Sermon

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January 27, 2008
Epiphany 3a
Matthew 4:18-22
Pastor Ben Berger

A Fisherman's Calling

How many of you have ever gone fishing? Has anyone ever brought the hook over the shoulder to throw it into the water but then caught a person? (If not, maybe you’ve seen it on America’s Funniest Videos or somewhere else.) I don’t think that’s what Jesus meant when he told some brothers he would make them fishers of men. Today we’re going to take a look at A Fisherman’s Calling – not men fishing but fishing for men. As we study a fisherman’s calling, we’ll learn that Jesus calls and we follow. We’ll first hear Jesus call four disciples to be fishers of men; then we’ll hear Jesus call you and me to be fishers of men; finally we’ll hear Jesus call others to be fishers of men. In each case we’ll also learn how we follow when Jesus calls.

Let’s begin by watching how Jesus calls four disciples to be fishers of men and how they follow. It’s interesting that Jesus calls two separate pairs of brothers and everything happens basically the same way. As he’s walking around the sea of Galilee he first sees Simon Peter and Andrew. They’re busy fishing, casting their net into the sea. He invites them to follow him and promises to make them fishers of men. They immediately leave their boat and follow him. Minutes later, as Jesus continues walking around the sea of Galilee, he sees James and John in their fishing boat preparing their nets with their father Zebedee. He calls them. They immediately leave the boat and follow him.

Isn’t amazing how everything happened the same way twice? Let’s think about some of the details. Both pairs of brothers were busy fishing when Jesus called them to be fishers of men. Fishing was their job and their life; they probably spent most of their time in the boat and on the water. They weren’t sitting around waiting for Jesus to call them. They were busy with daily life. And as far as we know, they weren’t even thinking about following Jesus as full-time students. Realize that at this point Jesus wasn’t calling them to faith; that had already happened. Jesus was offering to train them as his full-time students. Then, as soon as Jesus called them, they immediately left everything. They didn’t ask to think about it. They didn’t ask to finish fishing. They didn’t ask to go home first. They immediately left the boats and the nets and the father and followed Jesus. They had now entered the seminary. From that day forward they were Jesus full-time students, training to become fishers of men.

Jesus has also called you and me to be fishers of men. I don’t mean that he’s called all of us together as a group to do the work of the church (though that’s true too); I mean that he has called each of us individually to be fishers of men. That’s true of all believers. When Jesus called you to faith, to believe in him as Savior, he also called you to make disciples of all nations. We call that private ministry. It’s the daily witness of our faith as we live our lives and let our lights shine.

Jesus has also called some believers into public ministry. Public ministry is ministry on behalf of a group of believers. It includes pastors and teachers. It also includes Sunday School teachers, councilmen, board members, pioneer leaders, worship leaders, ushers, greeters, coffee café servers and all the other ministry individuals do on behalf of Mount Olive or another group of believers.

Every single one of you should consider your potential role in public ministry. Have you ever thought about being a pastor or teacher? There are two further questions to ask to decide whether you might become a pastor or teacher. Do you have the gifts? Do you have the desire? And pay attention to what other people say because we have the tendency to downplay our own gifts. And I’m not just talking to the teens or youth here? Peter, Andrew, James and John were not in high school trying to figure out what their career would be. They were adults and they already had a career – fishing. They became second-career fishers of men. I have to admit that I don’t think we talk about this enough. Maybe we’re a little shy about asking adults to consider public ministry. Why not if you have the gifts and the desire? Maybe you don’t. OK. What about the other areas of public ministry. Might you teach, lead some youth group, help with worship, or serve a cup of coffee? God has given each of you gifts. Hasn’t he also called you to use those gifts to be fishers of men?

We must admit that we are often unwilling to accept such a fisherman’s calling. We are unwilling to leave behind our current lives. It’s too much trouble to pick up our family and move to study for public ministry. It’s too scary to leave our current job. We don’t have time to add another thing to our schedule. We’re also unwilling to follow. We simply don’t want to put in the effort to learn. We see how much work there is to do. We don’t see where the dollars will come to support our standard of living. Those are poor attitudes and sinful reasons to reject Jesus’ call to us.

Mercifully Jesus forgives us. Graciously Jesus was willing to leave behind everything. He left behind his perfect home in heaven and his perfect relationship with his father. Eventually he even left behind his life. Willingly Jesus followed the call of his Father. He didn’t worry about moving to or living on earth. He didn’t fret over the time he would add to his already busy schedule. He didn’t ask about the pay. He simply agreed to come…and to save us. He agreed to live a life without sin and to die an innocent death. He agreed to suffer death and hell. And he agreed to take us to heaven.

Now that Jesus has forgiven our sins he reissues his fisherman’s calling. He asks us to come and follow him. He promises to care for all our needs and to train us as fishers of men. Jesus trains us through regular Bible study, whether on our own at home or in a group at church. Now extra training is available through CSI: Fox Valley. The Christian Studies Institute will offer more in depth training for fishers of men. In fact, the curriculum was originally established to prepare second career men for study at the Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary. Maybe some of you, young or old, will also consider formal study at the Seminary or Martin Luther College. Jesus calls and we follow.

What about those who have already accepted Jesus’ call to be fishers of men in public ministry? Who have already left behind jobs, family and friends to study at Martin Luther College or Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary? How can we follow Jesus’ call to them?

We follow by encouraging and supporting. We can encourage and support in three ways. First, encourage others to consider public ministry. Do you know someone with the gifts to preach or teach? Do you know someone with the gifts to serve in other ways? Talk to him. Tell her the gifts you see. Plant a seed in the minds of little children who are still dreaming about what they will be one day. Get them excited to be a fisher of men. This is especially true for parents. You have such great influence on your child. Unfortunately, I hear parents discourage their children from public ministry. Please, don’t do that. Serving God’s people with God’s word is the highest calling your child can receive. Look at Zebedee, the father of James and John. He could have complained when they followed Jesus and left him holding the nets. He didn’t. My guess is that he was quite proud of them.

We can also pray for those who are studying to be fishers of men. We currently have three Mount Olive members at MLC: Tyler Shinnick, Emily Gorzalski, and Mark Hesse. Next year we’ll have some more. Through the years many Mount Olive members have answered the call to public ministry. Pray that God would continue to build them up and continue to provide more.

Finally, we can support these students with our financial gifts. There are a number of ways to do that. I’m not sure you’re aware of the endowment fund that provides assistance to any Mount Olive member at MLC or the Seminary. We could also send direct gifts to either of those schools, allowing us to take advantage of matching funds. And for the next two years we’ve chosen MLC as our Mission Partner. Our gifts will support all of the students studying to be fishers of men as well as the professors and teachers training them.