Tanilba Bay Baptist Church
Worship

      • John 21ANGLNIV2011

  • Are we self-focused?

    On Saturday, we head to the polls. I have actually already voted, which is the first time I’ve done a pre-poll. And as expected, to get to the front door, you have to run the gauntlet. At the place I went, the blue shirts were out in force. It felt like I was offered about half a dozen how-to-vote cards from them. Then there were some green shirts and some red shirts. But I politely declined them all.
    I decided I could vote without the aid of anyone telling me what to do.
    But how do you decide to vote?
    For many people, maybe even many of you, you vote in line with the way you’ve always voted, possibly even in line with how your parents voted.
    But then we have the swinging voter - the one that all of the advertising is really targeted.
    This year, we’ve heard the question being asked, am I better off than I was three years ago?
    Now, I’ll leave it up to you to decide how to answer that question, but there is something telling about the question.
    You see, it puts the focus very much on you as an individual and how everything effects you.
    Now, I want to be clear, this is not an attack on any particular party, because the strategy from every party is the same - that is, convince the voter that a vote for them is going to be best for you.
    This is a critique of society. We do what is best for us.
    But it’s not always this way.
    In fact, just two days ago, as a society we recognised a very special day for Australians and New Zealanders. It was Anzac Day where we marked the sacrifice of many many Australian and New Zealand diggers on the shore of Gallpoli.
    For these men, to step foot on the shore line was not for personal gain. But they did, because they realised there was something more than just their life.
    It’s easy to fall back into a selfish way of operation when life’s pretty good.
    This morning, my aim is to challenge you to follow Jesus.
    But I’m not going to paint this easy picture where everything is easy and handed to us on a plate. To accept the challenge I’m going to give you this morning, perhaps the biggest barrier is going to be your selfishness. The biggest barrier is you.
    In a world where the politicians try to win your vote by appealing to your selfishness… where you get rewarded for looking after yourself… where every piece of advertising you see reinforces the idea that you are the most important person… I’m going to ask you to move past this, and see something bigger.
    You know, I think part of the reason we’re so drawn as a society to Anzac Day, is because it’s so unusual to see people give without getting something in return for themselves.
    So follow Jesus… it sounds nice - but is it?
    Let have a look...

    The first call in chapter 1

    Now, in some ways, this message stands separate to the series I was doing before Easter where we looked at chapters 1 to 12, however, it’s a fitting conclusion to it nevertheless.
    You see, I want to take you back to the start of that series when we looked at the second half of chapter 1.
    It was back then, when we first heard Jesus say to someone “follow me”.
    Back then, Jesus was unknown.
    It had started with John the Baptist, and he had been talking about the one to come. As Jesus came, John had said of him, “Look, the lamb of God!”
    At this point, everything is very mysterious.
    It was clear that something was different about him… there was evidence that Jesus knew these people, but at this point, it’s not particular clear.
    In chapter 1, when Jesus says “follow me”, in a sense, you could say it’s an invitation to be curious.
    Now, perhaps this is where you are at. You might be at that point where you don’t really know what it’s all about, but you’re just going to experience what it’s like following Jesus.
    But even if you’re still at this point, it’s worthwhile seeing what it’s like to hang out with Jesus for a while.
    At times things can get fun. In fact, the very first story after that initial call, is at a wedding where Jesus turned water into wine. And yes, there was certainly a bigger meaning that was happening at that point, which we explored when we looked at that passage.
    But just when you think that hanging around Jesus is going to be about a whole bunch of party tricks, things go in a very interesting direction. For starters, Jesus interacts with people of very questionable character.
    I’m talking about a disgraced woman who comes from an ethnic group that you’ve been taught to hate your whole life. And then there’s the lame and blind people. These are not the people that are going to gain you any social credit points.
    As you hang out with Jesus, you realise that yes, Jesus does have power, but he he doesn’t use it for his own benefit. He uses it to feed the hungry people, but when they want more, he tells them that the real bread they need, is to know Jesus.
    But there’s something else you realise when you hang out with Jesus. The opposition.
    Jesus heals people. And his payment is ridicule. Jesus even raises people to life. And for this, he gets people wanting to kill him.
    And the opportunity to kill him arrived on the day before Passover. One of the disciples betrays Jesus. His handed over to the chief priests, who hands him to the Roman rulers. The end result is Jesus is mocked and humiliated… he’s flogged and spat on… and then he’s forced to carry his own cross where he is nailed and hoisted up to his death.
    Follow Jesus, they said… it’s be fun!
    Oh, and did I mention that when Peter followed Jesus into the courtyard after Jesus’ arrest, he was identified as a follower of Jesus and effectively given the choice of denying everything and letting his friend down, or being caught up and most likely killed with Jesus.
    Not exactly a nice choice to find yourself in.
    The point of all of this, is that following Jesus would have been the most incredible thing ever, but also terrifying, mystifying, exhausting, and even self-effacing.
    After witnessing the death of Jesus, on the third day by their reckoning (although two days later with the way we would count the days), Jesus rose again.
    What’s more, Jesus came and visited his disciples, even while they sat in a closed room.
    So, the disciples had accepted the initial call to follow Jesus even before they knew what it entailed.
    Now they know, and as we come to the final chapter of John’s gospel, there’s going to be a fresh call to follow Jesus.
    But Jesus is going to do this in such a way that will take any notion of self-advancement out of it.
    So let’s jump into this chapter now...

    Going fishing

    The chapter starts with some fishing. Peter’s going back to what he knows best. Being on a boat with a fishing net.
    He’s got seven of the disciples together, which include Thomas, Nathanael, the Zebedee brothers (that is to say James and John), and two other unnamed disciples.
    So Peter simply says: “I’m going out to fish”, and the other’s say, yep, we’re coming too.
    It’s a bit uncertain whether Peter’s got in mind whether he’ll go back to this as a career, or perhaps he’s just doing it to get his mind off all the confusion of recent times.
    Whatever the case, these experienced fishermen find themselves in the really frustrating position of not finding any fish.
    The important part to remember at this point is that their lack of success is not because they don’t know what they’re doing.
    Well, they’ve been out for quite some time, and the sun has started to rise, and a man is on the shore watching them. As the readers of this narrative, we find out early that it’s Jesus himself, but the disciples don’t realise this at that point.
    The man on the shore calls out - “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”
    Now, I wonder at what point does do they start to suspect it’s Jesus.
    I wonder when the man on the shore tells them to throw their net on the right side of the boat, whether something’s happening in their mind.
    Perhaps this suggestion is reminding them of an earlier time when something very similar happened.
    You see, when you’re an experienced fishermen, having someone yell from the shore line an instruction could potentially be seen as something offensive.
    Now to follow the advice will require them to swallow their pride. To follow this instruction will be to admit, they can’t do this by themselves, they need help.
    Maybe it’s because they do suspect it’s Jesus, or maybe it’s because of the time that they’ve spent with Jesus where they’ve learnt enough to know that pride leads to ones own downfall… either way, they do follow the instruction, and the result is incredible. In fact, they get so many fish that they can hardly haul them in.
    Well, if they were unsure before if it was Jesus, they’ve figured it out now. And Peter is so excited by it, that he jumps in the water and swims to shore, allowing his friends to bring the boat in.

    Being humbled

    When they’ve arrived, Jesus invites them to breakfast.
    In many ways, its a very humble request, but yet to invite someone to sit and eat is actually really a profound thing to do.
    It levels the playing field. It puts everyone at ease.
    Well, I want to suggest, that in this opening part of this chapter, the real lesson for us, is that following Jesus means letting go of your pride and humbling yourselves before others.
    You may have expertise in certain areas, and at times that expertise will undoubtedly be used to good effect in God’s kingdom, but don’t be surprised when Jesus does something that humbles you.
    When you follow Jesus, you’ll find that you often get humbled.

    Do you love me?

    Well, in verse 15, breakfast is finished, and Jesus turns his attention to Peter.
    Now, just a really quick note on the name Peter just so you don’t get confused in a moment. His name is actually Simon, but right at the start, Jesus gave him the name Peter which means ‘rock’. So the name Simon, and Peter, and even Simon Peter, can be used interchangeably.
    It would seem that they’ve actually taken a short little walk away from the others while Jesus has a talk with Peter. (You get this impression because in verse 20, it tells us that the disciple in whom Jesus loved was following them.)
    So, as they walk away from the others, Jesus says: “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”
    Now, just as a quick note, it’s actually not entirely clear who or what he is referring to when he says “these”.
    He could be saying: “do you love me more than you love the other disciples?” or “do you love me more than you love fishing?” or maybe even “do you love me more than you love your own life?”
    Whatever the case, I would suggest the clear point of the question is to ask: “Is your love for me your highest priority?”
    Well, for Peter, it almost seems like a silly question to ask, the answer is so obvious. Yes, of course Peter loves Jesus, and he tells him so.
    Jesus replies: “Feed my lambs”.
    Might seem a bit of an odd thing to say, but stay with me because he’ll repeat this again.
    You see, Jesus then asks a second time “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
    Now, you could probably imagine, Peter’s probably starting to feel like this is a bit of an interrogation. Why would Jesus keep asking this question when the answer should be so obvious?
    So Peter answers in a similar way as the first time: “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you”.
    Jesus replies “Take care of my sheep”.
    This happens a third time, and this time we’re told that Peter feels hurt by the question.
    So what’s it all about?
    Well, I briefly alluded to a time a moment ago when Peter denied Jesus after being outed. He was given the choice, admit to being with Jesus and suffer the consequences, or deny knowing him and carry on unimpeded.
    Peter chose the latter. He had specifically been asked three times, and each time he said he did not know Jesus.
    At the time, this was about self-preservation. He knew in his heart that he still loved Jesus, but he knew he needed to say this or things would have turned bad.
    But this was just the problem. His self-preservation was actually a love of self. The pressure revealed that he loved himself more than his love for Jesus.
    This conversation with Jesus was another humbling for Peter, but it was humbling in a different way. We’re the thing on the fishing boat was a humbling of his expertise, Jesus is now saying, if you want to follow me, you need to stop worrying about yourself.
    This doesn’t mean we just become reckless with no regard for our own safety, rather it means we hand our lives over to Jesus and his care. If it’s our time to die, then so be it, we can do so in the knowledge that we are safe in the arms of Jesus.
    The interesting thing is, in loving Jesus more than we love even our own self-preservation, there is actually something freeing about it. You don’t have to worry about it, because so one so much better equipped than you is looking after you.
    But let me come back to the slightly odd thing when Jesus says “feed my sheep”.
    Now, there is one sense where this is something specific to Peter. Peter is going to be instrumental in starting the new church. I’m not going to go as far as the Catholics to suggest that Jesus is establishing a particular office in the church, that is to say the papacy, but Peter does have a very specific task in the establishment of the church.
    However, in a more general sense, there is something in this for us as well. You see, when we follow Jesus, our love for Jesus, means that we need to be caring for those that Jesus loves. We can’t love Jesus and treat his people terribly. If we do, then we don’t really love him.
    This is all part of following Jesus.

    The Suffering to come

    Now, after the third time when Jesus says ‘feed my sheep’, Jesus goes on to describe the type of death Peter will eventually succumb to.
    Now, it is a little cryptic what Jesus says here. He talks about when he was younger he dressed himself and could go where he wanted to go, but when he’s older, he will stretch out his hands and someone else will dress him and lead him where he does not want to go.
    Tradition holds that Peter was later crucified as well, and probably during the time of Nero who reigned about 30 years after the time of Jesus. In fact tradition holds that Peter was crucified upside down, however, it should be noted that there is not a whole lot of evidence that this happened, with the first recorded evidence of this being from someone in the third century.
    But while it’s not super clear from this verse the finer points of all of this, what is clear, is that Jesus is telling Peter that his end is not going to be pretty.
    And if you look at the end of verse 19, he concludes this talk by saying “Follow me”.
    There are those words again. The words that we heard back in chapter 1. “Follow Me”.
    It’s not: follow me and your life will be easy.
    It’s: your life is going to be hard, follow me.

    Why follow

    So, why follow Jesus? Why would you do it if it’s all going to be so hard.
    The reason is because Jesus is life. But it’s so much more than the superficialities of our earthly existence that we so greatly treasure. It’s life found in the body of Christ. It’s hope found in things beyond the hopeless things around us. I started by talking about the election. I think most of us have concluded, it doesn’t really matter who you vote for, you’re just going to get one flawed human being or another. Our hope is in something greater.
    But it’s even more than this. It’s the peace that is within us. It’s the satisfaction we feel knowing that we are more than our reputation or our bank balance or our job title.
    To experience this, you need to change your self-first attitude. While ever we are putting ourselves first, our worries are going to be focussed on things of this world. We’re not going to experience this satisfaction or the hope that I’ve been talking about.
    It’s interesting that after Peter was told about his death, he wanted to shift focus onto the future of the disciple Jesus loved. “What about him?” Peter asked.
    But it’s almost as if Jesus is saying, no, I don’t want you to focus on things of this world like that. Just follow me, and that is all.

    Conclusion

    On the surface it seems crazy when Jesus says “follow me” here in chapter 21. The “follow me” of chapter 1 seems okay, after all, this feel more like a taste and see.
    But here’s the thing, it’s the taste and see that we do that we realise that the “follow me” in chapter 21 makes sense.
    You might be more at the chapter 1 side of things, we’re you’re not really sure how “all in” you’re going to be. That’s okay. That invitation still stands. Allow your curiousity to see where this leads.
    But as you do, you’ll realise that the invitation to follow Jesus in chapter 21, the one where you realise you need to fully let go of your self-centered attitude, and where you realise it will involve suffering and hard time… that this invitation is the greatest invitation that you will ever receive.
    There is a challenge here for you. A challenge to say, I’m going to hand it all over and just follow Jesus. I’m going to trust that he will get me through, and even if I die, I am still safe with him.
    Are you going to follow Jesus, even when it means letting go of your own life?
    Let me pray...
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