Rev. Cari Pattison
Woodstock Reformed Church
Sunday, May 1, 2022
“Three Questions You’ll Never Forget”
John 21:1-19
1After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. 2Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. 3Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing." They said to him, "We will go with you." They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
4Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5Jesus said to them, "Children, you have no fish, have you?" They answered him, "No." 6He said to them, "Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some." So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. 7That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the sea. 8But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off.
9When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. 10Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish that you have just caught." 11So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn. 12Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, "Who are you?" because they knew it was the Lord. 13Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.
15When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my lambs." 16A second time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Tend my sheep." 17He said to him the third time, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, "Do you love me?" And he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep. 18Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go." 19(He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, "Follow me."
***
What are the questions in life you’ll never forget?
Was it when someone got down on one knee and said, “Will you marry me?”
Was it when your children asked you, “How do you feel about being a grandparent?”
Maybe it was when your boss said, “Are you ready to take over?”
Maybe it was when the doctor said, next to the bed of your loved one, “Can you step outside for a minute?”
Maybe it was when someone asked you, “Are you saved?”
Whatever your answers, there are likely some questions- you’ll never forget.
There were at least three questions that the disciple Peter would never forget-
It was after Jesus had been arrested and taken off to be tried, and he was warming himself over a charcoal fire in the in the courtyard of the chief priest’s palace.
The servant girl looked at him suspiciously and said, “Aren’t you one of his disciples?” A little later a guard asked him, “Aren’t you one of his followers?”
Still later the priest’s slave spoke up- “Didn’t I see you in the garden with him?”
And Peter will never forget, all three times, how he answered:
“I am not.”
There are three more questions in this text today, and there is also- fishing.
How many of you like to fish?
In the very landlocked state of Kansas, all I knew were the smelly cafeteria fish-sticks, frozen and reheated and never once consumed by me.
The first time I went fishing was on a junior high youth group canoe trip, with kids from my church, when we backpacked and canoed and portaged our way through the Boundary Waters- a beautiful area between Minnesota and Canada.
Our youth minister Andy asked who wanted to go fishing, and my friend and I volunteered, for something called trolling, where the fishing line trails behind you while you’re out paddling in the canoe.
It should be noted that I did very little that could actually be called “fishing” on this expedition.
Andy caught several large-mouthed bass, northern pike, and walleye, and he and Kim promptly skinned, gutted, and filleted them, before covering them in cornmeal and frying them in a cast iron pan.
The fact that we had all these supplies still baffles me.
But what I will never forget is the taste of that freshly-caught fish, cooked over the fire.
***
Jesus cooks some fresh-caught fish over the fire, in this text.
I have been waiting for a fishing story to come up in the lectionary calendar, because I’ve been waiting to tell about my 2nd fishing expedition-
last summer with Roy and Carol.
We went to Esopus Creek one Sunday after church.
And I’m not sure what I was expecting, but I think it was something along the lines of my previous fishing experience. I sort of figured I sit there holding the rod, and great things would happen, and somehow I’d end up with hot fried fish on a plate.
But Roy and Carol had other plans. They brought me a whole tackle vest of my own to borrow, and actually expected me to do things! Messy things, like splitting worms in two with my fingernails and threading them onto the hook with my bare hands.
And these were not little fake worms like I imagined.
Nor were these dead worms.
These were wriggling squirmy little live worms!
But taking a deep breath and closing my eyes, I did as I was instructed.
***
Sometimes God calls us to get our hands dirty.
To enter the mess of life that we’d just as soon avoid.
It’s one thing to garden or fish or hike, and come back satisfactorily dirty and content.
But it’s another to find yourself in a sticky squirmy situation at work, with a colleague, or in a real misunderstanding with your own family or another church member.
To realize you said or did something you can’t take back.
To know things might never go back to the way they were.
***
Peter knows the feeling.
He knows that Jesus knows, that when it mattered most, at Jesus’ darkest hour,
Peter was nowhere to be found.
He knows that after three life-changing years of miracles and meals, travels and parables, healings and teachings, years of walking on the water and breaking bread and wine, he not only deserted Jesus at the end-
Peter denied even knowing him.
There are rumors of an empty tomb.
There are rumors Jesus rose again, like he said.
But who could know for sure?
And if Jesus did come back, how could Peter face him?
Would he say, “Peter, you let me down.”
“Peter, I thought you knew better.”
“Peter, how could you?”
The last thing he expected to hear, that windy morning on the beach of the Sea of Galilee, was, “Come have breakfast.”
***
Before moving on, let’s remember a few things about Peter.
When Jesus earlier asks his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter’s the one who first declares that Jesus is the Messiah. “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.”
That’s the part most of us know about Saint Peter, the line that spawned legions of bad “pearly gates” jokes. Speaking of, here’s one from an earlier era, when Manhattan was a less than hospitable place:
Saint Peter was manning the Pearly Gates when forty people from New York City showed up. Never having seen anyone from the Big Apple at heaven's door, Saint Peter said he would have to check with God.
After hearing the news, God instructed him to admit the ten most virtuous people from the group. A few minutes later, Saint Peter returned to God breathless and said, "They're gone!"
"What?” asked God, “All of the New Yorkers are gone?"
"No!" replied Peter. "The Pearly Gates!"
For all the jokes about who Saint Peter will let into heaven, Scripture tells us that it’s only by grace we are saved, through the love and mercy of Christ.
But still- even if Peter’s not the bouncer with the guest list to club heaven, he has an important role to play in our faith.
He’s the one who holds nothing back, shoots from the hip, and isn’t afraid to be wrong. He is restless and impatient and often thinks he knows better than Jesus, and we love this guy because he is us.
He’s full of bluster and bravado, but caves into fear and compares himself to others. He’s full of good intentions but falls asleep on the job, sinks in moments of doubt, denies in times of pressure.
Yet this is the one Jesus sees something in. Something more than Peter imagines.
Back to that fishing trip with Roy and Carol- it was messier, and required more patience and skill, than I’d imagined.
But I’m happy to say that thanks to their top-notch coaching, I did in fact catch two small-mouthed bass, which Roy skinned and gutted and filleted for me. I enjoyed a very, very good dinner that day.
Jesus cooks the fish over the fire, and then approaches Peter. Peter who likely couldn’t even look him in the eye. Remembering another fire, on a different day, Jesus comes to Peter and asks him three questions,
A different set of questions,
Three times Jesus asks, for all three times Peter had denied him:
“Peter do you love me?”
***
Bible scholar N. T. Wright says that a better translation of the original Greek reads like this:
Jesus says, “Peter, do you love Me?” and Peter says something like, “Yes Lord, you know that I am your friend.” But Jesus says, “No, let Me ask you again. Peter, do you love me more than these?”
Jesus is asking, “No, not philio friend love, but agape love- do you love me in a true, sacrificial, whole-hearted way?”
Peter likely looks down and says, “Yes Lord, you know that I am your friend.”
But that’s not what Jesus asked, so he asks Peter a third time, “Peter, do you love me?” and this time I imagine that Peter pauses, to think of everything that’s come before: the failures, the moments of fear and doubt, that night in the courtyard of the high priest’s palace.
Maybe he waits a minute before offering this quiet reply: “Yes Lord, you know that I would do anything for you. You know that I love you most of all.”
***
In response, Jesus doesn’t say, “I thought so,” or, “Thank you,” or give him a lecture about how wrong he was to pretend he didn’t know Him. He doesn’t give him a ten-point plan of how he should go build the church.
He just says, “Take care of my sheep. Feed my lambs. Take care of my flock.” That’s it.
To love Jesus, means to care for his people. Not some of his sheep. All of his sheep. Even the ones you’d just as soon not see.
***
Writer Ernest Hemingway, in his travels to Mexico and Spain, once noted the popularity of the name ‘Paco’.
One day, Hemingway says, an ad appeared in the classifieds of a Spanish newspaper: “Paco, meet me at the Hotel Montana on Wednesday at noon. All is forgiven. Love, Papa.”
That Wednesday, 800 Pacos who showed up to the Hotel Montana that Wednesday at noon. The authorities had to muster a whole squad of police to contain them.
But even more than proving how many Spanish Pacos there are, the headline proves our universally human need for a fresh start.
For people who know they are not defined by their mistakes, at any given moment, throngs of people yearn to hear, “All is forgiven. Love Papa.”
The great missionary and scholar Andrew Walls one said that as a young man, his hope at the end of his life was to hear God say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
But as an old man, after many of years of trying and failing and starting over in the messiness of life, he said his only wish was to hear God say, “Take heart, son- your sins are forgiven.”
Let us pray.