“Refocusing in the Light of Jesus” John 21:15-18  Dr. Sloan Lake Murray Presbyterian

     Well here we are.  That is a pretty important statement.  Last week as I was starting to write my sermon, the biggest discussion were the billboards on I-26 and all over the world that said Jesus is coming back May 21 beginning with an earthquake at 9:00.   Diane Westmoreland sent me a story of two pastors in Cajun Louisianna.  One was Baptist and the other was an Independent church pastor.  They both put up signs that said, “Da End is Near.  Turn Yo Sef Round Now, Afore it be too late.”  A guy came flying by in a car and yelled out his window, “Religious nuts!”  Then there was a screeching of brakes, squeeling of tires and a splash.  One minister turned to the other and said, “Do you think we shoulda jus said “Bridge Out?”   Mr. Camping, who predicted the end of the world yesterday, also  predicted that Jesus would come back in 1994.  The Bible says that if one person prophecies only one thing wrong- they are a false prophet.  Most false prophets take a nugget of truth and turn it into poison.  There is a nugget of truth in what Mr. Camping says- that is that this world will not go on forever.  People have been talking about it in different ways- the Mayan calendar which says the world ends in October 2012;  December 31, 1999 many were talking about it; There are some who are convinced the world will dissolve in global warming; there are some who are talking about a nuclear catastrophe.  The movie 2012 had the world’s tectonic plates shifting and such great earthquakes and tsunamis that the world had to start again.  Why is this? 
     There is great fear.  There is great guilt and along with it wickedness. Even the Church and faith- which give us hope and solid ground to stand on seems to be turmoil.
     I want to take you back to a similar day today.  It was a day that people were saying the world was ending.  The messiah had been killed.   The One who was supposed to save us was wiped out by wicked, corrupt, heretical religious leaders, and a cruel- but organized and powerful government.  The true followers of God were few and in despair.  Even the good followers had all run away rather than standing their ground.  The great leader- their rock had denied Jesus three times.  One of their own had betrayed Him to the religious and government leaders.  Hope was gone.  It was gone so much that at first, even after Jesus rose from the dead the church was still unable to comprehend the power that was theirs and how this changed things.  Thomas doubted.  Most of the fishermen went back to fishing, leaving the ministry. 
     Last summer when we went to Israel, one of the most meaningful places was where Peter was reinstated by Jesus.  In a world that had fallen apart- Jesus had come back to put it back together.  He first appeared to the disciples to give them hope and remove doubt.  But now He forgives them and helps them to move on. 
    DO YOU LOVE ME?  He asks this question three times and they obviously correspond to the three denials of Peter.  It was painful for Jesus to be asked this.  If Jesus came to us individually and looked us in the face and asked us if we really, really, really loved Him- we would probably be embarrassed too.  Jesus asked him do you love me (agapas)- unconditionally.  He also asked him the third time if he loved him as His friend.  The word agape means to always, continually, no-matter what love Christ.  In our day of tsunamis, tornadoes, earthquakes, churchquakes, and people saying the world may end any minute- the main question is do you really have a no-matter-what kind of love for Christ.  I heard a lot of secularist talking about these signs.  Ironically, my unbelieving and non-practicing friends often were the ones talking most about this.  I tried to tell them what I believe- that we must always be ready to meet our Maker, and yes one day history will end, and yes- I believe Christ will come again as He said.  But also, “No one knows the day or the hour” (Mt. 24:36; Mk. 13:32). He also says he will come when we least expect it- like a thief in the night (Mt. 25:30; Lk. 12:46); and therefore we should keep watch (Mt. 24:30).   But my secular friends were saying if the world ends tomorrow we should go bungee jumping, parachuting, go to an extravagant dinner because money won’t matter;  some said we should indulge ourselves in some sin- like “eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we may die.”  There were “end of the world parties” all over the nation yesterday. But Jesus asked Peter who thought his world was ending- “Do you love me through all the turmoil?”  But then the third time he asks if we will love Him as a friend- trying to please him, listening to him, making time for him. 
Peter was focused on his guilt- Jesus asked him to refocus on love for Him.  It is the same with us.

     DO YOU LOVE ME MORE THAN THESE? – The first time Peter was asked by Jesus, Jesus said, “Do you love me more than these?”  What are the these?
1) Fishing things- this would be my first guess.  Peter had gone back to fishing.  They had just finished eating fish- and the bones were there.  My guess is Jesus was asking him if he loved fishing more than doing His work.  This is the same for all of us- especially in times of crisis.  Some people respond to times of turmoil- economic, social, physical by retreating.  Some today speak of hording food and buying food insurance and gold.   In times of turmoil, our tendency is to clinch our fist tighter.  But the crazy thing that Jesus says is that if we want to save our life we will lose it.  There is a movie called “Defiance” about some Jews in Belarus who had escaped the Nazi massacres of 1941 in which hundreds of thousands were killed.  They ran into the woods.  Some were living like animals= without morals, fighting for food instead of sharing.  It became clear that survival as only amoral animals should not be their goal.  When they began sharing they found purpose for living and surviving. Our goal should not be to live as animals- but to live for a purpose beyond ourselves.   
2) Maybe the “these”- were the other people.  Maybe Jesus was asking if Peter’s love was the greatest. The Roman Catholics church thinks that is what Jesus is talking about- do you love me more than the other disciples love.  But that would be really uncharacteristic of Jesus- to ask if one person’s love was greater than another’s.  Peter had claimed that he would follow Jesus anywhere before he was arrested and then Peter denied him.  So maybe the answer would have been “no.”  But Peter answered “Yes Lord. You know that I love you.”  
3) Maybe Jesus was asking if Peter loved Jesus more than Peter loved his buddies.  You know, there are a lot of people who love their buddies more than they love Jesus.  Peer pressure in middle school, high school and college has now continued on into adulthood. I have had some tell me that they would rather be in hell with their buddies than be in heaven with Jesus.  Perhaps they don’t know who their greatest buddy is.  I have known many- way too many in my life who have given themselves to alcohol and drugs and ruined a great potential life, because they loved their friends and were not willing to give them up- even if it meant living.  Peter could have stayed on the lake fishing with his friends- and we would have known Peter as the great potential leader who washed out. 
     Jonathan Edwards used to say, “I preach with two things in mind: 1) Everyone ought to give their life to Christ, and 2) Whether anyone gives their life to Christ or not, I will give Him mine.  That is true of every Christian- we are called to make Christ our priority whether anyone else makes Him a priority or not. 
     Peter was focused on other things- Jesus wanted Peter to refocus on loving Him more than other things- no matter what other people may do. 

III. FEED MY SHEEP- Jesus was the good shepherd, the great shepherd who cares for his flock.  He asked Peter to feed and take care of his sheep.  You know the word “pastor” means to take care of the sheep.  It doesn’t mean to just listen.  A good shepherd binds up wounds, cares for the sick, goes after the strays, and even lays down his life for the sheep.  But what does that have to do with the average day to day Christian?  It means that Jesus does not neglect us by leaving us without care. 
     Peter was focused on feeding himself.  Jesus asks us to not focus on ourselves- but on helping others- all of us can do that!
     We live in a time of division- between republicans and democrats; between the haves and the have nots; the computer literate and those who don’t know how to write a letter on a computer- and don’t know what an android or ipad is.  The church is divided.  Ask the Lutherans, the Episcopalians, and ask us. 
But the mission of Christ can unite us- Marj Carpenter who was head of the general assembly of 1995 said that the one thing that can unite us is “mission, Mission, Mission.”  When we stop serving, we start cannibalizing.  When the church refuses to define itself as reaching out to the needy physically, mentally, and spiritually, then we have lost who we are. My hopes are that we will not lose our vision, our purpose- to feed His sheep.  There have always been times when the church seems to have faded into the shadows- Elijah said he was the only one left- but God reminded him there were 10,000 who had not bowed the knee.  Jeremiah felt he was the only one left- but people pulled him out of his mudhole.  There were times when Athanasias, Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Wesley- felt they were all alone- but it was not true.  We are together and we see that when we stop ringing our hands and start holding hands to serve Christ together- feeding His sheep and reaching out to the lost sheep.
Jesus asks you and me- right now- do you love me?  Will you feed my sheep?