Follow me and I will make you fish for people.

Jonah 3:1-5, 10; Hebrews 9:24-end; Mark 1:14-20 | Kitty Price, Sunday 7 November 2021

“Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Whilst I was preparing this sermon, I took great delight that the lectionary coincides with some of the current events in the news. In the letter to the Hebrews, they are reminded that Christ offered himself once, and that He would appear at the end of the age. I read this with a wry nod, having looked at the news that the QAnon group was disappointed that JFK Jnr had not appeared to run with Trump in the next campaign.

There is also an irony that the Old Testament reading is from Jonah and the Gospel reading is Jesus calling his first disciples – fishermen – when the UK is in the midst of a disagreement with France concerning fishing rights. I love it when the lectionary is on your side and produces a corker!

On a more personal note, they couldn’t be more apt. On Friday my gorgeous nephew, Henry, visited with his – also gorgeous – parents. He was low key excited to see us, but he could barely contain his excitement at seeing the sea. He cannot get enough of it. I completely understand him. How many of you, when driving south towards Portsmouth on the A3M have a little sigh of contentment when you reach THAT BRIDGE, where you meet the sea, with Portsea Island and the Solent twinkling in the distance?

In Denmark, the land of some of my peoples, you are never more than 32 miles from the sea. Thus, it was a huge joy to my late father, Kenneth Stevenson, when he was appointed Bishop of Portsmouth. On one side of his Danish family tree, there were 7 generations of priests who had gone before him, with father handing over the reins of the parish to the son when he was significantly experienced enough. That my brother was ordained and carried on the family business was nothing short of a miracle given the pressure he must have felt.

In our Gospel reading, after calling Simon and Andrew, Jesus disrupts an ordinary day in the lives of Zebedee and his sons. Zebedee’s father would probably have been a fisherman, teaching his son the family trade. Likewise,

Zebedee has done to his sons, James and John, as was probably the case for Simon and Andrew. It was a tough existence, not for the faint hearted. They worked throughout the year, enduring the cold in winter and the scorching summer heat. They fished often at night. Our neighbour, Moses the fisherman, leaves at around 3 or 4 in the morning when he’s heading off. I know I could not do it. I love my sleep too much!

Fishermen in the time of Jesus spent more of their time maintaining their nets rather than using them for catching fish. Made out of linen, they had to be cleaned thoroughly then dried after each use, so that they wouldn’t rot. Then there was the mending as well as the using of the nets. This was a skill that had to be learnt and practised well to ensure success. James and John were probably mending a Seine net, which was hundreds of feet long and up to 20 high, and it was thrown into the water and used to drag everything towards the shore when it was sorted. Simon and Andrew were casting a circular net, up to 25 feet in diameter, into the Sea of Galilee.

Perhaps Jesus thought the hardiness of the fishermen would make them good disciples? Jesus certainly uses the imagery of fishing throughout his ministry, and the symbol used for early Christians to communicate with each other and not be busted by the Romans, was the Ichthus – ichthus meaning fish in Greek, and the letters spelling out the phrase, Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Saviour. Jesus used the seine net as an illustration in his description of the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 13:47-48): “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad.”

Mark’s gospel is the shortest of the four; it is action packed. He uses the word immediately 41 times in his gospel, twice in this passage. Simon and Andrew, James and John don’t hesitate. They go. They recognise the essential job of discipleship and embrace it with their whole hearts and lives. This is incredible, showing an extraordinary amount of faith. But I feel sorry for Zebedee. He’s left with the hired hands to run the business not knowing if he will see his sons again. I admire James and John, but my immediate reaction is ‘poor Zebedee’, unless he was relieved to see his sons go because they were rubbish fishermen!

It’s at this point that I would like to take us back to the reading from Jonah. I love Jonah because he represents so many of us. God speaks to you, asks you to do something, and instead of doing it, you run away. God requires you to speak his word and it’s immediately “Let’s go to Tarshish so I don’t have to”!!! What generally happens in life? These things come back to bite you in the bum – or in Jonah’s case, get swallowed by a whale, then spewed back out!

When I read today’s passage, I hear it like this: “The word of the Lord came to Jonah a SECOND time…” If you had followed my instructions the FIRST time, none of this would have happened. Jonah, you’ve only got yourself to blame!!! When Jonah does what God requires of him, the people of Nineveh believe, fast, and put on sackcloth. Because of this God changed his mind about the calamity. Jonah, you are fabulous.

How many of you recognise the Simon, Andrew, James and John approach? If someone you knew IMMEDIATELY turned their back on their friends, family, job, to follow a charismatic leader with a beard and sandals, you might be somewhat sceptical. But maybe that’s just my natural cynicism…?!

It would have been an easier life if the four fishermen had stayed behind. It may have been monotonous, and a dangerous job, but it would have been easier than following Jesus. “Follow me and I will make you fish for people. And immediately they left their nets and followed him.” They left their safety nets – pun intended - for Jesus. They followed him for an itinerant lifestyle, facing ridicule, rejection, an uncertain future, the loss of this man who told stories, performed miracles; before his ascension, Jesus told them to “go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations”, which they did. Apart from John, who died in exile, the other three were killed because of their faith and ministry.

What can we learn from this?

Firstly, that if there were different types of nets and thus different way to fish for fish, there are different ways to fish for people. That has been one of the strengths of the Church of England, that there is room for different styles of fishing and worshipping. We don’t have a one size fits all approach. What are we known for? A good, inclusive welcome? I hope so, but does it really feel like that? I think we are pretty hot on engaging in relevant issues such as climate change. The offertory hymn is so important because it talks about a range of social justice issues, such as refuge from cruel wars, havens from

fear…rest for the ravaged earth, oceans and streams. This is just what they are discussing at COP in Glasgow.

Secondly, we all have moments of being a Jonah rather than a James and John. I went into teaching kicking and screaming; I was never going to teach, certainly not religious studies, and it was unthinkable that I should teach in an independent school and NEVER in an all-girls’ school. After spending a decade running away from it, in my early 30s I found myself where I was supposed to be, teaching religious studies at Portsmouth High School for Girls. It’ll take longer than one sermon anecdote to explain about my route to being a lay reader, but that wasn’t an immediate decision either.

So, we have to trust in God’s plans for us, as individuals and as members of the Cathedral of the Sea community. If we try to plan everything out, that doesn’t leave room for spontaneity, for the creative work of the Holy Spirit. It might be difficult, but it is what we are called to do. I’ll leave you with one of my favourite – and oft quoted - Danish proverbs: “Pray to God in the storm but keep on rowing.” We’re not expected to solve all of the world’s problems, but neither are we exempt from doing nothing. When God calls to us, we must respond. Amen.