Series: Passion Is... Part VII: Passion Is Priority C. Gray Norsworthy Johns Creek Presbyterian Church April 23, 2017 Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two 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 realize 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 just caught. So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, 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. 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. -- John 21:1-17, NIV Today we are finishing up this series of messages in which we have been talking about the meaning of the word passion. Through this series we have focused on passion being about more than just feeling strongly about something. Instead we have focused more on the passion of Christ as seen in his suffering and his death on a cross something he did out of love for us and for the whole world. Last Sunday on Easter, we spoke of the encounter between Jesus and Mary Magdalene outside of the tomb after Jesus had been resurrected. As Mary was clinging to Jesus, he tells her in a sense that there is more to it than just this present encounter. God is beginning the process of making this world the way it was meant to be with Jesus as the new king in God s new kingdom. That work continues on throughout history to today. We are invited to be part of God s great plan to make this world a better place. 1
Today we are looking at another encounter that happens after that first Easter and the resurrection. But, before we talk about that, I want to share with you the nearest experience I have ever had to encountering the resurrected Jesus. It happened on my first visit to the Holy Land. I went with a group of Presbyterian pastors. On one of our first days, we went around to see the sights near the Sea of Galilee that great lake that we just read about. Toward the end of that day, our tour bus took us to the traditional site where the story we read today took place. We walked down to the lakeshore and sat down as a group beside the water. The person who put together this trip had previously asked each one of us pastors to read the story from the Bible associated with each place we stopped. He also asked each of us to prepare a few words to share about what this meant to us. As I said, it was the end of the day and the sun had just gone down behind the mountains. The lake, which had been filled with waves and white caps earlier that same day, was now as smooth as glass. I still remember hearing the pastor reading these same words from John's gospel that we just read. But, when she got to the part where Jesus is asking Simon Peter if he loves Jesus, I had the incredibly strong sense that Jesus was speaking those words to me: Feed my lambs, tend my sheep, and feed my sheep, I can t say it was an audible voice, but it was as close as I have ever been to actually hearing the voice of God speaking to me out loud. From that point on in my life, I believe God was telling me that this would be the core of my ministry throughout my life to feed and tend the lambs and the sheep. In other words, my role as pastor is primarily to teach and preach the good news to both the young and the mature in the faith. This has become something of a touchtone for me. Whenever I go through a time where I wonder if I am doing what God really wants me to do, I remember that moment by that still water, when I believe God gave me some very clear direction for my life. That is one reason why I not only preach, but I teach as often as I can every Sunday and Wednesday. Not only do I enjoy teaching and the give and take that happens in that context that can t happen in worship, I also think it is vitally important to the spiritual growth of the church. I remember one person even told me once that when she first heard me preach, she thought of me as a teaching preacher which I think makes sense. So, that was my encounter with the resurrected Jesus and how it has affected my whole life. But, this morning we are reading about another encounter with the resurrected Jesus. The disciples have gone back to this lake area near to where Jesus had called them from their life s work of fishing for fish. He called them to be fishers of men and women for Christ. But after the crucifixion and resurrection, they have gone back to fishing at least for this day. They fish all night, which was often the best time to fish, but they catch nothing. As the morning breaks, someone from the shore whom they do not yet recognize calls out. He asks them if they have caught anything, to which they answer No. He then tells them to cast their nets on the other side of the boat. (Now they had actually done this once before when they first met Jesus.) They do so and the nets are full -- so full that they might break. John, whom most scholars believe is the person described as the one whom Jesus loved, recognizes that this is the resurrected Jesus on the shore. Impetuous Peter just dives right into the water to swim for it while the others bring in the load of fish. When they get to shore, Jesus has cooked them breakfast. He invites them to 2
come eat while he breaks bread and fish for them. It says they did not even have to ask him who he was because they knew it was the Lord. But after breakfast, maybe Jesus took Peter aside to take a walk down by the lakeshore. Remember that Peter had denied Jesus three times before his crucifixion. Maybe Peter was wondering if he was about to get into trouble for that. But instead of questioning him about that or reprimanding him for doing the very thing Peter said he would never do, Jesus asks him what seems like the same question three times -- though on closer look we will see that each question is a little different from the one before. The first question Jesus asks Peter is this: Do you love me more than these? As we have said before, Greek has more than one word for love. Here Jesus uses a form of the word agape, which is the highest form of love. It is the kind of love that involves self-sacrifice on behalf of others. It is what Jesus demonstrates throughout his life and his death on the cross. But what does the word these refer to when Jesus asks Peter, Do you love me more than these? Since they seem to have gone back to a life of fishing, maybe he is asking Peter if Peter loves Jesus more than he loves this life of fishing with these other disciples. Maybe. Or maybe he is asking Peter if he loves Jesus more than he loves these brothers in the faith? Maybe. Or maybe he is asking if Peter loves Jesus more than these other disciples love Jesus? Remember Peter had already boasted before the crucifixion that he would never desert or deny Jesus, implying that others would but then Peter does just that. Whatever the case, Jesus is somehow linking love for God with our love for other things or people in life. Maybe it all implies some kind of priority. Jesus asks Peter three times if Peter loves him. The first two times Jesus asks he uses a form of the word agape to describe this highest form of love. Yet, each time when Peter responds saying that he loves Jesus, he uses a different Greek word for love phileo which refers more to a brotherly type of love. Now there are a few examples in the Bible where these two words for love seem to mean about the same thing, but most of the time they are different. Agape is a higher, more demanding form of love. So Jesus asks about agape love and Peter affirms phileo or brotherly love. Is Peter just saying that he loves Jesus, but not all the way? Maybe Peter is just being honest with Jesus. He knows he has already fallen short of what he promised to do when he denied Jesus three times, so now he just wants to stop playing games and say in effect, This is all the kind of love I can do for now. But, notice how Jesus responds. Jesus does not condemn or shame Peter by telling him that he doesn t love Jesus enough. In fact, the third time Jesus asks Peter if he loves Jesus, Jesus uses the same word for love Peter had used phileo. Maybe Jesus understood that this was the best Peter could do for now, and that the other kind of love, the agape love, would come later which it did. Also, notice that not only did Jesus refrain from condemning or shaming Peter, with each question and response, he gave Peter a task to do: Feed my lambs. Tend my sheep. Feed my sheep. And Peter does that! He soon became one of the key leaders in the early church. This uneducated fisherman who seems to have a knack for being a bull-in-a-china-shop became, along 3
with another former renegade named Paul, pillars in the early church. Peter spent his life feeding and tending the lambs and the sheep the followers of Christ in the early church. I think it is amazing who God uses to do God s work. That should be a word of encouragement for all of us particularly if we believe God could never use us because of what we have done in the past. God actually seems to delight in choosing those we would least expect to do something great for God! Earlier I said that I have taken these three things, feeding the lambs, tending the sheep, and feeding the sheep, as the primary focal points of my ministry. I see the feeding the lambs as teaching and preaching the good news of God's love and grace as made known in Jesus the Christ. I take the word lambs used here as referring particularly to children, youth, and those who are young in the faith. And when it comes to the words tend or take care of the sheep I see that more as pastoral care of the members of the church family. It means I am to do my part as a pastor to make sure they are safe and cared for. In addition, I believe I am to challenge and encourage them to grow into the mature men and women God created them to be. I believe it also means reaching out to those lost sheep who need to find their way back home to God, or who have yet to experience God's love. But, today I want us to focus on feeding the lambs. If our lambs are our children, our youth, and those who are young in the faith how well are we doing that? Here at JCPC we make the spiritual growth of our children and youth a priority. We have two great full-time staff members, Allison and Brian, who dedicate much of their time to doing just that. Next week is Confirmation Sunday. We will receive some of our lambs into this church family as they affirm their faith in front of the congregation. But, how important is their spiritual growth to all of us? Do we do all we can to make sure the feeding of our lambs, the nurture of our young people, is a priority in our lives? Is our passion for God reflected in what we do for our young? The reason I bring this up is because I believe it is becoming more and more of a challenge for our parents and others to make time for the spiritual nurture of our young people. I have to admit that when I grew up a while ago here in the south, not only was all day Sunday reserved for church. Wednesday evening was, too. Granted I grew up in a tradition where we went to church on Sunday morning for Sunday School and worship, as well as Sunday evening for youth choir, youth group, and another worship service. And on Wednesday evening we would also go to church after school for hand bell choir, Wednesday night dinner, youth fellowship, prayer meeting, and sometimes even basketball practice! Now I don t know anyone who does that any more. But, I also know in recent years the setting aside of time for worship and the spiritual growth of our young people has become more of a challenge. Parents -- I feel your struggle. I know it is not easy. From sports to SAT prep to AP homework, to family time for vacations and social events there is much from which to choose. I realize that. More and more the trend has also been to let our young people decide for the whole family what we do. That has changed over the years. I had very loving, Christian parents, but they never asked me whether or where I wanted to go to church. It was simply what our family did 4
whether I liked it or not. We were there every time the doors were opened. But more and more I hear parents saying they are letting their kids decide if they want to go to church. Sometimes this is coupled with the idea that they don t want to force their kids to go to church which they fear will only make them dislike it even more. But, most of the research that tracks these kinds of things will tell you that unless we at least expose our young people to the Christian faith on a regular basis, very few of them will ever choose that faith on their own. No one can force a young person to choose or have faith that is not how it works. But, we can choose whether or not they will have the choice. And that takes time. So parents, keep up the good work in getting your young people here. What you are doing is very important! Malcom Gladwell s bestselling book, Outliers, looked at those apparent geniuses or outliers who become highly successful in certain fields. He looked at people like Bill Gates and The Beatles. The assumption is that they were just born geniuses or outliers, who were bound to become great in whatever they did. What his research showed was just the opposite. First of all, they did not just spontaneously become great. In fact, each one spent approximately 10,000 hours honing their craft. For example, The Beatles played four sets of music seven nights a week in German night clubs for a number of years before they ever made it. They became expert professional musicians long before they crossed the Atlantic Ocean and played on Ed Sullivan. The second thing Gladwell found out is that they did not do it alone. Each one had a network of support that enabled them to succeed. The saying, It takes a village to raise a child certainly applies here. When it comes to the spiritual nurture of our young people the feeding of our lambs this is not something any of us can do without putting in the time, nor is it something we can do alone. Do we want our young to grow into the spiritually mature men and women God created them to be? Then it will take those 10,000 hours in order to become anything like a mature Christian. And they cannot do that alone simply by surfing the internet. James Fowler, who studied faith development, said that young people are in the process of putting pieces together in their faith. He asks this: Who will young people be with as they put these pieces together? It is hard for many of us at any age to grow spiritually if we do not express our passion for God by making worship and spiritual growth with other Christians a priority in our lives. So, today I want to ask us two questions. The first relates to Jesus asking Peter Do you love me more than these? The question I want us to ask ourselves is this: What is our these we love more passionately than God? Here I want us to go beyond the answer we know we are supposed to give that there is nothing we love more than God to be honest about what our actions would say. If we were to look at how we spend our time and money what we prioritize what would that say about what we love more than God? I know this is not easy. I struggle with this, too. I also know this is a fluid thing that it changes over time, but I want to invite us to start out taking an honest look at this. 5
My second question follows from the first: What would it look like if we made our passion for God our No. 1 priority? Would we live our lives any differently? Again, I realize these things shift and change over time. And I am not saying this to shame any of us, though it may feel like that. Think back on the questions Jesus asked Peter. Jesus doesn t condemn or shame Peter. In fact, he invites Peter to do something in response to those questions feed the lambs, tend the sheep, feed the sheep. Today, I want to invite us to consider these questions and then ask what God would have us do differently in order to work toward making our passion for God the No. 1 priority in our lives. I know this is an on-going process. It will take a long time maybe even 10,000 hours but I believe that through God s grace we can do it. If God can take someone like Simon Peter and make him one of the foundational pillars of the church, God can do anything through you and me. And friends, that is good news! In the strong name of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. 6