"That Much!"
John 21:15-19
http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/ThatMuch.html
Why is there a John 21? Why not just take the great ending of chapter 20 where the resurrected Jesus appears to His disciples, and even Thomas believes and says, My Lord and My God?!
When the kids were little we would ask them how much they love us and it was so cute as they would spread out their arms and say, "That much!" Now they are teens and we know better than to pose the question!
Imagine that this story isn't about Peter, it's about you! You are standing eyeball to eyeball with the Lord Jesus! He looks you straight in the eye and asks you, "How much do you love me?"
Whether you know it or not, every aspect of your life is interconnected to your sincere answer to that question.
Background:
Jesus has died and risen, and has appeared to the disciples twice before this third appearance on this day at the lake.
Why have a chapter 21? I believe the Holy Spirit of God inspired it to be written, in part because it would be wrong to close the book without letting us know about the restoration of Peter.
The last time Peter saw Jesus he was denying Him publicly, throwing in cuss words to distance himself from the Lord. "I don't know the blankety blank man!" Now in chapter 21 we see Peter being fully restored. And if we didn't see this, we would wonder why Peter plays a leading role in Acts.
In our text, the disciples have gone fishing. Seven of them were professional fishermen before Jesus called them to be 'fishers of men.' A lot of the same character qualities that make for a successful fisherman will make for a successful Christian.
Fishermen in Bible days were:
• Hard working.
You say, "Hardworking preacher, isn't that an oxymoron? Doesn't he just work one day a week? Now, I've known some lazy preachers. One in particular, when his wife asked him if it was raining, wouldn't get up out of his easy chair, he just said, Can't we call the dog inside and see if he's wet?! Ministry done right is hard work, and requires long hours and involves spiritual stress unknown to most.
• Courageous.
The Sea of Galilee was known for fierce storms that rose up suddenly out of nowhere.
And today it takes courage to stand for the Lord anywhere on the planet. This is especially true in many parts of Asia, Africa and the Mid-east. But America is not immune to persecution. Those of us who truly stand for something are now being viewed as the problem rather than the solution. Much of our world today wants rid of the Christians - and one day they will get their wish!
• Patient.
This is still true today...you must be patient, unless you employ Bro. Jones' fishing-with-dynamite methods!
And the same is true when working with people. [Not the dynamite thing!] It takes patience to work with people. The church would be a perfect place if not for the people. Church would be a better place if only the Pastor weren't a human being with a sin nature!
Christians don't always grow in the Lord at the rate we would like for them to. It takes patience to let God work and to accept people where they are and patiently love them to where they need to be! I know that if you didn't have patience with me I would have been gone long before my 14th year here!
• Cooperative.
They used huge nets and unless they worked together they had no chance of catching anything. They had to all pull in the same direction or else everything would rip and come apart, and sadly, they wouldn't catch any fish!
And for a church to function properly, we all need to be onboard the ship using the same plan, and if we look around and we aren't in unity with the majority plan, we need to get onboard and help pull the nets. And if the majority plan is wrong we need to do the respectable thing and find a place that has the Biblical plan!
Now, you just try to place a bunch of men in the same fishing boat and get them to agree on the right plan. It's not going to happen. They had to have a leader. V. 3 [and the whole book of Acts] indicates that Peter was that leader. And he needed to be a better leader than he was. And on this day, Jesus would do some work on the leader, Peter, for the sake of many others who would follow him.
By the way, the Bible clearly teaches that God will take care of His man...and I shudder as I say it! If you don't have a good leader, pray for him, and if there's no hope, don't follow him! And remember, historically, many good people have missed out on God's best by falling for the devil's lie that it's their job to fix their leader! The Bible has much to say about church 'overseers' who are 'over you in the Lord.'
It helps us to understand this better when we realize that any leader is also a follower of God, Who is the real leader, and it's the leader's job to work on/with those under His direction! God has the authority to do this. And He grants or removes authority to whom He will, such as a Pastor, who can grant or remove authority to other leaders under him, and so forth.
So, God uses these fishermen as an illustration for how we can be successful Christians. This time, they have fished all night, and caught nothing. It is as if the Lord has told all the fish to go somewhere and hide, like He does when I go fishing!
A stranger 100 yards away from their boat calls out asking, "Have you caught anything?" "No." He instructs them to cast on the other side of the boat, they do, and catch 153 large fish! The nets should have broken, but they did not. John recognizes it as a miracle and recognizes that the stranger is the Lord.
Peter jumps in and beats the boat to shore! You have to admire his enthusiasm. He wanted to get to Jesus!
Jesus already has a breakfast of fish and bread ready for them. Where did He get these foods? He could have got the fish from the lake, that's easy to see. But how about the bread? I can't prove this, but when I use my imagination I can see Jesus picking up some stones, and reminiscing about the time when He was fasting and the devil tempted Him, saying, "You are so hungry, and if you want, you can turn stones into bread," and now Jesus says, "OK, on my timetable, not yours, Satan!"
Jesus says, "Come and dine."
v. 15a It's interesting that Jesus has this conversation with Peter in the presence of the other disciples. This would benefit them just as it will benefit us today. Also, Peter's sin was public, before men, and so should be his correction and restoration.
If you sin and only God knows about it, and it doesn't affect someone else, then you go to God only and confess it, and He will forgive! But if you sin against another person or offend another, you should make it right with them. Peter sinned publicly!
The Lord doesn't condemn Peter, and doesn't even make it about the details of the sin, He goes straight to the heart of the matter, asking him 3 times, do you love me?
As humans, we like to make it about the fruit of the matter, but the devil is in the details, we must yank the root of the matter.
Jesus did not ask Peter...
1. ...about his profession of faith.
Being saved does not automatically mean that you love Jesus. Just because you have been born again doesn't mean that you have a heart for Jesus.
Peter had already made a great profession of faith. "I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God!" That's good, orthodox doctrine. He's a true believer!
ill.--"orthodox" = straight doctrine. Ortho = like an orthopedic surgeon who makes your back straight or an orthodontist who makes your teeth straight + dox or doctrine.
Peter says, You are God, and Jesus says, You got that straight!
I know some people who are doctrinally straight, but their actions and overall manner of life suggests they are not in love with Jesus. Their head is on straight, but their heart is cold.
Now, we all make mistakes as sinners, and should be very patient with one another about such. But God sees our heart, and wants to get to the heart of what is the matter!
Good doctrine is no substitute for loving God!
ill.--when I do pre-marital counseling, I will ask each, Does your partner love Jesus? Sometimes one will answer, Oh yes, they are saved! That's not what I asked. I didn't ask if they stood before a church in the past as a new convert. I asked if they love Jesus! And there's a huge difference.
Some profess to be Christians, but love themselves! Some 'believers' love the world!
ill.--imagine a newlywed man who is a traveling salesman. He and his bride are so in love but he has to be away all week long. They have wonderful weekends together. But he will miss her so much all week that he takes out an index card and begins to write out facts about her, the date of their anniversary, her birthday, her ring size, shoe size, and dress size [in pencil in case it changes!]
He folds up the card into his wallet. After 3 nights in a hotel room in a far away city, he is missing her so much. What should he do? You say, I know, he should pull out that card and read it...that will satisfy him! No, that's ridiculous. You and I both know there's a huge difference between reading that card and holding the true love of your life in your arms!
Remember where we started this sermon? We were standing face to face with Jesus, looking Him in the eyes, and He isn't asking you, Are you a card-carrying Christian. He doesn't want to know if your doctrine is orthodox. He isn't interested in performing an investigation of your sins. He doesn't want to know if you've stood in front of the church or been baptized.
He wants to know, Do you love me, and is it proven in the way you live for me?! What a difference.
Jesus did not ask Peter...
1. ...about his profession of faith.
Jesus did not ask Peter...
2. ...about his position.
Peter was an apostle...one of the privileged 12. He was part of the inner circle of 3...and Jesus' chosen leader among them, the rock on which He would build the church.
Did you know you can be a preacher and not love Jesus? Some preach, not for love, not for souls, but for self, for attention, and the Bible says some do it for a paycheck!
You can be a deacon, a teacher, a leader, and do it not for love of Jesus, but because for you it is a power trip. I'm not sure why, since the word deacon literally means servant, and all leaders are just servants of God!
You can sing in the choir, play an instrument, stand in the spotlight and do it for attention and glory, rather than for love of God!
Jesus isn't concerned about our position. He could have asked Judas Iscariot, Do you love me? And Judas could have said, I'm one of your 12 disciples, and not just anyone, I'm the treasurer! I'm the most trusted one...look at my position!
That's not the question. "Do you love Jesus?!"
Jesus did not ask Peter...
1. ...about his profession of faith.
2. ...about his position.
3. ...about his performance.
Peter is the rock. He walked on water. He saw Jesus' glory when He was transfigured on one occasion. He had a huge list of accomplishments.
But all Jesus needed to know was, Do you love me?
My wife can play the piano well, we both can sing well, as can some of you, glory to God! But Jesus isn't interested in how talented we may be. We couldn't have any talents without Him.
It's not about performance. Many times I have performed in church, but not out of love for Jesus, and shame on me!
You may not be able to give millions of dollars for Christ...I'd say Roger is the only one [he's thinking: Roger who?].
But you can love Jesus as much as any human who has ever lived!
ill.--an old man lived in the country. His face was sun-wrinkled like a raisin. One day he had the chance to go to the city and visit an art gallery. As he walked thru, looking at all the beautiful pieces, he found himself gazing at a painting of Jesus dying on the cross. As he stood there, he was overwhelmed by how much God loved him...and tears of love streamed down the cracks in his face as he pondered what Jesus did for him. Out loud he began to say, Oh how I love Him! Oh how I love Him! Everyone around stood still, staring at him. Then one man came forward and took the old man by the hand, and with tears of his own said, I love Him too, brother! Another approached and grabbed his other hand and said, So do I! Then another and another joined hands. There they stood, unified in their love for Jesus Christ!
Will you stand? With heads unbowed and eyes wide open. Do you love Him? How much? I hope you can say, "That much!"
Will you join hands, in symbol of our unity? Don't ever let anyone or anything tear us apart!
Jesus said if you love me, keep my commandments.
May we love Him enough that we would die for Him.
May we show it in the way we live for Him!
http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/ThatMuch.html
