24 January 2021
I’ve often wondered why some of the stories we’re told about the calling of the disciples,
Have to do with the calling of fishermen. Why fishermen?
I don’t have a lot of experience with fishing.
I always tell people who ask if I fish–I like to sit in a boat on a nice sunny day
once a summer. I like to hang the line over the edge of the boat with a bobber,
and I don’t care if I fall asleep and the bobber goes under.
That’s my idea of fishing.
It wasn’t my father’s though.
My father was a serious fisherman.
He never got to go much when he was young.
It was the depression and they were very poor, and he had to work.
Fishing wasn’t so much about bringing in food, as it was taking a day off work.
His father didn’t abide that.
My father tried to get me and my brother into fishing when I was young.
He thought it was a good thing.
It was miserable for us though.
We had to sit still.
We had to pay attention, but couldn’t speak a word.
Hour after hour we sat there. Nothing happening.
Some days we caught something, most days we didn’t.
Still my father was persistent in going fishing.
Both my brother and I, eventually quit. He never did.
There is something about the tenacity of fishermen that is important about discipleship.
How often in all the gospels are the disciples failures at fishing–nothing gets caught.
And yet how often does Jesus tell them to be patient, to try again.
There is something about the silence of fishing that is important to discipleship.
As disciples we have to listen–not only to the Lord, but also to each other.
We teach each other more about God when we listen, than when we talk.
And finally, there is something about the willingness to wait, that is important
for discipleship.
The hard part for us is that we want answers and we want success right away.
I’m not a good fisherman.
I’m not sure many of us are here.
Today, when Jesus calls the two brothers, he’s not teaching us about fishing, he’s telling us we need to be tenacious, silent and patient if we want to be his disciple.