Welcome to our Service today. You can find the reading and reflection for this service below:

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

5 Once while Jesus was standing beside the Lake of Gennesaret and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, 2 he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. 4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” 6 When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to burst.

7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’s knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all who were with him were astounded at the catch of fish that they had taken, 10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” 11 When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.

I know that a lot of people aren’t so interested in fishing - but apparently, it is one of the most popular sports in the world.

A friend of mine called Scott has a theory – he suggests that fishing is the last vestige from our past as hunter-gatherers – the last opportunity we have to go and hunt a wild creature, catch it, and then, often, eat it.  There is some basic desire, at least some of us have, to go out and return with some kind of bounty – it makes us feel, well, - useful. 

A couple of weeks ago I went fishing – and didn’t return with any fish. And I found myself apologising.  But my apology was met with blank stares. And I realised that those who I was apologising to, had very low expectations of my success.

Our reading today from Luke:

5 Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, 2 he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.’ 11 When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.

It seems that the lake of Gennesaret is the same place as the Sea of Galilee which is also called Lake Tiberius in the scriptures. There you can catch freshwater carp and 2 or 3 other varieties of fish.

There is a sense in this reading that the usefulness or purpose of these fishermen who became Jesus' disciples is found in the phrase ‘do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people’

We find later that this ‘catching people’ involved doing Jesus‘s work – bringing healing, welcoming the outcast, and witnessing to God’s kingdom through the love they show to one another’ and inviting others to follow Jesus as disciples.

To think today, in the midst of our current challenges, that our identity and purpose are found in the same phrase – of ‘not being afraid’ and ‘to catch people.’

I don’t know if you’ve noticed this but there are quite a few stories in the Gospel to do with fishing:

The call of those first disciples on the sea of Galilee. Simon Andrew James John all fishing. And the Gospel of John finishes with a fishing story. Jesus is there on the shore and calls to his disciples who have gone back to doing what they know after the chaos of the crucifixion. He calls to them and they finally recognise who it is and they share some breakfast together.

Our purpose – not being afraid, and continuing the work of Jesus.

The disciples are just getting on with what they know and what they have always done. Jesus appears and calls them out of the pattern and order of their lives.

At the beginning of our Gospel story and at its end, we face this hurdle which may be almost insurmountable for us.

Jesus walking by the sea of Galilee and he sees two brothers who are fishing and he says "follow me. And I will make you fish for people." Immediately they gave up their nets and followed him.

I have a friend who has eaten the same breakfast every day for the last 50 years he tells me. He takes it with him on holidays and when he travels.

Perhaps we create order and routine in our lives in part as a way of managing the change going on around us. But what happens when that order prevents us from fulfilling the call that Jesus makes on our lives? Or that order is in the end quite destructive for us? Or that order gets in the way of imagining a different future?

It is only January. Start of the new year.  But here right at the start of the whole Gospel story is a message that begins with a call about the reordering of our lives. It is not a message that is easy to hear.

When I go fishing I’m never quite sure what is going to happen. 

Which is just as well because most of the time nothing much happens. But one of the things that fills me with a practically high degree of self-loathing is when I  do catch a good-sized fish and it is obviously not wanting to just hop into my little boat.  And I have my net but I think  'no it’ll be alright, I’ll just grab it when it comes close.' But just at that second, just when I had started imagining returning home in triumph, the fish does a big shake and gets off the hook or one of the knots breaks, and the fish gets away. 

And all you're left with this is the little bit of braid or fishing line blowing about in the breeze.

 And for me, the worst thing is that because I fish mostly by myself, there is no one to blame but myself. And the even more horrifying thing is that I have made this mistake before.

Who are the people who Jesus calls first? They’re people who work on the land. People who fish. People who are used to the sights and sounds and smells of that life. People who are under the oppressive taxation regime of Rome – a lot of what they catch has to be used to pay tax.

Jesus in the midst of this says “Follow me.”

I get a sense of why Jesus’s first disciples were fishing people. They are people who can hope for outcomes but never know for sure. They always know that there is something more to learn, they will be keen observers of their environment, and they will act outside the routine to take advantage of new opportunities. They are people who have made mistakes, they might even be people who are good at telling stories. 

And now they will enter a new story.

We join in worship and hear the stories of the great fishing trips. And we celebrate and give praise and thanks. But the stories, the worship, the celebration, faces its ultimate test in the encouragement it provides for us to hear that call.

It's ordered and clean and comfortable in the fishing lodge but Jesus is saying “follow me. I will make you fishers of people.”  “Follow me” he says. And “don’t be afraid.”

Fishing stories are almost always popular stories. I talked about the story of the one that got away last week.

When we talk about the things that excite us others often want to hear. 

I have talked about it enough.  I think Great Barrier is a wonderful place, and I guess I would have encouraged 10 maybe 20 people to have visited the island in the last few years. I can rave on about it for ages. 

If you came to me during the week and said “look this is amazing I've just got to tell you about something”, or “I've got something important to show you.”

I'd be interested in what you had to say. Simply because of your interest your enthusiasm your passion. I would want to know.

The Gospel is telling us about a new call on our lives. A reordering.  Loving in a way that creates in us a new sense of purpose, captivating, transforming. 

"Immediately they left their nets and followed him."

Jesus is speaking to us.  Our tidy ordered lives. Or even our chaotic lives. Our lives with their stories of success and failure. Sins and mistakes.  

In 2025 we are going to hear so many words. But let's make sure people close to us, and people far away, hear from you and me a different story.

The invitation.

Don’t be afraid, Jesus says, for now, you will be catching people.

Follow me Jesus says. Follow me.  AMEN