Fishers of Men

Picture a fisherman, pole in his hand, bread for bait, setting out to fish on a dark, foreboding day. The water churns and the surface is murky. Not a good day for fishing, one would say.

We are the fishermen: ” . . . Come ye after me, and I will make you to be­come fishers of men” (Mark 1:17).

The bread is Jesus: “I am that bread of life” (John 6:48) .

The waters are the people: ” . . . The waters . . . are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues” (Revelation 17:15).

Do we say, “It’s not a good day for fishing” and fail to throw out a line? We know that most of the fish in the sea will not respond, but we also know that many have and will continue to be called out of the sea of humanity into the Gospel net. Brother Janna-way wrote many years ago: “They showed great enterprise, and made the most of the occasion. And yet only, as it were, a hand­ful of them to do it! We cannot help noticing how enterprise is being rewarded  all along the line. It looks like: ‘ . . . According to your faith be it unto you’ (Matthew 9:29); ‘The liberal soul shall be made fat . . . ‘ (Proverbs 11:25); ‘ . . . good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom . . . ‘ (Luke 6:38). So it has turned out. Where the brethren have had faith, taken large halls, and worked commensurately therewith, they have not been disappointed, the halls have been filled. And where they have not been optimistic enough to do more than attempt to fill their own hall, so it has been. Anyhow, so far, every hall has been filled” (Christadelphian, June 1915).

We see from the above comments the need for faithful, hard-working fisher­men.

Fishing poles are fine for individuals, but ecclesially we should follow the ex­ample of the disciples and use nets, al­ways remembering that it is, “Thou, 0 God . . . broughtest us into the net .

(Psalms 66:10,11). Paul to the Ephesians wrote: “He destined us in love to be his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of His glorious grace which he freely be­stowed on us in the beloved” (Ephesians 1:5 R.S.V.).

It is not sufficient to draw people out of the sea and leave them to die on the beach from the foul water in their lungs. Seldom do drowning people begin to breathe again on their own. Artificial help, respiration, is required to enable them to breathe in the pure message of the Gospel Word and start a fresh walk on the narrow path to the kingdom. In artificial respiration the phrase used is„ “Out goes the bad air, in goes the good.” Jesus used a similar idea in His parable of the man who found his house swept clean, but who went out and filled it with seven evil spirits, making the last state of that man worse than the first (Luke 11:24-26). The evil thoughts must be replaced with good. Help can be given in many ways: study classes, Sunday serv­ices, kindly words of compassion and encouragement, lectures, etc. Help needs to be given to people still in the sea of the world, to newly baptized, and even to older members who may have slipped back to the ways of the world. We need to encourage all to a deeper love and understanding of the truth, for this alone can help one to stay on the right path.

Before Jesus ascended to His Father, He appeared to His disciples and they gave Him a piece of broiled fish. He took it, and ate before them. The people drawn out of the sea are represented as fish, and Jesus in partaking of the fish, made it part of His own body. Paul tells us that the church is the body of Christ, and He is the head of the body. We must not forget that even though we be­come part of the body we may be cut off, if we prove offensive to Him. Christ says that the offending eye, hand or foot must be cut off (Matthew 5: 29,30).

Just as Christ ate of the fish and it became part of His body, we eat of Christ and he becomes part of us. “. . . Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me” (John 6:53-57).

If we truly become part of the body of Christ, we shall be among those who behold the churning seas of the nations made as glass like unto crystal much as Christ calmed the stormy sea (Mark 6:51, 4:39).

It is not without significance that Jesus calls those who would follow him “fishers of men”, Mark 1:16,17. Andrew and Simon were fishers in the sea of Galilee. They knew their trade well, for it was their livelihood. They were proficient at finding the right place at the right time. They would be wise in their method and choice of bait. And they would understand the challenge of such a profession along with its joys and disappointments.

This was parallel to the Christian life. Their calling was to a new “profession–. And their lives depended on their effort and ultimately the blessing of God. As fishers of men they must still show initiative and enterprise to fill the net “that was cast into the sea”. They must know how to handle and process what they caught.

This is our job today, just as it was to the early disciples. We must know our trade. We must seek out those who will give us a hearing. We must find the places and the methods that bring results and finally we must be equipped to take in hand those that will listen.

The quality of love is never more important than when we first seek to display the “pearl of great price“. There must be a ready sacrifice of time and energy, a willingness to go more than halfway to discuss the truth of God’s Word. People respond to genuine interest, for it is one of those warm and human ingredients that is so absent in much of today’s busy life.

Jesus was ever ready to talk and instruct those who came to him. There were many occasions when He was tired and weary from a long busy day, but with a genuine inquiry from a seeking heart, He would never refuse His saving message. It is this sort of attitude and dedication that will help us to preach God’s Word today. A formal Sunday night lecture is only a tiny introduction to the real spirit and teaching of the Gospel. Correspondence can never replace the personal fellow­ship that is part of the Christian household.

Christ’s example is to give of ourselves in a way that requires effort beyond what is normal. As a household our relations must be informal and genuine. Our friends should see this as a quality of our service to God. They should see this as something desirable for themselves and something that they could also experience. Our job is to show them the value and benefit of a Godly life. To do this requires the resourcefulness and patience of a fisherman who toils many long hours some­times before the desired result: but oh what joy at the first nibble! And what satisfaction when the work is done: the net is gathered with a people for the Lord.