This year, we’ve been exploring this idea that we can encounter God at any point of lives. That it doesn’t have to happen only on a day that we have culturally set aside for the worship of God.
In fact, I would argue that more often than not, we experience God in unexpected places and in those vulnerable moments that we’d much prefer to keep the ourselves or to simply pull up our bootstraps and try our best to move forward.
This is place we find the disciples.
They had been through the crucifixion, they’d even seen Jesus after his death, but they waited and waited and, well, . . . nothing happened.
And they realized that they couldn’t stay in a locked room forever, so they reached a point where they looked around at each other and shrugged their shoulders and said, “Well, I suppose we should get back to work.”
Well, you know how the story goes. They go back to what they know – fishing - and after they had fished all night long with no luck, they saw a man who was standing on the beach who yelled out some fishing tips.
So, they were like, “what the heck, it can’t hurt to try”. And when their nets filled, suddenly, one of the disciples cried out with recognition, “It is the Lord!”
Jesus says “come have breakfast” and they shared a meal together and have this deep conversation about what it means to live out resurrection.
When they finished eating, Jesus pulls Peter aside for a private talk. This is where we pick up the text
Read John 21:15-17
To understand the significance of this conversation we have to put it into context of another conversation Jesus had with Peter.
The night before he was arrested, Jesus is gathered his friends together to share one last meal with them, the Passover meal.
And as they are eating a dispute breaks out among them . . . they were all arguing about “which one was going to be the greatest in the kingdom?”
But instead of getting angry with them, Jesus simply redirects them and tells them that if you want to be the greatest then you serve. If you want to be first, go to the last. If you want to be the highest, you got to be lowest. If you want to be the most, you got to be the least.
Which doesn’t make any sense . . . but that’s cool. Whatever you say Jesus, we’re with you!
But then Jesus singles out Peter; who is not only one of the top guys in the inner circle but he is also really good friends with Jesus. There’s a bond of friendship and ministry that they have between them.
But Jesus calls him out, in front of everybody . . . and he refers to him as Simon; which is his old name before Jesus came into his life and he was given a new name.
So, when Jesus calls him Simon, what Peter hears from Jesus is, “You’re going back to your old ways. The way you used to be before you met me.”
And then Jesus says, “Peter, Satan has come to me and he asked to sift you like wheat.”
In other words, “Satan asked to tear you apart and this is going to be a very dark moment in our relationship because he wants you to see yourself as a failure; to think that you are unloved. He wants you to feel condemned, and ashamed, and dirty and destroyed and hopeless.”
But Jesus says, “I have prayed for you that your faith will not fail”.
Did you notice what he doesn’t pray . . . he doesn’t pray that Simon doesn’t fail; he prays that Simon’s faith doesn’t fail.
That in the midst of his failure, and shame, and brokenness that Simon will have faith in the knowledge that God loves Him and that in Christ He is not condemned and he is not hopeless.
And Peter says, “No way. There is no way that I will fail you”. But Jesus answered, “I tell you, Peter before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.”
Soon after this exchange, Jesus is arrested and Peter follows them at a distance. And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them, hoping to just blend into the crowd.
Then a poor, powerless, teenage servant girl . . . sees him in the light and says, “This man was also with him” but he denied it, saying “woman, I do not know him”
A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.”
“Man, I am not!” Peter replied.
About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.”
Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.”
Peter fails Jesus at his moment of desperate need. Peter is his friend. Peter is his disciple. Peter was supposed to be Jesus’ right hand man. He was supposed to be the rock in which the church would be built upon . . . How could he have been the one to have betrayed him like that?
But perhaps, Peter had to fail in order to fully understand what it means to be a follower of Jesus.
You see, if this were the end of the story, it would be completely devastating and utterly depressing.
But the story doesn’t end here . . . it picks up again on the beach when Jesus pulls Peter aside for a private talk and what you would expect him to say is “Peter you’re such a coward. You are a complete failure. You should be ashamed of yourself.”
But instead, he looks Peter right in the eye – just as he had done as the rooster crowed - and he asks, “Do you love me?” . . . not just once but three times . . . reminding Peter of his failure; not just once but three times.
But there is more going on in this interaction than Jesus reminding Peter of his failures.
You see, we only have one word in the English language for Love and it can be used in a lot of different ways. We can say “I love my grandmother” and we can also say “I love lima beans”
But the Greeks have more than one word for Love and in this interaction 2 of them are used:
- Agape – unconditional, never dying love. It’s a sacrificial love. It’s the way God loves us.
- Fileo – affection. It’s the way that humans love one another.
- The first time Jesus asked, "Simon, Do you truly agape me?"
- "Yes, Lord, you know that I feel fileo for you,"
- A second time Jesus asks, "Simon, son of John, do you truly agape me?"
- "Yes, Lord, you know that I fileo"
But then Jesus does something amazing. He changes the formula.
- The third time, Jesus asks: "Do you have fileo for me?"
- And breathing, I believe, a sigh of relief at this grace, Peter quietly responds, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I have fileo for you."
You see, he wasn’t just reminding Peter of his failure, he was telling Peter that you can’t do what I have done for you. You can’t love as I have loved. You can’t forgive as I have forgiven.
And when Peter recognizes this truth, Jesus gives Peter three commands – feed my lambs, take care of my sheep, follow me. Each time, Jesus conveys to Peter that he’s entrusting him with a Spiritual responsibility. No matter what Peter’s past failures, Jesus loves him and has forgiven him and he has a job for him to do . . . take care of my church.
It’s amazing that Jesus would not only forgive people but also allow them to communicate the message of forgiveness; that Jesus would not only love people but allow them to be agents of his love.
Because of this completely unexpected encounter with Jesus, Peter was utterly transformed. He became a completely different man. He went from being a man who was scared of the opinion of a teenage girl and denied Jesus to a man who stands up on the day of Pentecost and steps forward to preach the gospel.
He does that and Christianity grows from 120 people to 3,000.
But what I love the most is that Peter was never perfect. He continued to fail.
Later on, Paul had to confront Peter and let him know that he was out of line and that he must change. I’m sure this reminded Peter of his moment on the beach with Jesus . . . And Peter humbly receives it.
It’s amazing that God would use someone like Peter . . . or people like us.
You see, Jesus also says to us come follow me, let me transform your life and then be agents of my love and my grace . . . and do this by becoming humble and serving the least of these.
But let me tell you what’s gonna happen when you respond to God’s call to care for people and love on people and show the grace of God to people . . . You are going to fail. You are going to mess up. You are going to make mistakes.
And the evil one wants nothing more than for you to see yourself as a failure; to think that you are unloved and that you will never change. He wants you to feel condemned, and ashamed, and dirty and destroyed and hopeless. He wants you to give up.
But Jesus said something else at that table that night. He took the bread and he broke it and he said this is my body which is broken for you and he took the cup and he poured it and he said this is my blood which is shed for you . . . do this in remembrance of what I have done for you.
When you feel hopeless . . . find your hope in what Christ has done
When you feel dirty . . . find cleansing through the blood of Christ
When you feel condemned . . . find freedom in the broken body of Christ.
Don’t give up . . . Don’t give up . . . Don’t give up.
Read 1 Peter 1:3-9
What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now! God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you’ll have it all—life healed and whole.
I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime. Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it’s your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory.
You never saw him, yet you love him. You still don’t see him, yet you trust him—with laughter and singing. Because you kept on believing, you’ll get what you’re looking forward to: total salvation.