2nd Sunday of Easter!
John
21:1-19
Focus Statement: In
this scripture, the Lord appears again to the disciples, Peter has gone back to
doing what he did before, and Jesus reinstates him.
Function Statement: As
a result of this message, the congregation will examine their priorities and
dedication to Christ and make a deeper commitment to their risen Lord.
Movement 1:
One of my favorite
Disney movies is Lion King; there is so much that this little movie says about
life. At the beginning of the movie,
Simba is born and goes through this ritual not too unlike baptism. As Simba grows, his father, Mufasa, spends
time teaching him in preparation of him being King some day: he teaches him to
hunt and pounce his prey, he tells him one time as they look at the stars that
other Kings who have gone on before are looking down upon him, he teaches him
the need for service, and he tries to teach him how to be safe. The tragity of the movie is that one day his
uncle Scar arranges for Mufasa to be killed and tells Simba it is his
fault. Simba flees for his own life,
thinking the others will hate him for it.
Scar becomes King since the others think Simba has also been killed, and
the kingdom literally goes to the dogs (the hienas who serve Scar). The kingdom is plundered and everyone about
starves. Meanwhile, while Simba grieves
for his father and runs from the responsibility of going back and telling his
family he didn=t kill
his dad and taking up the responsibilities of being king, Simba finds
companionship with a couple other characters and lives a rather carefree
life. This goes fine until Simba runs
into a lioness who was special to him in his youth, Nala, and a monkey priest
who confronts him with his past and tells him he has become less than he was
meant to be and that because he won=t
go back and assume his role of King others are suffering. This causes Simba to look at his priorities
and he goes back, reclaims the kingdom, and sets things right.
Recap: Simba is
born. He is discipled in becoming
king. The King is killed. Simba flees scared and becomes less than he
was meant to be. Simba is reinstated and
takes up his job that the King meant for him to do in serving the kingdom.
Movement 2:
This little story
is not too unlike our scripture for today!
Jesus is born to be our King. He
makes disciples. He spends time teaching
them how to serve in the kingdom. The
King is killed! The disciples, including
Peter, flee for fear and because they are confused about all that has happened. Peter probably felt some guilt because of his denial and not doing anything about it. They have gone back to what they knew before
Jesus. They have gone back to the life
they loved before Jesus: to a simpler and more carefree life! They are fishing. This day, they aren=t
catching anything. Someone appears to
them on the shore and asks them how they are doing; they tell we aren=t doing too good. This person tells them to cast their nets on
the other side; they do, and they catch so many fish they almost can=t bring it in. They realize then that it is Jesus. This is one of John’s accounts of the
appearance of Jesus after his resurrection!
Peter puts on his clothes and jumps in the water and swims back to
shore! The others come back by
boat. Jesus cooks them breakfast of fish
and bread. After the meal, Jesus looks
directly at Peter and says, ASimon
son of John, do you love me more than these (as Jesus probably gestured toward
the others and toward the lake that Peter loved)?@
He said to him, AYes,
Lord; you know that I love you.@
Jesus said to him, AFeed
my lambs.@ (Reminds me of the movie: Do what you were
meant to do: you have become less that I meant for you to be!) 16 A
second time he said to him, ASimon
son of John, do you love me?@
He said to him, AYes,
Lord; you know that I love you.@
Jesus said to him, ATend
my sheep.@ 17 He
said to him the third time, ASimon
son of John, do you love me?@
Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, ADo you love me?@ And he said to him, ALord, you know everything; you know
that I love you.@
Jesus said to him, AFeed
my sheep.
Peter gets up from
this encounter with the Lord and takes up his job that he was prepared
for. We said last week that we have no
evidence at the tomb that Peter saw and believed; well, here, Peter sees and
believes! He has looked at his priorites
and decides that he wants to serve the Lord and do what Christ called him to
do, AFeed his
sheep.@ He becomes one of the leaders of the early
church; he becomes a fisher of people.
Tradition has it that he became the first Bishop of the church.
3rd Movement:
The Lord used this
scripture where Jesus reinstates Peter to call me into the ministry. The Lord kept asking over a period of time, AMike, do you love me more than anything
else?@ Then feed my people! Do you love me more than this? (Perhaps, my rental property!) Do you love me more than that? (Perhaps, my
plans for the future.) I kept saying, AYes Lord, I love you more than anything
else!@ Then you know what you must do. Finally, one day with tears in my eyes I
acknowledged God=s call on
my life and answered the call into the ministry!
We all have things
we plan to do! We all have things we
like to do! We all have things that we
were meant to be (God=s
call on our lives and God=s
gifts). We can be the happiest in God;
that has been my experience! God=s ways are best, but sometimes it is
hard to see that and to resign to that.
God=s ways
are best for the others we love (Remember Simba), but sometimes that is also
hard to see! In the midst of all of
this, today Christ asks for complete surrender, ADo
you love me more than these? (Perhaps, it is that thing you love to do the
most.) ADo
you love me more than this? (Perhaps, it
is our plans for the future.) ADo you love me more than these?@ (Perhaps, it is our friends and other
people; what will they think?) ADo you love me more than these?@
Have you fell away from God’s call in your life because something
happened that threw you a curve? Have
you become less than God called you to be? Are you a fully committed Christian? Is God calling you to something you have not
yet answered to? What is God calling you
to this morning? Individually and as a
Church? Answer the call this morning as
we encounter Christ at the table!
Prayer of Confession
Service of Communion
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