Ecclesia Princeton
Ecclesia Princeton
Campfire Stories- Ian Graham- John 21: The Disciple Jesus Loves
Pastor Ian Graham looks at the story of Jesus' resurrection breakfast with his disciples on the beach of the Sea of Tiberias.
Hello friends, my name is Ian. It's a joy to be with you today. I don't know if you've been paying attention to some of the wider trends that are occurring, but in places like the UK and Australia there's been a significant shift in people showing up to church and oftentimes renewal movements are driven by young people. I served in youth ministry for 10 years of my life at a small little church in Pennington and it was a profound joy, and one of the things I identified about that time and why it was so filled with joy is because high school and middle school students actually change, no shade thrown to the adults here. I sincerely mean that. But there is this liminal time as these students are going through their lives and sort of discerning the first glimpses of what will become of them, that they are interested in who is Jesus and what is he doing. So that was a profound gift, and oftentimes what we see is, when church attendance does seem to significantly change, it's driven by that subset of people, and in the UK this is certainly happening. The church attendance amongst 18 to 24-year-olds over the last six years has quadrupled. Now we're talking about a small subset still. In 2018, it was 4% of the population of that subset so like very small. Now, if math majors in here quadruples, that's 16%, but still significant. Right and again, that's usually the story that's told.
Speaker 1:But in Australia, something very interesting is happening. The change and the shift is not being driven by young people, but by people that are more advanced in wisdom Australians age 55 and older. Now, in these cosmopolitan places that are often attractive for migration, what you often have is a renewal of the church from places that are far-flung. So this happened in the UK in the 80s and 90s. There was a significant renewal of the church because people were moving, especially to places like London, from all over the world, and what you have are these really faithful people from places like Asia and Africa moving to the UK and saying we've been following Jesus for a long time, would you like to come? And so often the church renewal happens in that way, and here in Princeton we've seen so much of that and we're grateful for that. But something in Australia that's so interesting is that amongst this subset of the population, often called boomers, people 55 and over, you're seeing this dramatic increase in church attendance Between 2016 and 2021, the number of Australians aged 55 and over who changed from no religion to Christianity, increased by 48% to nearly 195,000 people. Again, if you spend any time in church, one of the things that you have to overcome is that sense of apathy and malaise that people can actually change. I run into this in my own life, where I'll interact with people daily and I have to keep that vision, which is really Jesus' vision, because Jesus has a heart for this person. Jesus is drawing them to themselves, but sometimes in my interactions I'm like that person will always kind of be that way and especially as people grow old, that sediments and it stratifies. And to see this kind of significant shift in Australia is remarkable.
Speaker 1:Sociologist Peter Berger traced what he called the secularization story and essentially, if we were to boil down that story, the story of secularism is that as our knowledge of science and technology increases, that religion and the need for it will be pushed to the margins. So the most bare basic version of this story is the ancients used to think that thunderstorms were the product of the angry gods and now we know that it's caused by friction in the atmosphere and all sorts of other factors, and so that idea that, as science explains that it minimizes the need for religion. And in the 60s, berger wrote significantly that this would be kind of a boulder rolling downhill. It was irreversible. But Berger kept doing research. He kept paying attention to the trends and, as with any wise or intelligent person, what he began to see as he assessed the data was that the data was telling him he was wrong. And do you know what wise and intelligent people do? When data tells them a different story than they've been telling? They change. It's remarkable. You mean you don't have to be so stringently like I am right, I will never change course. No, you don't to be so stringently like I am right, I will never change course. No, you don't. You can change your mind. You can say I have new information.
Speaker 1:And Berger realized that, though often his thesis was true at an institutional level, that at an individual level it just wasn't holding true, that people were still encountering life's biggest questions. Is there a God? If so, who are they? Who am I? What am I here for? What is living? What is dying? And they're coming to these questions and they're finding that often these places that we try to put this immense amount of meaning don't have answers to those questions. Amount of meaning don't have answers to those questions, we see a convergence of a lot of things going on, and I think we as Ecclesia, as a church here in Princeton, are uniquely positioned for what I think are just the glimpses of what God is going to do here in the United States, here amongst churches like ours and I say all this because I want to be a part of it. I hope you do too. Here at Ecclesia, we are this beautiful mosaic of young kids which we saw them leading us in worship here at the front just a moment ago of college students, yes, but also not just young kids and college students, people that just live here and have young kids, or people that are empty nesters.
Speaker 1:When we come together, it is a miracle. Like take a moment and look around, look who you're sitting next to. Like maybe you're sitting next to a friend or a family member, but for the most part, you have to ask yourself the question why am I in the room with this person? And I would lead you to another question, which is why I'm going to listen to a talking head for 15 to 30 minutes. I don't do that anywhere. You can ask yourself that question later. It's a strange thing that happens when we gather together. It's nothing short of a miracle. There's no reason we should all be in the room together other than the fact that Jesus is Lord and he's risen Now. You may not believe that, and that's okay too If you're here and you're like. I don't subscribe to that. This is meant as sort of a glimpse and an invitation to what life in the kingdom looks like, and it has to be believable in the faces that you encounter. But it is a miracle that we're here together and I think as we see what God is doing, these streams that are converging in the wider world, we also see for us an invitation of what God might be wanting to do in us.
Speaker 1:Elizabeth Oldfield, who was with us on Tuesday for a talk here at the Arts Council, asked the question what kind of people are required at the end of the world, and she used that term end of the world not in the sense of the literal end of the world, and she used that term end of the world not in the sense of the literal end of the world. So I'm not going to invite you to set your watches and calendars to tell you that I know when Jesus is coming back, when all is going to end. None of that. Jesus tells the disciples that's not for us to know, it's not our concern. But she used that term end of the world in the sense of the apocalyptic. Apocalyptic from the Greek apocalypsis means to reveal. It means unveiling that which was previously hidden. It's not just about end times and zombies and chaos. It's about seeing to the root of things. What kind of people are needed at the end of the world?
Speaker 1:And what I want to do today is as we turn to our story here, which is one of my favorite stories in the scriptures in John 21,. What I want to do today is as we turn to our story here, which is one of my favorite stories in the scriptures in John 21,. What I want to do is sort of invite us to hold two different layers at one time, and the first, I'm going to give you all of it right at once. You can take a picture of it. You can kind of save that for later, something hopefully to contemplate, to pray about, like, yes, lord, would you do this?
Speaker 1:But the dynamics of a move of God. If God is on the move, then what kinds of things are happening? First, we see the miraculous power of God that that which is happening is inexplicable in some ways, and there's nothing more miraculous than a life change. I love what the recently deceased Pope Francis said. It's one of my favorite quotes because it's so simple and so beautiful. Jesus came to save us from the lie that people can't change. I mean, come on right. And there's something so profound about somebody who is more advanced in years, who's seen a lot, still saying at some point in their life I trust you, jesus, but we see the miraculous power of God. We'll see that today in John 21.
Speaker 1:The second the lifting of shame that people oftentimes. When God engages in renewal, the first response that people have is to confess their sins, and what they find in that confession is not the whole room turning to them like you did what. What they find is freedom. What they find is that in unburdening themselves from that brokenness, they find grace. At the same time, we see commissioning and responding with obedience. Jesus doesn't just invite us to receive the life that he has for us, he invites us to participate in what he's doing in the world.
Speaker 1:Jesus says come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden. And he says two things. Next he says I will give you rest, which is beautiful. But he also says my yoke is easy and my burden is light. A yoke was an agricultural tool used to join oxen together for plowing fields. So Jesus is saying I will unburden you from all the lies, all the distortions that you have been living under the crushing weight under, and at the same time, I'm going to invite you to join me as I make all things new. Last, we see, knowing ourselves as beloved by God. How can there, where there's confession of sin, how can there, where there's confession of sin, how can there, where there's this reorienting of our lives, how can there be this pervasive joy? It's because god's love is really that good, and we'll see what that looks like. So we have this kind of macro, wider angle perspective. What I want to do, then, is is scale down into the micro. As we enter john, chapter 21. If you have a bible, you can turn with us over there or we'll have the words for you on the screen. I'm going to invite you. Let's hear the word of the Lord together, john 21.
Speaker 1:After these things, jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the sea of Tiberias, and he showed himself in this way Gathered there together were Simon Peter, thomas, called the twin Nathanael of Cana, and Galilee, the sons of Zebedee and two others of his disciples. Simon Peter said to them I'm going fishing. They said to him we will go with you. Now we're not told why Peter and these other disciples, after having seen the risen Jesus in John, chapter 20, returned to their fishing nets. It could be as simple as they needed to earn money, and this was the vocation and the skill that they knew the best. Peter, when he was called by Jesus, was a fisherman, as we'll see in just a moment. It also could be a commentary on their particular wavering about what was to come, particularly Peter's, his sense of self, his sense of calling.
Speaker 1:From the standpoint of John's narrative, peter was a part of the revelation of the risen Christ in John, chapter 20. So he's seen Jesus alive, but the last time we've sort of seen and heard from Peter, he is denying that he even knows Jesus. We see this prior to Jesus' death on the cross. So, yes, peter and the other disciples have seen the risen Jesus, as John will tell us on two previous occasions, and Peter, like the other disciples, has heard the word of peace that Jesus has both for the disciples and the entire world. This is what heaven has to say to earth. Peace shalom.
Speaker 1:Peter's return to his nets may be the sign of a crisis of vocation. Perhaps he's going back to what is comfortable. Perhaps he's asking himself the question how can he serve Jesus if he has denied him? So we have, first of all, a crisis of vocation, and a crisis doesn't have to be negative. Crises encounter us and they bring us to an inflection point, a time of considering, of changing.
Speaker 1:And for many of you, you're on the forefront of a sort of crisis of vocation and you're assessing, you're discerning where are my gifts needed? Where are they obvious? What should I major in? What sort of line of work should I do? And I'll tell you this the answer for everybody is not private equity. Okay, but the reality is there's nothing wrong with that. But I find sometimes it's like that's the answer, nothing wrong with that. But for those of us who maybe have been down the road a little bit again, those of us maybe a little more weathered, a little more cracks in our faces, there's a different kind of crisis of vocation.
Speaker 1:That often happens. We get down the road and we start asking ourselves the question what does all this mean Now? Oftentimes we've talked about this before we put far too much import and meaning into our paid work. Plain and simple. We over-index on that because that is a statement that we have some value in America and that's not the biblical sense of vocation. But for many of us we've had the experience either a job was lost, a road that we were walking down was closed to us, or we're like I want to get off this road as quickly as possible, please.
Speaker 1:And there's a different kind of crisis of vocation that enters in. I think this is where we see Peter. To some extent, he's been walking down the road with Jesus for three years and now he's arrived at this inflection point. And what do we see him doing? He's going back to his nets, that which is somewhat comfortable for him. So we frame this story. Questions of vocation, surely, but also Peter having denied Jesus, knowing that he's alive and not knowing how to stand before him. We have questions of shame. How will I stand before my Lord whom in the hour of trial I falter? Verse 3.
Speaker 1:They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Fishing in this culture took place overnight, often from dusk till dawn If you really want to get into the idiosyncrasies of scholarship and biblical studies. But I know there's many people here in Princeton that study very significant things that are very minute. There's a whole book on ancient first century Jewish fishing practices. You could read it. I commend it to you. But if you're really into it like where does this stuff come from? People have began to study like, okay, well, how would these disciples have fished? They would fish from dusk until dawn. They would use different kinds of dragnets to snare the fish. But these were professional fishermen. Their whole existence is predicated on the fact that they are good at catching fish. Right, they have some knowledge. They're putting that to use and we see that all night they have fished and they have caught nothing.
Speaker 1:In Luke, chapter 5, we have a very similar story to our story for today. The disciples have been similarly working all night and caught nothing, beginning to see a bit of a pattern here. Maybe we consider a different line of work. But Jesus comes to them at dawn, and Jesus was such a genius, he was so brilliant. And I don't know if you've been on the water, but there's those little coves that you can be in and the water has this way of amplifying sound over it, and Jesus, oftentimes, when he would teach in the scriptures, would just set out on a little boat. He would be in the water and the people that were listening to him would be in a little cove. Just a little natural amplification. Jesus, the author of all things, kind of knows how things work, and he would teach from there.
Speaker 1:And so these disciples have been out all night. Jesus comes to them on the shore. They're surely exhausted. They've been awake all night. They're feeling defeated. Jesus says hey, would you mind, can I borrow your boat and you? You row out maybe 100 yards and we'll have a little chat with these folks that are gathering on the shore. And the sub was like I guess so.
Speaker 1:And so they put out with Jesus into the water, and as Jesus finishes teachings, he says hey, you know what if we tried to fish again? Again, fishing didn't take place at daytime, it wasn't the time where the fish were congregating. Also, too, how would you like if the pastor came to your job and was like hey, have you considered trying it this way? I'm like, yeah, guy, go back to your books and your coffee, please trying it this way. I'm like, yeah, guy, go back to your books and your coffee, please. So Jesus, with all of his grand knowledge, says what if we tried again? And Peter tries to push back Master, we've worked all night long, caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.
Speaker 1:Verse 6 of Luke 5. When they had done this, they caught so many fish their nets were beginning to burst, so they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats so that it began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying Go away from me, lord, for I am a sinful man. Sounds like Isaiah here, isaiah 6.
Speaker 1:As Isaiah encounters the presence of the Lord in the temple, woe is me, for I am a sinful man amongst these sinful people. And yet at exactly that realization, there is a way made, there's invitation. We have to see this. Jesus doesn't just reveal his profound holiness so that we can be set aside cowering. He invites us, as Peter tells Jesus, please. I don't know who you are, but there's something profound happening here. We see that Jesus at one and the same time says do not be afraid, from now on you will be catching people. When they brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him. When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.
Speaker 1:In Luke 5, their initial response to Jesus' word invitation was to leave everything, their boats and their nets and to receive Jesus', call to fish for people. Now we see Peter and the sons of Zebedee who are also there in Luke 5, back trying to just fish, and the text tells us they caught nothing. We often try to do this in our life with God. We receive a call, an invitation to live by faith, to serve the Lord, to expect that he will do abundantly more than we can ask or imagine. And then we come to these different crossroads in our lives and we're tempted to shrink back to what is comfortable, what is known and what is manageable. And the subtle commentary of John is this Our skills, no matter how prodigious they may be, in light of God's call, will no longer serve us. These professional fishermen caught nothing, verse 4. And since Luke 5. So they cast it and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. The disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter it is the Lord, yes, our ways of managing our world, our circumstances, our lives will no longer suffice or sustain. They caught nothing. But Jesus speaks a better word, a word of abundance, of extravagance and provision.
Speaker 1:Now, I don't know if you've had this experience. Maybe you've gone fishing at the shore overnight, perhaps you've spent a night on the water. But even in warm places, I grew up in a very hot climate. Sometimes we spent a long time in the lake, even at night. Sometimes it would get a little cold, and we see that Peter and these fishermen have been fishing all night in Tagba, which is the village that's associated with this story, on the banks of the Sea of Galilee or the Sea of Tiberias in our story. The temperature today is like the lows are in the 60s, the water temps somewhere in the upper 60s, which is not that warm, and the highs can get into the 80s and 90s in the warmer months. So we do have quite a range here. But you've probably had that experience of being out on the water. In the night it got quite cold, and now the sun is coming up. Oftentimes one of the fishermen would have to jump into the water to make sure the nets weren't getting tangled.
Speaker 1:In this style of fishing and the sun is coming up and we can presume, because we're told in verse 7, that Peter is naked. He has removed his outer garment. The word used there is the word gymnos, where we get our word gymnasium, because historically a gymnasium was a place where predominantly men would gather and were mostly unclothed and naked. So Peter is not clothed. The sun is rising, he's probably been cold all night and he's finally starting to warm up. Now he hears a voice from the shore. Peter no doubt a bit cold hearing the voice, feeling the warmth of the sun on his skin. When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he had taken it off. He was gymnos gymnos in the Greek. He jumped into the sea, but the other disciples came in the boat dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only a hundred yards off.
Speaker 1:If you were going to get into the water, don't you normally remove clothes? Yes, I understand that Peter's down to his undergarments. He's not completely in the nude here. He's been working fishing and culturally a man would not go about in his undergarments. But if you sort of think about the life of the disciples and all the time they've spent together. Surely Jesus has seen Peter in this state before? They spent a lot of time together. So why does John tell us this specific detail? It could be nothing and I always want to put that possibility before you, but as I read it I'm like hmm.
Speaker 1:In Genesis, chapter 2, the text tells us that the man and the woman in the shalom and extravagance of the garden are naked in the Greek translation of the Old Testament called the Septuagint, the same word gumnos and are unashamed. The Greek translation of the Old Testament, in chapter 3, tells us that the man and the woman, upon eating from the tree for which they were forbidden to eat from, realize that they are gymnos naked and they hide from God. They sew together figs and leaves to cover themselves up and when the Lord goes walking through the garden in the cool of the evening, they hide. And God asks that ever gracious question where are you? And they call out from the bushes over here. Why are you hiding? Oh, we hid because we were naked. Who told you that you were Gymnos Naked?
Speaker 1:To my mind, john is such a masterful storyteller that this dynamic and Peter's response, especially when we consider that Peter puts on his outer garment To swim Is causing us to pay attention. Think about just your cultural assumption of what people wore in Jesus' time. Maybe you've watched the Chosen right. People were wearing long flowing robes, right Like not exactly swimming attire. Why does Peter, when he perceives that it might be Jesus calling to them from the shore, why does he put on his clothes to jump into the water for a couple hundred meters swim? And how do we do this with God? At some level, we often know that God is the only place we can find healing, relief for our shame, and yet we spend so much time trying to pretty ourselves up to come into his presence or to fix that which we can and say, okay, see God, you're soaking wet after your swim. Hey, I'm here, and Jesus delights in any attempt we make back towards him because he has gone the whole way. But I'm telling you, friends, jesus had seen Peter in that state before. I don't think he needed to put on his outer garments and belabor himself for this swim. I think he could have just come as he was. But Peter wraps himself and approaches the Lord soaking wet Verse 9.
Speaker 1:When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there with fish on it and bread. Jesus said to them bring some of the fish that you've just caught. So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore full of large fish. It's really funny to me that Jesus has fish and he's already cooking. He's like oh yeah, bring some more of your fish too. You can participate in this meal also. 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. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he rose from the dead. This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he rose from the dead.
Speaker 1:Do you have a smell that always brings you back, a smell that maybe you have happy memories associated with? Perhaps you grew up in a household that was safe and comfortable. Perhaps somebody in your house baked bread, mom or dad and that smell of being in a bakery always brings you back home. I can still sort of conjure the sense memory of Courtney, my wife and I just started dating in high school. I can still remember what that smelled like. I also remember the smell of middle school and this is for the elder millennials Abercrombie Woods, just everywhere, just so much. Some of you are younger, it's Axe Body Spray. That was my time in youth ministry, but you have smells that bring you back.
Speaker 1:Neuroscientists have made much of the connection between the sense of smell and our memories. Dr Murthy, in a Harvard study, says this smells are handled by the olfactory bulb, the structure in the front of the brain that sends information to the other areas of the body's central command. For further processing, odors take a direct route to the limbic system, including the amygdala and the hippocampus, the regions related to emotion and memory. The olfactory signals very quickly get to the limbic system. If that all sounded like jargon for you, let me just translate that your sense of smell is a superhighway to your emotions and, like everything, marketers have taken this information and capitalized on it.
Speaker 1:Everywhere, from hotels to sneaker stores, are rolling out signature scents that, according to researchers, scented environments have been shown to reduce typos made by office workers I'm not seeing that to be true but Improve the perception of product quality, increase purchase intent, average unit sales and duration of a retail visit or stay among consumers and boost the willingness of consumers to pay more for a product. Have you been to the Graduate Hotel over in Princeton? They're pumping in that. I don't know if it's like Hyatt or Marriott scent, but it is there along with the Yacht Rock and I don't know why they chose that, but that's what they chose. Maybe they're trying to get rid of people like me who are squatters and just go work in there.
Speaker 1:Nike's signature scent was inspired by, among other things, the smell of a rubber basketball sneaker as it scrapes across the court and a soccer cleat in grass and dirt. I love these marketing meetings and I would like to be a part of one, because you're meeting with Nike. So we're going to have a smell. Yes, it's going to smell like a basketball sneaker going across hardwood. Like what does that mean? It's like, yeah, that's what that means. You know what that means. If you've ever been camping or spent the evening by a campfire, you know one of the most persistent scents is campfire. I don't know about you, but when I've been by a fire, I'm delighted by the smell. I like it. Or if I've been smoking a large hunk of meat, that's great, but I'm also very self-conscious about that smell. For the rest of it I'm like maybe not everybody likes this, or I also worked in restaurants for a long time and you just walk out of there smelling like the place and you're like, oh, very self-conscious about that.
Speaker 1:But as Peter approaches Jesus on the beach soaking wet from his couple hundred-meter swim, the first thing that he smells is a charcoal fire. There are only two times the word for charcoal is used in the New Testament. The second time is in our text today. The first is found in John 18. As Peter is standing by another fire, as a young girl asks Jesus, you aren't one of his disciples too, are you? And Peter says no, I'm not. Verse 18 tells us it was cold and the servants and officials stood around a fire. In the Greek that says charcoal fire. So verse 18 is the first time charcoal is used. They had made to keep warm. And then, very plainly, it says Peter was also standing with them warming himself.
Speaker 1:What do you suppose Peter's neurobiology and emotional memory are doing right now as he smells this fire? As he arrives on this beach soaking wet, do you think they're telling him good stories about what he's done? No, have you ever experienced this? A shame rises in you as you are reminded of your failings, as you're reminded of the way you failed a person that you dearly love, and there's nothing you can do about it. It is just part of the inscribed history lived between you. Brene Brown describes shame as the intensely painful feeling or experience of believing that we are flawed and therefore unworthy of love and belonging.
Speaker 1:It would seem that Jesus is taking Peter on a super highway right back to his shame. Why would he do that? You know, I've often noticed the charcoal fire. That stuck out to me. That's one of those biblical studies 101 things People connect. They're like charcoal fire John 18, charcoal fire John 21. Look at what Jesus is doing and it is really beautiful. But I frankly didn't really ever pay attention to what Jesus is cooking over the fire. He's got bread and fish there. He even took some fish from the disciples said, hey, bring some of yours.
Speaker 1:In John 6, when thousands were in need of something to eat, jesus fed them with bread and fish. Even as Jesus is leading Peter on this journey, this winding journey, there's this subtle preview of the extravagant grace that he already has prepared for Peter, verse 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. 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. 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? Peter's a man, he's like Jesus. You know I've already answered that, of course. He said to him Lord, you know everything, you know that I love you. Jesus said to him feed my sheep.
Speaker 1:Peter famously denied Jesus three times. How many times does Jesus ask the question do you love me? Three times. And Peter in that moment can't see the symmetry of that which is happening. He doesn't realize what Jesus is doing, that the invitation for Peter is no longer to fishing, it is to shepherding, it is to joining Jesus in what he is up to in the world. Jesus then says to Peter he says Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you used to fasten your own belt to go wherever you wish, 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. And then John tells us exactly why Jesus said this. He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God. And after this, jesus says to him follow me.
Speaker 1:Jesus' first question to Peter do you love me more than these? What is he referencing? We don't know. Is he referencing the fishing, his career, his friends, his own sense of control or comfort? Perhaps all of it? But this really is the question that Jesus puts to us here today. In the same sequence, jesus outlines that Peter, who used to be able to set his own agenda, now will be tied up and led. And it's so beautiful that, as Jesus outlines what will become of Peter, he's saying you will live a life that looks like mine and you will die a death that looks like mine.
Speaker 1:Famously and traditionally, peter when it was deemed that he would be crucified. When he received that sentence, he said I'm not worthy to be crucified in the same manner as my Lord. And traditionally, peter was crucified upside down and it was a death that glorified God. And when John talks about glory, he's always talking about suffering. He's talking about the way that God is working, even when it seems like the dark is the darkest. But the call for Peter is not to fish, not to return to that which is comfortable, not to go back to that which you can manage, but to receive Jesus's call to more. And I love the way Peter's later writings seem to suggest that this conversation marked him for the rest of his life.
Speaker 1:First Peter, chapter five writings that represent Peter's later life with Jesus. He says this to the church watching over them, not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be, not pursuing dishonest gain but eager to serve, not lording it over those who entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away. That image of a shepherd has marked Peter indelibly. It doesn't mean that everything is going to be up and to the right from that point forward. If you read Galatians, paul confronts Peter to his face and says you are undermining the gospels.
Speaker 1:Peter has fits and starts in his life with Jesus, but what we see is that Jesus is drawing him. Follow me, receive my invitation, receive the life that I have drawn out for you. And Peter, throughout the course of his life, walks that road of faith. But here we see Peter, maybe in a bit of his still immature, nascent self. He turns and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved, who was sitting there. Traditionally we associate this person with John, the writer of the gospel. He was the one who would recline next to Jesus at the supper and said Lord, who is it that's going to betray you? When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus Lord, what about him? You ever had that in your life with God? Well, what about them? Seems like things are going great for them. Jesus said if it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me. We see that Peter is still competing, in some ways, still envious, still racing to the tomb and coming in second, still thinking that he could be one of the hundred who beat up the gorilla. But Jesus' invitation holds strong. Follow me.
Speaker 1:Throughout John's gospel, john has referred to himself as the beloved disciple. Have you ever been around somebody that actually talks in the third person? I haven't. I mean Ian hasn't. How insufferable do you have to be right. And throughout this whole gospel, john, the writer of the gospel, has been referring to himself in the third person as the disciple who Jesus loves. His whole reality is defined by the love of Jesus. His whole reality is defined by the love of Jesus and, as insufferable as we may deem, talking in the third person for John is a glimpse of the kind of life that Jesus has designed for us. His sense of the love of God is so all-encompassing that when he looks at Jesus he feels uniquely special in all of the universe, that, considering every person who's ever walked the earth, the earth and the Lord's all the fullness of John looks at Jesus and he sees that he is the one special in God's sight. And I'm telling you this, ecclesia, this is not something that he deems as his special property. It's an invitation for us that his life, so defined by the love of God, can be ours as well, that we can consider ourselves the disciple whom Jesus loved. This is not meant to be a title, but an invitation.
Speaker 1:Henri Nouwen, the Catholic mystic and writer, has a whole reflection on this, called the Life of the Beloved, and I offer just a sampling of it to you today. I encourage you to read it. But he says you have to keep on masking the world about you for what it is Manipulative, controlling power, hungry and, in the long run, destructive. The world tells you many lies about who you are, and you simply have to be realistic enough to remind yourself of this. Every time you feel hurt, offended or rejected, you have to dare to say to yourself. These feelings, strong as they may be, are not telling me the truth about myself. The truth, even though I cannot feel it right now, is that I am the chosen child of God, precious in God's eyes, called the beloved from all eternity and held safe in an everlasting belief. My son Sully, my daughters Evie and Rory, and, to some extent, silas, now has started to dip their toes into athletics and performance. One of the things I say to them often, because I want them to know that I don't care how they perform, it doesn't matter. It doesn't change the way I feel about them and, beyond that, it doesn't change the way that God feels about them. And so the simple question I ask them is what's the most important thing about you? And the little answer we've come up with is that the most important person in the world, aka Jesus, god, holy Spirit, loves me, and that will be true. Whether you win, you lose, whether you mess up, it doesn't matter, because that is the absolute truth of who you are and nothing that you do in the next few moments is going to change any of that.
Speaker 1:Teresa of Avila was a famous Carmelite, a nun, a mystic, and one day, as she was ascending the stairs in the abbey where she lived, she saw a vision of a beautiful young boy. She realized that this child was not just any young boy. It was a vision of Jesus as a child. And the child asked her, as she's descending those stairs, who are you? And Teresa, looking at this young boy, said I am Teresa of Jesus. But then the young boy responded then I am Jesus of Teresa. And I wonder if we could be so bold today. I am Ian of Jesus and Jesus, as I echo his affection and love saying the same, I am Jesus of Ian. And that is the absolute truth of who we are.
Speaker 1:And what often gets in the way, what erodes our sense of the love of God, what erodes our sense of what he's called us to do? It's shame. We come to the charcoal fire. Our sensory memories fire and we remember we come to the charcoal fire. Our sensory memories fire and we remember that we messed up. And what we fail to hear in the midst of that is Jesus is saying yeah, yeah, yeah, I know three times you messed up. Every time I'm just asking you, do you love me? Which really is just Jesus asking do you receive my love? Do you see that you are loved and can you echo that response with your own love? Do you see that you are loved and can you echo that response with your own love?
Speaker 1:Our own shame, our inadequacy tries to tell us that we are not deserving of God's love. And, as we know, as Nouwen says, that the world itself is full of scripts, of lies and delusions that are destructive. But, as Jesus says in John's Gospel, it's not just that, there is an enemy, the father of lies, that tells us lies about ourself and tries to keep us in this place. Every move that we make towards God, he's whispering at the same time yeah, that's not. I mean, that's not who you are, I mean that's for other people. We know what you've done, we know who you are, we know the kind of lane you like to live in, right On the shores of Tagba, israel, the church of the primacy of St Peter.
Speaker 1:The Franciscans have erected a statue that depicts this scene that we have been describing today. We see, if I'm putting that picture up, if you're back there, thanks, or maybe it's frozen, that's okay too. Oh, yes, we got it. Excellent. We see Jesus. He's quite large compared to Peter. Even though he's standing, he's significantly larger, and artists will often do this to convey something true the grace far outweighs the failure. And we see Jesus bequeathing this shepherd's staff to Peter, and Peter is kind of caught in between. It's almost like he's inching up to receive this blessing, but he's also kind of turning away. But he's taking hold of it.
Speaker 1:And I wonder, as we contemplate this, jesus is just asking each one of us do you love me? I'm going to invite the worship team forward and I wonder, ecclesia, if you'd be so bold to receive the good news that you are the disciple that Jesus loves, the good news that you are the disciple that Jesus loves. That's not a product of your own doing. It's not something that you can manifest or make happen on your own. It is the gift of the gracious God who has given his life for you and I wonder if you would receive his call that Jesus gives to Peter tend my sheep, serve my kingdom, take part in what I am doing, because it is so much better than the fishing you're trying to go back to. You caught nothing. Good job, I've got more for you, and it may be a more that's defined by suffering, it may be a more that's defined by walking by faith, but it is infinitely better.
Speaker 1:We pray, holy Spirit, come God, would you, in all of your kindness and your tenderness, lord, in the confines of our hearts, lord, minister to us. God, for those of us who need to hear this word, perhaps for the first time, that we are loved by you with a love that is infinite, inexhaustible and unshakable, god, a love that far outruns our failure, not by denying it, not by minimizing it, but by truly meeting it with all of your power, your presence and your self-giving love. Can we see the asymmetry of grace, lord, that, as many times as we have failed, lord, you have infinitely poured out yourself. God, and you are just asking us do we love you, god? Give us grace to respond. Yes, we love you, god. Give us grace to respond.
Speaker 1:Yes, god, for those of us who would be honest with ourselves, that we've gone back to a life with you that has all the markings of a life with you, but is a life that we can manage and is comfortable. God, would you draw us away from the nets that we can manage, god, towards the flock that is much more unruly. That we would heed your call to feed your sheep. Lord and God, could we insert our names into that sentence, with all the boldness of a child of the King that I am, ian of Jesus, and to hear the gracious word that precedes it and echoes it, that that means that Jesus is Jesus of the end, and it's true for each one of us here today. Lord, help us to receive the life that you have for us. We pray these things in your name. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, we pray amen.