Cast Netters

Sunday, January 22, 2012

You can see them any time of the day of night –in the cool of the morning, in the heat of the afternoon sun, or barely a silhouette in the moonlight. They can be found on any of the thousands of docks, hundreds of bridges, knee to waist deep in the bays and canals, standing on shore, or in boats on the ocean. No matter where you see them or the time of day – they are beautiful to watch. Solitary figures, strong, brown from the sun, silent, intent on their task. I have sat and watched them for hours – mezmerized - as they repeated the same movement over and over again. --- the Cast Netters.
A huge circular net –with weights sewed all around the edges. I was told that 20 foot of netting can hold as many as 30,000 knots. A loop goes around your wrist – the hand line or throw line can be 30 feet long – the longer it is the deeper into the water it will be able to go. Wrap your hand through the loop, gather up the throw line. In the other hand grab the net about 1/3 of the way down, shake out the netting, make sure the lead weights are not tangled but lay flat. Stand with your back to your target – and with a shot putter type action throw out the net...so that – like a jelly fish – it opens and falls gracefully out and over the water. As the weights begin to sink, the netting closes around the fish. And as you pull in the nets, the Braille lines that run from top to bottom, draws the net in, trapping the fish inside the net which now looks more like a pouch. Hand, loop, gather, shake, weights flat, adjust, get ready throw, pull up and in. Hand, loop, gather, shake, weights flat, adjust, get ready throw, pull up and in. Over and over again. This is the picture that comes to mind when I read the passages about the first disciples who cast fishing nets into the Sea of Galilee for a living.
It may be that we are mistaken about the image of disciples fishing for people. It is not comfortably sitting or lazily floating along the banks. It is not baiting a hook and then waiting until you get a nibble, or a bite, and eventually – if the people- fishing is good – catching one.
No, cast netting for fish...and for people - is hard demanding physical labor-intensive work. It requires that the cast netter actually gets up off the shore (or the pew) and heads right into the unpredictable watery depths of life – it’s putting yourself out there, taking risks, searching out the best people-fishing spots. It’s being deliberate, it’s about building some muscle for God, and honing your ‘Come and see’ skills. It’s about casting your nets of faith far and wide – sometimes in familiar and other times in foreign waters. It’s casting over and over again. And there is never a guarantee that you will catch anything at all.
Why does the fisherman continue to throw in a line? Why does the cast netter continue to mend and cast...mend and cast...mend and cast again and again? Because somewhere...someone is hungry...somewhere someone needs to eat and be filled. And it is the fisherman, the cast netter who can provide a meal.
It is the same for Christ’s present day disciples. We cast our nets of faith over and over again – because somewhere...no, because everywhere there is someone who is hungry – for peace, justice, acceptance. Because everywhere there is someone who needs a kind word, a fair shake, an opportunity to be heard, a chance to be included. It doesn’t matter from where we cast our nets...and ya know, maybe it really doesn’t matter if we can throw ‘em like a pro...what matters is that Jesus told us to follow him and he would make us fish for people.
And so with a prayer we lean out and cast whatever kind of net we have into the waters – because we know that there are many who are hungry for good news...and we dare not believe that God will ever give up as long as there is one waiting to hear...as long as there is only one longing to be gathered in.