Fishing for People by Cheri Holdridge (with an assist by Patti Lusher)

When Cheryl Strayed, set off on a 1500 mile hike along the Pacific Crest Trail, she wanted to make some deep changes in her life.  Her mother had died when she was 20. She had spent some years in self-destructive behavior. She wanted to redeem her life from the fear and rage that had haunted her since her mother’s death (source: http://biteintheapple.com/following/ Nancy Rockwell).  

Strayed writes in her book Wild: “There was the first, flip decision to do it, followed by the second, more serious decision to actually do it, and then the long third beginning, composed of weeks of shopping and packing and preparing to do it.
There was the quitting my job as a waitress and finalizing my divorce and selling almost everything I owned and saying goodbye to my friends and visiting my mother’s grave one last time.
There was the driving across the country from Minneapolis to Portland, Oregon, and a few days later, catching a flight to Los Angeles and a ride to the town of Mojave and another ride to the place where the Trail crossed a highway.

“At which point, at long last, there was the actual doing it, followed by the grim realization of what it meant to do it, followed by the decision to quit doing it because doing it was absurd and pointless and ridiculously difficult and far more than I expected it would be . . . And then there was truly doing it” (Wild by Cheryl Strayed).

She did it because her life depended on it. She had to make a change. She had to find herself. Her mother was gone. She could not depend on her mother any more. She had to find her strength within.

Her inner motivation to hike 1500 miles was fierce. Her life depended upon it. She could not keep going the direction she was going.

I wonder if something similar caused Simon Peter and Andrew, James and John, to leave their nets and follow Jesus.

This story is so familiar to me. I grew up hearing this story in Sunday School as a child. I have taught this story in Sunday School. I have cut little construction paper fish. I have gone to Michael’s to look for a net to use as an illustration. I have built a boat out of cardboard and acted this story out with children. I know this story. Jesus walks up to the guys who are fishing with nets, and he says, “Come on and follow me, I’ll make you fishers of people rather than fish.” And these crazy fishermen just leave their nets and follow this total stranger. Can you imagine?  These crazy fisherman follow this guy they have never met.

It makes no sense.

But we tell this story to children and children are so trusting they just accept it. Why not? Why not just leave your job and go follow Jesus? He’s JESUS, after all!

But the fishermen did not know he was Jesus. He was just some guy. And yet they left their jobs, (their income source), presumably they left their homes and their families and everything they knew and went to be disciples of this guy from Nazareth.

I confess that I could not do it. Oh sure, I am a pastor, but I get a salary, and a housing allowance, a pension and health insurance. I get to have a family, and keep my car and cell phone. My life is luxurious compared to Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John. I don’t give up many of my creature comforts to follow Jesus.

I don’t think that it what this story is about. In 2015, most of us are not being asked to leave our families and our homes to follow Jesus. But listen again to what Jesus said to them: “Time’s up! God’s kingdom is here. Change your life and believe the Message.”

CHANGE YOUR LIFE and BELIEVE.

Now that is something even more radical than leaving home.

The word believe can also be translated “trust.” So Jesus was saying, “Change your life from one where you put your trust in yourself, and put your trust in God.” Turn away from human values and choose God values.

Now we’re talking. Jesus said, “Do something radical, to respond to God’s love for you.”

Because remember, we don’t earn God’s love. The love is a gift. We are God’s beloved children. No questions asked. So Jesus is not saying we should DO something in order to receive God’s love.

But Jesus says that because God loves us we will change our ways and follow God’s path for our lives.

That is why the disciples left their old lives behind, because those lives were not leading them in the God direction. That is why Cheryl Strayed went on a 1500 mile hike, because she knew she needed to make a big change in her life.

When Jesus says, “Leave your nets and follow me” he is saying, “Leave your old ways and step into God’s ways for you.”

So, what do you need to leave behind? What are your fishing nets? What are the things that occupy your mind, your time, your pocketbook, and your heart, that keep you from being the person God wants you to be? You know what they are, don’t you? If Jesus were standing right here beside you, what would he invite you to leave behind so that you can be the person God put you on this earth to be?

What does that new future look like? For the disciples, they became fishers of people. They became evangelists. They shared the good news of God and God’s love with anyone and everyone who would listen. That was their mission.

What is your mission? Why did God put you on this earth?

·      To be a teacher and be a positive influence on children or adults

·      To be a peacemaker and to help people in conflict find a way to peace

·      To be a bridge builder, to help people who are different from one another find ways to make connections across their differences

·      To be an innovator, to find new ways to do things; new solutions to old problems

·      To be a healer

·      To be a care giver for children or elderly parents or those who are sick in body or spirit

The list is, of course, endless.

But sometimes we cannot be who God put us on this earth to be, because we are holding on to something we have always been. Cheryl Strayed had an old life she needed to let go of. She knew she was on the wrong track. She was holding on to her grief about her mom’s death and she was living paralyzed by fear. So she went on a 1500 mile hike to find her new self. And she did.

Simon Peter and Andrew, James and John were stuck in a dead end job as fishermen. Jesus came along and said, “I have something important for you to do for God. Come and let’s fish for people. Let’s show people how much God loves them.”  What better job could you have than that?

What does God have in mind for you? You probably won’t have to go on a 1500 mile hike to find out. God is probably not asking you to leave your family behind. But is there something you need to let go of, so that you can embrace the new future God has for you?

Maybe you need to let go of a habit, in order to free up more creative energy for God. Maybe you need to free up financial resources that are misdirected so that you can use those resources for the purpose God has for you. Maybe you need to free yourself from negative thoughts that hold you back, so that you and God can move forward with God’s preferred future for you.

Whatever it is, Jesus is standing here today, with an invitation. “Come, follow me. Come and be the person God put you on this earth to be. Leave that old life behind and live into God’s future for you. Be the person God created you to be. Do it today.”