John 21:1-19 (NCV)
Jesus Appears to Seven Followers
21 Later, Jesus showed himself to his followers again—this time at Lake Galilee. This is how he showed himself: 2 Some of the followers were together: Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the two sons of Zebedee, and two other followers. 3 Simon Peter said, “I am going out to fish.”
The others said, “We will go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat. They fished that night but caught nothing.
4 Early the next morning Jesus stood on the shore, but the followers did not know it was Jesus. 5 Then he said to them, “Friends, did you catch any fish?”
They answered, “No.”
6 He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they did, and they caught so many fish they could not pull the net back into the boat.
7 The follower whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Peter heard him say this, he wrapped his coat around himself. (Peter had taken his clothes off.)
Then he jumped into the water. 8 The other followers went to shore in the boat, dragging the net full of fish. They were not very far from shore, only about a hundred yards. 9 When the followers stepped out of the boat and onto the shore, they saw a fire of hot coals. There were fish on the fire, and there was bread.
10 Then Jesus said, “Bring some of the fish you just caught.”
11 Simon Peter went into the boat and pulled the net to the shore. It was full of big fish, one hundred fifty-three in all, but even though there were so many, the net did not tear. 12 Jesus said to them, “Come and eat.” None of the followers dared ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, along with the fish.
14 This was now the third time Jesus showed himself to his followers after he was raised from the dead.
Jesus Talks to Peter
15 When they finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John do you love me more than these?”
He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”
16 Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John do you love me?”
He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”
17 A third time he said, “Simon son of John do you love me?”
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” Peter said, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you!”
He said to him, “Feed my sheep. 18 I tell you the truth, when you were younger, you tied your own belt and went where you wanted. But when you are old, you will put out your hands and someone else will tie you and take you where you don’t want to go.” 19 (Jesus said this to show how Peter would die to give glory to God.) Then Jesus said to Peter, “Follow me!”
Pastor Ed gave me this scripture Tuesday night. I looked it over and was thrilled. The majority of the scripture was about my favorite character in the Bible . . . Peter. As I went through the scripture, there were a number of areas where I saw whole sermons on just a verse or two.
This was a reading that could last for several Sundays.
There’s the part where the disciples went out fishing and caught nothing. Then Christ told them to go out again and, with his blessing, they filled their nets. The Bible tells us things in order to relate to our lives today. How often do we go out without asking for the Lord’s blessing and come back home with empty nets?
Then there’s the part where Jesus, the Loving Servant, took care of the physical needs of his disciples by serving them breakfast, then turned to healing the spiritual wounds of Peter by asking him 3 times if he loved him. This was Christ’s way of publicly forgiving Peter for the 3 times he denied Christ. Peter was always outspoken and even brash towards Christ at times and it is interesting to note that when Jesus foretold of Peter’s denial, that Peter was adamant when he spoke up and said, Lord, I will never deny you. Peter expressed great love for Jesus and would never deny knowing him.
In this exchange after Christ’s resurrection, Peter tones down his pledge to Jesus. The original Greek word that Jesus used when he asked Peter if he loved him meant to love affectionately, ardently, supremely, and perfectly. When Peter answered he used a Greek word that meant to love, to like, to regard, to feel friendship for another. In other words, Jesus asked if Peter loved him and Peter’s response was that he was fond of Christ. Quite a different Peter than before the crucifixion. Peter had been humbled. He had learned his lesson. He found out he was only human.
Then, as I was reading over the scripture, I asked myself what these 7 disciples were doing out there fishing. Weren’t they supposed to be out preaching and teaching as the Lord had instructed them? And there’s the part where the disciples didn’t even recognize that it was Jesus on the beach. This was the third time he had appeared to them since the resurrection, but they didn’t recognize him until they returned after going out again and catching 153 fish.
But the part I want to focus on this morning is where Jesus asked Peter to feed my sheep. Everyone sitting here this morning is in some way a disciple of Christ. We are disciples simply because we have come to the Lord’s house. Our friends and neighbors have seen us or heard about us going to church. That is a witness to others and an action that Disciples of Christ take.
We sing along with the Hymns, which are a form of praise and prayer to our Lord. We speak out loud, reciting the readings and prayers from the bulletins. We listen and try to learn from the sermons each Sunday. We speak out loud of the joys in our life. We give our monetary gifts to the Lord so that His work can be carried out in the community. We participate in outreach programs here at the church through breakfasts, sub and pizza sales, dinners and other things for the ultimate glory of God and to witness the love of God that is so abundant in this church.
All these things are a witness to others and are actions that Disciples of Christ do for the Glory of God.
And as a disciple, we are asked to feed his sheep. His sheep are the children of God no matter what age, no matter what race, no matter what gender and no matter how far along they are as Christians. His sheep are even those that don’t believe in Him right now. They are the children who are just learning about Jesus and the part he plays in their lives. The sheep are new and old believers who may just now be beginning to really understand the teachings and wonders of Christ in their lives. And they are the people and children who don’t even know about Christ.
And as disciples, we are charged with feeding his sheep. That means everything we do and say will become nourishment for his sheep so that they may grow and prosper in the Lord, or will be worthless junk food that will destroy the body and soul of his sheep. We must look at our lives every day, every minute and be sure that we are giving his sheep good, quality feed and nourishment and not junk food. We must care about the physical and spiritual health of all that are around us.
There is a remarkable change in the original Greek words used by Christ when he asks Peter to feed his sheep. In John 21:15, 17, our Lord uses the verb that simply means to feed, and in John 21:16 he uses a word which means to tend a flock, not only to feed, but to take care of, guide, govern and defend. By this, the Lord is saying that it is not sufficient merely to offer the bread of life to the congregation of the Lord, but we must take care that the sheep are properly collected, attended to, regulated, and guided. Peter perfectly understood our Lord’s meaning, and saw that it was a direction given not only to him, and to the rest of the disciples, but to all their successors in Christian ministry. And remember; we are all ministers of Christ.
So here we all sit in the house where we worship and praise the Lord, knowing that Jesus has taught us that we are to love one another, but also knowing that we are to care for his sheep. How well do we listen to this charge? How often do we rebel?
To feed his sheep means we must take care of them, guide them, defend them, collect them, attend to them, regulate and govern them. And how do we do this? By example and by teaching. In everything we do or say, we are teaching his sheep how to live and how to love. We must strive to fulfill the role of a Christian. We will never be perfect, but we must always try to become better. We must live like a Sunday Christian on Monday and Tuesday and all the other days of the week. By this example, we are feeding His sheep. We are showing the love of the Lord and are teaching others what it means to walk with the Lord.
One of my earliest memories of childhood was going to church with my Mom. We would go on Sunday mornings and I would attend Sunday School with the other children. The adults would have their own Sunday school. Then we would gather together and listen to a regular morning worship service. We would go back again on Sunday night for worship then go again on Wednesday nights for a prayer meeting. This was our routine for many years.
As I became older and understood more about what was going on at church, I started asking more and more questions of my Mom as we walked the half mile or so to church. I would ask about things I heard in Sunday school or ask about something I didn’t quite understand during the worship service. As I learned more about the Bible and the teachings of our Lord, I was moved to find out even more. I began to understand what it meant to walk with the Lord.
As was custom in the church I attended, there was a routine altar call at each service. That means I probably sat through several hundred altar calls and was pretty numb to what was happening. Then at about the age of 12 I remember getting a little uncomfortable during these calls to the altar. Eventually I began to realize it was the Lord, urging me to make a public acceptance of His love and dedicate myself to carrying out His will.
This was a glorious time in my life. I finally got it. And for the next 4 years or so I was solid in my belief and solid in trying to live my life as a good Christian. I was ready to be a disciple of Christ.
I bring this out so you will be able to understand what happened next. I was still a sheep, a lamb, needing to be fed, nurtured and cared for.
At about 14, I began to pass papers from house to house in our small community and every Saturday, I would go around and collect the money for the previous week. To this day, I clearly remember going into the house of the deacon of our church to collect for the papers. I had to wait inside while someone went to another room to find the money and the punch card we used to keep track of payments. I was there for several minutes.
I had always looked up to this older man as a great leader of our church. He spoke out regularly of the glories of the Lord and was the leader of the choir and did so many other things in the church. Next to the pastor, I thought he was the one that ran the church and was involved in every other thing in the church.
As I stood there waiting for my money, I heard this man and his wife arguing and swearing at each other. His appearance was unlike any time I saw him in church. His hair was uncombed, his clothes were old and ratty, he had his false teeth out; I didn’t even know he had false teeth. His voice was rough and snarling, his whole manner had changed. The house was unclean and messy. There was the smell of beer and empty bottles of beer on the counter. I was shocked.
I couldn’t wait to get my money and leave. I’m sure my jaw dropped and I’m sure there was a look of surprise on my face, but they were too busy hollering at each other to even notice.
I left there stunned. I had just witnessed the real life of a man that I thought walked arm in arm with God himself. I’ll never forget that experience. I was a lamb needing to be fed and cared for, but left there getting worse than junk food. I was given rotted garbage. That was the moment I began to question my own belief. If a man like this was one thing in church on Sunday’s and a totally different person on Saturday, then I must have the wrong idea of what it means to be a Christian.
This experience carried through my later teens and into young adulthood. I began drawing away from the church and began drawing away from the Lord. I didn’t want to become a hypocrite, showing one face on Sundays and another throughout the rest of the week. I began to rebel against the Lord and all that I had been taught.
This man was supposed to be a disciple of Christ. I didn’t want to be like him.
Everyone here has been charged by Christ to be a true disciple, but it is up to us to take that charge seriously or simply to pay lip service to the Lord week after week. We can be a Christian on Sunday and live quite differently on the other days of the week. In everything we do or say, we show our willingness or our reluctance to be a follower of Christ.
Will we feed and tend his sheep? Or will we be like the deacon in my old church who shoveled out garbage on Saturday? I lost a lot of years of peace and comfort by walking away from the Lord because of what I was fed. I hope you will not be responsible for leading one of His flock astray. I pray that the nourishment you give will be comforting and sustaining to all the sheep you encounter.
Remember Christ’s final words to Peter. Follow me. He asked Peter and all the other disciples, and that includes us, to follow his teaching and follow his example. He asked us to feed His sheep. For the most part, we will feed by the example we set for others. Our actions and words will influence those around us more than we could have ever believed. A leader of my church influenced me. A leader of my old church helped lead me away from the Lord. He never knew it. You may never know what your example or what your words will do to influence someone else.
Let’s not leave Sunday here when we leave today. Let’s carry Sunday through the rest of the week.
Amen.
