Reckless Love
CCCAG December 23rd, 2018
Scripture- John 21
Intro:
Does anybody here use the application called Spotify?
If you have no idea what I'm talking about, Spotify is an application that you can download and stream music through. I have it on my phone and I often listen to it on the way back from transfers. Most of the patient transfers I do are well over an hour in one direction, so on the way back I'm sitting in the back of the ambulance by myself with not a lot to do so I listen to music, maybe read a book or study, or take a nap.
Recently Spotify sent out an email which listed the top songs that I listened to this year. The top song that I listen to this year is a song called Reckless Love by Cory Asbury. The song talks about the incredible love of God for all of us and how he pursues us in an unrelenting fashion.
Some of the lyrics of the song go like this
The overwhelming never-ending reckless love of God
He chases me down
Fights till I'm found
And leaves the 99
I love song lyrics and really think about them as I sing or listen. I admit that when I first heard the song, I had a little bit of concern about the word reckless. To me the word reckless is a selfish word about someone performing a dangerous action with no care or concern of how it affects others. So, I looked up the word reckless and according to the dictionary it means
Adjective (description of a person or their actions) without thinking or caring about the personal consequences of an action.
I thought wow that actually describes exactly what Jesus did on the cross for us.
Let’s think about God and reckless love for a moment.
The principle from a school calls and tells you that your child has been disruptive and will now be in detention for a week.
If your father was anything like my father, he would say give him 3 weeks then.
But God our Father is not like our earthly fathers. God our father walks into the detention room and sits down in our chair and lets us go free with no punishment. He takes the punishment for our bad behavior which the Bible calls sin.
That is reckless love.
It's a love that doesn't take into consideration the personal consequence of us showing love to people.
In John Chapter 21, Peter was about to run in to that kind of love. We remember Peter's actions during Jesus is trial and execution on the cross.
During the Last Supper Peter was bragging about how much he loved Jesus. Jesus responded by giving Peter a prophecy that before the rooster would crow that night Peter would deny him 3 times.
Peter loudly denied he would ever do such a thing.
Fast forward about 6 hours.
Luke 22:54-62
54 Then seizing (Jesus) him, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. 55 And when some there had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. 56 A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, “This man was with him.”
57 But he denied it. “Woman, I don’t know him,” he said.
58 A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.”
“Man, I am not!” Peter replied.
59 About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.”
60 Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed.
Before I read the next verse, close your eyes and picture it in your head
61 The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” 62 And he went outside and wept bitterly.
A few weeks ago we talked about betrayal and how it is one of the worst things you can do to another person because betrayal treats another person's love and trust in you like it's nothing.
Consider all of what Peter did-
Peter had not only denied Jesus, but he had denied him 3 different times. Another gospel writer states that he even used some of the foulest profanity of his time to show people he had nothing to do with Jesus.
And not only did Peter deny Jesus, but Peter denied Jesus as Peter watched Jesus was take the whipping, the beating, and the humiliation for Peter’s sins.
Lastly- the scriptures tell us Jesus looked at Peter as he was profanely denying him, meaning it did it right in his face.
This event destroyed Peter. Even after the resurrection when Jesus would meet with his disciples in the upper room, I think Peter stood in the back not even making eye contact. You see it through his later actions and returning to galilee into his fishing boats believing that he had blown it forever.
This is the background to John chapter 21, our last in the Gospel of John series.
This morning we're going to talk about the reckless love of God by looking at Jesus restoring Peter not just to his grace, not just offering him forgiveness, but even restoring him to his place of leadership with the disciples and over the early church even after he had blown it so badly.
Let's ask God's blessing our time today
Prayer
There are three things I want to look at in John Chapter 21 this morning that will help us to see God’s reckless love for us, and the first is-
I. Jesus meets Peter where Peter is at
Does anyone else find Jesus’ actions after he rose from the dead to be a little odd?
I have some questions about it-
Who did he appear to first? Mary Magdalene.
Why? She would have absolutely no historical impact in the early church. There are no records of her being a great evangelist, or doing great acts of service for the church, or doing anything after this event. She disappears from history. I have no doubt that she actually did have things to do with the early church and was a great prayer warrior and perhaps even a great helper in the church.
But from an organizational standpoint the first person Jesus would want to interact with would be one of his disciples, and especially Peter who was to be the head of the church.
I consider my pragmatism to be one of my greatest assets and gifts that God has given me but HE has also shown me it is also sometimes limiting in my ability to see the reasons that God does things. So, I took this matter to prayer and this is what God had showed me.
Has anyone here known a person who is gotten a cancer diagnosis and survived it? (I know of one here that has)
Did that person go in to their first chemo therapy appointment or their first radiation appointment and walk out saying, it worked I'm cancer free?
That would be foolish wouldn't it. That's not the way most medical treatment works. It's the same thing when the doctor prescribe you an antibiotic and they insist that you take all of the antibiotic even if you start feeling better because you need to kill all of the infection and not give it a chance to adapt the antibiotic and make you resistant to that antibiotic ever working for you again.
In Peters case, he had a huge pride issue. It's his pride that led him to proclaim that no matter what he would stay faithful to Jesus. This pride also caused him to compare himself with the other disciples in an effort to always maintain a position of authority over them.
In essence, Peter had a spiritual cancer, in Jesus used time as the chemotherapy to kill it.
This is why Jesus didn't restore him while they were still in Jerusalem.
He didn't restore Peter while he was walking back to galilee.
He didn't even restore Peter after he picked up a net and started fishing again.
Jesus let Peter sit in his time out until he had nothing left spiritually except to go to Jesus. Remember his reaction upon realizing it was Jesus on the shoreline.
John 21:7 As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water.
It's been a few weeks since Jesus had last spoken to them.
Days and days of Peter thinking that it's all over for him. Peter looking at his future and having no hope for ever being restored to God's favor. Peter is at the bottom of the darkest hole he has ever known looking upward at only a glimpse of sunlight.
And then John says it is the Lord.
Peter doesn't hesitate. He grabs his cloak and swims to shore. He wasn't waiting for the wind to get him there or the disciples to row the distance. He was getting to Jesus no matter what.
Jesus shows us the reckless love of God in giving Peter exactly what he needed. Sometimes the treatment to get better is painful. Anyone who has ever had a surgery will tell you that the recovery time isn't always pleasant. Peters recovery time is over in Jesus is going to restore him not only in relationship but in position.
And that leads us to the second way that Jesus showed reckless love to Peter
II. Jesus restores Peter in a way Peter will understand
Why is Peter in the position that he is in right now? Because he let his pride do the talking and allow him to make a rash promise.
The method that Jesus restores Peter is so intimate, so loving, personal, and specific to Peter’s sin that it shows us something about the reckless love of God this morning.
A. It was in person
Remember how Peter denied Jesus- it was right to his face while Jesus was being essentially tortured for our sins.
How does Jesus restore Peter? Personally
while Peter was being internally and spiritually tortured for his actions in denying Jesus.
Jesus could have sent the Holy Spirit to give Peter a special word.
God could have sent a prophet to let Peter know he was forgiven.
It could have even been thundered from heaven.
But Jesus confronts the sin in the same way it was done to him; face to face in person.
That’s reckless love.
The second way Jesus shows reckless love in restoring Peter is
B. Three times Jesus makes Peter say he loves HIM.
This point is going to be a little bit more technical in that our English language really only has one word for love while the Greek language that the Gospel of John is written in has several. and it really matters in this conversation so let me break this down for you. When you read this conversation in English it's a little confusing and Jesus seems very pedantic and is being unnecessarily repetitive in how he is speaking to Peter but that's not the case.
I’m going to go through the conversation and substitute the English word for love and give the Greek Definition instead.
John 21:15 15 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love (agape- love selflessly (or if I may say recklessly) as God loves us) me more than these?”
“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love (philo- love as a friend) you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”
16 Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love (agape) me?”
He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love (Philo) you.”
Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”
17 The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love (philo) me?”
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you (philo) love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I (philo) love you.”
Jesus exposed Peters problem. Peter only had a superficial friendship love for Jesus but what he needed was a reckless agape love. That's why the third time Jesus asked Peter if he loved him he used Peter’s word- (saying to Peter) You only love me like a friend? He exposed Peter’s problem. Peter didn’t look at Jesus and see God, he looked at Jesus and saw friend. Jesus is taking Peter’s gaze and lifting it up to where it needed to be- to seeing Jesus as His God before Peter saw Jesus as his friend.
This is one of the problems with the modern way of looking at Christianity.
You cannot call Jesus your friend if he is not first your God. Repeat
Jesus did not give Peter that option, nor does he give you that option.
The final way Jesus shows us the reckless love of God is
III. Jesus shows Peter the root of the denial (comparison and pride)
Has anyone ever watched a person cut down a tree with an axe? There's a lot of skill and timing involved in doing it right and doing it safely. You have plan your strokes and cut very specific spots and you have to know when your final stroke is going to happen. It's at that point the person holding the axe steps back and just lets gravity finish the job.
This is where Jesus is at with Peter right now. Jesus has been chopping at Peters problem and now with one final masterstroke is going to stand back and let his words topple Peters pride to the ground.
Jesus can see that Peter is still spiritually kicking against Jesus’ words, and it becomes obvious when Peter looks at John and says this-
John 21:20 20 Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?”
22 Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.”
Jesus publicly exposes Peters biggest problem and that is pride which causes comparison with others. As we said earlier it was this pride in comparison that led Peter to make a rash promise that caused him 2 deny Jesus in the 1st place. Peter is trying it again and Jesus chops his legs right out from under him. This last exhortation by Jesus is the most emphatic way to express a Greek thought.
You must follow me. Period. No equivocation, no wiggle room for anything else. Jesus said you must follow me.
That’s a good word for all of us this morning- don’t worry about the person to your left or to your right- just focus on Jesus and you and let HIM worry about those other people.
Jesus is saying Peter if you don't follow me you're going to end up right back here and next time there may not be time for a restoration.
Jesus is also saying that because of Peter’s position in the early church He can't have him struggling with this issue because there's too much at stake. Jesus is saying, Peter, You need to follow me.
Is that you today? Do you feel like the axe of God has been chopping away at your roots and you are about to fall over?
That is good. It’s because God knows you need to fall at the feet of Jesus and experience his reckless love for you.
This is the Christmas season. A season where we celebrate God stepping down from heaven to experience life as a human, to become the babe in the manger. It’s a glorious time of year, and one that should never ever grow old in our hearts.
Saying that, Jesus is not just a babe in a manger. He is God.
He is a God that showed reckless love for you and wants you to realize that once and for all and to live in the assurance of His love, forgiveness and grace in your life.
Do you believe?
The Apostle John tells us that he wrote his gospel so that we might believe. This last year we have gone through his gospel. 30 sermons to help you to believe that Jesus is the messiah, the savior, our Lord and our God.
Do you believe?
Altar call “oh come let us adore him”
Conclusion
Altar Call
