Fish Bait
Stories
Lectionary Tales For The Pulpit
Series VI, Cycle A
Object:
A man was stopped by a game warden in a state park leaving a lake well known for its fishing, with two buckets of fish. The game warden asked, "Do you have a license to catch those fish?"
The man replied to the game warden, "No, sir. These are my pet fish."
"Pet fish?" the warden replied.
"Yes, sir. Every night I bring these here fish down to the lake and let them swim around for a while. I whistle and they jump back into their buckets, and I take 'em home."
"That's a bunch of hooey! Fish can't do that!"
The man looked at the game warden for a moment, and then said, "Here, I'll show you. It really works."
"Okay. I've got to see this!" The game warden was curious.
The man poured the fish into the river and stood and waited. After several minutes, the game warden turned to the man and said, "Well?"
"Well, what?" the man responded.
"When are you going to call them back?" the game warden prompted.
"Call who back?" the man asked.
"The fish!"
"What fish?" the man asked.
One more. The Reverend Dr. McStuffedshirt encountered one of his less-than-faithful parishioners returning from a day's fishing and engaged him in conversation. "Ah, Brother Jones," he began in his best preaching tone, "you are a fine fisherman, but I am a fisher of men."
Jones, determined to get home after a long day, replied, "So I have heard. But I was passing your church last Sunday, and I looked in the window, and noticed you had not caught many...."
Today's gospel lesson is the source of that "fisher of men" designation. Unfortunately, as Paul Harvey has ruefully noted, these days "Too many Christians are no longer fishers of men but keepers of the aquarium."
There are several ways to interpret that phrase, "fishers of men." We could think of ourselves as the ones casting the nets -- we spread the word far and wide in hopes that we will bring in a catch. Or we could think of ourselves as the net -- we are the instrument the Lord uses to gather them in. But perhaps it might even be better if we would think of ourselves in terms of bait -- fish bait. Unless they are born into the fellowship, that is, after all, the way new disciples are brought into the life of the church. Something attracts them, and most often it is you and me. Eighty percent of the people who join churches say they do it because someone -- a friend or a relative -- invited them. For good or ill, we are bait.
The man replied to the game warden, "No, sir. These are my pet fish."
"Pet fish?" the warden replied.
"Yes, sir. Every night I bring these here fish down to the lake and let them swim around for a while. I whistle and they jump back into their buckets, and I take 'em home."
"That's a bunch of hooey! Fish can't do that!"
The man looked at the game warden for a moment, and then said, "Here, I'll show you. It really works."
"Okay. I've got to see this!" The game warden was curious.
The man poured the fish into the river and stood and waited. After several minutes, the game warden turned to the man and said, "Well?"
"Well, what?" the man responded.
"When are you going to call them back?" the game warden prompted.
"Call who back?" the man asked.
"The fish!"
"What fish?" the man asked.
One more. The Reverend Dr. McStuffedshirt encountered one of his less-than-faithful parishioners returning from a day's fishing and engaged him in conversation. "Ah, Brother Jones," he began in his best preaching tone, "you are a fine fisherman, but I am a fisher of men."
Jones, determined to get home after a long day, replied, "So I have heard. But I was passing your church last Sunday, and I looked in the window, and noticed you had not caught many...."
Today's gospel lesson is the source of that "fisher of men" designation. Unfortunately, as Paul Harvey has ruefully noted, these days "Too many Christians are no longer fishers of men but keepers of the aquarium."
There are several ways to interpret that phrase, "fishers of men." We could think of ourselves as the ones casting the nets -- we spread the word far and wide in hopes that we will bring in a catch. Or we could think of ourselves as the net -- we are the instrument the Lord uses to gather them in. But perhaps it might even be better if we would think of ourselves in terms of bait -- fish bait. Unless they are born into the fellowship, that is, after all, the way new disciples are brought into the life of the church. Something attracts them, and most often it is you and me. Eighty percent of the people who join churches say they do it because someone -- a friend or a relative -- invited them. For good or ill, we are bait.
