Fishing for Men

Concerning the art of fishing Dr. Henry van Dyke, that successful fisherman, distinguished author, and great preacher, has said: “The attraction of angHng for all the ages of man from the cradle to the grave lies in its uncertainty. ‘Tis an affair of luck. No amount of preparation in the matter of rods and lines and hooks and lures and nets and creels can change its essential character. No excellence of skill in casting the delusive fly or adjusting the tempting bait upon the hook can make the result secure. You may reduce the chances but you cannot eliminate them. There are a thousand points at which fortune may intervene. The state of the weather, the height of the water, the appetite of the fish, the presence or absence of other anglers enter into the reckoning of your success. When you go a-fishing you just take your chances. You offer yourself as a candidate for anything that may be going; you try your luck.

“There are certain days that are favorites among anglers, who regard them as propitious for the sport. I know a man who believes that the fish always rise better on Sunday than on any other day in the week. He complains bitterly of this supposed fact, because his religious scruples will not allow him to take advantage of it. He confesses that he has sometimes thought seriously of joining the Seventh-Day Baptists.

“But in fact, all these superstitions about fortunate days are idle and presumptuous. If there were such days in the calendar, a kind and firm Providence would never permit the race of man to discover them. It would rob life of one of its principal attractions, and make fishing altogether too easy to be interesting.”

While all this is true of angling it is not true concerning the art of fishing for men. When Jesus called His disciples He said: “Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.”

He makes them fishers as to their office, by His call, which is twofold, outward and inward, by setting them apart to the office of the ministry; and it is our business to know whether we have it or not.

He makes them fishers as to success; that is. He makes them catch men to Himself by the power of His spirit accompanying the word they preach.

Thomas Boston once said: “What an honorable thing it is to be fishers of men! How great an honor shouldst thou esteem it, to be a catcher of souls! We are workers together with God, says the apostle. If God has ever so honored thee, O that thou knewest it, that thou mightst bless His holy name, that ever made such a poor fool as thee to be a co-worker with Him. God has owned thee to do good to those who were before caught. O my soul, bless thou the Lord. Lord, what am I, or what is my father’s house that Thou hast brought me to this?”

Just to prove that it is possible for us to be sure of success Jesus gives us the vision of His own gracious ministry and then sends out into the workmen like Matthew, a Collector of Customs, and of the opposite extreme a man like Peter, who was a profane fisherman; and both of them became equally successful in the art of man fishing; so that one can readily see that it is not a question of natural gifts but rather a question of absolute yielding to Him who stands ready to equip us with power and skill for this most wonderful work.

One of the most fascinating fishing pictures in the New Testament is found in the twenty-first chapter of the Gospel of John. The scene is on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus loved to be, and which was also an attractive place to His disciples.

After Jesus had been crucified and the disciples were as sheep without a shepherd they were gathered one evening upon the shores of the Sea watching the fishermen put out to their night’s work. There is a peculiar fascination about fishing. If once you have been skilled in this work nothing can ever wean you from it. And Peter was a real fisherman. With eyes flashing and face flushed he turns to his fellow disciples to say: “I go a-fishing.” His spirit stirs them and they reply: “We also go with thee.” It was a poor night’s work for them, for that night they caught nothing. Then there is given to us one of those beautiful gems of scripture in which the Bible so abounds, John 21:4-5-6: “But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore; but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. Then

Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered Him, no. And He said unto them. Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.”

It is well worth our while to notice the difference between the close of the third verse and the close of the sixth. In the first we read: “They caught nothing,” in the second it is said “they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes,” How can you account for the remarkable change in results? — for you have the same sea, the same nets and the same fishermen. To my mind it is an easy problem to solve, and herein lies the secret of successful fishing for men. The first time they toiled in their own strength, the second time in the strength of their Risen Lord, The first time they simply exercised their own ingenuity and fisherman’s skill, the second time they obeyed perfectly the commands of Him who stood upon the shore saying: “Cast the net on the right side of the ship and ye shall find,”

Seated one day in my home in Philadelphia in conversation with the Rev, F, B. Meyer, I heard from him the story of his work in the interest of discharged prisoners. He was seeking to aid them by means of a wood yard which was equipped with a splendid saw set on a strong frame and turned by the men themselves. I was the more interested in this because I was seeking to do the same thing for some men in Philadelphia, and the financial results were practically the same. At the close of each week there was a deficit to meet. The wood yard scheme was most unprofitable financially. Then said Mr. Meyer: “There came to me a man who said, ‘Why do you not put a steam engine in your wood yard?’” -Following his suggestions, a little upright engine was set in operation and the first week the results were entirely different. Instead of losing money I found I had actually made a profit. Then said this distinguished teacher and preacher: “I can imagine myself talking to the saw, saying, ‘Old saw, what is it that has made such a difference in you? Up to this time I have always lost money by you and now see what a change.’ And if the old saw could speak,” said my friend, “I doubt not it would say, ‘Well, master, you see prior to this time I have had back of me the power of man, but this week I have been pushed forward by the power of steam.’” And that was the secret of the successful week.

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