Three ‘C’s’ of Christ.
March 10, 2013
John 20:15-19
“When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”
“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”
Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”
The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God.
Then he said to him, “Follow me!”
Peter had a problem with commitment. Had you asked him he would have denied it. When Jesus told Peter that he would deny he even knew Him, Peter vehemently denied it. He swore that he would die first. But when push came to shove – he did exactly as Jesus said he would. He denied Jesus three times.
Had any of us been in Peter’s place – we would have probably done the same thing. He was zealous - but not Spirit filled. He was spiritually immature. He was committed only mentally - not spiritually.
But something happened to Peter. He went from fisherman to martyr in his life. He went from the sea to the city; from talking to roughnecks to talking to rulers; from being uncommitted to dying for a cause. What happened to Peter?
There are three things in Peter’s life I want to focus on this morning. His call; his choice; and his commitment.
One day Peter was fishing in the Sea of Galilee. I imagine he had one of those circular nets that you throw out into the water and net fish. Apparently he was on the shore fishing when Someone walked by that turned his life upside down. Let’s look at this familiar story once again.
“As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers; Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him.”
Matthew 4:18-20
This was Peter’s ‘Call’. Jesus invaded his little world with His divine presence. Jesus came to the fisherman. He came to the smell of fish guts and sweaty fisherman and the cry of gulls. He came to the lake – to find Peter and his brother Andrew. It was a divine appointment. He hunted them down to challenge them. He sought them out to offer them a call.
How has Jesus done that to you? How has Jesus invaded your life? How has He hunted you down? To what lengths has Jesus gone to find you so He could offer you a call- a call to follow Him; A call to be His disciple?
To some - the call may be through this sermon. That is my hope, anyway. For me it happened forty three years ago. Although I grew up in a home where we had to attend church as I was growing up- I wasn’t living for Christ. Thoughts of Him never entered my mind. I was just doing my own thing and going my own way – and when you do that it results in pain. And there was a lot of pain in my life. Fresh out of the Army; just back from an overseas tour; I was reeling in pain and confusion. Life had become unbearable to me. It seemed to me that whatever you did in life as you searched for happiness it resulted in more pain than pleasure. I felt like you were better off dead. It only made sense. If life was only about find pleasure – because there was more pain than pleasure – I concluded that, logically, you were better off dead.
That is godless thinking. That is life without Christ. But Christ invaded my world. He came to the lakes and forests of Northern Minnesota and found this puny, messed up, confused kid. He called me to follow Him.
I imagine many of you have a similar story. Someway; somehow, Jesus sought you and found you and called you. To some it may be right now as you hear or read these words. Jesus is touching your heart and is gently calling you, “Come. Follow me.”
As Jesus walked the sandy shores of Galilee and offered Peter that call; as Jesus came to my living room; as Jesus comes to you – after the ‘Call’, comes 2) the “Choice”.
Put yourself in Peter’s sandals. He had grown up by the lake. He had grown up fishing. He knew fishing. He had friends. He had a wife and family. He was comfortable. Life was familiar. But something was missing. He was created for more that catching fish.
Do you ever feel like you are created for something more? Well, you are. You are divine royalty and you don’t even know it. You were created for something more. You were created for greatness. You were created to rule and reign with Christ – but I’m getting ahead of myself.
As Jesus came to Peter and extended the ‘Call’ to him – Peter was left with a “Choice”. He could continue in the life he had always known and loved - or he could drop everything and follow Jesus to new adventures. Peter dropped everything and followed Jesus.
When Jesus offered me the ‘Call’ – I fell on my knees. My couch was my altar. I made a choice to follow Jesus there in my living room. And, like Paul, I can say “I was not disobedient to my heavenly vision.” His grace has kept me for over four decades now and by faith I believe He will help me to finish strong.
What did you do with the ‘Call’ that was extended to you? What was your choice? Maybe I should say for some, “What IS your choice?” Are you willing to drop everything and follow Jesus? Are you willing to put all your faith; all your hopes; all your dreams into Jesus? That takes a lot of faith. But I assure you – it will be worth it.
Peter was extended 1. The “Call”, 2. He made his “Choice”, 3. He made a “Commitment”. His commitment wasn’t too strong at first. Commitment is a growing thing. Contrary to popular thought – it is not a one shot deal. It is a maturing thing. You have to decided almost daily to remain in commitment but it grows stronger and stronger every day. And it’s pretty shallow without the Holy Spirit. After the “Call”; after you make the “Choice” you need to come to a place where you TOTALLY commit to Christ.
That doesn’t happen during the call or the initial choice. You don’t know what you are getting into – but a time of testing will come – like it did with Peter – and you will fail. You will fall on your face – because you don’t have enough strength in your own ability. You do not have enough power to resist. Like Peter you will fall. But, like with Peter, Jesus will return and again extend the call. When He does, you need to totally commit. You need to be ‘all in’ and then the most wonderful thing happens. He sends the Holy Spirit to empower you. The Holy Spirit is only given to those who are obedient (Acts 5:32). Oh, He is there all along, convicting of sin, giving us grace and so on – but He doesn’t come in real power until we totally commit. If you are lacking power in your life – could it be because you have not gone ‘all in’? Could it be that you haven’t made a total commitment?
Ivan the Great was the tsar of all of Russia during the Fifteenth Century. He brought together the warring tribes into one vast empire--the Soviet Union. As a fighting man, he was courageous. As a general, he was brilliant. He drove out the Tartars and established peace across the nation.
However, Ivan was so busy waging his campaigns that he did not have a family. His friends and advisers were quite concerned. They reminded him that there was no heir to the throne, and should anything happen to him the union would shatter into chaos. "You must take a wife who can bear you a son."
The busy soldier statesman said to them that he did not have the time to search for a bride, but if they would find a suitable one, he would marry her.
The counselors and advisers searched the capitals of Europe to find an appropriate wife for the great tsar. And they did find her. They reported to Ivan of the beautiful dark eyed daughter of the King of Greece. She was young, brilliant, and charming. He agreed to marry her sight unseen.
The King of Greece was delighted. It would align Greece in a favorable way with the emerging giant of the north. But there had to be one condition, "He cannot marry my daughter unless he becomes a member of the Greek Orthodox Church." Ivan’s response, "I will do it!"
So, a priest was dispatched to Moscow to instruct Ivan in Orthodox doctrine. Ivan was a quick student and learned the catechism in record time. Arrangements were concluded, and the tsar made his way to Athens accompanied by 500 of his crack troops--his personal palace guard.
He was to be baptized into the Orthodox Church by immersion, as was the custom of the Eastern Church. His soldiers, ever loyal, asked to be baptized also. The Patriarch of the Church assigned 500 priests to give the soldiers a one-on-one catechism crash course. The soldiers, all 500 of them, were to be immersed in one mass baptism. Crowds gathered from all over Greece.
What a sight that must have been, 500 priests and 500 soldiers - a thousand people - walking into the blue Mediterranean. The priests were dressed in black robes and tall black hats - the official dress of the Orthodox Church. The soldiers wore their battle uniforms with of all their regalia--ribbons of valor, medals of courage. And their weapons of battle.
Suddenly, there was a problem. The Church prohibited professional soldiers from being members; they would have to give up their commitment to bloodshed. They could not be killers and church members too.
After a hasty round of diplomacy, the problem was solved quite simply. As the words were spoken and the priests began to baptize them, each soldier reached to his side and withdrew his sword. Lifting it high overhead, every soldier was totally immersed-everything baptized except his fighting arm and sword. All was committed to the church – except the fighting arm.
A lot of people are like that in their commitment to the Lord. They are totally committed – except for that one thing. If it is not a fighting arm, it’s a check book, or a relationship, or a habit, or an attitude. Someone said, “If Jesus is not Lord of all – He isn’t Lord at all.”
You have received the call. You have been given a choice. Will you make a total commitment to the Lord? Those Russian soldiers were not willing to commit all. But they found a compromise they could live with. Too many people have found a compromise that they are living with. Compromise is always the enemy of commitment. I want to encourage you to go all in with Jesus. I want to encourage you to totally commit to the King of kings. He asks you today, “Do you love me more than these?” He invites you, “Come and follow me.”
SONG
