The Power of Grace

Just a little recap, we’ve been working through the resurrection accounts in the book of John. We walk through Mary and eventually recognizing Jesus and telling the other disciples about it. We walk through Jesus showing up to the disciples and then with Thomas later and him getting to touch his side and his feet and see the wounds and touch him and declare that he is his Lord and his God and then it seems to have been a while since the resurrected Jesus popped up to him.

So Peter got bored and decided to go fishing and he took seven. There were seven of the disciples that went out and they fished and while they were fishing Jesus showed up on the shore and Peter got excited and dove in the water or belly flopped and then the disciples had a huge catch of fish and they brought him in and Jesus was already making some bread and some fish to ready them and he said bring me some more fish and they got the more fish. And then after dinner is when it gets a little more serious, maybe even a bit solemn and direct between Jesus and Peter.

You see when they came ashore and Peter saw that they that Jesus was on shore, John specifically said there was a charcoal fire and I alluded to last week how he said that there’s a charcoal fire to remind us of when Peter was standing at the charcoal fire denying Jesus how many times three times and then the cock crowed. And so this is Jesus one-on-one this you know how you have that people say you have come to Jesus meeting. Peter was having a come to Jesus meeting right here and it’s really pretty awesome.

Just three verses but these three verses have so much for us to unpack. Will you stand as you are able the gospel this morning comes from John 21 verses 15 through 17. 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.

He said to him feed my lambs. He said to him a second time, Simon son of John do you love me? He said to him yes Lord you know that I love you. He said to him tend my sheep.

He said to him a third time, Simon son of John do you love me? Peter was grieved 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. The word of God inspired by God for the people of God.

Thanks be to God. Amen. You may be seated.

Now in order to understand a little more context of what’s going on between Jesus and Peter we go back to the last supper and at the last supper out of the book of Luke he shows us how the disciples were arguing. At first Jesus said someone is going to betray me and in humility they were going is it I? Is it I Lord? And eventually and this never happens with guys but eventually they started disputing about who was going to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven and the kings and the Gentiles lorded over them but Jesus said you need to serve and then eventually Peter said to him Lord even if everybody else all these other guys all these other disciples up and leave you I will die for you. And Jesus said Simon Simon behold Satan has demanded to have you that he might sift you like wheat but I have brought prayer that your faith may not fail and when you have turned again strengthen your brothers.

Peter had to have something like this in the back of his mind when he sat across that charcoal fire looking in the eyes of Jesus. Now Jesus says it three times in three somewhat different ways but each way is very similar Simon son of John you love me. Now a lot of people make in the Greek it’s Simon son of John do you love me unconditionally or even better do you love me sacrificially as in you said you would die for me.

Do you love me sacrificially? And Peter said yes Lord you know that I love you. In fact on the first time Jesus said that he said do you love me more than these? What are these? Some people think do you love me more than the other disciples because he was arguing that he did earlier on. Some people think do you love me more than these fish because you got to make a choice are you going to fish for fish or fish for people.

Some people say do you love me more than these has many different things it could mean or does it mean do you love me more than you love your brothers. Do you love me more than your brothers? It probably does not mean anything like Jesus. That’s not Jesus character to say do you love me more than they love me.

What’s the end of that? Jesus might say do you love me more than you love fishing but he also likely says do you love me more than you love your brothers because his command was that you love him so much that everybody else comes second. That you love God first with all your heart mind soul and strength you love him more than even you love your brothers. And if you love Jesus you know more about how you should love your brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ.

In this short section Jesus words and Peter’s response show us three things that I can see love grace and purpose. Love grace and purpose. When I first read this and people were scholars connect this to you know how Jesus denied he denied Jesus three times so Jesus was given him the opportunity to say he loved him three times.

This is entitled well this one in here is Jesus and Peter but a lot of people entitled it the restoration of Peter. As in you see Jesus addressing him as Simon instead of Peter which means the rock the stone Cephas. He’s saying do you love me? And in that restoration I used to always get confused why wouldn’t Peter apologize? Why didn’t Peter apologize to Jesus? How many times have you messed up? Go ahead and count.

How many times have you messed up and you felt compelled to go to God and apologize? I’m sorry but there’s no apology here but yet there’s restoration. So how would we know that Peter is apologetic? How do we know that Peter is different? Well the Bible talks beyond apologies. Apologies are what our human spirits need.

We need to apologize. We need to say we’re sorry to each other because we hurt each other. With Jesus he doesn’t want to hear you say I’m sorry as much as he wants to hear you say I’m here for you.

Whatever you need this time around it’s going to be different. When Jesus came preaching after he had been in the wilderness tempted by the devil he didn’t say say you’re sorry and believe the good news. He said what word? Repent.

Say it out loud. So repent. Now repentance is similar to an apology but it takes another step further.

It you turn when you repent and go in the direction of God. Jesus wants us to repent. He doesn’t just leave it at saying I’m sorry because how many times do people say they’re sorry but then they do the same thing again? How does that happen? Oh Cheryl are you good? I didn’t even say anything.

If the kids want to go back here to this room they can go to Children’s Church. Not because I heard Michael stomping around. I love how excited he gets.

Okay so Jesus first offers love. Love and what I can see love gives rise to grace. If you love someone you forgive them.

You offer them grace. Now grace then empowers divine purpose. Gerald Vorschut who is a biblical scholar said Jesus does not bless human beings primarily to provide them with status but to carry out the divine purposes in the world.

Thus mission is inseparably linked to the calling and blessing of God. Grace in a Wesleyan sense is not just a free pass. God’s grace is not a free pass but a powerful upgrade to something greater.

Do you get that? When God has us and we trust in God and he gives us grace it’s not just so we get that free pass. So okay you haven’t lost your salvation today. You’re good.

It’s so you can have something even better. Something even greater that we get an upgrade so we have more power from the Holy Spirit not only to overcome that to become a witness to others. Lee Ekloth who is a retired pastor and now writes devotions mostly for pastors says Jesus here’s the gift when Jesus restores us he doesn’t just take us back to square one.

Back to where we were before. Jesus not only forgives our failures he repurposes them to make us better than we had been. Just ask Peter.

Thanks to the grace that reinstates us we love Jesus more deeply. We are better carriers of grace. Better models.

We are safer and more sympathetic to our people because of our newfound humility. When we receive the grace of God it doesn’t give us an arrogance that says ha I used to be that bad but now I’m good. It says I can understand how that you would get yourself in that trouble.

And it opens the door for conversation to say hey I couldn’t get through that without the love of Jesus. I needed that love of Jesus that gave me the grace. So here’s the grace and you take that grace and Jesus will take the grace in a biblical sense is not just that free pass it’s power.

There is power in grace that takes us from one place to the other. Is the Peter who claimed he would die for Jesus but yet denied Jesus three times the same Peter who said yes Lord you know that I love you three times. He’s not the same guy.

The skeptic in us says people can’t change. The skeptic in us says people don’t. A leopard doesn’t change its spots.

A tiger doesn’t change its stripes. Unless it’s an albino tiger. It doesn’t happen.

But it does with God. Grace is something that takes us from one level of faith to another level of faith. One level of humility to another level of humility.

Peter do you love me more than yes Lord you know that I love you. And he said it three times now. Now Peter does say in the Greek in his response.

Delia which means I love you like a brother which is an interesting response where Jesus first says you love me more than these. And if he’s asking do you love me more than you love your brothers. And Peter says I love you like a brother.

And he wants more. He wants more. And he says just like Peter denied him three times he says it in a different way but it tends to mean the same thing.

Take care of my sheep. Tend my sheep. Feed my lambs.

Feed my lambs. There’s a lot to that in what Jesus is telling to do. Now some who would say that Peter was the first leader of the church would say that this is where he gets his status.

But this is where he gets the grace to move and live and love as a disciple of Jesus Christ. Do you love me. Now the third time Peter becomes grieved in his spirit.

Now some people think that means not just like you’re not listening to me Jesus or you’re not believing me Jesus. But to have to say three times yes Lord you know that I love you. You know all things.

You know that I love you. I know you know because you know all there is to know. Or you’re omniscient.

And Peter was grieved in his spirit. But sometimes when we say stuff it doesn’t sink in right away. And the more we have to say it the more it sinks in.

And the more Peter became grieved in his spirit because he knew that he needed restoration. He knew that it wasn’t a free pass. He knew that Jesus had greater things in mind for him because when they met he said you’re going to be the rock on which I build my church.

And now in that step to be the rock he says feed my sheep or tend my lambs. So what does sheep eat? Sheep eat grass plants and leaves legumes. You know they’re grazers like a lot of herbivores.

They graze on the plants that are around them on the grass that is with them. Now Jesus says feed my sheep. Raise your hand if you’re a Jesus sheep.

If not we can talk. But sheep what does Jesus sheep need? They need to eat. They need to nourish on God’s word.

Are the Gideons passing out Bibles at the United Methodist Convention? They need to nourish on God’s word. They need to be strengthened by God’s word. They need to you feed sheep by using your gifts to tend and to feed the sheep.

In the book of Acts when when the disciples were preaching the word and the gospel was just starting to spread they were getting bogged down because the Jews and the Greek widows were arguing about who gets the amount of food and some of them were getting left out. And Peter said it’s hard for us to get the word out when we got to serve. So people stepped up and served.

People who were full of the Holy Spirit stepped up and served so they could do the word. We all have gifts and when we use them for God’s glory we can feed the sheep. We can feed one another.

We can feed those who need to know God and love Jesus. Use your gifts to tend and feed Jesus’ sheep. The last one this is a Gary Chapman book but it’s a love is a verb.

Okay it’s one thing to say yes Lord you know that I love you and basically said Jesus is saying if you love me feed my sheep. If you love me tend my lambs. If you love me take care of my sheep.

Love is a verb. Do we love Jesus? What are we doing for Jesus? If you love if you say you love someone but then you go and talk bad behind their back that’s a lie. If you say you love someone and when things get tough you tend to their needs you care for them that’s God’s love shining through you.

Peter feed my sheep. Now the word tend actually comes from the same root in the Greek as pasture. I do any of you have pets? Not even half.

It’s interesting having a dog that’s part poodle. He’s a golden retriever and a poodle mix to have a golden doodle and the golden doodle can be a picky eater. I’m blaming the poodle not the golden retriever but that’s my bias.

You see what that for for a couple of years the vets that the veterinarian we take them to has said oh they’re a little underweight. He’s a little underweight. We usually don’t see that in dogs.

Usually they overeat but your dog is underweight so you need to feed him more and so I put more and he said don’t overdo it but just add a little more food. So I added a little more food instead of one scoop I did like a scoop and a half and once in a while he would eat all of that and once in a while he wouldn’t even touch it. So eventually I went back and the vet got serious and she said if he has not gained the weight you need to come back here in a month and I’m going to weigh him again like like I’m a bad dog dad and so I went and I and I realized he had last year he had some teeth removed and he had he had to eat soft food for a little while so he ate that right up he loved it but as soon as being a dog with the water dish right next to it he would drip out of his out of his mouth into the bowl but as soon as that hard food got soft he wouldn’t touch it so he had to train me on how to feed him.

I have to check the dog food and if it’s wet I dump it out I dry the bowl out and then I put the food in there and then lo and behold he’ll usually eat it and he gained the weight he needed. I’m not just venting I’m getting somewhere with this when Jesus says feed my sheep it’s not so simple as to hold some some oats or some grass in your hand. Tend my sheep means to pasture sheep pasturing sheep means okay does everybody know this you drive and herd cattle but you what sheep you lead sheep you try to drive a sheep and say go go go or you point and say look look right over there there’s some green grass go go go go they they they look at you like I have no idea what you’re talking about.

Lead the sheep to pasture you lead them there you are with them and you show them and you are walking with them on their journey to be fed you use the hook or what is also known as the crook the shepherd’s staff you ever notice it has a hook on the end of it that is actually because can you imagine dealing with sheep when a sheep falls over they’re like a bug on their back with their legs flapping around they can’t get themselves back up and you use that hook to to get it around the neck and help them get up off the ground so when they fall you use the hook to help pick them up. Now Jesus said also he talked about if you had a hundred sheep and one of them left one of them disappeared and got lost you’d leave the 99 and go find the one so as a shepherd you go find the lost ones and then finally it says I would say you protect the sheep from the wolves that’s a big job of the shepherd we’ve talked a little bit recently about how hard it is sometimes to protect sheep from the wolf so they don’t eat the sheep because they want to eat the sheep so bad pasturing people is not just saying hey you need to receive Jesus that’s pointing them to Jesus instead lead them to Jesus show them what it is like to live a life with Jesus show them an example of someone who has received the grace that empowers us to change so we can overcome our sins and our flaws and we can serve Jesus and we don’t just get sucked up into the world and get caught up lead them walk with them take time to spend with them that’s making disciples encourage heal strengthen them that’s like lifting them up when they fall down what are people’s needs how do they need to get back on track when they fall and they get hurt whether it’s physically emotionally spiritually how are we there to lift them back up and to be their friend and to be their brother to be their sister to be strength when they don’t have strength to show them love when they think no one loves them pasturing people also means we find the lost ones we don’t just stick to our own who are around us and say you know if they really wanted to they would be here right now we go find the lost ones we bring them in and we nourish them with God’s word and finally a shepherd protects the sheep from the wolf from Satan from evil we don’t let Satan into the church we don’t let Satan take a foothold we don’t let Satan guide us in a different direction than what God would guide us we protect from Satan not by being tough or by saying we’re the greatest in heaven but by being humble praying and realizing there’s only one who can overpower the evil and that’s God so we give it up to God and we trust in God lead people to Jesus be a shepherd we all shepherd in our own way through conversation through study through teaching through serving feed the sheep we all have that calling let’s pray almighty God thank you so much for the example of Peter I don’t know how many times when I open the scripture and read about Peter putting his foot in his mouth or Peter wanting to do the right thing and struggling with it that I can relate to that thank you that John includes restoration of Peter open my ears to hear when Jesus asking is asking me do you love me feed my sheep help us to do that give us grace beyond measure give us grace that is powerful enough to break the bonds that hold us back.