and us.

      Multiply our efforts to spread your Kingdom and to touch all persons we know.  Lord, we ask for each one here to commit to pray for four friends and to deepen their relationships with these four, that you might do a great work through them over the coming weeks and months.

      Ours is a hurting world, and many of us here have our own hurts and worries and concerns.  Lord, help us see that we can rest secure in your peace.  Help us to rely upon our brothers and sisters in Christ for support, love, and grace.

      We pray not only for ourselves and those we know, Lord, but for all Christians, all who fish, and all who have yet to be caught.  We pray for our sister churches who are struggling, who have all but given up hope that they will catch anything.  We pray for our presbyteries and all church leadership, both in our denomination and beyond.

      We thank you Lord for the great work you do through so many millions of individuals who have answered the particular call you have place upon them.

      As we ourselves are transformed into fishers of people, so might the world be transformed, person by person, one by one, through the grace of your Holy Spirit.