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?’ And he said to him, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep. 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.’ (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, ‘Follow me.’
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Think about what
happens when you apply to college. You get accepted, and then, when
you arrive, they put you to work, right? Classes, classes, homework
and then more classes. I will freely confess that I wasted much of
my time at college—I forgot the reason I was there. They gave me
work to do, but I often busied myself doing other things.
What happens when
you get a job? You apply for it, and if you are offered the job, you
show up on the first day and, surprisingly enough, they give you
something to do. They have work for you. They don't encourage you
to laze about and enjoy your pay without ever doing anything in
response.
This is how life
works, right—you sign up for something and, sure enough, you're
given something to do. If you sign up for something and then never
do anything, it's pretty easy to forget you ever signed up for it,
right?
Well, it turns out
that faith isn't that different from these situations. When we
accept the gift of faith, he gives us something to do.
Here we are, in
John 21. This is just about the very end of the Gospel. Jesus has
been brutally crucified on the cross. The disciples and his family
have suffered through an interminable period of suffering and
anguish, mourning the loss of their beloved teacher and friend.
Then, on that first glorious Easter morning, Jesus is raised from the
dead. He appears to the disciples and confirms his resurrection.
There is much rejoicing, and the community of disciples must devour
every morsel of teaching he offers them. They recognize that he is
more than just a great man—he is the Son of God, and he's offering
life to everyone who believes in him.
No one is going to
turn down that offer, right? We're all going to sign up—eternal
life as a free gift? Transformation of our lives in Christ given
without condition? Yes!!
So we accept his
offer, right?
Then, he gives us
something to do.
Peter is probably
the apostle about whom we know the most. Again and again, he appears
in the Gospels as energetic, although far from perfect. He's always
willing to jump in with both feet, even if he sometimes lands in a
difficult spot. It's Peter who identifies Christ as the Messiah.
It's Peter who asks Jesus to help him walk on water. It's Peter who
rushes in to defend Jesus with the sword in the Garden of Gethsemane.
It's Peter who denies Christ in the courtyard, saving his own skin.
Here, just before today's reading, it's Peter who dives in and swims
to shore to be near the risen Jesus. Peter loves Jesus. Peter
offers his life to Jesus, accepting the promises of resurrection and
salvation.
And Jesus gives
Peter something to do.
It's not just busy
work, either. This is vitally important work. Feed my lambs,
Jesus says. Tend my sheep,
Jesus says. These are his beloved children, his treasured ones, and
he is willing to let someone else help in the care for them. This is
a task to be taken seriously. Let's not forget, as it is easy to do,
that each and every person on this earth is made in the image of God.
Each and every person, from the Pope to the President to the
prisoner to the peddler of flowers on the side of the road, is
fearfully and wonderfully made, knit together in their mother's womb,
and precious
in God's sight. We are God's beloved, his sheep, the ones whom God
pursues when we get lost. Each person matters to God, and because
they matter to God, they should matter to us, too.
So
Jesus gives Peter something to do, and it's of the utmost importance.
This is our highest responsibility—to care for what is precious to
God, the most precious and valuable resource in the world—people.
God's lambs. His sheep.
Friends,
I think that God gives us something to do, too. Christianity isn't
just about gaining access to the VIP lounge in the sky after we die.
It's not just about being freed from the fear of death and hell.
It's not just about heaven after death.
It's
about a transformation of life before death, too. It's about the
kingdom coming here and now. It's about how we live and how we treat
one another. It's a Gospel of life, for life.
So
our task is to feed Christ's sheep. To tend for his lambs. To love
his precious & beloved children.
How
are we going to do that?
First
of all, we need to recognize that we are all made in God's image.
None are better or worse than another. All have sinned and fallen
short of how we are called to live, and all are worthy of our love.
Jesus told us to feed his sheep, and he didn't qualify that statement
with the idea that we could only feed the ones we liked or the ones
that looked like us. He simply gave us a task to do and expects us
to do it.
Secondly,
we need to stop worrying about ourselves. Think, for a second, about
where Peter has been. He was the one who denied even knowing Jesus
Christ in the courtyard in order to save his own skin. He openly
denied Jesus Christ, and probably hated himself for it. Surely, he
doubted his own worthiness to be used by God. Surely, he wondered
whether he could possibly be good for anything. Surely, Christ
wouldn't want anything to do with him.
Instead,
Christ offers him redemption. Christ lets Peter affirm his love once
for every time he denied him, and then he sends him out into the
world to care for Christ's most precious possessions. He even tells
Peter that his very death will glorify God. Peter is redeemed from
his sin.
So
are you. You are not too far gone for Jesus. You are still worthy
of use, no matter what is in your past. God can and will use
everything that is offered to him, so stop focusing on yourself and
focus on Christ and the monumental task that is before us.
How
will we feed Christ's sheep? How will we tend to his lambs? God
wants to use us all to reach out and let his love be known through
our actions. Our faith isn't just about gathering us in—it's also
about sending us out to the lost and the broken, that we might
testify to his great love.
Let
us pray
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