Called to Be Forgiven
Called to Be • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 1 viewPeter was the first to identify Jesus as the Messiah (Matthew 16:15-16). He was one of the trusted inner circle, yet also the person who was told by Jesus before his death that he would deny knowing him. Today we pick up the story, post-resurrection, to see how forgiveness impacts Peter, who from this moment lives his life as someone who is not only called to be forgiven but also someone who is called to forgive.
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Setting Priorities
Setting Priorities
Back in the 1930s, a consultant named Ivy Lee handed the president of Bethlehem Steel a blank piece of paper.
"Write down your most important tasks for tomorrow," he said.
"Number them in order of importance. Start at number one. Stay with it until it's done. Then move to number two."
A few weeks later, the executive sent Lee a cheque for $25,000.
He said it was the most profitable lesson he had ever learned in his long business career.
In the cold, hard business world there are few lessons more important than learning to prioritise and live by those priorities.
But as followers of Jesus, it is even more important to recognise and maintain our spiritual priorities.
Some of us have never given a second’s thought to what those priorities are.
Others have, but have chosen the wrong priorities.
Still more of us know what the right priorities are, and want to prioritise them, but we don’t have the self-control or wisdom to live by them.
Sin is fundamentally a matter of wrong priorities
Sin is fundamentally a matter of wrong priorities
Sin occurs when we prioritise a lesser good above a higher good.
We sin when we prioritise money over putting God first.
We sin when we prioritise pleasure over seeking first the Kingdom of God.
We sin when we prioritise our career over pursuing God’s purpose for our lives.
We sin when we prioritise our relationships over the most important relationship we have: the relationship we have with our Father Creator.
We see this played out in the life of Peter
We see this played out in the life of Peter
Maybe as a result of Jesus’ commission of him that we looked at two weeks ago, when Jesus told him he was the “rock” on which the church would be built, and that he would be given the keys to the Kingdom, Peter began to prioritise being “top dog” amongst the other disciples.
Whether intentional or not, we will never know.
A sympathetic interpretation is that Peter had mixed motives - he really did love Jesus and wanted to express that love as passionately as possible:
“But why can’t I come now, Lord?” he asked. “I’m ready to die for you.”
Peter declared, “Even if everyone else deserts you, I will never desert you.”
Then Simon Peter drew a sword and slashed off the right ear of Malchus, the high priest’s slave.
But his disordered priorities led him to deny he knew Jesus three times:
Peter swore, “A curse on me if I’m lying—I don’t know this man you’re talking about!” And immediately the rooster crowed the second time. Suddenly, Jesus’ words flashed through Peter’s mind: “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny three times that you even know me.” And he broke down and wept.
If Peter was to live out his calling, then his sin - his wrong priorities needed addressing and reprioritising:
John 21:15-19
John 21:15-19
15 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.
16 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.
17 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.
18 “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.” 19 Jesus said this to let him know by what kind of death he would glorify God. Then Jesus told him, “Follow me.”
MESSAGE NOTES
The barrier of failure and sin must be removed before we are ready to answer our calling
The barrier of failure and sin must be removed before we are ready to answer our calling
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.
Notice that Jesus does not call Peter, Peter - the rock.
Jesus knows he has not lived up to that name.
His wrong priorities have limited his calling.
When Simon chooses his own priorities, he will always be Simon.
He has no capacity to go beyond that.
Only when Simon chooses to trust in Jesus, and allow him to order his priorities, is he Peter-the-rock.
Only when he gets his priorities right can he be the witness and leader the church needs to receive its earliest foundation.
Until Peter has undone his denials, until he has reaffirmed his number one priority to love and to be loyal to Jesus, he is not ready to follow his calling.
The barrier of his failure and sin must be removed.
Jesus is reminding Peter that his greatest priority in life must be the nature and primacy of his love for God.
I am sure Peter did love God with all his heart.
But he knew that had not been his priority.
And so he needed to be affirmed in that love before he could serve again fruitfully.
The same is true for us.
No matter how many times we have gotten our priorities mixed up, no matter how many times we have failed Jesus, no matter how deep-seated our sense of shame is, he can and will forgive us, and renew us, and use us in his service.
Failure is never final with God.
Notice what Jesus doesn't do on that beach.
He doesn't demand an explanation from Peter.
He doesn't go through the list of Peter's failures one by one.
He lights a fire, cooks breakfast, and then quietly, gently, gives Peter a chance to say "I love you" three times - once for every time he said "I don't know him."
That is grace.
That is what forgiveness looks like when Jesus does it.
You ask me what forgiveness means; it is the wonder of being trusted again by God in the place where I disgraced him (Rita Snowden (devotional writer), I Believe in the Dawn).
We too must return to loving God first.
We must come back to a place where we love God with all of hearts first and foremost, before any other priority, even service to him.
That is our highest priority in life.
It is the number one question for every one of us who wants to please God.
Is loving God the highest priority in our life?
Getting that wrong is a deadly trap.
God has always made his first priority clear:
“Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.
Everything we have is to be devoted to loving him.
Nothing is more important than loving God.
If we recognise today that there are priorities in our lives that are more important than this, then we must seek Jesus’ forgiveness, just as Peter received that forgiveness.
Because it is Jesus’ forgiveness and reordering of our priorities that leads to our calling
Because it is Jesus’ forgiveness and reordering of our priorities that leads to our calling
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.
In forgiving Peter and reminding him of the proper order of his priorities, Jesus was harnessing the power of Peter’s love for him, and steering it towards the sacrificial service he was calling him to.
In asking the question, “Do you love me?”, Jesus was not examining the condition of Peter’s heart.
He already knew the answer to that.
Instead, he was seeking to convert Peter’s passion for him into following his calling.
In effect, he was saying, “Since you love me, as I know you do, and as you so vigorously confess, then feed my sheep!”
He’s asking the same of you and me today.
Rob, do you love me?
X, do you love me?
Not because he’s questioning the condition of your heart.
He knows you love him.
I know many of you love him, truly, and deeply.
But he’s asking, in the light of your love for me, have you got your priorities right?
Have you found that love for me?
Are you expressing that love for me?
Have you allowed me to heal the hurts and failures of the past so I can give you new work to do?
Are you answering my call as a response to the joy and relief that you are already forgiven?
Are you answering my call as a sign that you are forgiven?
Are you feeding my sheep, or are you starving them through wrong priorities?
And what does it mean to feed his sheep?
And what does it mean to feed his sheep?
It starts right here.
It might mean being the one who notices the first-time visitor standing on their own - and actually going over to talk to them.
It might mean making time after the Sunday Celebration for a proper conversation with someone you can tell is struggling.
It might mean picking up the phone to check on someone who hasn't been at the corps for a few weeks.
It might mean staying to clear the hall, wash the mugs, tidy up the tables and chairs in the Hub - the quiet, unglamorous service that holds a corps family together.
It might mean praying with someone before they head home, not just saying "I'll pray for you" and meaning it vaguely.
But it doesn't stop at the door of the corps hall.
On our frontlines - at work, at home, in our neighbourhoods - it looks different, but it is the same calling.
It might mean being the patient one in a difficult meeting at work.
It might mean checking on a neighbour who hasn't been seen in a while.
It might mean a kind word in the school corridor, or sitting with someone who is eating lunch alone.
Whatever form it takes, it begins with getting love right - love for God first, and from that, love for the people around us.
Forgiven and Called
Forgiven and Called
So here is where we find ourselves today at the end of our time together in celebration.
Jesus is not looking for a perfect record.
He is not looking for a flawless performance.
He is not looking for someone who has never got their priorities wrong.
He is looking at you - yes, you - and he is asking one question:
"Do you love me?"
If your answer is yes - even if it is a quiet, hesitant yes - that is enough.
Because that is where Peter was.
Ashamed.
Uncertain.
Full of regret.
And Jesus took him from exactly that place and gave him something extraordinary to do.
He will do the same for you.
Your failure is not the final word.
Your past is not your future.
The same Jesus who restored Peter on that beach is here today.
He has already lit the fire.
He has already prepared a place for you.
He is ready to ask the question: "Do you love me?"
And when you say yes - he will take that love, and that life, and he will do more with it than you could ever imagine.
Forgiven.
And called.
That is what you are.
That is who you are.
SB506 - Lord, you know that we love you
SB506 - Lord, you know that we love you
1 Lord, you know that we love you,
you know our thoughts and intentions;
if our love has weakened, if our fervour has waned,
turn us, Lord, by your Spirit,
let us love with love unfeigned.
C Lord, you know that we love you!
Help that love to be true;
fill our lives with your Spirit's power,
Lord of love, make us strong!
We who to Christ belong.
2 Lord, you know that we fail you;
our sins, how sorely they grieve you!
Many times have we fallen, Lord, lift us up again.
May we walk to be worthy of the call that is ours,
may your will and your purpose
claim our undivided powers!
Refrain
Howard Davies (born 1940)
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