The issue of how we can best live -- what we should do with our priceless human existence -- I think is more than just an intellectual exercise. It is even more than a question of how to achieve happiness. Rather the issue of how we can best live and serve is a matter of the survival of our God-given humanity.
My friends, we live in a precarious Age in which our remarkable, species has engaged itself in a selfish quest for power and status and riches. In so many ways we have tragically fallen short of our ideals: of what life could be...and ….what life should be. There are times of course, when we display a capacity for love...for compassion...and ….for service.
And in this spectrum we hold the key to our survival as God’s creation. In other words, we have a choice. And we choose in terms of the life we decide to live. Such a choice -- to influence the course of human history even to this day -- was made by a trio of humble fishermen, Simon Peter, James, and John, two thousand years ago.
Luke tells us in today's Gospel Lesson that these fishermen have been working hard all night and caught nothing. Having given up, and while washing their nets, Jesus enters the scene. He gets into one of the boats and begins teaching the crowds on the shore that had been following Him.
Then He directs the fishermen to try again to catch some fish. They follow His instructions and, in Luke's words, "They netted such a huge number of fish that their nets began to break," and "they filled two boats to sinking point" (Lk. 5:6-7). "When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus, saying 'Leave me, Lord, I am a sinful man.'
For he and all his friends were completely overcome by the catch they had made. But Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Do not be afraid, from now on it is people you will catch.' Then, bringing their boats back to land, they left everything and followed Jesus" (Lk. 5:8-11). For Peter, James and John, it was a matter of choice. And in opting to leave everything and follow Jesus, they chose to live, in Jesus' words, as "fishers of people."
As it was in the lives of Simon Peter, James, and John twenty centuries ago, so it is with us in our present Age: Jesus is calling us into life as it could be...should be. Jesus is calling us -- constantly calling us, to be spent-- to be "fishers of people."
What does it really mean to each and everyone of us? To be "fishers of people." The following story, taken from the life of the greatest boxer, Muhammad Ali, might help us to put the question in proper perspective...
Three times he was the heavyweight champion of the world. He was king of his profession. In his own words, he was "floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee." An entourage of reporters, trainers and support staff tailed this comet as he raced around the globe. He had power, he had worldly status, he had riches. But that was yesterday. Where is Muhammad Ali today?
Sportswriter Gary Smith went to find out. Ali led Mr. Smith to a barn next to his farmhouse. On the floor, leaning against the walls, were mementos of Muhammad Ali in his prime: photos and portraits of the "champ" -- punching and dancing; sculpted body; fists punching the air; championship belt held high; the famous fight called "Thriller in Manila." But on the pictures were white streaks: of bird-droppings.
Muhammad Ali looked into the rafters at the pigeons who had made his barn-gym their home. And then he did something significant. It might have been a gesture representing the close of his former life, or it might have been a statement of despair. Whatever the reason, he walked over to the rows of pictures and turned them, one by one, toward the wall.
Then he walked to the door and mumbled something that the sportswriter had to ask him to repeat. This is what he said: "I had the world and it wasn't anything. Look now." The poles of power, status and riches are greasy! (In his later life, even in the face of health problems, Muhammad Ali has been recognized as a caring, decent person).
For us Christians, to be "fishers of people" means to enter into life as it should be according to the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and be spent. In the Apostle Paul's words, "You must want love more than anything else" (I Cor. 14:1)... If I have all the eloquence of people or of angels, but speak without love, I am simply a gong booming or a cymbal clashing...without love I am nothing at all...
Love is always patient and kind. It is never jealous; love is never boastful or conceited; it is never rude or selfish; it does not take offense, and is not resentful. Love never takes pleasure in other people's sins but delights in the truth, it is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope, and to endure whatever comes...In short, there are three things that last: faith, hope and love; and the greatest of these is love (I Cor. 13:1,4-7,13).
Not power, status and riches, but faith, hope and love are the elements of a life as it should be. These are the tools -- the nets for us "fishers of people." These are the means we have at our disposal for attracting other persons to the Cause of Jesus Christ.
Faith, Hope, and Love, these are the channels through which we invite others to share in the way of life which enables us to grow into the uniquely beautiful persons God created us to be. We Christian people constantly are being challenged to ponder Jesus' invitation to life as it should be, to be spent as "fishers of people."
If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him/her renounce himself / herself and take up his/her cross and follow Me. For anyone who wants to save his /her life will lose it; but anyone who loses his/her life for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel, will save it. What gain, then is it for a person to win the whole world and loses his /her life.
The Roman Emperor, Charlemagne, knew that. Legend has it that this famous king asked to be entombed sitting upright in his throne. He asked that his crown be placed on his head and his scepter in his hand. He requested that the royal cape be draped around his shoulders and an open book be placed in his lap.
That was the year 814. Nearly 200 years later, another emperor wanted to see if the burial request had been honored. He sent a team of men to open the tomb and make a report. They found the body just as Charlemagne had requested.
Only two centuries later, the scene was gruesome. The crown was titled. The mantle was moth-eaten. The body was disfigured. But on the skeletal thighs was the book Charlemagne had requested: the Bible. The book was open, and one bony finger pointed to the words:
“What Gain, Then, Is It For A Man To Win The Whole World And Ruin His Life?”
Psychologist Alfred Adler once put an ad in the paper for his "Fourteen-Day Cure Plan." Dr. Adler claimed that he could cure anyone of any emotional or mental disorder in just fourteen days. One day, an extremely lonely woman came to him for advice.
He told her that if she would do as he said, she would be cured of her loneliness in fourteen days. "What do you want me to do?" she asked. Dr. Adler replied, "If you will do something for someone else every day for fourteen days, your loneliness will be gone." The woman objected: "Why should I do anything for someone else?" To which the psychologist replied, "Well, in your case, it may take twenty-one days."
"I had the world and it wasn't anything. Look now."
The poles of power, status and riches are greasy!When we recognize God as Creator, we will admire him. When we recognize his wisdom, we will learn from him. When we discover his strength, we will rely on him. But only when he saves us will we worship him.
Christ has no hands but our hands to do his work today.
Christ has no feet but our feet to lead others on the way.
Christ has no tongue but our tongues to tell them how He died.
Christ has no help but our help to bring them to God’s side.
Fishers of people? Christ has no one but us!
Amen.
Rev. Samuel King-Kabu
February 8 , 2004