Gone Fishing

Today's readings: Psalms 42; 146; Isaiah 40:25-31; Ephesians 1:15-23; Mark 1:14-28

If you wanted to select a dozen people to help you carry out a radical new ministry, where would you look for them? The docks? Probably not, especially if everything you know about fishermen is from The Deadliest Catch or The Outdoor Channel. Not that fishermen aren't fine  and faithful people, but if we aren't from a fishing community, our understanding of them doesn't scream "evangelist." Yet fishermen are the people Jesus chose.

We tend to characterize them as humble and simple, but in Jesus' time fishing was a large, complex industry. Fishermen were likely to be savvy, multilingual, patient, persistent, strong, civilly and religiously conscientious, and community-oriented.* Not so different from today. Jesus didn't just pluck a few lucky guys from boats because they were handy; he picked the right people for the tough job ahead.

God continues to choose servants in ways that may mystify us if we don't dive deeper than a surface understanding of them. Gifted servant leaders come from what seem the unlikeliest of circumstances - poverty, prison, privilege - because their life circumstances prepare them in ways we don't always expect. Look at Paul, formerly a jew-killing bounty hunter named Saul: God used his life experiences to create an unmatched evangelist prepared to spread the Gospel among the Gentiles. Like an expert burglar rehabilitated into a security consultant, The Paul who founded, supported and withstood persecution for the church in Ephesus (and others) would not have been possible without Saul the persecutor.

Right now your own experience in your business, trade, and relationships is preparing you to do God's work. Maybe you are already ready! Does thinking about life as apprenticeship to Jesus change how you approach it? Don't let anyone convince you that you don't have valuable gifts to contribute to the Kingdom. Don't tell yourself that either. The day before Jesus invited them to become fishers of people, neither the fishermen nor their friends and families would have been likely to believe they were apostle material. Luckily that's God's call to make.

Evening readings: Psalms 102; 133

* Elizabeth McNamer. "Cast Your Nets: Fishing at the Time of Jesus" www.AmericanCatholic.org. n.p., July 2004. Web. 14 January 2013.