Fishin’ Stories
Trinity MCC of Gainesville
February 7, 2010
INTRODUCTION: As a young boy growing up in Polk County, Florida, believe it or not I used to go fishing all the time. And yes, let me answer you right off the bat, I put the bait on the hook myself and even took the fish off when I caught one….and still would. We used to fish a lot at Saddle Creek Park in Lakeland. One morning my entire family went. We were sitting on the bank of one of the ponds that you can actually see from highway 92 as you pass by the park. I wasn’t really paying attention when suddenly my pole jumped out of my hands and went into the water. All of us screamed at once. My Dad yelled, “Grab it, Jimmy,” and I did and my brother got up in amazement, My mom yelled back at my Dad, “Help him,” and he said, “He can do it, let him do it,” and we struggled and struggled and screamed and carried on and finally after what seemed hours all of us together pulled out the biggest bass fish I have ever seen. It was amazing. We told all our relatives and friends, my Dad took it to be mounted and that event became a focus of our conversation for quite some time, and still comes up occasionally in conversation. It was so exciting.
But imagine the excitement of walking along the shore of Saddle Creek or the lake where you go to fish and encountering Jesus. Jesus looks at you and says, “You, come over here, come follow me and I will make you a fisher of people.” What on earth is he talking about? What could that possibly mean, “Fisher of people?” Let’s look at some ways God calls people to become fishers of people
I. God Calls Jonah
a. God says to Jonah, the people of Nineveh are in a bad way and I want you to go preach to them.
b. Jonah refuses and heads in the opposite direction to Tarshish.
c. He gets on a boat and to make a long story short, a huge storm comes up, Jonah confesses that it’s all his fault because he is running away from God, the other sailors pray to God, and Jonah is thrown overboard to stop the storm.
d. A big fish, usually interpreted as a whale, swallows Jonah.
e. All of the second chapter of Jonah is his prayer to God.
i. He regrets not listening to God
ii. He knows God can still rescue him
iii. He promises to do what God has called him to do.
iv. The fish vomits him out on the seashore.
f. I’m not a literalist when it comes to these stories in the Bible, but there are some truths we can all draw from this story.
i. God has a calling on all of our lives.
1. Sometimes it might seem like the last thing we WANT to do.
2. Sometimes it might seem like there are a million other people who could do it better.
3. But God says, “You, are the one.”
ii. God will go to great lengths to get our attention
1. Storms of life
2. That constant nagging in your spirit
3. That sense that things just arent’ as they should be
iii. It’s never too late to say “Yes” to God.
1. Even in the belly of the whale, God heard Jonah’s voice and responded.
2. No matter where you are, close to or far away from God, God still hears your voice and wants to respond to you.
II. Sister Maureen Hanahoe
a. Sister Maureen Hanahoe heard the voice of God saying, “I will make you a fisher of people.
i. Maryknoll sister who was called to the Peruvian altiplano in 1976 as a nurse who was engaged in health education and care and general pastoral work, which eventually included prisoners.
ii. She says, “Living and working in Latin America has changed me deeply. The poor have enabled me to discover Jesus in their simplicity of life and selfless giving to others, as well as their hunger for justice and human dignity.”
iii. She was called back to the United States to care for her aging father and became a Chaplain in a County Correctional facility.
iv. Listen to her words, “Who would believe that prison bars, extreme loss and total defenselessness would become the yeast for inner liberation in their lives? In moments of deep suffering and despair, I have witnessed the transformation of men who have had the courage to face themselves; to accept responsibility for their actions and to open their poverty and brokenness to a compassionate God they hardly knew.
b. When we say yes to God, not only are the lives of others changed, but ours are also.
i. Listen to the words of a prisoner who wrote to Sister Maureen, “‘One day in my cell, I began to realize all that I had done. That day, I began to pray, something I had never done before. I began to cry like a child and my heart urged me to repent….Here in prison, I thank God every night, for all the good done in me. There is no longer vengeance or hatred in my heart. God has healed my heart and I now live in peace.’
III. Where is God calling you to fish?
a. Maybe, like Jonah, God is calling you to some place that’s scary for you to go.
i. Uganda where it is now illegal to BE homosexual and perhaps punishable even by death. Maybe you are being called to make up for United States based so-called religious people have perpetrated on God’s people in Uganda.
ii. Maybe to Cuba, where our Christian brothers and sisters are frequently driven underground.
iii. Maybe you’re fluent in Spanish and fluent in the love of Jesus and maybe God’s calling you to be a part of MCC’s outreach there.
iv. Maybe the Alachua County jail. Maybe somebody there is waiting for you to go tell them about the love of Jesus. Maybe somebody there can learn through you to say, “I thank God for the good in me, God has healed my heart and now I live in peace.”
v. Where are you willing to fish for people today, tomorrow, this week?
vi. Will you, like Apostles of the New Testament, like Sister Maureen, and like all those who’ve come before to prepare this place for us say, “Yes, Jesus, I will fish for your people.”
vii. “Yes, Jesus, with the liberating Gospel of your love, I will go fishing in a way that will change the lives of those around me and thereby change the world.”
viii. God bless you this morning.
ix. Amen.
Psalm 138
I thank you with all I am, I join heaven’s chorus. I bow toward your holy temple, to praise your name. By your love and fidelity, you display to all the glory of your name and promise. As soon as I call, you act, renewing my strength. Around the world, rulers praise you for your commanding word. They sing of your ways, “Great is your glory, Lord.” Though high up, you see the lowly; though far away, you keep an eye on the proud. When I face an opponent, you keep me alive. You reach out your hand, your right hand saves me. Lord, take up my cause, your love lasts for ever. Do not abandon what your hands have made.
Luke 5:1-11
Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.
Pastor: We are yours, O God and we hear your voice
People: As you speak your love for us.
Pastor: They are yours, O God, and we hear your voice
People: As you speak your love for others.
Pastor: We aspire to your holy calling, O God,
People: To become fishers of people.
Pastor: All people, God, with no exceptions.
All: Make us vessels of your love, filled to overflowing.
