Matthew 4:12-25       TURN YOUR LIFE AROUND     January 8, 2006

     During Sunday School, a teacher was trying to convey to the eight year old children the concept of repentance.   After the Bible story, she asked one of the girls if she could think of a time when she needed to repent of something.  The girl sat there looking uncomfortable and embarrassed.  The teacher pressed her a little, saying, “Well, Lisa what do you think?”  Suddenly, another girl chimed in and said, “Its okay Lisa.  You don’t have to tell her anything.”  Then the girl turned to the teacher and said, “We don’t have to tell you our problems.  This isn’t the Oprah Winfrey show.” 

     Repentance is one of those religious words.  Others are words such as Justification, Sanctification, and Regeneration.  These are words we rarely hear outside a religious context.  For many of us, we think of repentance as feeling sorry for something bad we have done.  But the word “repent” is not about how I feel.  It is all about what I do.  It is an action word.  And it simply means “to turn around.”  The ancient Greek word for repentance which is used in the NT is metanonia.  It is the same root word from which we get words like metamorphosis.  It means to change, to turn around.  It means that your life is going in one direction and you turn in a new direction.  This morning I want to emphasis that repentance has these two components—both a turning away from the old and a turning toward something new.

      You know, many of us have had times of repentance.  Times when we decided to turn away from old habits, attitudes, sins.  But in so many cases, we find ourselves right back on the same old track again.  Why is that?  Habits are hard to break.  Let’s have a little science lesson.  Biologically, neurologically speaking—your brain actually has neural pathways and these create habits for you.  The things you have done many times are well worn trails in your brain synapses.  You begin to do something and immediately your brain thinks—“Hey, I know this routine.  Done it a thousand times.  Let’s go.”  And off you go down that same old path again. 

     So how do we break free?  Listen to me.  You must develop new pathways of positive thinking and habits that will become stronger than the old pathways in your mind.  For too many Christians, repentance is all about turning away from the old, but they never turn toward the new.  You see, turning around is not just about what you are getting away from, it is very importantly about what you are now going to pursue.  We must replace the old ways with new ways.  Replace negative thinking with positive thinking.  Replace old vices with new virtues.  And when the new has become sufficiently entrenched in our hearts, minds, and lives, then we will really be new people.

       If we are going to turn away from the old, then what will be the new that we should follow?  Well, of course, the new way is Jesus himself.  Look at verses 4: 18-20.  Follow me.  It is all about following Jesus.  What did Peter and Andrew do?  They left their nets and followed Jesus.  There it is.  You leave these old things and you follow Jesus.  Too many of us have had times of repentance—times of leaving the old—but we never found the new path.  So very naturally, we easily, comfortably slipped back into the old ways.  To follow Jesus is to find the new pathway.

      Now here is a big question.  Where will Jesus lead us if we follow him?  What will be this new path?  Jesus says, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of people.”  One of my favorite movies is a slapstick comedy titled Gone Fishin starring Danny Glover and Joe Pesci as two fools whose only passion in life is to fish. They go out to fish, they battle some alligators, they wreck

some boats, but the interesting thing is they never catch a fish the entire movie!  Sadly, many Christians and many churches are not really catching any fish.  They are just going through the motions.  They may be working hard doing church stuff, keeping up the aquarium where the fish live, but they are not catching any new fish.  They are not at work to change the world, showing people the way of Jesus Christ. 

      Listen to me if you want to find new life.  To repent is to turn away from the old way of living life only for yourself and it is turning toward a new life of loving other people.  The new life is to follow Jesus on his grand fishing expedition to reach men and women, boys and girls, and to change the world one person at a time.  How can you really break all your old little habits, attitudes, and sins?  You need one grand, glorious, world encompassing vision in your life.  Jesus calls us to the grandest vision of all—to save the world with the good news.  That is where he is calling you individually and that is where he calls us collectively as a church body.

     What will it mean in 2006 for you individually and for us as a church to become fishers of people?  These are important questions on this morning when we have just consecrated our new officers for 2006.  Well, Jesus chose this metaphor of fishing because fishing can teach us some vital lessons about reaching out in love to other people.

        Foremost, fishing requires patience. As a child, I had little patience for fishing. If I failed to get a nibble immediately, I would pull my bait out of the water and cast to another spot. It had to be a quick fish to get on my hook!   There are people all around us who have no experience of God’s love or may even have had a negative experience with religion. They may be highly resistant to an invitation to hear the gospel. Great patience is required to convey Christ’s love to that person.             Secondly, there is a right time to fish. There are certain times of the day when the tides and temperatures are conducive to fishing. Likewise, it is not always an appropriate time to talk about our faith with others. If we embarrass someone, they will not be receptive to the gospel. We are wise and polite to wait for a suitable opportunity when our message will meet open ears.  If we listen, people will give us hints about when the time is right.  They may ask our advice about a problem or for our opinion about world events, whereupon we can then say, “You know, my belief in God gives me strength in facing that sort of thing.”      Thirdly, there is a right place to fish. You cannot catch fish in a baptismal font. If our church is going to be serious about reaching the world then we must leave the church building and go where the fish are.  Jesus went into the streets and marketplace, into the villages and homes of the people. Likewise, we must develop friendships with those who are outside our church. We must reach out to people in need wherever they are.  You know, I am not always the best fisherman.  I tend to want to fish near the bank where I have parked my car.  Someplace clear and easy to reach. Preferably near a snack bar.  But that is not always where the fish are.  Real fishermen who catch the fish will go where the fish are.  They will hike through woods, get over thorn bushes, wade into the water.  I always look at that and say, “That is just so much trouble.”  And they say, “But that is how you catch fish.”   Listen if you are among our new church leaders. If we want to change the world, if our church wishes to impact our community in 2006, then we will need to go into some new places.  We will need to launch new programs and ministries to go to difficult places.  We will need to pay the price in terms of time and money and energy.  Some will say, “That is so much trouble.”  But those who know will say, “That is how you catch fish.”

    Often, we in the church are like Danny Glover and Joe Pesci.  We think we are fishing.  We think we are following Jesus.  But year after year, we just follow in our old ways and ruts.  We are living our lives and running our church the way we want to.   Repent.  Turn around.  And, follow a new way.  Jesus way of fishing.  It will change your life.  It will change our church.  And it will change the world around you.  Amen.