"WHAT ARE YOU FISHING WITH?"
a message by Rev. Dr. Bruce Havens
Coral Isles Church, U.C.C.
February 9, 2025
Luke 5: 1-11 NRSV
1 Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, 2 he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3 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. 4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” 6 When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. 7 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. 8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; 10 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.” 11 When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.
Last week I read this same Scripture, in case you hadn’t noticed! I focused on how the abundant catch of fish was a symbol, a metaphor, for the abundance of God’s love. Just as there are plenty of fish in God’s seas, there is plenty of love for all people in God’s heart.
I didn’t talk about the tagline near the end that Jesus says to Peter. Jesus says, “from now on you will be catching people.” The old version of that, of course, is, “I will make you fishers of men.” It’s a more catchy line isn’t it? But besides being rather non-inclusive language, here’s my problem with it: this line has been used to justify a whole lot of what I would call very “un-Jesus-like” behavior.
You know as well as I do the history of the church “fishing” in Jesus’ name. There were the “convert to Christianity or die” Crusades. Whole cultures were destroyed in the name of Western European norms. Many churches whole being is, and has, been built around “evangelism,” “saving souls,” and “converting sinners.” My problem with that is too many do virtually nothing to feed the hungry, heal the sick, or any of the other things Jesus commanded us to do. Now I will admit that perhaps some of these efforts were based in some kind of love. And ultimately their goal was often simply saving souls for an afterlife, while being of no earthly use to people here. I’m not suggesting “evangelical” Christians literally use hooks and nets to fish for people. Hooks and nets are a metaphor, too, just as plenty of fish is a metaphor for God’s love.
What I want to do is ask the question, “What are we fishing with?” We may not use hooks and nets, but I want to suggest that fishing with God’s love is still the best way to fulfill what Jesus wanted Peter and his fishing buddies to use. The question is always, how do we demonstrate God’s love in a way that draws people to the kind of love we believe God has for everyone?
The religion that developed after Jesus’ life has often seemed in conflict with the majority of Jesus’ teachings. What gave rise to the more violent efforts to “fish for people,” like the Crusades, came from misunderstanding or simply misusing the life and words of Jesus. I would suggest that this is because humankind has always struggled to understand the way God defines power and control. Humans often define it violently - as power and control over others rather than empowering others and helping others control themselves, their own lives. The Crusades, the conquering, the violent ways of the Christian Church throughout history right up through the efforts and goals of the so-called Project 2025 come from a human desire to have power and control over others in the name of God. I find that in direct opposition to everything I know about following the way of Jesus.
Every word and action we have from, or about, Jesus though shows us a God whose understanding of power is very different from the way humans view it. Instead of forcing the placement of the Ten Commandments on the walls of public buildings, Jesus gave us Beatitudes to live out in our daily lives, and none of them involve forcing something on someone else, especially not in the name of God. Jesus talked about the kind of internal spiritual power that allowed one to lay down one’s life for someone else rather than power or control of their lives away. Even Peter, often stumbled over the difference between God’s use of power and the human tendency. He was often at odds with Jesus’ own purposes. Jesus rebuked him more than once for thinking like humans do rather than like God does.
So if we want to fish like Jesus, what shall we go fishing with? My suggestion is the word we know as compassion seems a good way to define the kind of power and control that Jesus both spoke of, and embodied. Even as we may be filled at times with fear or anger at events in our lives, finding a way to respond with compassion seems to be the way Jesus invites us to live. As much as we might want to strike back when someone does something harmful, compassion challenges us to find a different path.
Now don’t get me wrong, compassion is neither powerless, nor does it give up control, especially self-control. Compassion for ourselves recognizes when we suffer. It acknowledges when we hurt, but it seeks a way that leads to greater healing for ourselves, and potentially for others. And compassion requires us to find a powerful level of self-control. It does not mean we allow ourselves to be stepped on like doormats when individuals, or societal forces treat us unjustly, or seek to hold power and control over us to harm us. The whole civil rights movement that changed our nation is a model for this. Martin Luther King, Jr. was often quoted as saying he wanted to liberate the oppressor as much as the oppressed.
As I have taught before, Jesus did not simply turn over the tables in the Temple in a fit of rage. He did it to stop the economic abuse of the poor who came to the Temple to worship God and were being taken advantage of by the bankers and sacrifice-sellers. His compassion for the poor and powerless made him take action to upset the system that was being abused by those who held power and control. He did not harm anyone or force those who were doing this to be subservient or enslaved as they were doing to those they took advantage of. The invitation to relate to others in the name of Jesus – to fish for people – for me is an invitation to live with compassion.
What shall we fish with in the 21st Century? Nets and hooks? Why do we want to be “catchers of people?” Is it to force them to believe as we believe? Is it to take away their humanity, the way they live their lives differently from us without harming others or destroying people? Is it to have power and control over their lives with the threat of eternal hell and damnation? Jesus came to free us, not just in some spiritual way apart from our daily lives of work, family, community, nation, or world. He came to set us free for more than just a “heavenly reward” if we obeyed the people who want to hold power and control over us for their own benefit. When we forget that we forget that compassion is a powerful, world-changing action as much as it is a fine feeling of love and mercy.
Listen, we are living in an angry, fearful, and hateful time. I certainly have times of anger and hate for some of the things that cause people to suffer, but anger and hate never changes things for better. Compassion, applied, can and has and will change things for the better. When we are filled with compassion for others and for ourselves and even for those who oppress and cause others to suffer, we will look for ways to use the power we have to change the systems and suffering they can cause. We actually have that power, the power to cast out a net of compassion for others as well as ourselves, to fish in the deep waters that can be scary and different from where we have fished before.
But here’s the most important thing to remember. No matter who tries to use power and control over us, they cannot win because God still reigns. We are about to sing a song by that title. In it we sing to praise God. And when we praise God we don’t praise human power, we praise Holy Power. When tongues of every tribe and every nation are lifted up in praise of a God whose power is greater than any Caesar, any Pope, or any President. The bridge reminds us that “all the powers of darkness tremble [ when they hear us praise God and not them ], that those powers can’t drown out a word of praise” and I would add, any act of compassion and love for others. God reigns. Glory hallelujah, that’s the word I want to fish with, that’s the fishing I want to do, fishing with the compassion of God’s love and power. God reigns, glory Hallelujah! AMEN.
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