Gone Fishing!

And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” Matthew 4. 12 - 23

When I was a child, we used to say "gone fishin'" whenever we didn't want to do a household chore or if someone was missing in action!

That old song from the 50's came to mind when I read the gospel for last Sunday. Jesus tells those diehard fishermen Simon and Andrew and James and John to drop their rods, "put a sign upon the door," and join him to go "fish for people!"

Fishing for people conjures up images of hooks and pain and thrashing about. It hurts to be caught on a hook, to be taken out of your natural habitat, the only one where you can breathe. And ultimately for a fish it means death.

This is not a bad analogy for the cost of discipleship. As Bonhoeffer said, "Discipleship is free but not cheap, the cost is nothing less than everything. "

Read the words of this beautiful hymn and you will be reminded of how hard is was for the disciples.

"Brimful and broke them too."