GREAT-TASTING BAIT
Luke 5: 10b-11
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.
JESUS CALLED THE FISHERMEN TO FOLLOW him and he would make them fishers of people. This is a powerful metaphor. We’re all called to fish for people. In fact, this is the primary way by which people come to faith and are added to God’s kingdom.
Last year I went on a fishing trip to Canada with a few friends in the church. I had never been on a fishing trip before. Each of us on the trip was partnered with a guide. We would float down the river in small boats. Suddenly our guide would say, “There! Trout love areas like that. Hurry, cast right there.” We would gently cast, leaving our fly on the surface of the water. Whoosh! A trout would rise and take the fly. “Set the hook!” our guide would shout. Then we would slowly reel in the fish, bring it out of the water in a net, hold it to admire its beauty, and release it back to the stream. The experience was absolutely exhilarating!
On that trip, I couldn’t help but think about the parallels between fishing for trout and fishing for people. In both cases it’s important to go where the fish are. One evening not long ago, I sat in a bar by myself having supper. LaVon was out of town. I was working on my sermon, and several people came up to talk to me— they had been to the church for Easter or Christmas services. That evening I fished for people. It reminded me of something I once saw in a coffee shop. A member of the clergy wearing a clerical collar sat drinking coffee and working, with a homemade sign next to him: Open for conversation.
In fishing for trout and fishing for people, the lure matters. For trout, your lure (a “fly”) needs to look and act real in order to make the fish bite. For people, the aim is not simply to look and act real, but to be real— authentic, authentically nice, caring, and genuinely interested in others.
Finally, with both kinds of fishing you’ve got to pay attention. When the trout start rising, you’d better start casting. And when God brings people across your path who are spiritually hungry and open to being “caught,” you’d better not miss the opportunity to have a conversation about faith.
Last week, I heard from a man whose wife had just left him. The man was nearly bankrupt and was so depressed he was suicidal. His friends said to him, “We think you need what we find every week at church. Would you come with us?” To their surprise, and I suspect to his, the man came. He wrote to me last week, saying, “My life has been changed by being a part of this church. Had my friends not invited me, I honestly don’t think I would still be alive.” I’m glad they were paying attention, that they were credible witnesses, and that they were willing to cast what became a lifeline of faith for their friend.
Jesus says to all of us, “Follow me, and I’ll make you fish for people.”
Lord, please help me to be a credible witness and to pay attention when you bring people across my path. Give me courage and boldness to strike up spiritual conversations with others, that I might “fish for people.” Amen.
Adam Hamilton, The Way: 40 Days of Reflection: Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus
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