Little Fish, Big Help

What do you think of when you think of a fisherman?  Maybe you think of that guy in that TV commercial in a yellow rain jacket, soaking wet, advertising fish sticks.  Maybe you think of a guy in a little rowboat in the middle of a lake sleeping with a pole dangling in the water.  Perhaps you envision a businessman on holiday standing waist deep in a stream swinging a line back and forth hoping to catch a trout. 

Regardless of your image, you are most likely thinking of someone just catching a couple of fish and not really doing much of anything.  You probably don’t picture people doing that for a living and if you do, you probably don’t think the living is very good.  Even though without fisherman a lot of food that we eat would not be available, that’s not what I was thinking about.  I was thinking of another story of simple fishermen.

Back in the early days of World War II, the Nazis were having phenomenal success in taking over the continent of Europe.  The British had sent troops to help reinforce their French allies, but it was to no avail.  France fell, and the last of the British and French troops were trapped with their backs to the sea at a place in northern France called Dunkirk.  The Nazis were bearing down on these men, who believed they were going to die or be captured, which was worse than dying because they would be sent to join the Jews in concentration camps.  The water where they were holding out was very shallow, and the British Navy could not get any transport ships in to get the troops to safety.  All hope was lost for these brave men, whose number was nearly 340,000.  It was only a matter of time before the Germans overtook them.

Back in Britain an amazing thing was happening.  Hundreds of little fishing boats and private yachts were massing in London harbor.  Where the Navy could not go because of its size these fishing boats could because of theirs.  Over the next ten days these little boats successfully navigated the channel between Britain and Dunkirk and brought those stranded troops, who had abandoned all hope, safely back home.

Fishermen have played an important role in our history.  Four of Jesus’ most trusted disciples were fishermen.  Peter, Andrew, James, and John were all big, burly, smelly fishermen, yet they spread the news of Jesus throughout the world.  Jesus called out to them, and still calls out to us today:

“Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” (Matt. 4:19)

If God can use fishermen to save the world, and these guys are the meanest and ugliest guys around, don’t you think he can use you, too?  You may only reach one person instead of a multitude, but in the end, that’s one more heavenly neighbor.

“But now I am sending for many fishermen who will catch them,” says the Lord. (Jeremiah 16:16a)