Fishers of People

January 26, 2008
3rd Sunday After Epiphany, Year A

Readings:
Isaiah 9:1-4
Psalm 27:1,5-13
1 Corinthians 1:10-18
Matthew 4:12-23

Reflection:
Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.

I used to think that I knew what this command meant. I thought it had something to do with missionaries and evangelism. I thought that Jesus was telling Simon Peter and Andrew that if they followed Jesus, they would bring others to the Christ, they would save souls from eternal damnation by telling them about the Savior. I no longer think that this is what is meant, and I'll tell you how this happened.

The City of Seattle has an art collection that is hung throughout City offices and in the public areas of City buildings. In the third floor lobby of Seattle Municipal Tower there is a gallery where the collection of paintings rotates every few months. I worked in that building once and was passing through this gallery space when a particular painting caught my eye. It was done in beautiful blues and greens. It was a scene of water and a small boat. As I approached it to get a better look I saw that there was something in the water. What was it? It was dead bodies floating in the water! The men in the boat were pulling them into it. The tranquil colors suddenly became menacing and the pastoral picture deeply disturbing.

Next to each picture was the name of the artist (which I’ve forgotten – sorry) and a brief artist’s statement about the work. The artist explained that this picture was painted after the Balkan "ethnic cleansing" and at the time of the Rwandan genocide. He went on to state, In a world of constant shipwrecks, all men are fishers of men.

Just as I was shocked by the realization that the beautiful, pastoral scene was actually one of mass slaughter, so the use of this biblical reference also shocked me. I had to reexamine the meaning of the phrase fish for people.

I now believe that fishing for people means rescuing them from the sea. Physically saving lives not metaphorically saving souls. I believe that it was this work that Jesus was calling the disciples to. He intended that they help turn the world upside down, that they dismantle systems of privilege that kept the majority of the population near death while the few lived in luxury.

We still live in a world of constant shipwrecks. There are people who are starving, children who die needlessly from lack of clean water or a malaria preventing net to sleep under. There are teenagers shooting teenagers on our streets. There are homeless and mentally ill people that we pass on the streets every day. I agree with the artist that in this world we must all be fishers of men. This is not a special Christian call but a human one. Jesus, help me to have the courage to accept this call and to act on it.

I'd welcome your comments on this.

Carol