Dealing with the issue of how we can best live -- what we should do with our priceless human existence -- is more than just an intellectual exercise. It is even more than a question of how we can achieve happiness. Rather the issue of how we can best live is a matter of the survival of our God-given humanity.
We live in a perilous Age in which our remarkable, wondrous species has engaged itself in a selfish quest for power and status and riches. In so many ways we have tragically fallen short of our ideals: of what life could be...should be. There are times of course, when we display a capacity for love...for compassion...for service. And in this we hold they key to the survival of our God-given humanity. In other words, we have a choice. And we choose in terms of the life we decide to live. Such a choice -- destined to influence the course of human history even to this day -- was made by a trio of humble fishermen, Simon Peter, James, and John, two thousand years ago.
Luke tells us in today's Gospel Lesson that these fishermen have been working hard all night and caught nothing. Having given up, and while washing their nets, Jesus enters the scene. He gets into one of the boats and begins teaching the crowds on the shore that had been following Him. Then He directs the fishermen to try again to catch some fish. They follow His instructions and, in Luke's words, "They netted such a huge number of fish that their nets began to tear," and "they filled two boats to sinking point" (Lk. 5:6-7). "When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus, saying 'Leave me, Lord, I am a sinful man.' For he and all his companions were completely overcome by the catch they had made. But Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Do not be afraid, from now on it is men you will catch.' Then, bringing their boats back to land, they left everything and followed Jesus" (Lk. 5:8-11).
For Simon Peter, James and John, it was a matter of choice. And in opting to leave everything and follow Jesus, they chose to live, in Jesus' words, as "fishers of men."
As it was in the lives of Simon Peter, James, and John twenty centuries ago, so it is with us in our present Age: Jesus is calling us into life as it could be...should be. Jesus is calling us -- constantly calling us -- to be "fishers of men." What does it all mean? The following story, taken from the life of the great boxing champion, Muhammad Ali, might help us to put the question in proper perspective...
Three times he was the heavyweight champion of the world. He was king of his profession. In his own words, he was "floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee." An entourage of reporters, trainers and support staff tailed this comet as he raced around the world. He had power, he had worldly status, he had riches. But that was yesterday. Where is Ali today? Sportswriter Gary Smith went to find out.
Ali led Smith to a barn next to his farmhouse. On the floor, leaning against the walls, were mementos of Ali in his prime: photos and portraits of the "champ" -- punching and dancing; sculpted body; fists punching the air; championship belt held high; the famous fight called "Thrilla in Manila." But on the pictures were white streaks: bird-droppings.
Ali looked into the rafters at the pigeons who had made his barn-gym their home. And then he did something significant. It might have been a gesture representing the close of his former life, or it might have been a statement of despair. Whatever the reason, he walked over to the rows of pictures and turned them, one by one, toward the wall. Then he walked to the door and mumbled something that the sportswriter had to ask him to repeat. This is what he said: "I had the world and it wasn't anything. Look now."
The poles of power, status and riches are greasy! (It should be noted that in his later life, even in the face of deteriorating health, Ali has been recognized as a caring, decent person.) For us Christians, to be "fishers of men" means to enter into life as it should be according to the Good News Gospel of Jesus Christ. In the Apostle Paul's words, "You must want love more than anything else" (I Cor. 14:1)...
If I have all the eloquence of men or of angels, but speak without love, I am simply a gong booming or a cymbal clashing...without love I am nothing at all...
Love is always patient and kind. It is never jealous; love is never boastful or conceited; it is never rude or selfish; it does not take offense, and is not resentful. Love never takes pleasure in other people's sins but delights in the truth, it is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope, and to endure whatever comes...In short, there are three things that last: faith, hope and love; and the greatest of these is love (I Cor. 13:1,4-7,13).
Not power, status and riches, but faith, hope and love are the elements of a life as it should be. These are the tools -- the nets, so to speak -- of us "fishers of men." These are the means we have at our disposal for attracting other persons to the Cause of Christ. These are the channels through which we invite others to share in the way of life which enables us to grow into the uniquely beautiful persons God created us to be.
We Christian people constantly are being challenged to ponder Jesus' invitation to life as it should be:
If anyone wants to be a follower of Mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for My sake and for the sake of the Gospel, will save it.
WHAT GAIN, THEN IS IT FOR A MAN TO WIN THE WHOLE WORLD AND RUIN HIS LIFE?
The Roman Emperor, Charlemagne, knew that. An interesting story surrounds the burial of this famous king. Legend has it that he asked to be entombed sitting upright in his throne. He asked that his crown be placed on his head and his scepter in his hand. He requested that the royal cape be draped around his shoulders and an open book be placed in his lap. That was the year 814. Nearly 200 years later, another emperor wanted to see if the burial request had been honored. He allegedly sent a team of men to open the tomb and make a report. They found the body just as Charlemagne had ordered. Only now, two centuries later, the scene was gruesome. The crown was titled. The mantle was moth-eaten. The body was disfigured. But on the skeletal thighs was the book Charlemagne had requested: the Bible. The book was open, and one bony finger pointed to the words:
WHAT GAIN, THEN, IS IT FOR A MAN TO WIN THE WHOLE WORLD AND RUIN HIS LIFE?
Psychologist Alfred Adler once put an ad in the paper for his "Fourteen-Day Cure Plan." He claimed that he could cure anyone of any emotional or mental disorder in just fourteen days. One day, an extremely lonely woman came to him for advice. He told her that if she would do as he said, she would be cured of her loneliness in a mere fourteen days. "What do you want me to do?" she asked. Adler replied, "If you will do something for someone else every day for fourteen days, your loneliness will be gone." The woman objected: "Why should I do anything for someone else?" To which the psychologist replied, tongue-in-cheek, "Well, in your case, it may take twenty-one days."
Christ has no hands but our hands to do his work today.
Christ has no feet but our feet to lead others on the way.
Christ has no tongue but our tongues to tell them how He died.
Christ has no help but our help to bring them to His side.
