Our Lord and Savior calls us to love and serve Him. We are called to take up our cross, to deny self, and to follow Him. We are called to share the good news of Christ with all we meet – to take the message global – to the ends of the earth. In this week’s gospel lesson we see the calling of the first disciples. Jesus calls Andrew, Simon, James, and John to be “fishers of men.” (John 4)

As I thought and journaled about this passage this morning, I came to realize how limited our call is. We are called to simply be fishers, to help get people into the boat. In the devotional I read this morning it called it the ‘boat of shalom’. It referred to this as a place where everyone is known, loved, served, and celebrated. Terrell McDaniel went on to say that this place of shalom is a place of healing, restoration, and fulfillment of our potential. What a wonderful image of the church!!

Our role as disciples is again to get people into the boat. Although we can (and should) have a role after this point, it is truly the work of the Holy Spirit to go from there. We are not called to land, clean, cook, and serve the fish. We are just to get them into the boat.

It is the Holy Spirit that enters in and begins the work of washing away the old self so that a person may be born anew. Then the Spirit continues to work on this newby to bring God’s word into their hearts and minds. As the Word stews and churns inside it takes root through the action of the Holy Spirit. And lastly the new disciple comes to see those seeds grow and to spring up into new life. As the Spirit continues to work, the disciple begins to bear fruit in the world as they too become a fisher of men.

Do we have a role after they are in the boat? CERTAINLY!! Our role as a fellow member of the boat is to know, love, serve, and celebrate their journey of faith. Our role is to help them as we can – to find healing, to understand the scriptures, to lift them up when they stumble, to help guide them to being all they can be for Christ. And as we do these things, we too grow in our relationship with Christ. What a wonderful place the church is!!