Jesus Gives Peter a Charge
Sermon preached on Third Sunday of Easter 2004, by The Reverend Charles Royden
Peter’s Charge
It is good to be back with you this week, last
Sunday Liverpool were playing Fulham and for her birthday we took Alexandra to
the match at Anfield. So we worshipped in Liverpool instead, - not the football
ground but the Cathedral - of course. It has the largest organ in the world, the
highest gothic arches, the bells have the highest and heaviest peal in the
world. A magnificent building and well worth the visit. No wonder Liverpool is
to be European City of Culture all this and a victory over Man Utd yesterday.
Enough!
While we were in Liverpool we visited the Albert Dock and the Maritime Museum
(free entry) and went to see the exhibition on slavery. It is an excellent multi
media presentation showing artefacts and explaining the history of slavery. Of
course it had to examine the philosophy behind slavery, how it was necessary for
the people of Liverpool and people everywhere else, to dehumanise the black
slaves. They were not treated like human beings and to justify this, people went
to their Bibles and showed that blacks were sub human, and therefore could be
bought and sold and treated as property.
After seeing that exhibition last week it was particularly astonishing to hear
the media debate surrounding the use of the ‘N…..’ word by Ron Atkinson on
television. It is dreadful to acknowledge but of course racism is far too close
to the surface of many people’s lives. What I find astonishing is that
irrespective of whether he thought the mike was on and he was being broadcast,
how did he he feel able to use that word in front of all the other people there,
the camera crew, the sound crew, the presenters, etc. The point I am making is
that none of us should ever tolerate that kind of abusive language.
Specifically where we are going with this is - that as Christians it is
our duty to speak out whenever we hear people being treated badly, let alone
that kind of language and the whole package of disgusting attitudes that go with
it. We cannot sit by and listen to people treating other people as if they were
a poorer quality of human being because of their skin colour.
Now I mention this because that is surely a part of what Jesus was speaking
about when he asked Peter if he would look after his sheep. Peter said
‘yes.’
That ‘yes’ must be something which are prepared to
echo. Christ is shepherd of all, irrespective of race, or any of the other
categories which we tend to put people into to make them less than the ‘full
monty’ like us. We can only shudder to think that the church which was entrusted
through Peter to care for and look after the sheep, found justification for
classing some of the sheep as less than the full lamb. The church not only
condoned black slavery it found a theology to claim it to be the will of God.
The church of course has needed to repent, rediscover its responsibility and
move on with a renewed will and vision, and a commitment never to make the same
mistake again.
Fortunately we know that making mistakes does not mean we cannot continue to
share with Christ in his work. We know this from our story from John’s Gospel
this morning. Peter has made a phenomenal mistake. He was the one guaranteed not
to let Jesus down. All the others would fail, but not Peter – or so he thought.
Then it was Peter who denied Jesus three times. Fear took over, fear of loosing
his life, fear of being associated with somebody who claimed to be God. Fear of
standing up for what he knew to be true.
So Peter goes fishing, good idea! Get away from it all, catch food, make money –
but more importantly try and hide away from the failure. Peter could never come
to terms with letting Jesus down and failing to be the rock which Jesus wanted
him to be.
It was at this time of despondency that Jesus comes to Peter and greets him
whilst he is fishing. Peter might have expected that Jesus would choose somebody
else, somebody less impulsive and more reliable. But Jesus doesn’t, he chooses
Peter, with all of his failings and disappointments.
You see Jesus was never actually let down by Peter.
Jesus knew that Peter was asking too much of
himself. Jesus knew that it was only if Peter relied upon and trusted him that
he could ever succeed. He could never achieve what Jesus wanted of him in his
own strength.
So here is Peter fishing all night and Jesus teaches him another lesson. Do as I
say and you will catch the fish - and he does 153 of them.
How many fish there are is probably irrelevant, but the fact that Peter only
catches them when he follows the directions of Jesus is most certainly not. The
point is that what matters is that we heed the voice of Christ.
Past failure is not an indication of future performance in the Christian life,
not unless we decide that to be the case.
So Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves him.
'Three times you have denied me Peter, three times will I affirm your love.'
The love of Peter was never in doubt by Jesus, but
Jesus did understand the frailty of Peter. The frailty which brought about his
denial and the frailty which no doubt prevented him from sleeping at nights as
his words of betrayal echoed in his ears.So Jesus shows Peter that no record is
kept of past wrongs, Jesus shows Peter that he trusts him, - yes, in
spite of failure and there is important work that he wants to share with him.
There has been much speculation about the significance of the number of fish
caught, and the different Greek words used when Peter and Jesus speak about
love, most of it is utterly ridiculous.
What is of significance however is that Peter realises that Jesus forgives, that
after all is why the crucifixion took place. Peter does nothing to earn the
forgiveness of Jesus, it is just there and he needs to recognise it to enable
him to heal the hurts and failures of the past and discover the new life and
ministry which Jesus has for him.
The passage is about faithfulness and God’s trust and Jesus being there to help
us pick up the pieces of our lives when everything is a mess.
Peter let Jesus down, but even such a humbling experience did not preclude him
from ministry. On the contrary it equipped him for it. Such a humbling
experience would have established Peter far better for service in Christ's name.
It is a simple case of gratitude, if we know our own lack of worth then we are
not subject to illusions of self-worth and pride which inevitably causes us to
think ourselves better than others.
Those who are aware of their own sin and have felt
God's forgiveness are inevitably the most tender, compassionate, and
understanding of others who are bruised or weak. It is the self-righteous who
are not suited to God's purpose.
St. Isaac the Syrian taught,
"He who has seen himself as he is, and has seen his sin, is greater than the one
who raises the dead"
When we are face up to and recognise our faults, then the opportunity comes for
the spirit to change our practice of scorning, punishing and loathing weakness.
St. Isaac went on,
"Purity of heart is love for those who fall".
This is a timely reminder to the church and for us when we think that purity is
thinking our behaviour somewhat better in character than those around us.
"Purity of heart is love for those who fall".
Conclusion
Peter is asked to love Jesus, so are we. That love
is understood by Jesus, not in terms of a feeling, rather we display that love
for Christ in how we love other people.
This is what we are called to do. It is surely true that such a humbling
experience of failure would have established Peter far better for service in
Christ's name. So too those of us who are aware of our own sin and have felt
God's forgiveness are inevitably the most tender, compassionate, and
understanding of others who are bruised or weak. purpose. Do not allow personal
fear and weakness, or past failure ever to hold you a prisoner to the past.
Instead see it as a qualification, for you will never be ‘holier than thou.’
Christ uses Peter’s history of failure to equip him for the role of ministry and
that ministry is to love. It is this command to love which must lie at the heart
of the Christian life and without it there will be no Christian life.
Amen.