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John 21:15-25 1 Peter, chapter 1 To begin today, I need to briefly recap what we talked about last week. Does anyone remember who it is we are going to be talking about for the next 6 weeks? Peter, right. For the next 6 weeks we’ll be looking at the E! True Hollywood Story of Peter – how he went screw-up to saint. And last week we really focused on the beginnings of Peter and how he did so many things wrong. He was always messing up, screwing up, failing, evening sinning. He rarely got things right, yet Jesus loved him anyway. Jesus loved him because, not only is that who Jesus is, but Jesus loved Peter because Peter was passionate – he wasn’t afraid to risk, to fail, to step out in faith. Peter wasn’t afraid to be corrected and it was these qualities that made him such a great disciple. We learned that God loves all people – no matter how broken or hopeless they seem. God loves and welcomes people wherever they are in their journeys. Well, today, we are going to see the beginnings of the redemption of Peter. Last week we saw Peter the screw-up and today we begin the movement to sainthood. Today we will see how God begins to shape and mold him and in Peter’s re-formation, we’ll see how God also molds and shapes us. For you see, God loved Peter too much to leave him the way he was. And God loves you too much to leave you the way you are. LIFT – Look at John 21:15-25 In our gospel story, we see Jesus among the disciples after the resurrection. They’re having an intimate breakfast on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, when once again, Jesus addresses Peter publicly. “Peter, do you love me?” Peter’s like, “What kind of question is that? Of course I love you.” Jesus says, “Then feed my lambs.” Then Jesus asks the same question again, “Peter, do you love me?” Peter says, “Yes, Lord, you know I do.” “Then take care of my sheep.” And then Jesus comes back one more time, “Peter, do you love me?” Jesus asks Peter this same question 3 times. Why three times? Perhaps because Peter had just denied Jesus 3 times a few days before. But I think there is a deeper reason why Jesus must ask Peter 3 times. When I was younger, my little brother & I would fight, and because I was always bigger and stronger, I would usually end up hurting him somehow and then he’d run off crying to mom. And she’d come back and say, “Apologize to your brother.” And of course, I’d always say something like, “I’m sorry!” But that was never enough. Mom would then make me say it again, only this time, she’d says, “Apologize to your brother – and say it like you mean it!” I’d have to say it until I at least sounded sincere. If I couldn’t sound like I meant it, I’d be sent to my room until I got it right. I usually got sent to my room. But when the pain of being sent to my room was great enough, I’d finally come out and be sincerely sorry. I think Jesus is doing the same kind of thing with Peter. Jesus needs to ask 3 times to make sure it sinks in, to make sure that Peter is really telling the truth, to make sure Peter really means it. And it says in verse 17, after the 3rd question, it says “Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him a third time.” Peter was hurt because it finally sank in. Peter was hurt because he realized that if he was to answer sincerely, he was going to have to change, to grow even deeper in his faith. It hurt him because he was truly sorry for what he had done and what he had been in the past. It was only after this third time and some pain that Peter was able to answer honestly, “Lord, you know all things, you know that I love you.” God loves Peter too much to leave him the way he was. Redemption is often a painful process. If we are to truly love Jesus with all our hearts, if we are to truly become disciples, if we are to live as Jesus wants us to live, then it will undoubtedly cause some pain in our lives as well. Why? Because being a disciple means that we are constantly re-forming ourselves, we are constantly repenting for the sins we’ve done, we are constantly turning to God and saying, “Lord, I can’t do it on my own.” And all this hurts to admit and to come to terms with. It hurts to admit that we are not the ones in the control, that we may need to change, that we don’t have it all together. The status quo is easy. Change, growth, faith, risk – these things can and do hurt. Max Lucado calls this being on the anvil. In a blacksmith’s shop, the anvil was not necessarily a happy place to be if you were a raw piece of metal. You were constantly placed in the fire, then beat on with a hammer on the anvil, then back into the fire, then back onto the anvil for more shaping and molding. The anvil is not an easy place to be, but it was essential to be able to craft a piece of metal into what it was intended to be. Last week, we learned each of us is in need of shaping and sharpening – like a dull piece of metal. And today we learn that this shaping and molding is a painful process. Its painful and it’s a difficult process because we resist what God wants us to be and do. We resist the molding a shaping like a stubborn piece of metal that must be reheated and shaped. Yet God loves us too much to leave us the way we are. Perhaps remembering his conversation with Jesus on that beach, Peter writes in chapter 1 of 1 Peter, v7, “These sufferings have come so that your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” Peter talks about our faith being refined by the fire of suffering because he knows that God wants all of the impurities of our faith out us. God wants our faith in Jesus Christ to be genuine and so all those imperfections must be removed – sometimes painfully so. Our faith is like a raw golden nugget that is mixed in with all these other kinds of rock and nasty stuff. It must be refined, purified, and polished to shine like God wants it to. And in this molding and shaping, nothing is off limits. We are God’s handiwork and he intends each one of us to be a glorious masterpiece. He has high hopes and desires for you and so he loves you too much to leave you the way you are. So, what are the benefits of this? What if we think life is just fine the way it is? Why would someone want to become a disciple of Jesus Christ, knowing that it could be painful and difficult? To illustrate the answer to this, I need about 10 volunteers to come forward. (Spread out across the front in one line – you must remain in a line the entire time, even if there are obstacles in your way, you can however, move within the line and move closer together) One of the illustrations in the Bible about faith is that it is a journey and we as Christians are to take the narrow way. Well, lets see what happens when all of these Christians try to take the narrow way and they his obstacles….just walk forward, slowly, remaining in a straight line. Look what happened, they had to get closer together when they took the narrow way, when they faced obstacles in their path. Some people might call these obstacles suffering, but in reality, look what it did – it brought them closer together. Alright give them a round of applause. When we face suffering in our lives, when we face obstacles of every kind, when leading a life of faith, these things actually bring us closer together and closer to God. Often when you ask someone about when they really felt God’s presence, it has been during a time of great suffering or pain or when they were closest to their loved ones. For God, true salvation is found in relationships – relationships with each other and relationship to Jesus – and relationships are often strengthened through suffering. Jesus’ questions to Peter, “Do you love me?” were meant to restore their relationship, to heal what was broken in those denials. Jesus wanted to restore that relationship – even if it was going to be a painful process for Peter. Jesus brought restoration and redemption to their relationship, just like he wants to bring restoration and redemption to your relationships. By experiencing the grace and love of Jesus Christ, we can extend that grace to others, making it possible for our wounds and our brokenness to be healed, which can sometimes be a painful process. But, I bet if you ask Peter, he’d say the pain was worth it. It was worth it because it was only through that questioning & pain, that shaping and molding that Peter could actually get out there and do what Jesus was calling him to do. And that’s what we’ll be looking at next week – the purpose that God had for Peter and the purpose that God is calling us to, and what life can be like when we’re not on the anvil. I’ll close with one of my favorite verses. I know Peter didn’t write it, Paul did, but I think it can give us great hope whenever any of us find ourselves on the anvil. Its Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
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