Do You Love Me - Resurrecting Hope, Wk 2

Resurrecting Hope

Week 2

Do You Love Me

John 21:1-19

Series Slide

Good morning and welcome to worship. It is a joy to be in the house of the Lord on this Easter Sunday… No, I’m not off a week… in the Christian Calendar, we recognize this as the season of Easter. It runs from last Sunday through Pentecost. AND we acknowledge every Sunday as a little Easter, a little celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord.

Last week we began a new sermon series looking at the impact of living a resurrection life. I’m calling this series, Resurrecting Hope, because that is what Jesus does in our lives. Jesus resurrects our hope – Jesus brings new life to dead things… Jesus is life!

If you recall, last week we walked with Mary to the tomb to find it empty, to experience – in the midst of grief and loss, the life that Jesus gives. We saw that Jesus resurrects hope even in the midst of death. This week, we will see that even in the midst of disappointment and failure, Jesus is in the business of resurrecting hope.

Sermon Title Slide

So, how can we take that resurrection hope and live it out?

We live in a world of disappointment don’t we. We let others down, they let us down… we do things we wish we had not done. Even we pastors.

I recall a time at another church, we were trying to incorporate the bell choir into the contemporary service. It was Christmas, we thought it would be a good idea, the ladies of the Bell Choir had been asking to do it for a couple of years, so, I said yes – My first mistake.

So, we got their tables set up over to the side of the worship area, just off the platform, their pads and velvet covers were in place with all their special music stands… Sunday morning arrived and they came in to practice. But, we didn’t use the house lights, we used the stage lights and other lights for the room to prevent the stark florescent or, in this case at that church, the Vapor Lights of the gymnasium. The problem, they couldn’t see their music. So, here I am trying to run new lights for them, and trying to get lights for their music stands, along with all the other stuff that has to be done every Sunday morning. And the stress of the morning was getting to me.

You see, what I didn’t know was the new Blood Pressure medication my Dr. had prescribed has a rare but serious side effect of causing drastic mood swings, depression, and severe anger issues… and what did I do to these poor ladies that I had and still have great respect for?

I lashed out at them. I yelled back at them and huffed and puffed and I walked out and told someone else to deal with them. I got through that day, but I couldn’t even look their way. I felt so bad. I could tell they weren’t happy with me either. I sent them all a note apologizing to them for my behavior and telling them that they did not deserve that. It wasn’t until one or two more of those outbursts that I discovered that it was the medicine causing the behavior change. But that didn’t change how I felt and the impact it had on those ladies.

One of the greatest challenges that we have in life is learning how to handle relationships. We learn how to apologize and forgive. When we experience brokenness whether it’s between husband and wife, or parent and child, or between friends, or people we respect, it can rob us of the hope for what that relationship could look like in the future. Let’s be honest… we have seen some of that here in our church over the past couple of years. We have hurt and we have been hurt. People have heard one thing when we meant another. We have said things that offended, or things have been said that offended us. We have been disappointed because of actions taken… and it has damaged what ‘could have been’ in our relationship.

But here is what I want us to see today. In Christ, through the power of the resurrected Lord, we have hope. We can be restored, and we can work to restore our relationships with others.

I want us to take a little time to look at Peter. In a few moments we are going to read from John 21, but we need to remember what happened in John 18 before we get there. Jesus has been arrested and taken to Caiaphas’ house to be tried before the Pharisees and the High Priest. As he is lied about and struck, Peter is outside warming himself by the coal fire when he is asked, “Hey, aren’t you one of Jesus’ followers?” But Peter denied it. He was asked again, “Hey, your accent tells me you are from Galilee – aren’t you one of his disciples?” And Peter said, “I don’t even know him.” A third time he’s asked and he not only denies Jesus, he does it with a curse… just then the rooster crowed, exactly as Jesus had said it would.

Peter had spent 3 years following Jesus. He had committed his life to following Jesus, then everything changed. He promised to follow Jesus even to the death. But his actions teach us something about ourselves… and here’s my first point.

Point 1: What we Say and What we Do can Confirm or Deny our Connection to Christ.

I bet I am not alone in disappointing others and doing things that would make someone question our connection of Christ. I bet every one of us can look back over the past few days, weeks, months, and years and find time after time that our words and our actions and our thoughts did more harm than good. I bet we can think of times that our actions pointed people away from Jesus and not toward Jesus.

Author and speaker Brennan Manning once said,

The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.

What does your life say about your connection to Jesus? What does your lifestyle, the words you speak, the thought you think, the actions you take say a out your connection with Jesus.

I will tell you, if you are like me, you may not feel too good about yourself if you spend too much time examining the things you think, say, or do. But, here is the good news. Peter’s story didn’t end with the denials and our story doesn’t end with our broken relationships.

Turn with me to John 21 now. Jesus has died and risen again. They have visited the empty tomb, Jesus has visited them in the upper room and in other places. But then, there is a period of days or maybe even a week or two where they haven’t seen Jesus. Peter and some of the others are likely at Peter’s house or at least in the Capernaum area when we pick up with them in verse 2

John 21:2-3

Several of the disciples were there—Simon Peter, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples.

Simon Peter said, “I’m going fishing.” “We’ll come, too,” they all said. So they went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night.

You know, I’ve always said, if it was all about catching, we wouldn’t call it fishing, but to not catch anything all night, wow!

But in all seriousness, this says something about Peter. Here he is, the one who is to be Jesus goto – his #1, and he failed him. When Jesus needed Peter the most he failed. He was the Rock! Now he is just Simon. How could Jesus use him. He’s a failure. So, what does he do? He goes back to what he knows. He had left everything to follow Jesus, now he doesn’t feel worthy to follow Jesus, so he goes back to fishing. But then everything changes… again.

John 21:4-9

At dawn Jesus was standing on the beach, but the disciples couldn’t see who he was. He called out, “Fellows, have you caught any fish?” “No,” they replied.

Then he said, “Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you’ll get some!” So they did, and they couldn’t haul in the net because there were so many fish in it.

Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, “It’s the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his tunic (for he had stripped for work), jumped into the water, and headed to shore. The others stayed with the boat and pulled the loaded net to the shore, for they were only about a hundred yards from shore. When they got there, they found breakfast waiting for them—fish cooking over a charcoal fire, and some bread.

Here they are, after fishing all night, when some guy from the bank says, “throw your nets on the other side of the boat.” And they caught a huge number of fish, and what does Peter do? He dives in and swims to shore because he knows it’s Jesus. Here’s my second point for the day.

Point 2: Jesus’ Grace Restores our Hope

In the midst of Peter’s despair, Jesus showed up. What happened to Mary last week? In the midst of her grief, Jesus showed up. He did the same thing for Peter. I think Peter had given up… but Jesus showed up, Amen.

Some of us are nearly to the point of giving up. We have been hurt and maligned. We have made mistake after mistake. We have failed over and over again… and then Jesus shows up.

I love this story from Charles Spurgeon.

He once wrote of an evening when he was riding home after a hard day’s work. He felt weary and depressed when as suddenly as a lightning flash he thought of 2 Corinthians 12:9, “My grace is sufficient for thee.”

He said, “I should think it is, Lord,” and burst out laughing.

He said that it seemed to make unbelief so absurd.

It was as though some little fish, being very thirsty, was troubled about drinking the river dry, and the river said, “Drink away, little fish, my stream is sufficient for thee.”

Or a man way up on a mountain saying to himself, “I fear I shall exhaust all the oxygen in the atmosphere.” But the earth might say, “Breathe away, oh man, and fill thy lungs ever; my atmosphere is sufficient for thee.” (Excerpt from Streams In The Desert – Charles Cowman)

God’s grace is sufficient. I don’t think that word sufficient means – “barely enough.” I think it means that there is an abundance to overflowing. God is saying – You cannot sin so great that my grace cannot cover you. You cannot run so far that I won’t be with you.

The miracle of Easter is that brokenness can be restored. There is hope, even after death.

Peter, impulsive as he was, comes to shore and finds a coal fire there, warming bread and fish. They greet, and the Peter goes and helps the others come ashore and they bring some more fish.

They all come ashore, and then we read verse 12.

John 21:12

“Now come and have some breakfast!” Jesus said. None of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord.

How often does Jesus show up in a way we hadn’t seen before… we know it’s God, he’s just there in a way we’ve never seen before. God reveals himself in new and powerful ways. It’s like, just when we think we have Jesus boxed up and contained, we learn something new. We know it’s God, we just see him in a new light, through a new lens, in a new revelation.

I can’t imagine what it was like as they sat around the fire eating together, laughing, talking about the old times… maybe James and John laugh with Jesus about the “Son’s of Thunder” comment… or Nathanael laughs with Jesus about how Andrew had introduced them. I can just see good friends sitting together imagining what could be, then it was time to get back to work. James, John, Nathanael, Thomas, and the others head back over to the boat to start dealing with the fish, and just as Peter is about to get up, the scene shifts.

John 21:15-19

After breakfast Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”

“Yes, Lord,” Peter replied, “you know I love you.”

“Then feed my lambs,” Jesus told him.

Jesus repeated the question: “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

“Yes, Lord,” Peter said, “you know I love you.”

“Then take care of my sheep,” Jesus said.

A third time he asked him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Then feed my sheep.

“I tell you the truth, when you were young, you were able to do as you liked; you dressed yourself and went wherever you wanted to go. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and others will dress you and take you where you don’t want to go.” Jesus said this to let him know by what kind of death he would glorify God. Then Jesus told him, “Follow me.”

Here Peter is, sitting around another coal fire being asked about his connection to Jesus, this time it wasn’t strangers asking the question, it was Jesus himself.

Point 2 Slide

We don’t get all the nuance of the words here, but in the Greek, Jesus is asking Peter, “Do You Agape Me?” – Do you love me in a sacrificial way, a Godly way, in a way that would allow you to lay down your life for me?

And Peter Replies, “Yes, I Phileo you. – Yes Lord, I like you – I have a strong affection for you – you’re my friend so yes, I love you Lord.”

A big difference in the meaning of the words used for love here. But here is what I noticed about this. Peter has denied his Lord, and now he is sitting face to face with him. He has been offered forgiveness for each time he denied the Lord. He is encouraged to no longer fish for men, but to take care for the young believers, to care for the sheep, to feed the sheep.

Peter’s perfect denial is met by Jesus perfect restoration.

It’s one of the most beautiful exchanges in Scripture.

Peter wasn’t ready to say that he Agape’d Jesus… but Jesus met him where he was. Jesus met him at Phileo and let it grow from there. And that leads to our final point and conclusion.

Point 3: Love for Jesus is Proven by a Life Lived for Jesus.

Peter was given the opportunity to prove his love for Jesus by feeding his sheep, by tending Jesus’ lambs – you and me and all those that followed that conversation. And, though Peter didn’t say it that day, his life showed that he Agape’s Jesus.

At the end of the conversation on the beach that day, Jesus ended it with the same invitation he gave Peter the first time they met, “Follow Me.”

And Peter Did. From that day forward, Peter followed Jesus. Including following him to the Cross.

In 69 AD, after spreading the Gospel in Rome and then being imprisoned for several years, he is taken before Nero and crucified upside down because he did not feel he was worthy of being crucified in the same manner as his Lord.

Peter’s sacrificial Love for Jesus was shown by his life.

And so, what does that have to do with you and me? It is actually quite applicable and easy to see, or hear, and it is the answer to the question I asked earlier, “How do we live out this Resurrection Life?”

Jesus Haunting question rings in your ears and mine today.

Do you love me?

If the answer is yes, then Jesus reply is:

Then feed my sheep and follow me.

And, If your answer is no, then Jesus reply is:

Look at my hands, place your hand in my side… I have overcome sin and death for you. Come, and follow me.

Scripture tells us that if we repent of our sins, then we will be forgiven. We are told that God’s free gift is eternal life through Jesus Christ. All we, you, have to do is accept what Jesus has already done fore you.