How many of you like to go fishing? Believe it or not I was quite a fisherwoman as a child growing up on Sebago Lake in Maine. My folks had a tourist home, the Crockett House, more like a big bed and breakfast than a hotel, that catered to fishermen in the Spring time. We would open April 1st, the start of fishing season,--or as soon as the ice went out. I can remember many a year when the ice was still solid at the beginning of April. Even before I went fishing myself, I spent a lot of time around the fishermen. At the age of 3 I sold them worms and night crawlers. The supply was plenty as I followed behind my father as he plowed the plot to prepare a garden. One of my favorite memories was going with him to pick up night crawlers. After a rain we would go out together in the dark with a big flashlight to gather the night crawlers into a big pail of dirt. These were special loving times with my dear Dad. As I got a little older, my Dad would teach me how to fish off the dock where the rental boats were tied up. In the beginning he would bait my hook with a worm and also take the fish off the hook when I got one. As time went on he taught me how to do all these things myself. I learned where to put my hook down, how to set the hook once the bite came, and later I learned where to row the boat to the places where fish would be biting. There’s really a lot to being a good fisherman or woman.

So when I read today’s gospel I get very interested about the whole idea of Jesus calling fishermen to be his disciples. Today I want to talk about these fishermen, about how Jesus called them, and most of all about how he taught them to be fishers of people. At the beginning of our Gospel passage we hear a quote of the Isaiah passage read as the Hebrew Bible reading. It is important to Matthew to show how Jesus fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah. The emphasis on “people living in darkness have seen a great light” is something we have already heard in this Epiphany season that starts with the Magi following the bright star to find the Christ child.

Already before Jesus calls his disciples, he starts preaching, and it is a message of repentance. In Matthew’s Greek the word literally means “change one’s mind”; the Hebrew word means turn or return and this is “not an idea original with John or Jesus. It is the standard prophetic and Jewish means of reconciliation with God. The word does not picture sorrow or remorse, but a change in the direction of one’s life.”(NIB, p. 167) Another way of interpreting repentance would be to say it means to begin again. We all know what a mixed blessing that is, both difficult and exciting.

In calling his disciples, Jesus took all the initiative. It was common in those days for students or followers to seek out the Rabbis with whom they wanted to be associated. So Matthew has the narrator take us the reader along with Jesus as he calls his disciples. It is Jesus that takes the active role: Jesus comes to these men; he sees them; he speaks; they do not. Jesus’ call is both a command and a promise. ‘Follow me’ is the command; ‘I will make you fishers of people’ is the promise.

Who were these men he called? In first-century Galilee this occupation could take any of three forms: “(1) a tax collector with the fishing franchise, who sold fishing rights to local businessmen; (2) a person who owned or leased boats and employed day laborers; (3) or the seasonal day laborers themselves. The first two types represented upper and middle classes respectively and would usually have been moderately well-educated… the third class were mostly poor and illiterate.” (NIB, 170) There’s not enough information to know the position of most of the disciples although there is a reference elsewhere in the Gospels that Peter and Andrew had hired servants so they were probably in the middle class. Other references in the Gospels indicate that most of the disciples were pretty rough types, probably of the lower class and uneducated. The amazing thing about each of these men in Matthew’s gospel is the immediacy of their willingness to go with Jesus. Can you imagine yourself being called by some great person, even one that you admire and have the highest respect for, and just leaving whatever you are doing and following her or him? Not even saying goodbye to your husband or wife or children ? Talk about disruption! I’ve had this kind of disruption a couple of times in my life: when I decided that I was being called to seminary and when I felt called to move to Maine to take care of my mother. But you can believe I didn’t go immediately. I discussed it, prayed about it, in the latter case made lists of pros and cons, and on and on. I wonder what I would do if Jesus came to me today and said, Barbara I want you to follow me to bring aid to the Tsunami victims or to start a homeless shelter in Hillsboro or to be a hospice chaplain in North Dakota, or to be a missionary in Africa—and I need you to come right now, just with the clothes on your back. Wow! What an amazing thing these disciples did in following Jesus, “Immediately they left their nets and followed him.” (v. 20) And the church first began! These fishermen represent all of us that are summoned to follow Jesus. For most of us, it isn’t necessary to leave our professions and possessions behind, but we all must leave our old world behind and enter into the new life that our baptism calls us to. Most of us believe that we choose to be a Christian, but I wonder. I’ve always loved that passage in John 15:16 that says, You did not choose me, but I chose you. Yes, Jesus calls us. And after Jesus calls us, we need to learn how to call others.

Jesus promises to teach the disciples how to fish for people. From my experiences with fishermen I can tell you a few traits that make for a good fisherman or woman: You really have to be excited and dedicated to fishing; willing to stay out in the boat for many hours, sometimes with little results. Patience is certainly a biggie. Also you need experience; you need someone else like my father to teach you. You need to know where the fish are biting and what they are biting: worms, frogs, flies to name a few.

So Jesus had to teach these disciples many things, which he did mostly by example but also by words. Jesus teaches them and us how to love, how to pray, how to forgive---that’s a good start. Rev. Edwin Markquart, whose been a pastor for a long time wrote about the things he has learned about fishing for people and I’d like to share some of these with you. The first thing he talks about is attitude. Just like my comments on what makes a good fisherman, he says an infectious, contagious and positive attitude is critical. If you think of people you know in this church, the ones who are enthusiastic and positive about their love for Christ and their love for the people in the church, those are undoubtedly the ones that can most easily fish for people. Markquart points out that it doesn’t take fancy equipment. Sometimes the fisherman in the little dinghy catches more than the one with the fancy boat and motor and the newest design in rods and reels. All you really need to fish for men and women is Love in your heart, love for Christ and love for others. You don’t even need to know a lot of Bible verses or read theology books. All you have to do is what Jesus did, invite people in, share your faith and love with them. The third quality that Rev. Markquart talks about is knowing were the fish are and what they are biting on. He talks about hot spots, the opportunities we have for fishing, such as when couples want to get married, when parents of young children want them to be part of a church—Tim Basha was the one that brought the Basha’s back in to church as he started asking “God questions”. The other big “hot hole” to continue the fishing analogy is with people experiencing a “spiritual emptiness inside”. Just as with setting the hook to catch the fish Markquart says that the way we set the hook when fishing for people is to give them a specific invitation to come to church, not a vague, “would you like to come to church with me sometime” but a specific invitation to come to church next Sunday and tell them when you will pick them up. The last thing that Markquart says is that the longer you do it, the better you get. The experienced fisher gets the most fish. If you keep at it, you will be better at sharing the good news with others and inviting them to come to church. If we are to grow this church and have enough people to fill the deacon, trustee, and other slots, we need to go fishing. We need more people to share the cost and joys of discipleship. As this new church year starts, I invite all of you to go fishing with me. Amen.