And He said, “Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” (Matthew 4:19)
Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry.” (John 6: 35)
“But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (John 4:14)
We paused for a moment on the stone bridge overlooking the creek that runs through City Park. Unbeknownst to me, the Bug had brought along a knapsack with essentials: twine, pipe cleaners, chunks of bread and scissors. She and the Pea scouted for sticks and constructed two twig fishing rods. On the end of the twine, the Bug fashioned a pipe cleaner hook of sorts and plunged the wire into a piece of bread. The Pea followed suit and then hurled her line into the creek.
The bread promptly fell off the hook and the fish delighted in a free meal. The kids repeated the process, attaching more bread, casting the line over the bridge into the water. Again, the soaked bread released itself from the hook, and the fish nibbled freely on the food. The third time, the children cut off the pipe cleaner hook completely. They tied the twine around the piece of bread itself and dropped the bait into the water. The fish, now contentedly full from their earlier meal, scattered to parts unknown.
The children were not dismayed. They abandoned the rods, and then abandoned their shoes. They sprinkled some bread into the water, attracting a new crowd of minnows. The Bug slid up to the water’s edge, cupped her hands, and dipped them into the creek. No dice. She stepped a bit further onto the muddy bank, cupped her hands, and this time scooped up some tiny fish. “MOM! Look! I caught some fish! I caught some fish!” (Not to be outdone, the Pea squelched through the mud, squatted to her knees, and scooped up a handful of sludge complete with snails and algae). They tossed their treasures back into the creek, grabbed their rods and knapsack, and we headed inside for a cool drink of water.
Perhaps there’s a parallel in our little fishing story. As followers of Christ, we are to be “fishers of men,” and share “the bread of life” or, in other words, share our personal Jesus-story with others so they may receive God’s grace and follow Christ, too. It’s not always going to be pretty. Sometimes we need to roll up our sleeves, take off our sandals, and get a little muddy sharing the bread with our neighbors. We need to put our whole selves into the process, let our hands be God’s hands, share Jesus and then release the new Christians back out into the world, in turn, as witnesses with their Jesus-stories. And, not to be forgotten, refresh with drinks of water. Of “living water” provided by our Lord and Savior.
