I’m sure many of you have heard the saying in Matthew 4:19: “Come follow me, and I will send you out to fish for people”.

What do you conclude this quote means? For me, it has generally been a very apt metaphor for sending people out to evangelise…but…little else.

However, today, I will expand the metaphor to draw a parallel between sending disciples fishing for people and sending people out to practice any craft or calling. That is, I think Jesus is not blithely sending the disciples out unprepared into a mission field to work, hither thither.

Instead, he is inviting them, and by extension us, on a long journey that prepares them – and us – to be co-workers in the building of a new heaven and earth. The disciples are invited to learn, as any craft worker must, how to become a fully orbed expert working out their calling. It is about developing skills and accumulating wisdom through following Christ’s teachings and through long and sometimes painful experiences.

But before expanding the metaphor, I would like to place our reading in its geographical, socio-political, and scriptural context.

Matthew 4:12-13 states:

“When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali”.

The Romans dominated the region under the rule of Caesar Augustus at the time of the birth of Christ. Augustus came to power in 31 BCE after a period of political unrest following the murder of Julius Caesar. He was celebrated as a hero after the strife, was considered a maintainer of peace in Rome and was celebrated as a great “saviour” by the people.

He was so well regarded that his deeds were proclaimed “evangelion” – “good news” or “gospel”.

Perhaps Augustus’ popularity was due to his political savvy. Historians argue that he recognised the importance of providing for three powerful groups in Rome – senators and equestrians, the citizens of Rome, and the Roman army.

He ensured that the senate and equestrian class became very wealthy from the purse of conquered peoples and through the expansion of trade. Also, at the time, slavery, which grew because of successful military conquests, benefited wealthy Romans.

Augustus appeased the general citizens of Rome by distributing grain to all Roman families, free of charge, once per month. The grain was distributed in conjunction with the monthly games held for the populace (thus the phrase: “all the bread and circus”).

Roman soldiers received, amongst other things, monthly salaries, discharge payments, full Roman citizenship, and land grants for those who served twenty-five years or more. These land grants were often strategically placed throughout the Empire, thereby promoting loyalty and deterring agitation. More broadly beyond Rome, Augustus used his armies to subdue revolutionaries.

Thus, Augustus, hailed by Romans as the bringer of ‘Pax Romana’, sustained the “peace” by instilling fear within conquered territories.

In Judaism during Jesus’ life, influential Jewish political groups included the Pharisees and Sadducees. The Pharisees emerged as a party of laymen and scribes in contradistinction to the Sadducees. The Sadducees were high priests traditionally providing overall leadership to the Jewish people.

A basic difference between the Pharisees and the Sadducees was their diverging attitudes toward the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) and how to find and apply ancient laws to contemporary legal and religious matters. The Sadducees refused to accept any precept as binding unless it was based directly on the Torah—i.e., the written law. The Pharisees argued that the laws were of two types: the written law and the oral law. That is, the written down teachings of the prophets and the oral traditions of the Jewish people.

Whereas the priestly Sadducees taught that the Torah must be the only source of law, the Pharisees accepted that the law must evolve. Humans, the Pharisees taught, need to use their reason to interpret how to apply the Torah to contemporary questions.

It is into this socially and politically charged context that Jesus is born, is baptised, tested by the devil, and launches his mission with the proclamation:

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near“.

The father has anointed Christ as the new King, the son has rejected the worldly offerings of the evil one, and Jesus has announced the imminence of a new kingdom.

Given the domineering power of Rome (now under Tiberius Caesar) and tensions among Jewish leaders, perhaps rejecting worldly rewards, and proclaiming a new kingdom seemingly lacks a little prudence.

And then – Jesus starts recruiting disciples!

From a Roman perspective and especially from the perspective of the Sadducees, surely Jesus is straying into the dangerous waters of sedition. Is he not doing something akin to recruiting a political cadre? Rather, than simply calling men to be fishers of people, isn’t he, in effect, saying:

“Come! Join me in the revolution. We are going to replace the existing earthly kingdom with a more just kingdom and a better earth”?

 In a military-occupied country, full of tensions, aren’t these fighting words?

But, of course, the Lord is not calling for insurrection or guerrilla war. He is not exhorting violence.

Rather, he is inviting the disciples to help develop a new way of being, a new world where the exercise of oppressive power is entirely out of place because of the priority of love. And this is why Jesus’ call to the disciples to become fishers-of-people is a calling that requires a courageous and long journey of learning and development. Becoming a fishing man or woman demands many things from the disciples, as it does us today.

I will now talk about just a couple of the many demands.

Becoming an adept journeyman or journeywoman in any field demands tenacious commitment and significant sacrifices. Learning how to fish, for example, involves many hours emulating masters and practising the identification of fish shoals, throwing nets in the right way and in the right place, hauling nets in, sorting the fish, haggling with merchants, repairing nets, sails, and boats, and constantly learning from mistakes.

Likewise, becoming a disciple of Christ demands many, often difficult, steps. It involves not only sitting at Jesus’ feet but also imitating Him and practising the skill of gathering others to him. For example, we must learn how to love God above self and worldly values. We must also learn how to love, not instrumentalise, others, including our enemies.

These lessons can seem well beyond us. For example, how can I love someone who has done or wants to do physical or mental harm to people I emotionally and existentially love? Yet, this is what God is asking me to learn, practice, and see as an achievable ideal.

Of course, much hangs on what we mean by love in different situations and towards different people. Nonetheless, just as any apprentice, regardless of how awe-struck and overwhelmed we are by the inexplicable skill of the master, Christians are called to commit to becoming like their master.

Perhaps more fearfully, we know growth will involve making mistakes and even massive failures. Here we are encouraged not just to shrug failures off, saying:

“I will never get any better at loving enemies and others; after all, I am not Christ, and I never will be”.

Instead, we are prompted, again and again, to turn away from our old ways and strive for more Christlikeness.

Shifting focus, fishermen in the first century would likely have spent much time sitting on the shore mending their nets. Nets were essential tools for fishing, but they must have been continually torn by the ordeals of casting, catching, hauling, and tangling. Maintaining nets would have, therefore, been a time demanding routine.

For each individual Christian, essential tools include a developed ability to relate lovingly with others in appropriate and timely ways. However, in the face of the vicissitudes of a broken, exploitative, and often cruel world, our ability to love others is continually stretched, torn, and corrupted. Again and again, we must return to our sanctuaries to do the work of heart repair: prayer, repentance, worship, communing with trusted brothers and sisters, bible study, and retreats. We must, metaphorically, routinely repair our fragile nets.

Turning to sacrifice, discipleship includes seeking to eradicate our idolatry, and placing our identity in Christ. In our world, amidst the identity wars and the powerful influences of materialist ideologies, turning away from self to God and others can mean sacrificing the fruits of personal ambition – wealth, popularity, and societal significance.

For example, intellectually, I know that most ‘things’ are ephemeral. However, I still find it hard to sacrifice my craving for glittering prizes and the positive regard of other people.

Further, embarking on a journey with Christ can lead to progressive marginalisation by friends and family. And there have been millions of Christians martyred for their faith, and persecution is obviously growing.

Christ’s commandment to love one another as he has loved us implies not just self-sacrifice and suffering but a willingness to die for God and others in the name of Christ. This is an ever-present possibility for many Christians across the globe. Even my confidence that Christians in Australia are safe from extremely harsh persecution for their faith is fraying.

In summary, our ongoing journey, our fishing apprenticeship, includes not just working very hard and being ever committed. Being a disciple also includes learning to let ‘stuff’ fall away, face persecution, and even to potentially face death at the hands of those who hate us or perhaps are simply beastly care less about us.

Next week Ruth will look at Matthew 5:1-12 (the beatitudes), which is where Christ speaks to the virtues of those whom God blesses. These are clearly among the most important passages to grasp in our learning journey. But I think it is important to stress that the disciples’ education and development continued beyond the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ.

Likewise, our path is not a journey of learning with an embodied Jesus, nor even with a continually updated bible full of norms, rules, and precedents to guide us as circumstances and situations rapidly change within the maelstrom of our fallen world. We grow and learn through the experience of doing God’s work, even though we will continue to stumble, likely to the hour of our death.

Before finishing in prayer, I will conclude with two more points.

First, you may think it would be great if Jesus were still physically around telling us what to do, when and how. Alternatively, you may wish God would take charge of bible publishing and bring out a new edition every year that includes updated rules and instructions on what to do in difficult moral, political or personal situations. However, I think God wants us to develop the ability to have a rich and mature relationship with Him.

We have a relational God who evidently wants to interact deeply with us. God does not want us to remain at the level of toddlers who must be carefully instructed, rewarded, sometimes punished, and kept, at least metaphorically, on a short leash. Moreover, God, it seems, places significant value on allowing us relative moral and intellectual autonomy.

The same idea applies to updated editions of the bible. A detailed rule or instruction book would heavily structure our actions. Moreover, rules and detailed instructions can never keep up with rapidly changing situations.

They are also often applied in ways that ride roughshod over the particulars of a single case.

And written rules can be used by those with significant power to manipulate others.

Put a power-seeking man or woman in charge of the rule book and you shouldn’t be surprised when they use the rules to increase their influence.

Lastly, over-specified rules can be used to create loopholes, hence the sayings:

“your rules are doing violence to the spirit of the law”

or

“you are bogging down decisions because you can’t see the wood for the trees”.

 I suspect God avoids tight moral rules for an openness that allows us to develop and apply what some philosophers call ‘Christian practical wisdom’ to the challenging circumstances we are constantly facing.

 Evidence for this is, I suggest, in scripture. The Bible is replete with complexities, conundrums, contradictions, and perplexities. It is full of histories, stories, poetry, and figurative language, not lists of tightly written inflexible rules and instructions.

Second, the metaphor of disciples as fishermen and fisherwomen is not perfect – no metaphors are.

When apprentices finish their journey, they are frequently sent into the world, sink or swim. For a time, their old master’s words likely ring in their head, but they are nonetheless on their own.

God, however, does not abandon us.

We are free to work out our own salvation, yet God knows we will always be somewhat swayed by fear, envy, egoism, ignorance, and a will to power. God knows we are broken creatures prone to selfishness, making mistakes and ignoring his wondrous gifts. He also knows that we are inclined to love others not as ends in themselves but as mere means to our own ends. Christ therefore assured the disciples that God will be with us to the end of the age, especially in the form of the Holy Spirt who comes to help us, convict us, and encourage us on our journey.

Let us finish with a prayer.