7-23-20 - One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

You can listen to this reflection here.

Jesus uses a diverse set of characters and settings in these short parables of the Kingdom… agriculture, baking, real estate, commerce. Now we enter the realm of fishing, a profession he must have come to know well. (Why did the carpenter never tell a recorded parable about woodworking, I wonder?) Let’s examine this one, which brings us back to those lovely Last Judgment themes:

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

On the surface, this one seems pretty clear – we can all understand sorting. This story, like the one about the weeds and the wheat, depicts that aspect of God-Life that deals with final judgment. But here we get angelic anglers, picking the good fish from the bottom feeders.

What can we see in this simple tale when we sit with it?
Well – there’s a randomness to the catching, isn’t there? The kingdom of heaven doesn’t seem to have very discerning technique – that net is thrown into the sea, the sea perhaps representing the entire creation, and any old fish can swim in. What distinguishes fish worthy of keeping from those to be tossed is not articulated in this story – it is not for us to judge our fellow fish, but to love.

Also notice that the net is not drawn ashore until it is full. New Testament writings hint that God is in no hurry to ring down the curtain on this age, preferring to wait until all have received and responded to the invitation to new life. It’s up to us to extend that invitation. That is called evangelism.

Some people do evangelism to save people from the fires of hell. I prefer to stress the joys of heaven and experience of God-Life we start to enjoy right here and now. Offering other fish a swim in the Water of Life is a gift we can share. (I’m seeing the net as a good thing in this context…)

Are you feeling fishy today? Willing to pray as a fish - which can breathe under the water, undisturbed by turbulence on the surface? Are you willing to be caught? Is there anyone whom you’d like to invite into the net with you?

Some fish, as we know, will hop right into the frying pan, no matter what invitations we extend. Many others, I pray, will choose to join us in the life-giving waters of baptism.

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