This is the second of a new teaching series to help us fix our eyes, our hopes and our hearts on Jesus as we look at eight invitations he makes in the Gospels.

Matthew 4:18-20 (ESV)

While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men*.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 

* The Greek word anthropoi refers here to both men and women

1.     Matthew’s Gospel is a missionary text, written, probably around 85 A.D., after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, to believers who find themselves exiled from their own country and from the Jewish community. These are uncertain times in which nothing looks ‘normal’ anymore. Matthew is writing a Gospel for the church in crisis. It is also a blueprint for following Jesus. “Come, follow me,” says Jesus, “be disciples.” The Greek word is mathetes, “one who follows after.” The word is used 73 times in Matthew alone. Follow me; walk in step with me; perhaps even, ‘become a mini-me!’ (The name ‘Christian,’ which would come later, literally means ‘Little Christ’). In 1stCentury Palestine, every Rabbi had his followers who would mimic him in every way, even walking, sleeping and eating like their master. Jesus calls ordinary working men and speaks to them in their language – the language of fish – and he tells them, “From now on you’ll be fishing for people!”

·       Right now, we don’t have the option to be a Christian by just attending church (!?), but we can still follow Jesus and walk in step with him. But how? 

·       What practices do you find help you to ‘walk in step’ with Jesus? The usual one we think of are: Reading the Bible; prayer (alone and with others); journaling etc.

·       Is there anything else which you find helpful? 

·       What gets in your way? What distractions put you out of step?

·       Are you being kind to yourself? Or is prayer and reading the Bible just another thing to feel stressed and guilty about? Don’t do that!

2.     Brian said of these first disciples, Peter and Andrew, that they were serious fishermen. They weren’t amateur anglers, hanging around the edge of Galilee dangling a rod into the water. They had been men who had been used to taking small boats out into the ‘Great Abyss’ where they cast nets all night into the ‘Great Darkness’ in order to land a catch. Jesus wanted to use the skills they had already learned for the sake of the Kingdom! They had learned to (i) Be Patient, (ii) To Persevere, and (iii) Courage.

·       We share the call to ‘fish for people’ and to land a kingdom catch! What does patience mean in the way we interact with other people? Are you frightening the fish?

·       To persevere means not to become discouraged when things don’t work out the way we had hoped, or rather, not to allow yourself to be so discouraged that you don’t get up and try again. What opportunities could you have to share Christ with other people? Have you tried in the past but, like the disciples, came back complaining that they had been trying all night but had caught nothing? What did Jesus say to them then? (Have another go, just try a slightly different approach!) What do you think Jesus wants to say to you now? 

·       The disciples ventured out into the darkness of the sea – it takes courage. Sometimes you just need to get over yourself, stop taking yourself too seriously, have a bit of an adventure! Ask, who do I know that I could start a conversation with, one that might just turn into a fishing adventure!

Lord, fill me with the courage to be kind, and to fish for people everywhere. Amen.