The Freedom to Follow

John 21: 1-19 After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he showed himself in this way. 2 Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin,[a] Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. 3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

4 Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach, but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus said to them, “Children, you have no fish, have you?” They answered him, “No.” 6 He said to them, “Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. 7 That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he had taken it off, and jumped into the sea. 8 But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off.

9 When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. 10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” 11 So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred fifty-three of them, and though there were so many, the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them and did the same with the fish. 14 This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead. Jesus and Peter

15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. 18 Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” 19 (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”

INTRO

This morning, we continue our worship series, The Cup of Freedom. Throughout the Easter Season, we will explore how the resurrection of our Lord calls us to respond by moving into a culture of freedom as the cross liberates us. This Easter season, we will explore how we are freed to step into Christ’s resurrection and live as resurrection people. We will dive deeper into how we accept the freedom and power God gives us to live as Easter people. Last week, we began as we explored our freedom to move forward, to encounter God where we are and share God’s love with all we encounter, for God’s story continues to unfold all around us. This week, we continue as we embrace our freedom to follow where the Savior leads us. 

Most people have some type of conversion story. There is a point in our lives when we have been converted “into” something. Some can tell you a conversion story of switching from Android to Apple. They can tell you what happened and why. I once swore I would never ever own an iPhone or any other Apple product, for that matter. But one day I went to the audiologist … he said you can buy this necklace connection device or an iPhone and connect your hearing aids directly to your phone. Now..I am a convert…I have the iPhone, the iPad, the Apple Watch, the MacBook…why? Because if Apple can support my disability, then I’ll gladly switch. 

One theologian reminds us of this writing, “Everyone has a conversion experience, and these experiences range from humorous to life-saving. They may be able to tell you when they gave up their PC for a Mac, or discovered that they actually like Brussels sprouts. Maybe they can tell you the moment when they decided to get married after years of swearing allegiance to the single life, or the hour they found the strength to walk through the door of an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.” Whether it was a religious awakening, changing brands of products, or making changes in our lives, most of us have been on a journey that led to radical change and conversion.

In our New Testament lesson, we encounter Saul. Saul is heading to Damascus. In his time, Damascus was an important city and a hub for business in the Roman Empire. Damascus also had a substantial population of Jews. While we aren’t exactly sure why Saul is fixated on finding Christians in Damascus, the fact that he is headed that way suggests that Christians have begun settling in Damascus. Most likely, they are moving into Jewish neighborhoods and are perceived as a threat by the Jewish congregations. If Christians are in the neighborhood, converting Jews to Christianity becomes a higher risk.

Saul is zealous in his attacks on Christianity. As the text tells us, “Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem” (Acts 9:1-2, NRSVue). Saul is, if not directly, facilitating the murders of Christians. So as he journeys to Damascus, Jesus meets him on the road, speaks directly to Saul, and blinds him. Saul has to be led to Damascus and waits for three days, as he cannot see and does not drink.

As Saul is waiting, God calls Ananias. God tells Ananias that he has to go to the house of Judas and offer healing to Saul. Ananias is hesitant to go as he says, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem, and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who invoke your name” (Acts 9:13-14). Even Ananias isn’t so sure that Saul needs to be healed. If God has afflicted Saul, and if Saul has been persecuting Christians, even killing some, and the Priests have given him authority to arrest and tie up Christians, are we sure we want this guy back on the street? 

If we are honest with ourselves, there are some people whom we believe are beyond transformation. Some people have hurt us, physically injured us or our families, or spread lies or rumors about us. We grew up with some people, and we know how they acted. Surely they are beyond transformation. God, are you sure that this is the person you are calling? This is the person you want me to lead to you?

But if we are honest with ourselves, we have been here. At one point or another, we have been down the wrong path in life. Maybe we haven’t been “breathing threats and murder,” we have, as one theologian puts it, “…been on wrong paths that have been injurious to ourselves and others. We have all been headstrong, stubborn, blinded to our own ambition, selfish to meet our own need, caught in addictive behaviors, and oblivious of the true cost to others or to ourselves. Here are some examples:

—The hard-driving businesswoman who is so determined to get a promotion that she loses her marriage

—The teenager, angry and hurt, who cannot forgive a parent’s error

—The man who is so locked up in his emotions that he cannot express his love for his spouse

—The ever-pleasing wife who is so accommodating as to allow her husband’s alcoholism to destroy their children

—The revengeful lover who would do harm rather than seek reconciliation

—The employer whose cultural values prevent him from promoting women equally

—The partisan political leader incapable of compromise

—The sports enthusiast incapable of sporting behavior

—The hard, demanding parent who cannot give a child a break

On this level, we have all been on the wrong path. We have been closed-minded. We have been stubborn.”

And so we, like Saul, need someone like Ananias in our lives. We rejoice that Saul encountered Jesus on the Road to Damascus. We rejoice that Ananias ministered to Saul and that Saul was given the freedom to follow Jesus. Saul is baptized and eats. Immediately, he begins to proclaim Jesus Christ in the synagogues in Damascus. And we know that Saul becomes Paul. In this moment, we see a pattern in which an individual has a stark conversion moment. The Lord appears, strikes down Saul, Ananias ministers to Saul, Saul is converted, and Saul is freed to follow Jesus. Thanks be to God.

But our Gospel lesson gives us another picture of what being freed to follow Jesus looks like. 

In our Gospel lesson this morning, the disciples, unsure of all that is going on, emotionally overloaded by the events of the crucifixion and Jesus’ previous appearances, go back to the basics. Several of Jesus’ disciples were fishermen, and Simon Peter declared that he was going fishing. Several disciples join him, and, after a long night of fishing, they come up empty. Jesus stands on the shore asking the disciples if they have caught fish. The disciples don’t realize it is Jesus and tell him, “No, we haven’t”. Jesus instructs the disciples to cast their nets on he other side of the boat, and they haul in so many fish that it is challenging to bring the net in. 

As they struggle with the catch, John realizes that the man on the shore is Jesus. Peter puts on clothes, jumps in the water, and swims toward Jesus. Jesus is already preparing breakfast for the disciples, but invites them to bring him more fish. Jesus prepares breakfast and feeds the disciples. 

As the fire burned and their breakfast is wrapping up, Jesus turned to Simon Peter and said, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” At first glance, that seems like a loaded question. What could Jesus possibly be asking Peter? Does Peter love Jesus more than fishing? Does Peter love Jesus more than the other disciples love Jesus? Does Peter love Jesus more than anything else in his own life? Regardless, Peter knows what Jesus means and doesn’t have to ask. Peter immediately responds, " Jesus, you know that I love you.’ In answering him, Peter doesn’t try to use examples from the past to back himself up. He doesn’t use crazy gestures to answer Jesus. Peter simply answers, knowing what is known to Jesus. Jesus then asks Peter a second and a third time. After the third time, the text tells us that Peter was hurt. 

I believe that that’s precisely what Jesus was trying to do throughout this discourse. I think Jesus used the charcoal fire to cause Peter to remember his denials of Jesus, his shortcomings. The charcoal fire called to his mind the charcoal fire he stood next to during one of the denials. I think Jesus repeatedly questions Peter so that he might examine his shortcomings and wrestle with them. Jesus is not beating around the bush. Jesus is not pretending that they are talking about anything else. Jesus uses an experience that engages all of  Peter’s senses to bring up Peter’s hurt, shame, and guilt. 

This Peter that Jesus tries to draw out is not the Peter we have experienced throughout John’s Gospel. In this gospel, we experience a larger-than-life Peter. We see Peter as the disciple trying to be the best, the brightest, the smartest, and the bravest. Peter works hard to show himself in this light. He asks big questions, makes sweeping declarations about Jesus, and also makes his own brash decisions. It is Peter, after all, who pulls out a sword to defend Jesus. 

The truth is that we aren’t much different than Peter. We think that following after Jesus means we must always be perfect. We have to have all the answers. We have to be able to read and understand scripture perfectly. We do not like anyone to know about conflicts in our families or the problems we are going through in our personal lives. We make grand promises about what we will do, knowing that we will never be able to follow through on them. We want to look like we have it all together and are the perfect disciple as we follow after our Lord. 

We can’t hide behind the lies forever. The public personas begin to crack. Our ability to hold ourselves together lessens over time. We fail. When faced with enormous pressure, Peter lied to protect himself when he denied Jesus. For many people, that is where our story stops. We become buried by and with our guilt and our shame, and we never recover. 

If we are honest, being buried in our guilt and shame brings about a kind of death for us. If we are really honest, it brings about a kind of death that we never knew we needed. It is death to the public faces and personas we put on and wear every day. It is death to the empty promises that we’ve made. It is death to being the perfected disciple we thought Jesus wanted us to be. Sometimes, when our brokenness is laid bare before the world, it causes us anxiety. Some take this anxiety and try to build a new persona, and they go through a midlife crisis. 

While others never let go of the guilt and shame that overcame them. Yet, if we examine our text closely this morning, we will see just how much God cares about Peter and about us. As we are forced to wrestle with our shame, our guilt, our brokenness, we also feel the presence of Christ. Don’t you see? In Christ, we are offered resurrection from this tiresome publicity, from the need to build a new persona. We are offered the chance to live our lives with raw emotions, exposed identities, and a true reflection of our imperfections before God. We are given the opportunity to be freed to follow Jesus vulnerably and authentically.

You see, Peter’s test of discipleship is not about “passing” in the way we usually think. Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves him, not because he wants the excited, always ready, perfect Peter. Instead, Peter’s test of discipleship is meant to expose himself and push away the excess and the fluff. It is intended to bring up and highlight Peter’s failures. It is meant to show that anyone who loves Jesus has the opportunity to receive a second chance in Christ Jesus. 

The truth is, Peter has failed to love Jesus more than these. He has brought out the sword when it wasn’t needed. He has made extraordinary claims about Jesus but failed to follow through. He has said that he would follow Jesus even to death, but denies knowing Jesus the moment his life was threatened. If Christ knows all things, as Peter proclaims, then Christ knows these things about Peter, too. Craig Barnes brings this idea out the best. He notes that what Peter is saying is “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you in my own flawed way.”

It is here, after being confronted by all his imperfections and acknowledging that he loves Jesus more than these, that Peter is given a new opportunity. Jesus calls him to feed his lambs, to take care of his sheep, and to feed his sheep. Finally, at the very end of the passage, after Jesus says all these things to Peter, Jesus gives him one final command: “Follow me.” For in undergoing this experience, this examination, Peter has been freed to follow Jesus.

Peter’s opportunity to follow Jesus and commit himself to the work of Christ in the world comes after his test of discipleship. It comes after his chance to expose his true self. It comes after his opportunity to bare his whole self before God. It is then, and only then, that Peter can go and follow Jesus. Peter no longer has to be chained by his idea of a perfect disciple. He is freed to follow even in his brokenness, and, as we know in the Book of Acts, Peter is freed to lead even in his brokenness. He is no longer afraid of being broken, for he realizes that even in his brokenness, Christ welcomes him into relationship. This relationship is more authentic than ever because there is no more hiding from God.

Friends, our scripture lessons remind us that there is no one path to following God. There is no one way to this freedom to follow Jesus. Our texts show two contrasting examples of this freedom. Saul shows us what it is like to be faced with a moment of conversion, while Peter shows us what it looks like to be on a process, a journey toward freedom. Saul shows us what it is like to go down the wrong path and be brought back instantly, while Peter reminds us that we need to let go of the faces and barriers we put up as we try to portray ourselves in other ways. Regardless of where we find ourselves on the path of discipleship, these two or any other, our call this morning is to give ourselves to Jesus Christ. In Jesus Christ, we are offered new life and given the freedom to say yes to following Jesus. For in the freedom to follow, we are no longer bound by guild or shame. We are no longer bound by the barriers we try to put up. We are no longer bound by our failures or shortcomings. Instead, we are freed to put our faith into action, to live out our faith in kingdom-building work and by inviting others in so that they, too, may experience the freedom in following Jesus.

And so, our call this morning is from Jesus Christ. As people who love God, may we come and follow him, freely, wherever he may take us.

 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.