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FINDING MY MISSION

Hello friend, I’m glad for the privilege of visiting with you in this mid-week, Wednesday broadcast, either sitting with you in your home or office, or driving with you in your car. I hope you’ve already established, as part of your daily routine, tuning in to the broadcast. But if this is the first time, I’m glad we’ve connected, and I hope it will be such an inspiration, that we’ll meet often in the future.

Yesterday we opened the last chapter of John, to explore a story unique to John’s account of the life of Jesus. It’s most interesting for several reasons. First, there’s an interesting kind of symmetry about this story. You see, Jesus began calling disciples on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Remember Jesus said to Peter and his brother Andrew,

“Come, and I will make you fishers of men” (see Matthew 4:19).

And the Record says, they left their boat and their nets and followed Him.

Now near the end of Jesus’ time on earth, he meets seven of His disciples again on the shores of Galilee. He’s come to call them a second time. After the tumultuous events of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, the disciples were confused. It was clear sailing while Jesus was with them. He was following His mission in collaboration with God the Father, and they were His learners. During their three-and-a-half years with the Master, they’d at least once been sent out to work without Him. The Bible records:
These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Go . . . to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give (Matthew 10:5-8, NIV).

What an incredible experience they must have had! But not too long after, Jesus died, and with His death (even though followed by His resurrection) they were confused. At least seven of the 12 went home to Galilee, where Jesus found them fishing again—without success.

Early in the morning, after an unsuccessful night on the water, continuously casting and drawing in their net, they were ready to give up and go home to bed. But Jesus called to them where He had first called them, and told them to throw the net on the other side of the boat.

How absurd that must have sounded! As if a school of fish would be swimming on one side of the boat but not under the boat or on the other side. But one of the disciples, in some kind of desperation, did what they were being invited to do, and the net instantly filled with fish. At that stage they didn’t recognize Jesus some distance away standing on the shore. But the moment Peter recognized Jesus on the shore, he jumped overboard and headed into shore.

That’s where we ended yesterday. So now we finish the story.

In the miracle of a net full of fish, Jesus illustrates for seven of the disciples, that the original call had not changed. They were commissioned to get into the business of “fishing” to be sure, but not for fish, they need to be witnessing to people, and building the kingdom! And if they gave their best service in unity with Him, following His directions, God would provide the miracle of success just illustrated with a great catch of fish. And further, this experience would be replicated in a vast gathering of people at a mighty “human fishing expedition” at Pentecost.

When the boat finally ran up to the shore of Galilee that morning soon after Jesus’ resurrection, breakfast was ready, and Jesus served His amazed and joy-filled disciples. And by the time breakfast was over, the sun had come up, the earlier chill had evaporated, and as always, the disciples waited for Jesus to set the agenda. And He didn’t disappoint them. He focused on healing their born-leader—Peter.

A very short time before this event by the water of Galilee, a servant girl beside a wood fire (like the one around which they sat on the shore) had suggested Peter must be a follower of Jesus. But he denied it and with oaths. After that terrible night, the sight of flames fanned back to life the memories of that dreadful weakness and failure.

And every morning when he heard a rooster announce the dawn of a new day, it announced his weakness, it announced that Peter didn’t keep his promises. He’d felt so strong when he made his commitment to Jesus, when he said at the Last Supper:

“Lord . . . I will lay down my life for you” (John 13:37, NIV).

But Peter turned out to be very weak when it came time to follow through on that declaration. It must have seemed to Peter that there could be no place for him in accomplishing the great mission of the Master.

But Jesus knew Peter had the spiritual gifts that would make an enormous impact for the kingdom of heaven. So Peter needed to be healed, and soon, seeing Jesus was about to return to heaven. The beach, the place of his original call, became the place of his healing, and of a renewed call.

In the conversation that followed, Jesus asks Peter the same question in three different ways, each a little less intense than the one before. He kept scaling it down. First He said, “Simon” (he didn’t say Peter, that means a rolling stone. That would have rubbed salt into his wounded heart.)

“Simon, [he asked] do you truly love me, more than these other disciples?”

The second time He asked, simply,
“Simon do you truly love me?”

In both cases Jesus uses the Greek word for “love” that’s translated “charity” in the King James Version of 1 Corinthians 13. You remember those famous words,

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. (1 Corinthians 13:1)

This “charity” is the purest kind of love.

But the third time Jesus asks, “Simon do you love me?” He breaks the question down from agape, charity, to philein, which in Greek means a “friendship” kind of love. In other words He asks, “Simon, are you my genuine friend?”

And Peter gives three replies. Although Jesus varies the question a little, Peter gives almost the same reply, with the smallest variation in the third reply. First, Peter answers, “Lord, you know I love you.” The second time, “Lord, you know I love you.” The third time, a little exasperated, Peter declares, “Lord, you know everything, you know I love you!” Evidently, for Peter’s sake, there needed to be one “affirmation,” for each of the three “denials” on the night of Jesus’ trial.

And note this interesting fact. In all three cases, Peter uses the “friendship” word for love. He kept saying, “Jesus you know I am your friend.” What a therapeutic process! Jesus knew that Peter, in self confidence, had promised more than He could perform. Now Jesus knew that Peter, in humility, would perform more than he promises.

And then in a third set of 3s, Jesus responds to Peter’s answers with a mission statement, a dream statement. First, Jesus told Peter, “Feed My lambs.” Second, He told Peter, “Care for My sheep.” Third, He told Peter, “Feed My sheep.”

Peter had formerly said he would lay down his life for his Master. Now as a faithful shepherd, he would have the opportunity to do what Jesus said a faithful shepherd does, and ultimately he did lay down his life—like His divine Shepherd.

Which brings us back to the question, What is your mission? What is your dream today? It’s interesting to compare the differing mission statements of Matthew and John. Mathew speaks of it as going out into the world and preaching the gospel, making disciples. John speaks of it as caring for sheep, feeding sheep, feeding lambs! For John (writing about half a century after Matthew) the mission is clearly a ministry of nurture and healing. It means bringing healing to hurting people, bringing love to broken people, building affirming relationships with lonely people, bringing hope and forgiveness to people that have fallen or failed. It’s being a friend to both children and adults.

That’s what it means to feed and care for sheep, and to feed lambs. And in reality, this is the most successful way to make disciples. So although Matthew and John express the dream in very different words, both are expressing the same ideal. Matthew describes the end product, John describes the process to get there.

And how wonderful that Jesus models this “feeding and caring” by sharing a meal that He prepared! Everywhere else in the Gospels, when He sat down to a meal, it had been prepared for Him. And He did some of His most effective evangelism over meals. He was the greatest dinner guest. He loved having great meals with great sinners.

Brennen Manning in his Ragamuffin Gospel observes, “If Jesus appeared at your dining table tonight, with knowledge of everything you are and are not, total comprehension of your life story, and every skeleton hidden in your closet; if He laid out the real state of your present discipleship, with the hidden agenda, the mixed motives, and the dark desires buried in your psyche, you would feel his acceptance and forgiveness”(emphasis supplied).

Now there’s a dream to which all of us can aspire, we can practice love, acceptance, and forgiveness, and without discrimination. That, is the ultimate dream, to which we can all aspire!