HOMEJesus started His ministry at the age of 30 soon after His baptism by John the Baptist. As we know that Jesus did not need this baptism because He is the Holy One of God. But we considered it as His anointment for the ministry by the Holy Spirit.
At that movement, John the Baptist witnessed about Jesus that He was the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Some of his disciples followed Jesus. Many things happened after to this incident.
After that Jesus came to Nazareth, where He grown up and started preaching. But His natives rejected his messages and tried to kill him. He said, “No prophet is accepted in his hometown.” Lk 4:24. And then he left Nazareth and moved to Capernaum and made it as His hometown.
Capernaum was a big city on the shore of Lake Galilee and a busy city to spread Jesus messages quickly.
Jesus met his old friends there, Peter, Andrew, James and John. He called them by name and asked them to follow Him. They immediately left their fishing business and followed Him.
When Jesus called them, they knew what kind of man he was and were willing to follow him.
Jesus said, “Come and follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
His call was very direct to them and they were all willing to follow him to become fishers of men.
God needs people like them to follow Jesus to catch men for His kingdom.
Can we see any qualifications to become a fisher of men? There was just one qualification, that was they were in the business of fishing.
They knew how to fish, they knew where to through nets, they knew how to catch them, and they knew how to make money out of it.
If you want to be a Pastor in a Church what do you need to be qualified?
You need to complete your graduation, Batcher degree, four years of seminary study and one year practical work under a senor pastor. Finally, you need an ordination.
Jesus called his first disciples to catch men for the Kingdom of God. Now pastors are being trained to catch people for God through the Word and Sacraments.
How can we do this great challenge to fish people for the kingdom of God at the present situations?
Our present Presidents and Bishops asked the missionaries like me, to prepare a statement every month, how many people are attending our worships and Bible Study groups.
We are concern about increasing numbers in our Churches. We want to win souls for the kingdom of God.
But we forget that the Holy Spirit alone can convert people by creating faith. We can not do it with our great speeches and amazing sermons. Without the help of Holy Spirit we can not reach even one soul.
When Jesus raised form the dead before he was taken away from his disciples, he gave them last commandment to go and preach the Good news to all nations but asked them to wait until the Holy Spirit to come down.
With the power of Holy Spirit, Peter was able to preach and catch 3000 men for the Kingdom of God on the day of Pentecost. With the power of God, he healed the lame man in the temple.
Our job is not to be kept quite, but speak out the Good News of Jesus Christ. Our job is to reach out people who are in spiritual and physical needs for Jesus Christ.
God through His Spirit do the rest. He speaks through the Holy Spirit to their hears and minds. He gives them the repentance of sins. He provides them the gift of Salvation.
A minister was asked how many active members were there in his congregation. Without hesitating, he replied, “I have 1000 active members. About 200 are active for the Lord, and the other 800 are active for Satan.”
Actually, we cannot help witnessing, but our witness may be negative witness which repels rather than attracts people to the Gospel.
That problem existed in the Corinthians congregation. St. Paul discusses it in today’s Epistle 1Cor 1:10-17. This Corinthian congregation was divided into factions. Some said “We follow Paul”. Some said, “We follow Apollos.” Some said, “We follow Cephas.” Others said, “We follow Christ.”
Does this sound familiar? Instead of fishing people for Christ, our churches are divided in the name of Christ. How can we present Good news to others who do not know Christ?
When I approach a non-Christian to speak about Christ, first question that I am asked by the person is, “What denomination you are working for?”
I am sure I am proud to say, “I am a Lutheran pastor especially, I am belong to Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.”
But internally I feel guilty. Well, then, I preach the truth of undivided Christ. The true Gospel of Christ, forgiveness of sins.
Just Jesus said, “Follow Me.” When we follow Christ we will catch many souls for the Kingdom of God by the help of Holy Spirit.
Do you really want to follow Christ? And catch people for His Kingdom? Then open your mouth and talk to your neighbor who is living in the darkness of sin.
In America, many of us do not want to offend our neighbors by talking about our religion. But internally, we do not want them to go with out knowing the light of Christ.
If we really love our neighbor, we can not keep silent. We should tell them the truth that he or she is living in darkness of sin and give them Christ who is the light of the world.
For this mission, Jesus is calling us, to catch people for the Kingdom of God. By following Jesus, we will accomplish our mission with the help of Holy Spirit.
Therefore, Jesus is calling you and me as he called his first disciples, “Come, Follow Me, I will make you fishers of men.” Amen.