"No Cooler Purpose"
It's not the catching that counts, it's the fishing
Sermon Preached by
The Rev. Dr. Andrew Stirling
Sunday, September 19, 2004
Text: Matthew 4:17-25
Along the north shore of the island of Bermuda where I spent part of my childhood is a lovely little bay known as Shelley's Bay. As a boy on my way to and from school, I would cycle past this bay nearly every day with friends. Rain or shine, hurricane or no hurricane, hot sun and steamy, humid August days, it mattered not, there was one thing you could count on in Shelley Bay and that is that Josiah Trott would be sitting on a rock fishing.
Josiah was an amazing character, an elderly man who spent nearly all of his days at Shelley Bay. As he cast out his line, he would have next to him a bucket. Every time we went and had a look at it there were hardly ever any fish in it and then only gar fish, which have long snouts and are inedible, or bottom-feeder fish that you would never even contemplate consuming. It seemed that any fish he caught was useless, and so to make fun of Josiah and the odd fish that he caught we would cycle by and cry out, “Have you caught the big one yet, Josiah?” and every day he would smile broadly and say, “No, boys, but there's always tomorrow.”
The older I've gotten and the little bit of maturity that I've gained makes me realize that Josiah was more interested in fishing than in catching. He was more interested in simply being out there, casting his line, than in filling his bucket. His purpose was to fish; he would let the filling of the bucket take care of itself.
Every time I read this morning's passage from the Gospel of Matthew my mind always goes back to Josiah Trott, because Jesus came upon the disciples when they were doing their ordinary, everyday things. He came up to Andrew and his brother Simon Peter and later to James and John, the sons of Zebedee, and in the midst of their ordinary, everyday lives, when they were spending their time fishing, he approached them and called them with words that were immortalized throughout 2,000 years of history. He said, “Come, follow me. and I will make you fishers of people.”
Now, there was a distinction among three types of fishing on the Sea of Galilee. The first was casting a single line out and hoping to catch a fish. The second was standing on shore and casting a net onto the waters, and dragging it in from the shoreline. The third was the drag net, which was placed between two boats that went out into the middle of the sea and came back to the shore in the hope that with the net down between the two boats, many fish would be caught.
The Greek translation tells us that what they were doing was drag-netting. That was the commercial fishing, the most successful fishing of the time. And while they cast their nets onto the waters, they did it from the boat and brought the fish in. Ordinary, every day fisher people, doing their ordinary, everyday thing. And yet in the midst of all this Jesus says these unusual words: “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of people.”
This may sound very strange to us. It might seem almost absurd that in the midst of an ordinary, everyday task Jesus would come to make such a request. Yet, in the time that Jesus lived it was not unfamiliar for great leaders to demand that others follow them. Sometimes it was philosophers. Socrates, for example, was encountered by a man named Xenophon, who asked him, “Where do you think I will find any good people who are righteous?”
Socrates answered, “Follow me and I will show you.” Even the great rabbis of the great rabbinic tradition had a sense of leadership where they would invite students, exceptional minds, to become scholars of the Law and to follow them in their deeper knowledge of Torah.
But Jesus was different. Unlike Socrates and many of the philosophers and wandering rabbis of the time, Jesus called ordinary people doing ordinary things. He called people who were going about their daily tasks, unexceptional, really, by the world's standards: fisher people on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.
A second difference with Jesus is that he wasn't calling them to know more about humanity, he wasn't calling them to deepen their philosophical knowledge of things, he was calling them to an understanding of the Kingdom of God. What was distinct about Jesus' call to the disciples was that it was an invitation to come and to follow him and through the spirit to experience the Kingdom of God.
The third thing about Jesus that was different was that he was not inviting them on a path of self-discovery, he was calling them to a life of service, a life of sacrifice. He wasn't saying, “Come with me and I will make you wiser. Come with me and I will make you deeper. Come with me and I will make you more understanding than the rest of the world.” He said, “Come with me, follow me.” The rest of the story is that it was a call to a life of sacrifice and dedication.
This raises the question, though, that if Jesus invited people in that setting to follow him, what can you and I derive from what he had to say? Is there any application for us in the words of Jesus to the disciples by the Sea of Galilee?
Some would say no. John Calvin made the argument that they were called to a particular office, to be apostles and before that disciples. There was something unique about them. It wasn't a universal call per se but a call specific to those very men on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.
I, however, happen to think that the call of Jesus to those disciples does apply to us, and I do so on the basis of the Great Commission at the end of Matthew's gospel, where Jesus says to the disciples, “I want you now to go and make disciples.” In other words, the call to make disciples was not just at a solitary moment in time, uniquely directed to Andrew, Peter, James and John. Rather, the call of those disciples is a perpetual call to discipleship, to the following of Jesus and in a sense to the fishing of humanity. It is not just a one-off moment; it is a moment for all time.
A few months ago I was interviewed for a television show that will be broadcast before Christmas. I must admit it was an unexceptional interview and I don't know whether you will want to bother tuning in, you've probably heard it all before anyway. But this interviewer asked me a fascinating question before the interview began. He said to me: “Andrew, what do you think is the greatest challenge facing the Christian church today?”
I thought about it and said something like: “The problem with Christianity today, particularly in our North American guise, is that we think that Christianity is more a set of propositions to which we give some assent than an invitation to follow a person that requires a decision.”
In other words, we have turned our faith into a creed or a series of beliefs and principles. But you can't have the principles if you don't first of all have the person. You can't say, “Here is the Christian faith, are you going to accept it?” If you haven't already decided to follow the One on whom the Christian faith is predicated.
Soren Kierkegaard, in his most magnificent work, Concluding Unscientific PostScript to Philosophical Fragments wrote, “It is perfectly possible to have a knowledge of the Christian understanding of God without being a Christian.”
In other words, you can look at Christianity from a distance, you can stand back and observe it amongst the pantheon of the gods, but unless you have reached that point where you are prepared to do as the disciples did and hear the words, “Follow me,” respond with a “yes” and drop your nets and go, you will not be able to know the heart of and the soul of what it means to be a Christian. But while you can keep principles at a distance, you can't do that with a person.
If this is the case, if Jesus' words, “Follow me” still resonate today, if they are still a direct call to you and to me, what will this call do and how will it change us? First of all, if you look at the disciples themselves, what Jesus was saying to them was “Live with me.”
In a wonderful book, Jesus Among Other Gods, Ravi Zacharias makes an interesting observation: “When you look at the life of Jesus, it is remarkable that nothing is said in the Bible about his home.” There is no description of his house, no address given. All we know is that he was born in a particular place and grew up in a particular place, but most of the details of his life are left out. If you were to write a biography of a great spiritual or religious leader, wouldn't you think that was strange? I do.
Ravi Zacharias says it is and it isn't. It is strange from a worldly point of view, but when you look at the nature of the ministry of Jesus, he was more interested in the Kingdom of God being in our midst than he was his own particular home. He wasn't inviting people back to his home for dinner, he was inviting them to follow him anywhere, because anywhere is where the Kingdom of God might be.
That is why once the disciples put down their nets they began to wander with Jesus. Jesus said, “The Son of Man doesn't have a place to put his head.” I don't have a home - in other words, my home is with God. Whenever Jesus healed the sick, when he cured the diseased, when he gave nourishment to the hungry, when he manifested the Kingdom in the love that he showed to the outcast, it was precisely then that he revealed where his home was and what it was all about. His invitation was for the disciples to follow in that home where the Kingdom of God is.
That is why the ministry of Jesus is so powerful and why the disciples did not get wrapped up or concerned about their abode. Ravi Zacharias goes on to suggest that as a Christian, once you have decided you are going to follow Jesus, when you know that the Kingdom of God is the single most important thing in your life, you need to change your address. And the address where your principal allegiance lies is with the Kingdom. The Kingdom comes first. The beauty and glory of our faith is that that is not constrained by culture, language, continent or nation. It is not based on heredity. It is based on faith and can be practised, lived and experienced anywhere. This also means, though, a profound change in one's allegiance.
I don't know if you're like me, but I've been sitting by my television the last couple of weeks completely and totally besotted with the World Cup of hockey. I have been cheering on Canada and praise God, hallelujah, they won! I was amazed by an interview before the last game, between two players from the same NHL club, the Finnish goalie who plays for Calgary and Jarome Iginla, who also plays for Calgary. This interview was fascinating because they almost made fun of one another, lightly and jovially. In fact, the goalie said, “Oh, don't worry, I've seen him so many times, I always stop his pucks in practice.”
Iginla said, “Well, that's in practice. Wait until the game.”
It was delightful, this light-hearted banter between the two of them, but when it finally came down to it, they both acknowledged that their allegiance was to their country. Their allegiance now had to change. It didn't matter what club they were from, the nation they belonged to superseded it.
My friends, when you becomes a Christian your allegiance changes. The allegiance to the Kingdom supersedes all others. In many ways it is because our very leader has changed. There are many out there who might offer to speak words of advice and guidance to us that we may follow. They're not always right.
I was reading the words of Ngo Dinh Diem, who used to be the Prime Minister of South Vietnam. He was a brutal man in many ways. He once talked about the need for people in his country to follow him in their battle against the Communists. He used words that were attributed to Mussolini many years before: “Follow me if I advance. Kill me if I retreat and avenge me if I die.”
There are many voices that say, “Follow me,” but they're not all the Kingdom of God. Jesus, on the other hand, is totally different and turns everything upside down. Jesus said, “Follow me even when I seem to be dying. Follow me even when I am losing. And when people kill me, forgive them.” That's the difference between the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of this world. The Kingdom of Jesus Christ is radically different. It makes such a difference that the whole way you look at life changes. It's a new allegiance.
Not only that, there is also need for us to live like Jesus, not just with Jesus. It's not just about the Kingdom being out there. It's about the Kingdom being in here. Now, many people wear bracelets that say, “WWJD.” Even some golfers have “WWJD” on the inside of their glove when they're playing golf, and I've seen it on bumper stickers. It stands for “What would Jesus do?”
I've thought about this a great deal, because I look at the life of Jesus of Nazareth I realize: I can't do it. Just on Friday, for example, we were having some construction done at our house and a worker dropped a door on our patio furniture and crushed it all. Then he said, “I've lost one of your doors, but I've found the trim for around it, but unfortunately it doesn't match.” This was after 10 minutes. So I asked the Lord quietly, “Lord, is it okay for me to use bad language and be violent for a moment?”
The worker came back to me and said, “Furthermore, you're going to have to get all the parts that are missing.” So I got into my car and went to pick up the missing parts, all the time saying, “Lord, do you think it would be possible when I get to the store for me to be violent just for one moment? Please, Lord? It's either that or take a lot a antidepressants and Dioval.” When I finally got there the clerk looked at me curiously - I was visibly shaken - and I said, “I'm having a very bad day.”
He replied, “You're having a bad day? You have no idea. We're having a terrible day here.”
I said, “Yes, but there's one difference between you and me. You're the reason why I'm having a bad day.” I got that off my chest and then said, “Is it possible for you to find a piece of wood trim that matches this?” And I'm thinking, “Oh, Lord, please, please, please help me.” Finally I calmed down, got the piece of wood and came home and everything was fine and fixed. But let me ask you this question: Had I not asked myself, “What would Jesus do?” what do you think I'd have done? What do you think I'd have been like? There would have been blood all over the streets of Bayview, because I know in my heart that I am a sinful person, and I know that as sinful people we simply can't live up to the ideal of Jesus by ourselves. But if Jesus is not a part of our lives, if he is not our point of reference, if we are not open to his spirit, then what do we have? You can't have principles if you don't have the person.
There's a beautiful movie, The River Runs Through It, that I saw not long ago for the first time, although it has been out for awhile. The story is about this river that runs through the life of the McLean family in Montana. Good things and bad things happen. There are conflicts. The father learns about his sons and the sons about their father. Through it all there is one thing that remains constant, and that is this river running through their lives.
That's the way I look at the life of Jesus Christ. When we say we want to live like him what we mean is that he is the river that runs through our lives. Not that we in any way, shape or form shall be perfect, in this life for we will not, but as the river, he is the constant flow of God's Kingdom reminding us of who we are to be. But for that river to flow, for that river to be part of our lives, we have to first of all do as the disciples did and say, “Yes” when he says, “Follow me.”
There is one last thing. He also wanted the disciples to live for him - not only with him, not only like him, but for him. He becomes the point of reference for our lives, he becomes the source of our very being. What we do and say and believe we do for him.
Another little secret. Over the last few weeks of the summer on Wednesday nights I have been riveted to Canadian Idol. I have followed every single note. I haven't phoned in, but I listened to them all and loved every moment of it. I had debates with my relatives about who was the best. It was wonderful. It's a great show. On Wednesday night it came down to the two finalists, absolutely delightful young people, either of whom could have won and both deserving in many ways. But I was absolutely smitten by something on Wednesday night. The young man, Kalan Porter, who eventually won, sang his optional song, a piece that seemed completely and totally out of character. It was a song in praise of Jesus Christ. As he was singing it, I thought, “Oh, he's committing suicide up there.” It wasn't particularly good; it sounded a bit whiney. As one of the judges said, “It was kind of boring.” And it was, but I knew what Kalan Porter was doing. He wasn't singing from the world's point of view, he was singing from the Kingdom's point of view, and that took courage for an 18-year-old young man to do. It took faith, because what he was saying was that what he was doing, he was doing for Jesus Christ.
There can be my friends, no cooler purpose. Even though you and I may not by virtue of our life, our ministry and our faith have many fish, many men and women in our bucket, it's the fishing that counts, not the catching. The fishing is believing. It is saying to Jesus of Nazareth, “You have called me to be a fisher of people and I will therefore live with you and will seek to live like you and every day I will try to live for you.” Amen.
This is a verbatim transcription of the original sermon.