Let me begin with a question which you can respond to in the privacy of your own heart.
WHERE IS JESUS NOW? WHERE IS HIS PRESENCE? AND WHERE IS HE IN RELATIONSHIP TO YOU?
- Close by… shaping your life in constant ways?
- Perhaps not so close or constant but a central figure in your overall thoughts of life?
- Perhaps a comfort in crisis?
- Or perhaps at this point, a figure of significant curiosity?
It’s important to ask ourselves where we may feel he is in relationship to us… but it may be even more important to ask where he actually is. Regardless of how we might be inclined to answer… the good news is that He’s quite close… wonderfully… dangerously close.
Series... We’ve looked at a number of ways in which Jesus has come to us.
- In every account there’s a discomforting and dangerous reality in Jesus… from which we can realize today’s greatest tendency is to make a safe Jesus by reinterpreting, in extreme cases reinventing him… to fit our preferences.
- But what of those of us willing to let the records speak for themselves? Can we in our orthodoxy also try to make him safe… more a profession of belief than the presence of a being in our midst? Can our shouts of “He is risen/alive” become a declaration that loses its dangerous reality? This morning before concluding our series let’s consider the living Christ; Jesus the Ever Present Lord. Peter in particular reveals to us just how…
Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Tiberias. It happened this way: Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathaneal from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and tow other disciples were together. “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
Early in the morning Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not recognize that it was Jesus. He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”
“No,” they answered.
He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.
Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” 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. The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.
Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have caught.”
Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, but even with so many the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.
For Peter, the impulsively zealous disciple, the recent days had been overwhelming… We might imagine the thoughts that consumed his mind… soul…
- The Lord… Messiah… chose me… even gave me a new name ‘Peter’
- Revealed the kingdom of God… taught me… trained me to be a part of God’s great mission… and in the process, put up with so much… a few rebukes, BUT HE BELIEVED IN ME AND I FAILED HIM.
- Now he is risen, just as he said he would… came to us… RISEN… but to WHAT END?
- Have my failures forever left me on the sidelines?
What do you do at such a time?
- Something familiar… nothing more familiar than the good old sea of Galilee (after all Jesus told them to go ahead to Galilee and wait…) nothing more familiar than fishing… I can even get 6 others to go with me
- We’re told they set out not merely in “a” boat, but in “the” boat.
- He had known Jesus… now risen… but what difference does it make for one who’s failures had lead him back to the familiar… Jesus had risen, but would he still be relating? (Resurrection is one thing, relationship is another)
- Familiarity wasn’t proving productive… All night… common… (shout) ‘Hey boys, caught anything?’NoTry the other side!
- Peter leaps out… Finds a fire, not like the fire of strangers, but one kindled by a friend.
1. Jesus pursues us beyond our personal prescriptions.
How often do we allow our feelings to define the presence of Jesus? Do you think his presence depends on your perceptions?
Far too often, we let disappointment and discouragement get in our eyes… into the eyes of our hearts… and sear our senses from the presence of Jesus.
- If our lives of faith were to be charted on a graph like the stock trends, we’d generally see a rising dynamic, but with peaks and points of decline along the way. The drops represent the points in which we feel disappointment with ourselves… or others… or even God. IF NOT RESOLVED… THE ENEMY WILL COME BUILD UPON THOSE FEELINGS.
- Especially at such times we need to regain perspective of God’s grace and his presence.
One of the all-time greats in baseball was Babe Ruth. His bat had the power of a cannon, and his record of 714 home runs remained unbroken until Hank Aaron came along. The Babe was the idol of sports fans, but in time age took its toll, and his popularity began to wane. Finally, the Yankees traded him to the Braves. In one of his last games in Cincinnati, Babe Ruth began to falter. He struck out and made several misplays that allowed the Reds to score five runs in one inning. As the Babe walked toward the dugout, chin down and dejected, there rose from the stand an enormous storm of boos and catcalls. Some fans actually shook their fists. Then a wonderful thing happened. A little boy jumped over the railing, and with tears streaming down his cheeks he ran out to the great athlete. Unashamedly, he flung his arms around the Babe’s legs and held on tightly. Babe Ruth scooped him up, hugged him, and set him down again. Patting him gently on the head, he took his hand and the two of them walked off the field together. Such unreserved loyalty is what true friendship is all about. We have such a friend in the person of Jesus Christ. When He told his disciples, “You are my friends,” (John 15:14), He was also saying, “I am your friend.” What truer friend could anyone have than the One who died for us, and who by the Holy Spirit upholds us! When we feel rejected by the world, we can know that Jesus accepts us. He is the true friend.
> Like the love of a child which operates outside of our self-rejection… so is the presence of our Lord
• Jesus said “I will be with you always.”
Have you and I perceived Christ to be only alive as our mood allows?
• The living Christ pursues us beyond our personal perceptions.
• Just as he said, Jesus has not left us behind as orphans.
• … and he doesn’t give up when we do.
John 21:15-19
When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you truly 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 truly 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. I tell you the truth, 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!” (John 21:15-19)
Short walk… alone with Peter… Did Jesus remind Peter of his failures… of how he had denied and deserted him in his hours of greatest suffering? No… Jesus says nothing of the past… he had seen Peter’s pain… he asks only about the present.
2. Jesus’ pursuit focuses on our present response.
Vince D’Acchioli tells the following story about not letting past failures trip you up: “It was the fifth inning. Two men on and two outs. I swept the batter’s box with my cleats and squeezed the bat. Stepping in, I adjusted my helmet and took a couple of practice swings. I was ready. A hit will score two runs and tie up the game, I told myself. The pitcher went into a stretch, then delivered. I fouled off his pitch and then I worked the count to 2-2. He then reared back and hung a curve right in my wheelhouse. I took a big swing—and whiffed! Rats! In a clutch situation, I had let my team down. On my way back to the dugout, I dropkicked my helmet and flung the bat. My head was hanging as I looked for my mitt, but as I passed several teammates, a chorus of encouragement greeted me. ‘You’ll get him next time,’ said the center fielder, slapping me on my backside. ‘Don’t worry about it.’ ‘There’s plenty of time,’ said another. ‘We’ll get this guy.’ But one phrase—a standard baseball cliché—stood out in my mind that day. ‘Hey, Vince,’ said the star shortstop, ‘Shake it off.’ Shake it off. What my buddy was saying was that for the good of the team, I had to put my inning ending strikeout behind me. They knew I would get another chance to bat with runners on the corners and the game on the line. My teammates didn’t want me dwelling on my strikeout; instead, they wanted me in the right frame of mind—the get-a-hit kind. D’Acchioli goes on to explain that too many Christians these days have not been able to shake off the strikeouts of their lives… to let go of the past, and as a result, they are often bound to it.
The Apostle Paul described his realization this way…
Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of (my goal of knowing Christ as I’d like). But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward to Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14)
Jesus asks three times if Peter loves him… perhaps once fore each of the times Peter had denied him… so that Peter might fully grasp the forgiveness and restoration at hand. Then Jesus once again raises before Peter the great sacrifice and cost at hand.
- It was Peter who had once proudly declared “even if all others forsake you, I will lay down my life for your sake.” How disappointed he must have been to have shown the Lord he loved so little devotion. But now it is Jesus telling Peter just how surrendered and sacrificial his life will be.
John 21:18
I tell you the truth, 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.
He was of course describing the type of death Peter would finally face. The outstretched hands in chains… being lead to die. LEGEND says he was CRUCIFIED UPSIDE DOWN.
“Follow me…” words that had changed his life. The first words Jesus ever spoke to him. They were the words that had begun their relationship.
HERE GOD IS GIVING US A PICTURE OF A RELATIONSHIP MATURING… MATURING FROM THE INITIAL INFATUATION AND IMPULSIVENESS TO ONE THAT HAS ENDURED THE SHAME OF FAILURE THAT CAUSES SO MANY TO RUN.
> When is a relationship truly closest? In the early stages when it’s experiencing only ideals and everything is easy… there are no failures to speak of and no forgiveness? Is not the closest relationship that which comes from surviving disappointments… one in which we’ve been exposed by our failures and faults, yet forgiven and still walked together?
- Peter has found such restoration… a living Lord who still wants him!! What could be more exciting? Well, Peter has a touch of curiosity that wants to ask just that question.
John 21:15-19 -
Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at supper and had said, “Lord, who is going to betray you?”) When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.”
You can almost hear that childish nature… that whines… ‘what about him?’ What about Mr. Or Mrs. Blessed?… gets all the looks and the attention?… the jobs and makes all the money?… the church with a building?… To all of these, Jesus says, “What is that to you?”
3. Jesus’ pursuit focuses on our personal calling and response.
- I have found that Jesus is always there with me, but he isn’t long on conversation about other people’s greater fortunes or lesser challenges. He has a heart focused on us…
JESUS IS ALIVE AND WE CAN DISCOVER, LIKE PETER, THAT NOT ONLY IS HE ALIVE, BUT HE IS THE EVER PRESENT AND PURSUING LORD.
- THE LORD IS CLOSER THAN WE THINK
- HE IS NOT LIMITED BY YOUR PERCEPTIONS
- HE IS NOT AS INTERESTED IN YOUR PAST AS HE IS WITH YOUR PRESENT RESPONSE TO HIM.
- HE IS NOT AS INTERESTED IN THE CALLING OF OTHERS AS HE IS WITH HIS CALLING FOR YOU.
