This morning’s sermon text is the rest of the story we read last Sunday in John 21.  Peter and some of the other disciples had been fishing,  with no luck.  When Jesus called out to them from the shore and told them to let their nets down on the right side of the boat, their nets were filled with fish.  Eager to see Jesus, Peter swam to shore, where Jesus was cooking fish for them over a charcoal fire.

          That’s where our text for today begins: John 21:15:

¹⁵When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?"
      "Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you."
      Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."

 ¹⁶Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?"
      He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."
      Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep."

 ¹⁷The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?"
      Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you."

 ¹⁸Jesus said, "Feed my sheep. I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." ¹⁹Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, "Follow me!"

          This must have been a difficult conversation for Peter.  To begin with, Jesus asks a question that certainly put Peter on the spot.  He asks Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?" And Peter answers, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."

          Jesus responds to Peter, "Feed my lambs."

          At this point, the conversation is pointed, but reasonable.  Jesus wants Peter to understand that loving him has implications for Peter.  Peter, at this point in the conversation, is probably fairly comfortable.

          But then, Jesus asks him again, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?"

          And a second time, Peter replies, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."  And Jesus replies, "Take care of my sheep."

          Then, a third time, Jesus asks Peter, "Simon son of John, do you love me?"  And it says Peter was hurt, because Jesus kept asking the same question over.  But Peter replied, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you." And Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep….”

          I don’t know about you, but I find this passage just a little disturbing.  I feel sorry for Peter.  I realize there is a lot going on here.  Probably Jesus is helping Peter to somehow find complete restoration, after Peter denied Jesus three times.  Perhaps Jesus is trying to help Peter move into a new level of understanding of what it means to love and serve Christ. 

          Peter, that impetuous disciple who made quite a few blunders that are recorded in the gospels, is about to become the leader of the church.  Perhaps Jesus realizes that Peter will really need to know exactly what his motivations are and exactly what his true mission is to be. 

          The passage is a personal encounter between Jesus and one individual:  Peter.  It was a calling of Peter that was uniquely designed for Peter.  But it also has implications for us.

          Certainly none of us are called to be the pioneer of the first church, as Peter would be.  In the Catholic Church, Peter is seen as the first Pope—the head of the church.  Whether or not we agree with that interpretation, it is certainly true that Peter was the first leader of the beginning church.

          Even though none of us have Peter’s specific calling, we would do well to ponder our own answers to Jesus’ questions:  “Do you love me?”  And if we, like Peter, answer “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you,” there are implications for us.  Jesus says to us as well, “Feed my sheep.”

          This directive is first of all to those called to lead the church.  Pastors are called to love Jesus and to minister to the flock because of that love.  As I reflect on what this means, I am reminded that the sheep—the lambs—belong to Jesus, the Shepherd of us all.  As a pastor, I am called to feed and shepherd the flock—but I also need to remember that this is not my flock, but Jesus’ flock.  Understanding this helps me keep perspective.  I am, if you will, and undershepherd.  Jesus is the Shepherd, and I am called to feed his sheep.  Not my sheep.  Being a pastor is a responsibility to care for those God entrusts to me.  It’s both a great responsibility and a great privilege.

          At the same time, this calling is for all of us.  We uphold the ministry of the priesthood of all believers.  All of us who have been called out of darkness into the light by Christ Jesus are also called to be priests to one another.

          I Peter 2: 9 says “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

          What does this mean for us?  It means that the response Jesus wants us to have if we say we love him is to care for one another.  If we love him, we will love his children.  Jesus wants us, his followers, to be known, most of all, by our love for each other.  John 13:35 says “By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

          Unfortunately, it is often the case that love for one another is not what the church is known for.  It’s something to think about, isn’t it?

          So how do we become the kind of people who love each other and care for each other as a shepherd cares for his sheep?  First, both love and service are decisions.  Second, it is through the act of serving that our love grows.  Third, we grow in our love for one another when we hold one another up in prayer.

          Let’s look at each of these ways of loving one another.

          The first is that love and service are decisions.  It is true that some people are just easy to love.  We like them from the beginning, and as we get to know them better, we simply love them.  Others are not quite so easy to love.  And even the ones who are easy to love can be challenging at times.  But if we make a decision to love and serve, we will learn to love. 

          Our culture puts such emphasis on the concept of falling in love that we sometimes forget that love is actually a commitment.  Feeling is not enough.  Because no one feels like loving all the time.  That goes for romantic love and it’s also true of our love for God.  God’s love never fails, but ours does.  So we need to make a commitment to love whether or not we feel like it.  That decision to love is what teaches us how to love.

          Second, it is through the act of serving that our love grows.  When Peter told Jesus he loved him, Jesus gave him an assignment.  Jesus asked Peter to care for his sheep—his followers.  Service is a natural outgrowth of love.  The wonderful thing is that as we are motivated by love to serve one another, in our serving our love grows.  It’s a good cycle.

          The third way we grow in our love for one another is by holding one another up in prayer.  As we pray for one another, we grow in love.  When we pray for another person, we are asking God to remember that person and work for the best in that person’s life.  This is what the priesthood of all believers means.  We become priests for one another as we come to God on behalf of another, as well as when we help another person come to God.  It is a way of expressing our love for that person, and as we do it, we grow in love.

          In the church, we are called, not only to love those people we are particularly attracted to, but everyone.  There is no room in the church for cliques—or for choosing some to love and others not to love.  Regardless of who we are, we are all God’s children.  Therefore, we are all Jesus’ sheep.  And He loves all of us, no matter what.  So we are all called to learn to love one another.

          One of my favorite musicals is “Fiddler on the Roof.”  In one scene, Tevye, the father, has been thinking about this radical thing that has been happening to his daughters.  Tevye has lived all his life in a culture where marriages were arranged by the matchmaker and the parents.  But now, one by one, his three daughters are falling in love and making their own decisions about who they will marry.  It is, to put it mildly, rocking his world.  And it makes him think about his own arranged marriage.  He begins to wonder about love.  So he sings this wonderful song to—and with—his wife, Golde.

 (Tevye)        "Golde, I have decided to give Perchik permission to become engaged to our daughter, Hodel."

(Golde)          "What??? He's poor! He has nothing, absolutely nothing!"

(Tevye)         "He's a good man, Golde.
I like him. And what's more important, Hodel likes him. Hodel loves him.
So what can we do?
It's a new world... A new world. Love. Golde..."

Do you love me?

(Golde)          Do I what?

(Tevye)         Do you love me?

(Golde)          Do I love you?
With our daughters getting married
And this trouble in the town
You're upset, you're worn out
Go inside, go lie down!
Maybe it's indigestion

(Tevye)         "Golde I'm asking you a question..."
Do you love me?

(Golde)          You're a fool

(Tevye)         "I know..."
But do you love me?

(Golde)          Do I love you?
For twenty-five years I've washed your clothes
Cooked your meals, cleaned your house
Given you children, milked the cow
After twenty-five years, why talk about love right now?

(Tevye)         Golde, The first time I met you
Was on our wedding day
I was scared

(Golde)          I was shy

(Tevye)         I was nervous

(Golde)          So was I

(Tevye)         But my father and my mother
Said we'd learn to love each other
And now I'm asking, Golde
Do you love me?

(Golde)          I'm your wife

(Tevye)         "I know..."
But do you love me?

(Golde)          Do I love him?
For twenty-five years I've lived with him
Fought him, starved with him
Twenty-five years my bed is his
If that's not love, what is?

(Tevye)         Then you love me?

(Golde)          I suppose I do

(Tevye)         And I suppose I love you too

(Both) It doesn’t change a thing
But even so
After twenty-five years
It's nice to know

                             [Thanks to amcanclini@yahoo.com for lyrics]

          I think one reason I love this song is that it speaks to the rewards of commitment.   Golde and Tevye made a commitment to each other, and they served each other.  Golde understood that cooking meals and washing his clothes and even milking the cow said more about love than her words could ever say.  Nevertheless, they both agreed, it was a good thing to be able to say “I love you.”

          Jesus calls us to love him because he first loved us.  And as we love him, he calls us to express our love in serving him by serving others.

          I don’t often give assignments. But I would like to give you one.  Make a decision to find some way of providing some sort of loving service to someone else this week.  And don’t tell me you can’t do anything.  No matter what your state of health is, you are capable of speaking some words of kindness to someone. 

          I encourage you to really give some thought to this.  Don’t just pick the easiest thing you can think of so you can say you did it—give some thought to what you can do as a true expression of God’s love in your life.  I know that as you do something to serve someone else, you will experience the love of God in your heart.

Prayer:

Lord, we are grateful for your love.  We hear the question you asked Peter:  “Do you love me?”  and we want to answer, as Peter did, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." And just as you asked Peter to feed your sheep, we know that our love for you has implications for our behavior.  Help us make the decision to love you and to love each other.  Help us to make the decision to serve you by serving one another.  Give us the wisdom to follow through and do what we know you are calling us to do.   Amen.