LUTHERAN THEOLOGICAL REVIEW - Concordia Lutheran Seminary

RISTAU: WE ARE FISHERS OF MEN 105
nothing happened. We come from all walks of life, have different levels of
education and skills. Some have more money than others, or success. Yet I
don’t think that there are any “Einsteins” amongst us. I doubt that any of us
will be remembered in history books one day. We’re just simple people
trying to make it through a complex world—yet that’s who God calls. None
of us have a special knack for doing God’s work, but He chooses us anyway.
That’s like if Bill Gates of Microsoft asked those of us who know nothing
about computers to work in his programming department. Like the disciples,
He calls inexperienced, average people to work with Him. And though we
may look little to the world, in God’s eyes we are big, continuing to do the
same important work to which He called His first disciples.
Yet sometimes it’s hard to believe that we are equals to these great saints
who built up the Church in so many incredible ways. How do we know that
we are fishers just like them, used in just as great ways? Because God
promises. He promises that he who follows Him will be made a fisher of
men. Jesus called the disciples from their boats and they immediately got up
and followed, leaving their jobs, families, and possessions behind. It’s
almost as if the power of Jesus’ voice, His authoritative presence, was so
strong that they didn’t have any choice but to act in the way that they did.
Jesus presence is like a net that no fish can escape; the disciples couldn’t
resist His offer. God made them followers, and God would make them
fishers.
Our following began immediately on the day of our Baptism. That’s
when God said, “Follow Me.” I was a baby; I didn’t have a choice in the
matter. Yet thank God. It’s a choice I’m glad that He made for me. In
Baptism we were drawn to Him. We were hauled out of the polluted water
and given a new river in which to swim. God draws us to Him, God moves
us to repent, and then God promises to continue His presence in our lives by
making us His disciples, fishers of men, dedicating our daily lives to this
great task of bringing good news to a hurting people. Following Jesus means
God makes us fishers of men, sharers of the Faith.
“But if we are fishers, just like those first disciples, how come I never see
results like them? We read in the Bible about all the great things that they
did. They caught nets full; I catch nothing. I’m no good at being a disciple.
I’m no good at evangelism. Sharing my faith scares me to death and when I
have tried, it doesn’t seem to work. I don’t feel like much of a disciple. It
doesn’t seem like I’m equipped to be a good fisher.”
Yet were the disciples equipped to be disciples? We already heard that
they were ordinary men with no special insight into that which God was
calling them. They had the equipment for catching fish, but not people! …
God equipped them. Jesus equipped them for their high calling. He gave
them the tools, the equipment, to carry out the work.