Fishers of Men

Matthew 4:18-22 (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. [19] And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." [20] Immediately they left their nets and followed him. [21] And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. [22] Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. Sometimes you wonder if it was that simple. How is it that Jesus calls these men. You wonder how many times these men had heard Jesus preach before hand. Perhaps they had gone to see John the Baptist and be baptized by him. Perhaps they were there to see the dove descend, to hear John cry “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” And were just waiting for the opportunity.
Or perhaps it was just as simple as that Jesus called and they listened. Jesus called and the Holy Spirit claimed. That is what Jesus does with us. He calls, and then we follow. We follow and he makes us fishers of men. All his disciples end up being this. We all have different roles we play in this. It makes for a lot of guilt when one harps on evangelism and says you haven’t done enough when you have not overcome fears to talk to your neighbor.
But no, we have all been given different gifts, and we all use them to serve the church in our own way. So often we don’t even know what we are doing as Christians. I think about this at times. New members join the church, and the congregation thinks, wow, pastor is really doing his job. In reality it is the congregation, it is thanks to their efforts just as much if not more than it is due to my efforts. They keep this congregation going, they free it up for me to be about the work of the Lord. They make it possible that I can go and visit someone at night, teach bible Study in jail, work for the hospice, and even just drink a cup of coffee at the café. And we all become fishers of men, as we all do our parts to ensure that the gospel is preached and the world has opportunity to hear that their sins are forgiven.