Mark 1. 14-20
Fishing for people is loving them … just like Jesus!
I’d never heard of the man, before. Not until I stumbled over a quote, a couple years back. Terry Pratchett. English humorist, satirist, author. And the words were from a book he wrote. “And sin, young man, is when you treat people like things.’ Sin’s when you treat people like things. That’s what came to mind the first time I read the passage from Mark, this week. Sin is when you treat people like things. Or, in this case, like fish!
These are challenging times for the church. Getting smaller. Getting older. We don’t have the people we used to have. Or the resources. Thirty years ago, when the ELCA – our denomination – was formed. we had over five-and-a-quarter million members. Over eleven thousand congregations. Today? There’s less than three-and-a-half million members scattered aross a little more than ninety-one hundred congregations. The reasons for the decline are legion. The solutions – not so much.
But one of the more popular remedies has been the Making-Disciples Movement. Basically, as the thinking goes, who we are at the present … what we’ve become … is because you – the church – haven’t taken faith, believing, very seriously. The plan is praying more. And knowing the bible better. Worship. Service. Small groups. And, of course, tithing. And until you get on board … unless you get onboard … the church will continue to slowly, surely die.
And this is where it all comes from. Mark, chapter one, verse seventeen. “Follow me,” Jesus says. “Follow me and I will make you fish for people!” Books have been written on that verse! We sing it! Parade it around with banners emblazoned with boats and nets and fish! And the reason is clear … this is our way to survive! To fill the pews, again! To balance the budget! This is evangelism! Evangelism in the twenty-first century! “And sin, young man, is when you treat people like things!”
The church is shrinking. It’s getting smaller. And it’s not just turning gray. It’s turning grayer … and grayer … and grayer … We need people. Not, simply, to grow. We need people to survive. We need people, not for their sake. We need them for ours. But we sin. By our fault. By our own fault. By our own most grievous fault. We talk a good game. We put on a happy face. But when all is said and when all is done, everything we do – more often than not – is for us. Everything we do – more often than not – is just for us! To pay the mortgage. Utilities. Insurance. Maintenance. Pastor. And all the rest. They’re the harvest! The catch! The yield! And we forget. Forget why we’re here. Forget why we do it.
Jesus passes along the sea. He sees us casting our nets. He says, “Follow me! I will make you fish for people.” And we follow. All the while, overlooking, failing to remember, that one, little piece about the whole story. Jesus loves this place! Jesus is crazy about it! The cosmos! Creation! And Jesus wants everyone to know it!
That’s why we’re here! Sunday after Sunday! Season after season! Why we’re here Tuesday and Thursday mornings! Wednesday evenings! We don’t come to learn how to pray more. We don’t come to read the bible more. We’re here to be loved! To be told how important we are! How much we matter! We’re here to stake our lives on it! And then, to tell the people around us, the very same thing!
It isn’t the hook that catches people. It isn’t the net. It’s the grace and the mercy! The forgiveness and the love! We don’t need to trick anyone. They don’t have to be tempted. They don’t have to be lured. They just have to be loved! Fishing for people is nothing more – and nothing less – than loving them! Just! As! They! Are! We’re not here to capture them; we’re here to set them free! We’re not here to trap them; but to turn them loose! And that can happen only when they are loved! Totally! Completely! Without limit! Without measure! Loved by Jesus! AND loved by us! They aren’t here to bear our cross. We’re here to carry theirs!
It’s like those last words in Matthew’s gospel. The ones that are so popular, nowadays. The Great Commission, they’re called. “Go therefore and make disciples. Baptizing. Teaching.” Jesus is telling the disciples – telling us, with them – to do more than, merely, grow the church! More than just make it bigger. It’s not about more people. It’s, simply, about people! It’s about love! Jesus’ love! For each and every! For one and all! That’s why Jesus wants us to fish, in the first place! The one reason! The only reason! Jesus loves them, just as much as Jesus loves us! And it’s that love that motivates! It’s that love that inspires! It’s that love that sends us out! Baptizing! Teaching! It’s all because of Jesus’ – Christ’s – amazing grace!
Jesus loves them! And without us, they’ll never know! Without us, they can never believe! And they’ll live their lives never understanding how much they mean! How much they matter! They’ll live their lives thinking it’s all up to them. Our sin is treating people as fish! For our own benefit! To be consumed! To be used up! Then, to be tossed aside. But funny thing … god never gives up! Not on them. Not, even, on us! God never goes looking for another congregation, another church. More committed. more devoted. That does it better. Instead, god just keeps loving. And passing along the sea. Inviting. Making. Patiently. Keeps on keeping on! Until it finally sinks in …
“I love you,” god says! “Love you with all my heart, with all my strength, with all my being! I love you more than life itself! And some day, one day, you’ll love each other, the same way! Someday, one day, you’ll realize what the net in your hands is for!”