“Let Me Tell You What Love Can Do”
John 21:1-19
Let’s go back three years before our Gospel Lesson for this morning.
Jesus had gone out and selected 12 men.
They were your average everyday kind of guys...and Jesus found them doing your average everyday kind of things...
...and when Jesus found them He said to them “Follow me,” and they dropped their nets...
…or left their tax booths or whatever…
...they dropped everything they were doing...
...they left everything they had loved...
...everything that was familiar to them...
...and they did it...
...they followed Jesus!
And in following Jesus, they saw some very amazing stuff.
They met a lot of interesting people.
And they began to notice that their priorities had begun to change in some of the most radical of ways.
The things that used to seem important to them...
...well, those things weren’t quite so important anymore.
Instead, what was becoming most important was listening to Jesus teach, helping Jesus minister to the masses, following Jesus wherever the Spirit led.
And as time went by they became more and more convinced that Jesus was exactly who He said He was: The Son of God--The Messiah.
They might not have understood exactly what that meant and what dimensions that would take, but they came to believe it more than anything else in the whole world.
And throughout the Gospels we are shown Peter who assumes that Jesus needs the perfect, the best, the smartest, bravest, and larger than life super-disciple!
And so, he works hard to make himself that.
Peter is the one who asks the BIG questions, makes confident declarations and brash decisions…
…and even tries to protect Jesus with a sword.
Like Peter, have you ever tried to put on your best show for Jesus—the bravado, the promises, the right answers, the brave face?
Eventually, though, the truth comes out, doesn’t it?
Crumbling under pressure, Peter lies to protect himself.
Far from being perfect, Peter is overcome by fear and it leads him to a place he never wanted to go—never dreamed he would go.
In John Chapter 13, when Jesus is telling the disciples about His upcoming death, He says to them, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.”
To which Peter asks Him, “Lord why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”
“Then Jesus answered, ‘Will you really lay down your life for me?
Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!”
Peter never would have believed it...if only, if only it hadn’t come true.
Peter had failed Jesus.
Can you imagine the shame and embarrassment he must have felt?
Peter is buried in it.
He isn’t who he wants to be, or who he thinks others want him to be.
It’s as if everyone has discovered his nakedness!!!
His deepest, darkest secret.
He is a coward…not brave at all.
And this becomes a kind of tomb for Peter.
How could he go on?
So, when we meet Peter at the beginning of our Gospel Lesson for this morning…
…even though Jesus has already appeared to the disciples…and thus to Peter twice…
…Peter is a broken, crushed man.
Nothing mattered anymore.
Life had lost its luster.
Have you ever found yourself feeling this way?
Have you ever failed the Lord so miserably that you thought He could never, never ever forgive you?...
…and even though people have told you over and over again…that Jesus forgives you…
…you still cannot forgive yourself?
Is there anyone here this morning who has disqualified themselves from the race due to some indiscretion?
Do you ever feel as if you simply have too much baggage to follow Jesus?
Do you ever feel, that, you are somehow…just not good enough to make the cut?
I have a feeling that this is how Peter felt on the morning of our Gospel lesson when he had decided to go back to doing the same thing he had left behind three years earlier.
I think Peter felt so lost and confused that he fell back into his old way of doing things…fishing for fish.
Peter was really feeling low.
Peter had failed Jesus.
No one would want a cowardly disciple like Peter.
The Good News is that, like Peter, we may sometimes fail Jesus but Jesus never fails us!
And Jesus never stops wanting us on His team, as a part of His family.
Jesus never loses confidence in us even when we have lost confidence in ourselves.
Jesus never gives up on us no matter what!
For LOVE...Pure and undefiled, unconditional LOVE never gives up!
“Love never fails,” the Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 13.
And that is what Jesus IS—LOVE made flesh.
So, even though Peter and the disciples are out in the boat fishing, and not having a very successful time of it Jesus is watching them from the shore.
Even though they had returned to their old ways...Jesus had not left them.
And as Jesus always does...He calls out to them.
And as is so often the case for us, the disciples did not realize it was Jesus.
Jesus called out to the disciples who were in the boat: “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”
“No,’ they answered.”
It is notable that in the Bible, the disciples--professional fishermen please remember--who probably could have had their own fishing show had it been the 21st Century, never catch a single fish without Jesus!
Not a perch.
Not a minnow.
Not a guppy!
And now they are back, reclaiming what they had left behind...until, until Jesus shows up and turns life on its ear again!!!
And this time the Risen Christ is cooking breakfast!!!
He is providing them with a meal.
When Peter and the disciples had finished eating, while the fire continued to glow Jesus asked Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?
…more than your nets
…more than your fear and doubt…
…more than your broken ego…
…more than your old ways of doing things?”
“Simon, son of John, do you truly love me?” Jesus asked him three times.
“you know...” Peter says; and again he says, “you know.”
And then in a kind of desperation Peter says: “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”
And with these words the light switch flicks on and Peter realizes just how much he really does love the Lord…despite his own failures…despite it all.
And if Peter, a mere human…
…a failure…
…can love the Lord with all his heart…
…well, don’t you suppose it becomes a bit easier for him to believe that the God Who IS Love…
…Loves him even more than that…
…and forgives him…
…really, really forgives him?
Peter is reconciled to God when he realizes just how much God loves him and just how much he loves God.
And isn’t this the way it is for all of us?
Do you know how much God loves you?
Do you know that no matter what you have done, God can and will forgive you?
And if you are willing to accept this forgiveness for yourself, you will be set free to live…to really, really live!!!
The administrator of the largest psychiatric hospital in London once said:
“If the people here only knew what it means to be forgiven I could dismiss
half of them at once.”
You know, Jesus knew everything about Peter—everything was laid open for all to see.
Peter was not a super disciple.
He was not perfect.
He was just a person, a faulty, imperfect person like everyone else.
And Jesus loved him just the same.
And Peter learned this.
And it transformed his life.
And Peter became truly confident.
Peter became truly strong.
Peter became a truly SUPER DISCIPLE.
Jesus even gave him some really important jobs to do for the kingdom, and the brand-new Peter got it all right this time around!
That is what Love CAN DO!
Do you know how much Jesus loves you?
Do you know Jesus loves you just as much as Jesus loved Peter?
Do you know Jesus wants you to care for and help take care of His Sheep and His lambs?
That’s what we are all supposed to do isn’t it?
Take care of one another, feed one another, and love one another the way Jesus loves us.
Do you know Jesus loves you?
Do you know He loves you no matter what?
Let’s pray:
Almighty God,
Your love for us is beyond comprehension, it is beyond imagining.
You know everything about us.
You knit us together in our mother’s womb.
You created every hair that has ever been on our head.
You know who we are.
You know our strengths and You know our weaknesses.
And You love us no matter what!
Help us to know how much You love us so that we can love You, love ourselves and love others.
In Jesus’ name and for His sake we pray.
Amen.
