Fishers of Men

Introduction

The book of Mark showcases the beginning of the Gospel and in the first verses there is an introduction showing the preparation aspect of Jesus’s ministry along with the overarching call of the whole Bible that we now see, repent and believe. These same things, faith and repentance, are what we are called to do today to accept the salvation and forgiveness that Jesus offers.

Moving from the introduction of the book to the first section that is the time in Galilee we see the first thing that Jesus does, he calls his disciples. The call of these men was a radical call that came with a radical message and they responded with radical obedience. Mark 1.16-20

Mark 1:16–20 ESV

Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.

These men were just simple fishermen working in their family business on the boat. They were fishermen; not teachers, not rulers, not priest, they were fishermen. On top of that they were from the sea of Galilee, this place was only really known for fishing. They had most likely never traveled very far from their original home here near the sea. This is probably all that they know. Still look at what they did in the end, they followed him.

This begins the story of not only Jesus but of this group of men. Through these people God would change the world and he is still in the business of doing so. What if he called you to a great task. what would you do? What if he called you to a seemingly small task? What if here tonight he is just calling you to put your faith in him and to repent of your sins? See, God is calling all of us and our response should be the same as this group of men, “immediately they left their nets and followed him”.

Pray

Follow Me

Mark 1:17 ESV

And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”

Jesus calls out to these men and says “follow me”. As we journey through this book we will learn more about these men and their character but here we see their origin story with these few words. Jesus was calling them to a task that they did not know the gravity of. He was calling them to faith in him, he was calling them to discipleship, he was calling them to witness his life, death, and resurrection, he was calling them to take on the charge of the great commission.

Though often confused here Jesus is calling them to be disciples not apostles. He will appoint his 12 apostles later in chapter 3. We know from Luke that Jesus had over 70 disciples while here on earth. Today we are all called to be disciples of Jesus, in the great commission there was the call to make disciples of all nations. What a disciple is is someone that is a student and servant to Jesus. When we enter into a discipleship relationship we are learning from that person. A disciple is a follower.

Now we are still called to follow Jesus. It may look different than jumping from your boat and never coming back, but then again it may not. Many of you in here are not Christians, you are not a follower of Jesus. Tonight the call for you is to follow Jesus by putting your faith in him and turning from your sin. It’s that simple. There is nothing else that can save you from the eternal punishment that you deserve. Jesus is calling you to do this, it is the most important decision you will ever make in your life. Will you answer this radical call?

Some of you in here are Christians and have put your faith in Jesus. My question to you is what are you doing now? Are you still following like you should? do you still have that jumping out of the boat mentality? The command to follow him starts with coming to him but then you are on the move. Where could following him lead you? To some of you it’s leading to the city right now. For some it may lead around the world. For some of you it may be right here in Cordell. The question is not where is he leading though, the question is will you follow?

The first time I really stepped out and followed was on a trip to Fort Worth Texas. There I was helping a homeless shelter that was built in an old church. On Sunday here they take a bus around and pick up people to come to church. The homeless population carries all of their possessions with them all the time and I with a friend went with the bus to help them load their stuff. As we were loading the bus got full, the driver looked to us and said hang tight I’ll be right back. I’m not going to lie it was a scary moment because we were in a rough crowd, I looked pretty rough by this time though so I was blending in. I stopped and talked to this one man standing there and he said that my friends looked a bit skid-dish and we both laughed. I began to talk to him and hearing his life story. He had just got out of prison and it was in the middle of winter and all he had was a t-shirt. Through conversation while waiting on the bus he figured out where I was volunteering at and he said this to me in a loose quotation; “I found y'all there when I got out, you gave me some clothes and a good meal. That place is a real blessing” At this point in my life I was just really getting started reading my Bible and after that I read this passage Matthew 25.35-40 “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’”

That man got on the bus with me but I lost him in the crowd and never saw him again. I will never forget that experience because it impacted me so deeply. It set off in me a deep desire to always follow in obedience.

Jesus says follow me, what will you say?

Fishers of Men

The command was to follow him but the plan was to make them fishers of men. This is an illustration that Jesus used that would have resonated with these guys because they were fishermen. So what does Jesus mean when talking about fishing for people?

What this is depicting is the gathering of people into the kingdom of God before the impending judgment. This is sharing the gospel, evangelizing, preaching, teaching. Fishing for men is what some would call working to win souls over to Christ. This point was inaugurated in the great commission. They spent all this time learning who Jesus was and gaining understanding then right before Jesus ascended into heaven he gave the great commission, time to get fishing.

The command in the great commission and the call that these men received is much the same as the one we have today. If you have started to follow Jesus then you are to be a fisher of men. You are to be sharing this great and wonderful news that you have with everyone. In a different story Jesus put it like this; the harvest is plentiful. There are so many people that do not know Jesus as savior and there are even still so many that have no clue who he is and what he offers. When Jesus calls us to follow he also calls us to share. The thing is though Jesus didn’t give them the option to follow and not be a fisher of men, these calls came together. When we decide to follow Jesus we also decide to share this amazing thing that he has done for us, If you truly grasp what it is that he has done for you you won’t be able to hold back sharing it with others and calling them to do the same.

These two aspects are inseparable things in Jesus’s call of the first disciples and in our lives today. Follow Jesus by putting your faith in him and share Jesus with everyone you can. In this though we have to step out in faith, these men did not know the gravity of what they were doing, yet they still jumped out of the boat. They all later became apostles and traveled to the furthest reaches of the known world and were killed for their beliefs in this man that they just jumped out of the boat for. It all started with the call from Jesus “follow me and I will make you fishers of men”.

Their Response

The last thing that I want to call your attention to tonight was their response. If you haven’t caught on by now they followed Jesus. But how did they follow Jesus? The passage says immediately. Other gospels give us a few more details about this moment but Mark is drawing our attention to the call and their response. They did not say maybe later, they did not say after we get paid for these fish, they did not say maybe if I get bored. They immediately followed.

Some of you here tonight may be hearing this call. Take note of this response and immediately answer it. Don’t wait around, accept the call. If he is calling you to follow him immediately after this come catch me and we will walk through that together. If he is calling you to a specific service lets talk about that and begin preparing for it. Maybe the call to share the gospel is weighing on you, don’t wait around share it! This is a radical call with a radical message but just like these first disciples we should have a radical response to it.

Like these men Gods plan for your life may be something bigger than you could have ever of dreamed, or it could be something seemingly small. Here is the thing though, either way it is something that God deemed necessary which makes it all huge.

Every church that I went to was smaller than this youth group. But at each one there was a preacher doing the “small job” of preaching to this congregation. Through that they led me and preached to me. Now I am here speaking to 50 of you every week, bigger but still seemingly small. What I see though is how many you will go and reach.

There are no small jobs in the kingdom of God. There are just jobs that require immediate obedience. Tonight though you may not yet be included in the kingdom of God and your immediate obedience needs to be to put your faith in Jesus.

Conclusion

I want to finish by asking you what is holding you back from leaving your boat?

Jesus calls each and every one of us to something. Some of you he may be calling to put your faith in him tonight, follow immediately. Some of you he may be calling to a task in the future, begin following that call now. Some of you he may just be calling to share the gospel with someone or invite them to church, don’t wait around any longer.

Just like with these men today we have a call. It’s a radical call, with a radical message, and requires radical obedience. These men ended up taking the message of the gospel to the furthest reaches of the known world. Planting churches, preaching to masses, fishing for men. Just a few guys from Galilee that knew nothing except fishing. You know they aren’ top different from where we are right now, a group of people from Oklahoma where farming and oil is about all there is. But if God calls you to something he also prepares you for it. I didn’t intend to be a preacher but guess what, I was trained to be a preacher and then God called me to this task. Do not be afraid of what he has in store for you, be excited to follow him and do it.

In the story of Mark Jesus will eventually die and come back to life making a way for us to be forgiven of our sins. To be forgiven he says repent and believe in the gospel then come and follow me. Will you follow Jesus or will you follow the way of this world?