Reverend Adam Hamilton – Tuesday, 4 February 2014 “Fishing for
People”
As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his
brother Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. And Jesus
said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” And immediately
they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw
James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the
nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the
boat with the hired men, and followed him. (Mark 1:16-20 NRSV)
A couple of years ago, I spent time with Yaeri, a Jewish
fisherman who makes his living on the Sea of Galilee. I wondered what I might
learn from this fisherman about the kind of people Jesus chose as his
companions.
Yaeri was salt of the earth. I asked him what he loved about his
work as a fisherman on the Sea of Galilee. He told me he loved the sea: “Every
day is different. It is beautiful.” Indeed, anyone who has been to the Sea of
Galilee can testify to its beauty, as well as to how different it looks at
various times of day and during changes in weather patterns. Those who have
been to the Holy Land nearly always report that one of their favorite
experiences was taking a boat across the Sea of Galilee, and most tours arrange
for this.
I asked Yaeri, “Why do you think Jesus chose fishermen on this
lake to be his first disciples?” His answer: “Fishermen make good friends. They
are trustworthy and hard working.”
Acts 4:13 notes of Simon Peter and John that “they were
uneducated and ordinary men.” The word, "ordinary," here is the Greek
word idiotai—a word that, at the time, signified untrained, unpolished in
speech, or unskilled.
Jesus’ first disciples were not the valedictorians of their
seminary class. They were not those voted “most likely to succeed” in their
high school class. They were men who likely did not finish school. They
probably wouldn’t have been anyone’s first choice to lead a movement that would
change the world.
When I think of them, I am reminded of a retired pastor I know.
He struggled with stuttering his entire life. He was teased and harassed as a
boy. But as a young man he heard God calling him to fish for people by becoming
a preacher. This seemed to be an impossible calling; nevertheless he said,
“Here I am, Lord.” He went to school and ultimately became a Pentecostal
preacher. He continued to stutter his entire life, but an interesting thing
happened to him when he would stand in the pulpit to preach: his stuttering
went away, and instead he delivered, with power and eloquence, the message of
Christ.
Ultimately God used him to build a church with many thousands of
people in a low-income community. The church included former prostitutes and
drug dealers worshiping side-by-side with business leaders and educators. It
was one of the city’s most diverse and dynamic congregations.
God seems to delight in using the idiotai—the ordinary, common,
nothing-special kind of folks. Paul writes, “God chose what is foolish in the
world to shame the wise... so that no one might boast in the presence of God”
(1 Corinthians 1:27, 29). Jesus comes to all of us who claim to be his
disciples, calling us to follow him and he’ll make us fishers of people. Are
you willing to say yes?
Lord, help me to follow you faithfully, to be willing to lay
down my net and join in your mission of fishing for people. Amen.
Today's post is an excerpt from The Way: 40 Days of Reflection.
Are you ready for Lent and Easter? I've written here about
several resources that you may find helpful.
-------
United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, KS 66224 United States
(913)897-0120
-------
No comments:
Post a Comment