The small town of Mountainberg, Arkansas never had much excitement. Aside from being in the picturesque Ozark Mountains and being near to a beautiful mountain lake, not much else drew folks to this out of the way, one stoplight town. There were no great shopping malls or touristy attractions. No chain hotels had built, and only a few bed and breakfasts serviced the tourist community. Days came and days went without much fuss.
In such communities, you almost had to manufacture excitement. Therefore, the powers that be came up with the idea to hold a fishing contest in the nearby lake. Most folks scoffed when they heard the news because they knew the two best fishermen in the area. Jeb and Zeke were as alike as they were different. Both had grown up in the hills. Both of their families had a storied past involving moonshine. Both were long and tall, and as time had taken its toll, both were short in the tooth. Growing up around the lake, both developed into fantastic fishermen. It didn’t matter the weather–rain or shine, hot or cold, if either of these two men went out on the lake, they would come back with a passel of fish. But that’s where the similarities ended.
Jeb and Zeke didn’t care much for each other. Jeb had never forsaken his hillbilly past. He wore overalls, boots, and flannel shirts. He wore his beard long and had a beat up old hat. He went fishing in an old row boat and used the first fishing pole he ever bought. For bait, he dug in the ground for worms, caught crickets, and kept a tank with small fish to use for live bait. Zeke was the polar opposite. Zeke tried to get as far away from his hillbilly past as possible. He wore store bought, designer fishing attire. He had the newest rods and reels. He had a beautiful fishing boat with the latest sonar equipment to help him find fish. He bought his bait in the shop and fancied himself with all the artificial lures. He prided himself in being up to date in the newest fishing technology and know how.
Folks around town placed bets on which of the two would come out ahead in the contest. Some argued Jeb would win because of his old fashioned know how. Others argued Zeke had the edge due to technology. These two men’s names appeared immediately on the sign up list for the contest, and after their signatures, no one else dared sign up. Most folks knew they were simply no match for these two expert fishermen. Of course, someone forgot to tell that to the Miller’s son. The day before the contest, the youngster ambled up to the sign up sheet and carefully wrote in his name as well. No one gave him a chance.
The next day, Jeb and Zeke showed up for the contest along with the Miller’s boy. The judge went over the rules. The fishermen would fish all morning long, and the one with the most fish at the end of that time period would win.
As folks looked over the contestants, the contrast was amazing. Jeb and his old fashioned get up looked quite the old fashioned fisherman. Dignified and full of experience and know how. Zeke looked refined and polished–like the fishermen in those outdoor shows who make money taking folks from place to place to fish. The Miller’s boy was the only oddball in the group. He was dressed in cutoff jeans and bare feet. He had a simple, stick pole and a bucket of earthworms. The judge said, "Go," and the Miller’s boy just went down to the end of the dock, sat down, stuck an earthworm on the end of his line, and stuck it in the water.
Zeke looked at the spectacle and chuckled. "Well, we won’t get no competition from him," Zeke said. "I look forward to winning the prize over your hillbilly ways, Jeb."
Now, Jeb took quite a bit of offense at that comment of Zeke’s, and Jeb responded, "Do you think your technology is going to give you the advantage over me you glorified peacock? I know every hole in this here lake, and I’m going to show you whose the better fisherman. Why if they took all that fancy stuff away from you, you couldn’t catch a cold!"
And that’s when the argument escalated. The two gentlemen stood there trading barbs back and forth, back and forth. They argued about Zeke’s equipment. They argued about Jeb’s backward approach. They argued about bait. They argued about how one should properly dress while fishing. They argued about boats. They argued about the weather. There was no let up in either of these two guys. Their contempt for each other overflowed that morning, and the crowds stood by and watched the spectacle with amazement and disbelief.
The argument became so heated, that all track of time was lost. Before they knew it, Jeb and Zeke realized they had spent the better part of that morning arguing instead of fishing. Why, if they didn’t break it off, they wouldn’t catch anything, and no one would win the contest. Hurriedly, they headed for their boats to try and salvage the rest of the contest time.
Jeb headed out to his favorite hole in the lake. He hoped the fish were biting there. He had planned to hit the three best spots on the lake, but now he only had time for one. If they weren’t biting there... He began to row his boat faster.
Zeke worked feverishly to fire up the motor on his boat. Of all the times to have engine trouble. He had to trawl around to allow his sonar to pick up the fish. If he couldn’t do that, why he wouldn’t know where to cast his lure. He might not catch a single thing all morning. That would be completely unacceptable. What would folks think? Trying every trick in the book, Zeke worked over the motor.
Noon rolled around before everyone knew it. The city park was full of townsfolk who came out to witness the results of the fishing contest. They wondered how the morning’s argument would affect the outcome of the contest. They wondered if Jeb’s know how would lead him to victory despite the time given to arguing with Zeke. They wondered if Zeke’s technology would have helped him overcome his stubbornness with arguing with Jeb. No one even gave a thought to the Miller kid.
When the moment came to tally the number of fish, the Miller kid came up first. He held up a string of five fish all caught from the dock. A few folks applauded the kid’s effort. They thought it was a nice gesture that he was willing to stick his neck out in a contest between the town’s two great fishermen. Then they turned their attention to Jeb and Zeke. If this kid caught five fish, they were sure these two had at least doubled the catch respectively.
But Jeb and Zeke kind of stood there. Those standing near the front saw redness creep up their necks and into their faces. Jeb and Zeke each held up their catches. A gasp went up from the crowd. Each had caught just one fish.
The Miller’s boy was handed the grand prize for catching the most fish, and no one had to ask the reason why he won. While the two experts sat and argued half the morning away, the Miller’s boy spent his time fishing.
I’m not sure I need to go much further in explaining how this little story ties in to our second lesson and our Gospel lesson this morning. I personally think the link is pretty obvious. For how often do our churches get caught up in arguments and conflicts about who is right and who is wrong? How often do our churches get caught up in arguing who should be allowed to do what and when? How often do our churches get caught up in arguing about how much money should be allocated to what part of the church budget? How often do our churches get caught up in arguing about which theological doctrine is more important than another? How often do our churches get caught up in arguing about the things their pastor does or doesn’t do? And how often do such arguments get in the way of our primary purpose? How often do these arguments prevent us from focusing on the most important part of our life on earth? How often do these arguments prevent us from fishing for people?
It seems to me that as a church, we will never be fully united in our beliefs about God–our beliefs about Christ–or our beliefs about proper doctrine. But I do believe we can be united and of one mind when it comes to doing what Jesus called the disciples to do in the Gospel today. "Come with me," Christ said, "and I will make you fish for people." Amen.
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