The Fisherman's King

Something from the tackle box:

       You can tell who the false prophets are by their false deeds.  Not everyone who calls me their Lord will get into the kingdom of heaven.  Only the ones who obey my Father in heaven will get in.  On the day of judgment many will call me their Lord.  They will say, “We preached in your name, and in your name we forced out demons and worked many miracles.”  But I will tell them, “I will have nothing to do with you!  Get out of my sight, you evil people!”  (Matthew 7:20-23 CEV)

The Fisherman’s King

When I fish I love the King

    who brought me to this place,

        the sun, the water, gentle waves,

            that rock me in his grace.

 

I think upon the King I love,

    who blesses all my days,

        with fish and sky, and waters deep.

            Oh, let me count the ways.

I love him as my baby King,

    ‘cuz baby Kings don’t rule,

        but lay there wrapped in swaddling cloths

            and smile, and coo, and drool. 

I love him as my healer King,

    I like that gentle touch,

        he makes me feel all fuzzy warm

            when life becomes too much.

I love him as my brother King,

    I like him as my friend. 

        I love him as my Savior King

            who’ll waft me skyward at life’s end.

 

Oh how I love my King today,

    brother, healer, savior, friend.  –

        But does that have one thing to do

            with how he’ll greet me then?

Time fishing spent is blessing sure,

     gifted by my King so grand,

        the rest, the peace, the joy-filled day

            with rod and line in hand.

But it will all amount to naught

    if the blessing is not shared,

        if all the “others,” through my life,

            can’t see the one who cared. 

For my King is not a King

    who calls me as his own

        without I go and fish for folks

            and let His love be shown. 

 Something to take home in your creel:

       I wrote stanzas 3,4,5 & 6 of this poem for my sermon this past Sunday, the last Sunday in Ordinary time on the church calendar and the end of the liturgical year.  The last Sunday of the church year has a special name; “Christ the King Sunday.”  I make a big deal out of that fact in my sermon every year on the last Sunday before Advent, - and every year it catches almost all of my parishioners by surprise (except the organist, who’s tipped off ahead of time to pick out “Royal” hymns for the day).  They never remember from one year to the next that it’s coming up. 

       Lots of Christians in America, - be they Protestant, Catholic, low-church, high-church, conservative-evangelical, liberal-mainline, dispensational, or so-called ‘Spirit filled,’ - like the idea of calling Christ their King.  They do it all the time.  But when it comes to following the mandates of Christ our King by actually walking in his ways, rather than just paying lip-service to them, - well, - let’s just say the talk is way more impressive than a lot of the fruit that gets produced.  And I’m sorry to say that it goes for me too!

       Our King gave us a detailed outline of the rules of good citizenship in His kingdom in the Sermon on the Mount, the gospel of Matthew, chapters 5, 6 & 7.  If you want to call the baby Jesus your friend, healer, brother, savior and even KING this coming Advent and Christmas season, go right ahead.  In fact - be my guest. – Just don’t neglect to go back and periodically review just how our King would like his loyal subjects to behave throughout the year that follows.  Maybe even try to put a little bit of what you find into practice before our next “Christ the King” Sunday rolls around.  That’s what I’m going to try and do. 

       I love you all, - or I wouldn’t have said so, - I’d of just gone fishing for fish again. 

       M.J.