God is Calling us to Fish

Title: God is Calling us to Fish By Pastor Lohn Johnson
Text:  Mark 1:14-20 14  Jesus came into Galilee, …  saying, “ … the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel."  16 Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.  17 And Jesus said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men."   INTRODUCTION: My dear friends in Christ, to me the movie Bruce Almighty is a modern day parable.  It’s totally unrealistic, but some of the scenes are great teachable moments.  One scene God calls Bruce.  But Bruce is reluctant.  Maybe a little like Jonah.  The movie captures the insistence of God’s call.  But we’ve got to ask to what did God call Bruce?  The movie shows that it was to answer his objection about how God was running things.  That’s not real.  God is not answerable to us. That’s not a good picture of God.  But it can illustrate the message of our text.  We are not called to what the movie god calls Bruce.  The calls in our text were to the Kingdom of God which was at hand and the calling message said “repent and believe the Gospel.”
I. So here we see that the call is by the Gospel to the Kingdom of God.
	A. So the call is by Gospel.  But what is this Gospel?
		1. (What it is not)  What do you think of this?: [Video Mighty Smiter]  Now I would have smote Bruce, and he deserved smiting.  But we all deserve the same.  But God did not smite.  God, the mighty smiter, chose to smite someone else, not us, not Bruce.  That’s the core idea of the Gospel.
		2. And notice that Mark does not define the Gospel in our text.  We’re supposed to know what he means.  And to know what he means the people of Mark’s day would have immediately turned to Isaiah 52.  That’s where the word appears – that’s where it is defined.
			a. Isaiah speaks God’s words: Isaiah 52:6-7  Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here am I."  7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, …, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns." So Isaiah tells us God is coming-bringing the Good News, the Gospel.   b. Then Isaiah tells us what God will do.  Isaiah 52:13  “13 Behold, my servant shall…be high and lifted up,...” Where else is God’s servant lifted up but on the cross.    c. Isaiah under God’s direction even describes what happened on the cross. 53:  4 Surely he has borne our grief and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted…. 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth;….  10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for sin,
		3. God had sent Jesus to fight and defeat that which causes our problems, that which had decimated us, that which has separated us from God, our sin.  God would smite his own Son instead of Bruce, instead of us.
	B. Now in this text Jesus was going into the battle.  He had been empowered by the Spirit in His baptism.  He had just come from defeating the devil in the wilderness.  He was beginning the mission to fulfill that “Gospel.’ He came to establish His Father’s kingdom through that Gospel.  But the Kingdom he would fight for and bring about was different than any other.
		1. The Kingdom of God was not a physical Kingdom, at least not yet.  Not some earthly Camelot; not some ideal dream earthly kingdom.  This Kingdom was to be a spiritual kingdom, first.  A Kingdom of allegiance to a new King.  A King who rules beyond this world yet in this world.  The King is Jesus.
			a. This was to be a Kingdom of now -- a kingdom of blessings.  Blessings not necessarily of material wealth and earthly power, but definitely including blessings of knowing God, of forgiveness and love given freely from God.   b. This was to be a kingdom of eternity.  It offers eternal life with God.
		2. And how could such a Kingdom be near?  Jesus shows that God is taking decisive action in mankind's history to bring about this Kingdom.  It is near because Jesus has come.  Jesus is bringing it about.
			a. And to bring it about Jesus lived a perfect life, a life without sin in the place of sinful men.    b. And as Isaiah had described it: Jesus was taken by sinful men and mocked, beaten and nailed to a cross to die.  While Jesus hung on that cross God smote Jesus for the entire load of sin of mankind.  Jesus died, abandoned by God.  He suffered Hell in the place of men.  He fought our battle and it looked like He lost.   c. But on the third day after His death, He rose from the dead – He was victorious for us.
II. But then we’ve got to ask “How does one become a citizen of the Kingdom?”  It’s simpler than we think: God calls us into that Kingdom with the Gospel.
	A. In our text Jesus is looking for soldiers for His Kingdom.  Here we see Jesus walking through a crowd – that area near the “Sea” of Galilee was crowded.  He intentionally picked four men.
		1. Jesus simply calls them by saying, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”
			a. The four disciples in our text, Peter, Andrew, James and John are called by the Gospel.  They are called by Jesus' words, called by His message.  Jesus' words penetrated their minds and hearts and worked faith in them.  They became citizens of God's kingdom because of the faith that was created in them.    b. Their hearts were transformed, their allegiance was changed.  Instead of placing first importance on possessions, job and even family, God became of first importance.  The four disciples showed this when they dropped all and followed Jesus.  He gave them salvation because they were brought to believe the Gospel: the Gospel that God forgives them for the sake of Jesus.
			2. And later Peter and Andrew, James and John were to become apostles, ones sent with Jesus’ authority to proclaim the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
			a. Jesus was weaving His own net, the dragnet of God’s kingdom that is cast to the ends of the earth and literally hauls everything ashore to be sorted out at the Last Day. Jesus was going to die and rise, and Peter and Andrew, James and John were going to follow Him, to be eyewitnesses of what He was doing, and to be sent by Him as His authorized representatives, the Twelve, the foundational pillars of His church and His holy ministry.   b. Simon and Andrew, James and John would have later understood it this way...to be a fisherman, you have to be in a boat.  The fish were out in the deep water.  To get at them you had to get into the boat.  The boat is Jesus’ church.  The boat is where the baptized who regularly, in faith, come to hear the words of Christ and receive His body and blood in the Sacrament--these are Jesus’ followers.  These are the ones who are in the boat.
	B. We’re called too.   Jesus’ net has come to us.
		1. We are as fish caught in the dragnet of the kingdom of God, a net woven out of Jesus’ own death and resurrection, and net in which we die in order to live.
			a. All fish struggle to get out of nets. And rightly so. The net means their death and doom. Our sinful self always goes with a struggle. Our sinful self doesn’t want to be netted, he wants to be “free” meaning enslaved to Sin and Self. But the believer in you knows that this is a Gospel net, a good news net, that leads not only to death but also to resurrection and life. Jonah illustrated it with his life. Jesus did it with His.  We have to die to our old life of selfishness, sin and are risen to a new life and be placed in Jesus’ boat, the church.   b. To be baptized to is have the call to discipleship spoken to us. “Follow me,” Jesus said to you in your Baptism. And there in the water you were caught in the net of God’s kingdom, caught by a love that will not let you go, caught in a death that means freedom and life.  And we are caught and placed in Jesus’ boat.
		2. And Jesus’ boat is no cruise ship.  It’s a fishing boat.  On a fishing boat everyone works.  There are many and various tasks to do, and not everyone does the same task, but everyone on the boat works in some way.  And so in Jesus’ boat--here in the church --there are many ways to serve.  And not all of us do the same task, but everyone works, everyone serves.
			a. It’s automatic.  When one follows Jesus, one will serve. If you are regularly hearing Jesus’ words; if you are always coming up for His Sacrament, Jesus will be at work in you and through you.    b. The best givers in any congregation are not those with the most money, but those who love to follow Jesus.  The best workers are not those who have the most time on their hands, but those who love to follow Jesus.  “Follow Me,” says Jesus.  That must come first to be a giver, a server, a fisher of men.
		3. So, my fellow fishers of men, how’s fishing?  Don’t lie. Be honest.  It’s frustrating, isn’t it?  The work, at times, can seem pointless.
			a.  “Why do I never seem to get results?”  We follow, we work, we serve...where is the reward for all this effort?  “I have invited my loved one, my friend, but they always have an excuse.  Why can’t I catch that fish?”  “I do serve in Jesus’ church, and no one seems to notice.  I’m not much appreciated.”   b. But we’re frustrated because we’ve turned it around and put an “I” in there. Friends, Jesus calls us to be fishers of men, not catchers of men.  We do the fishing...He does the catching. Like Philip, who we saw last week we say, “Come and see” --See Jesus.    c. In whatever way you serve--hanging up a banner here in church, counting money, singing in the choir, singing from the pew, bringing your children to church with you, living your Christian faith at school, being a Christian example at work--God does not require us to get results; He requires us to be faithful.  Fishing is no easy task.  A fisherman can sit in his boat all day and get only a few nibbles.  Fishing in Jesus’ boat also takes patience.  It takes simple trust in His promises.  He promises to provide the results--the results He wants--in His own time.
CONCLUSION: Bruce was called by the movie’s god.  We are called by the Gospel – called by the news that God smote Jesus instead of us.  That gospel is like a net.  It captures fish, and drags them into the Kingdom, a Kingdom where Jesus reigns now and for eternity.    Peter, Andrew, James and John would have seen the nets dragging the fish into the boat, the church (often tied to the Kingdom of God).  The Church is a working boat.  In that boat we follow Jesus.  In that boat we serve as we have been served.  Now we live a new life dedicated to our Savior.   In that boat we are fishers of men, a sometimes frustrating job, especially when we look at ourselves, at our results.  But we are called to look to Jesus, to be faithful.  He will provide.  Amen.