After Easter: Tending Sheep with Jesus

from my message on April 21, 2013, from John 21:15-19

Rough week, huh.  First there was Monday, a day not just known as IRS turn-in-your-taxes day, but in New England, a day known as Patriot Day, a holiday, a day when schools are out, and people don't go to work.  It was also the day for the running of the Boston Marathon, for over 100 years.  Talk about a crowd-friendly sport, there is hardly any barrier between the runners and those along the route.  Twenty-six point two miles of people cheering.  Then there are two bombs that go off near the finnish line.  Three person killed, including an 8 year old.  Scores are wounded.  There are images of 2 perpatrators.

Before we get over that, just up the road, there is another explosion, in the town of West, Texas.  This is a place where we usually stop for kolaches as we travel up I-35 to Dallas.    There is a fire, then an explosion at the fertilizer plant, and people are killed.  In this small Czech community, everybody knows everybody else, every person is affected.

Before we get over that, in Boston, there is a man hunt, then a shoot out where one of the bombers is killed, a lock down and intense search for the other bomber.

Before we get over that, Adam dies.  It should not be this way.  He is too young, just 22 years old.

Then there is whatever else is going on in your lives.  Rough week.

Why relive all of this?  Why rehash here today?  This is exactly what Jesus does with Peter.  He goes back over what Peter has experienced.  Remember Peter?  How many times did he deny Jesus?  Three.  So how many times does Jesus ask Peter if he loves him?  Three.  And how many times does Jesus give Peter something to do?  Three.  Worship is slowing down and holding things before Jesus.  We relive it with Jesus.  Jesus can redeem any situation. Any person.  In worship, Jesus can reclaim and restore us. In worship we get a new perspective on what happened, even the roughest weeks. 

Let me pause here to say that the God I believe in, the God revealed in Jesus, did not cause these tragic events to happen.  The God I believe in, the God revealed in Jesus, is always on the side of healing and restoration.  I reject any theology that says these things were God's will, that God intended these things.

God gives us something to do in the midst of tragedy, to bring redemption to others.  Jesus says, if you love me, then feed my sheep, tend my flock.  We are to nurture, to nourish, to guide, to protect.

So when people ask, Where was God in this past week?  We answer, God was in the first responders, fire, police, EMT's, and others in Boston, who, when the bombs went off, did not run away, but ran in to help.  So many ordinary folks were binding up wounds, opening their homes.  In West, it was the same.  So many of those who died were firefighters, were volunters.  We put ourselves out on behalf of Jesus' flock.  We will continue to give blood, to give food, to offer comfort, to offer a listening ear, to offer a hug.

Some people will ask, Why?  Why did this happen?  I am not sure we will always get the answer to that question.  The God I believe in, the God revealed in Jesus, answers the How question.  How do we respond?  We take care of His flock. 

Whose sheep are they?  Jesus always says, My sheep.  They belong to him.  We take care of them knowing whose they are.  We show love to them.

What kind of love?  In the English translation, there is only one word for love here.  In the Greek, there are two words for love.  I have preached on these different words for love before.  The first 2 times Jesus asks Peter if he has agape love, self-sacrificing, godly love, for him.  Peter replies that he has philia, friendship love for Jesus.  The third time, Jesus asks if Peter has philia for him, and Peter replies with philia.  Many words in many commentaries have been written about this.  Here is the thing:  the English version got it just right.  In John's Gospel, the two words for love are used interchangeably.  Take this home, to show love for other persons, for Jesus' sheep, is to show love for Jesus.  There is no difference in the two loves.  It is one love. 

There are some ways for you to show this love this next weekend.  The Gospel Accordin' to Texas is one of them.  Invite folks to it.  Help behind the scenes taking tickets, being a greeter, etc.  Taking part in ReThink Church, in one of the mission projects is another.  Sign up today as we take our worship out into the world. 

The message is simple today. When Jesus asks us if we love him and it's not just for Peter, is it? The question comes to us too.  And we answer that we do.  Then we are called to tend His flock.  There are a lot of needs out there, a lot of sheep.  We can't meet all of them, but we can meet some of them.  We have been called and equipped just for this ministry.  If you say you love Jesus, then tend His sheep.  That's the good news I have to share today.