LUTHERAN THEOLOGICAL REVIEW - Concordia Lutheran Seminary

106 LUTHERAN THEOLOGICAL REVIEW XII
Jesus equips us for His fishing. The Holy Spirit who comes into us in our
Baptism gives us the equipment, handed on to us by our pastors through the
proper teaching of the Word. And God’s equipment works! The equipment
Jesus gives us is made in heaven, it’s fool-proof, top-of-the-line, miracleworking
equipment. He gives us the strength, wisdom, and skill to carry out
His fishing. He continues to care for our equipment when we read the Word,
come to Church, and receive Holy Communion.
The key piece of “equipment” given to us is the bait: the Gospel of Christ
and Him crucified. It is the tastiest bit of food; there is nothing else like it. It
is so different from that which the world has to offer that a hungry fish
cannot resist. When people grasp what Christ is all about, they can’t resist
but to bite: to follow Him. God equips us with this Gospel which is at work
in our lives, drawing people to Him.
Over Christmas during my vicarage, my wife and I went ice fishing with
some friends. We drove out onto the lake, drilled some holes, set up a hut,
put some bait on the line, and almost immediately after dropping the line, I
caught a fish! I had barely sat down. It surprised me how easy it was to catch
a fish when you have the right equipment (mainly the right bait).
Professional fishing is a different story, or sport fishing does take a lot of
skill. But the process of catching any old fish is not that difficult. There’s not
much that you can really do once the line goes down. We can’t control
what’s going on down there. Yet God can, and He brings the fish. It’s Him
and His equipment, not us, that succeed.
His equipment works well. Even the little things we say and do are His
fishing equipment at work. “I’ll pray for you”: a fishing line is dropped.
“Call me if you need anything”: another line is dropped. “I forgive you; God
forgives you”: another line. “Welcome to Church this morning”: fishing
lines dropped all around the boat!
Now I realize that my ice fishing experience was exceptional; catching a
fish doesn’t usually happen that fast. Fishing takes a lot of patience,
wisdom, even courage. And even though God equips us with these things
too, the lack of seeing results discourages. It makes us want to give up.
Trying to lead a loved one to the Lord, or back to the Lord (whether that be a
sibling, parent, child or friend), is often frustrating and heart-breaking.
Our experience is often like a bunch of nibbles from that same fish, but
no bite. Year after year, no bite. However, even though the bite may not
come on your pole, there are other poles out there, other Christians that God
is using to reach out to that same loved one throughout his or her life. And
then one day, somewhere, there is that bite!
You see, net fishing was the kind of fishing that the disciples did, which
works best when you have a couple of boats: fishermen working together.
God promises that all Christians are at work using the same divine bait for