Sermon for 4/19/98
Fishers of Men
Introduction:
A. Clarence Darrow, the great criminal lawyer of another day, had among his friends a young minister. This seems strange, because, as you remember, Darrow was usually thought of as an atheist, infidel,
agnostic or what have you.
They were talking one day and Mr. Darrow became reminiscent. He
talked of his career and some of the famous trials in which he had
been the lawyer for the defense. He said, "This has been an exciting
life." He made at least a comfortable fortune and he guessed he might
be regarded as somewhat of a success.
Then Mr. Darrow asked, "Would you like to know my favorite Bible
verse?" His friend said, "Indeed I would." Mr. Darrow said, "You
will find it in Luke 5:5. ’We’ve toiled all the
night and have taken nothing.’" He added, "In spite of my success
that verse seems to sum up the way I feel about life."
No matter what one does in life, no matter what position he may
obtain, no matter what he might come to own...if he leaves God out,
the time will come when life itself will rise up and mock him with the
word -- nothing -- nothing!
B. So what should we do? What in this life is a worthy pursuit? Is it all just a chasing after the wind, a futile world in the midst of futile pursuits? Everything is meaningless. The things we do today will be forgotten tomorrow and the things we build eventually will crumble to dust. All we are just another brick in the wall- Pink Floyd.
WBTU:
A. Oh, let’s just forget it all and go fishing. I’d rather be fishing. Let’s just leave our troubles and disturbing thoughts behind and go fishing.
B. My grandpa and fishing. He taught me how to fish.
C. On my barber’s wall, there is a sign that says. The Lord created the world with 6X more water than land. Therefore, anybody can see that the Good Lord intended man to fish more than he works.
D. I see these outdoorsman on TV fishing and they just don’t do it quite right.
E. Get a bunch of monkeys and clean the fish.
F. Fishing many times can be frustrating, and I would think that if we kept on fishing, our whole lives would be wasted.
G. Wait a minute, I thought you said that fishing was the answer. Forget it all you said. I did. That is not the kind of fishing I’m talking about. I’m talking about being fishers of men. This is a worthwhile pursuit.
H. Read Mark 1:15-20
Thesis: We need to fish for men. How do we do that?
For instances:
I. Grab Your Gear.
1. Fishing for Fish.
A. We must go out and get the equipment to fish with.
B. I don’t know much about salt-water fishing or peer fishing. I know fresh water fishing where you use live bait and keep whatever if worth keeping.
C. In Jesus day they used nets mostly. In Indiana this is illegal. We need a fishing pole. WE need to put a rod and reel on this pole. Oh, we can fish with just a cane pole, but it is so much more fun to cast out.
D. We need some fishing line. We need some weights on the line. We need a bobber. WE need a hook. WE need a tackle box. We need something to keep the fish on or in when we catch them. Oh, and we also need bait.
E. If we are going to fish from a boat, we need a boat. We need some anchors on the boat. If it is a big lake or river, we need a motor or at least some paddles. We need a boat license and some life preservers.
2. Fishing for men.
A. In fishing for men, we also need to grab our gear.
B. We need to pick up the pole. We need to have the courage and faith to know that Jesus is the answer for many people’s problems. When the people begin to buck us much like fish, this pole, this confidence, will get us through.
C. We need to have a rod and reel. This will give us the ability to go and tell the message wherever it is possible. Some people may be only to have a cane pole but it is so much easier to have the ability to fish all over.
D. We need to have some fishing line; this is prayer and the Word of God, the Bible. Without a thorough knowledge of the Bible and a strong prayer life, our line will snap under the strain of the fish.
E. We also need a bobber, which is a sense of when people are ready to bite. We need to listen to others and communicate the message as we know best and then pay attention to them to see if they are ready to make a decision. This takes common sense and also prayer.
F. We need a hook. This hook for people is the goodness of God and the forgiveness of sins. This hook is the death of Jesus on the cross and his resurrection from the dead for our sins so that we could be set free. This is the central message the cross and the empty tomb. We are all sinners condemned to die and suffer but Jesus came and took the penalty for our sins on the cross so that we can live clean lives and be with Him one day in heaven. This is the hook. It is grace.
G. We need a tackle box. Many times when we go fishing something unexpected happens. Our line breaks or the bobber doesn’t seem to work or the line gets all tangled up. We need to have the help of others many times. We need to sit back for a while and study some issue that a non-Christian brings up that we don’t know how to answer. We need to do some extra praying for a certain individual whose heart is very hard. We need to do some extra praying to understand what the problem is with our fishing. This is our tackle box.
H. We need a good church where we can keep the people we have caught. This is something that we as a church need to keep working on and that is getting people involved in the church and in service. We need to continually teach them and challenge them to go out and fish for themselves.
II. We need to go to the Fishing Hole.
1. Fishers of fish.
A. A fisher of fish knows where the good fishing holes are.
B. My grandpa would always talk about past fishing trips where he had caught a lot of fish. He would know the lake and he would know the exact spot on that lake. Often would ask around.
C. We would even go fishing in the dead of winter. Ice fishing.
D. We would even go when it threatened rain.
E. My grandpa would even know when the fish had a great chance of biting. If there were a full moon, they wouldn’t bite. If there had been a hard rain they wouldn’t bite.
F. One thing my grandpa did know, if you didn’t go to the fishing hole, you wouldn’t catch any fish.
2. Fishers of men.
A. It’s the same way with the fisher of men, if you don’t go to the fishing hole, you won’t catch any fish. WE must get out of our comfort zones and fish.
B. Go to places where you know that you can have a positive impact. Go to the places where the need to hear the message the most.
C. Go even when it is uncomfortable. Ice fishing. Talk about the Lord and his goodness to you even when it may seem unwanted.
D. Go to new people. If you have been talking with someone for years and praying for them for years, this is good but it may seem like the moon is full or their has been a hard rain lately. Go to a new place and new people and try to fish there, it may turn out to be a great catch of people. Use a boat; don’t just always stay in one place.
E. Most importantly, while we are fishing for men, pray. Pray that the Lord will open our eyes to new opportunities. Pray that the one that keeps getting away will be caught.
F. IF you want to fish, go where the fish are. This is not where the fish are. This is the fishing clubhouse.
III. Open Tackle Box and Get Bait.
1. Fishers of fish.
A. Most of the time, fishers use live bait.
B. Some times, they open up the tackle box and use artificial bait.
C. A lot of times, you must use different bait to catch different kinds of fish. Sometimes you have to have the right kind of bait to catch any fish. If the fish are biting on nightcrawlers and you are using wax worms, it just won’t work.
D. Must always try new and different kinds of bait to see which will work the best and which will catch the different kinds of fish.
E. Also we must be concerned how our bait looks to the fish. If it looks ragged and unattractive then the fish will not bite it.
2. Fishers of men.
A. Fishers of men are different because we always use live bait. WE never try to be fake and trick people into becoming Christians.
B. The bait that we use is our testimony. The goodness of God in our lives. What he has done for us. This is the bait. The fish are attracted to the bait because of their own needs in their lives.
C. We must have our bait look attractive. If our testimony and witness is nothing but negative and coming from a complaining attitude, we will not attract any fish.
D. Also, we must learn and find out some of the concerns and needs in other people’s lives that we can offer the right kind of bait. For instance, if we tell a drug addict that if they come to Christ they will be a better husband and father. The drug addict is not so concerned about that, they are more concerned on how to kick their drug abuse. We need to help people to see how Christ can help them in their individual concerns. WE need to listen and them communicate Christ to them. Figure out where they hurt.
E. Most importantly we need to love them. This is the best bait to use. VBS- Fish, fish, I love fish, any shape or size! Thin ones, fat ones, long ones, flat ones, fish with sparkling eyes!
IV. Throw out the Hook!
1. Here we are at the fishing hole, we have the gear, we have the bait on the hook and now we are ready to catch the fish, but we have to throw out the hook into the fishing hole.
2. WE cannot catch the fish if the bait is not in the water.
3. It is the same way when we are fishing for men.
4. So many people go out and have the gear, they put the bait on, but they never put the bait into the water. They think that by their example people will come to Christ. This is partly true but we also have to open our mouths and proclaim Christ.
5. My uncles’ illustration and two men at work.
V. Hook them and reel them in!
1. Fishers of fish.
A. Everything else up to this point is preliminary. This is the whole reason that a fisher goes fishing, is to catch fish and to have the excitement of catching them is the whole fun.
B. The whole fun is to set that hook in the fish’s mouth and to fight with them all the way until the fisher brings them in. This is what the fisher lives for.
C. WE must set the hook. We must be firm enough to set it, but not to strong to rip the hook out of their mouths.
D. WE must not let there be any slackness in the line.
E. We must get the net so that when they reach the fisher we don’t loose them bringing them in.
F. When I was a little boy. The one that got away.
2. Fisher of men.
A. It is the same way with the fisher of men. There must come a point when we see that their hearts are softened to the gospel that we must set the hook.
B. We either want to ask them if they want to give their lives over to Christ, or at least continue to invite them to church so that they can continue to think about their decision.
C. We don’t want to be to soft in this approach because we are talking about salvation, but we also don’t want to be to determined either. We can be too soft and never set the hook, or we can be too determined and rip the hook right out of their mouths. This is a matter of prayer.
D. After the hook is set, we keep checking back with them until we have them reeled in and they are determined to become a Christian. Then when we have them for Christ the whole process is completed with baptism. Much like a process when we catch a fish, it is a process when we are fishers for men.
E. We should be excited about fishing for men, much like a fisher is excited about catching the fish. However, a lot of people when they are rejected, when they don’t catch that fish, quit. After I almost had the big one, do you think that I quit? The next day I was back trying to catch him again. I think that we have lost a lot of that excitement.
F. Also, generally, fishers should be excited when someone catches the big one. However, some fishers are just jealous. This detracts from the whole experience.
VI. Take the fish home and clean them.
1. Fishers of fish.
A. Take the fish home and clean them to eat. I have never heard of anyone dressing fish.
B. It is a difficult job but it is an important job.
2. Fishers of men.
A. After the fish are converted, we should not just leave them on their own.
B. We should get them involved in the church and train them on how to fish.
C. You catch them and the Lord cleans them.
D. We as a church constantly need to work on this. We catch some fish and for some reason they jump back into the lake. Follow up!
Conclusion:
A. Plug for Friend Day, April 13th. Business card.
B. Nobody should come home skunked. As we follow Jesus, he makes us better fishers.
C. Challenge as Christians. Jesus said, “Follow me my friend, and I will make you a fisher of men. The need is great; the world awaits. Time to hook the catch of the day.”
D. Non-Christians. “Don’t be the one that got away. Don’t be the one that wouldn’t stay on the hook and got away. Jesus, get hooked on Him. Jesus will be your Friend. Get caught, get reeled in. Don’t wiggle off, get hooked on Him.
E. Invitation.
