Third Sunday of Easter                         John 21:1-19                         April 18, 2010

A while back I picked up a book entitled "Loving Jesus" by Lutheran theologian, seminary professor and self-professed, "Jesus Freak", Mark Allen Powell.
Having read his wonderful and insightful book on stewardship entitled, "Giving to God", I wanted to check this one out as well.
I have not been disappointed.
I mention this because I can't help but believe that the focus in today's gospel reading is exactly that—loving Jesus.

Powell writes about handing out a simple sheet of paper to each of his seminarians on the first day of class and it has one question: Do you love Jesus?
The student is then invited to respond with Yes—No—and Why or why not?

Powell admits that some people have thought it was presumptuous or rude of him to ask incoming seminarians whether they loved Jesus.
He just thought it was the kind of question that every Christian and certainly every pastor ought to be able to answer.
Many of the students had told him that no one had ever asked them this question before.

Powell is also happy to say that everybody he has ever asked has checked the "Yes" box, but when it came to answering the "Why?" question, students responses were all over the place—as well they should be.

So, how about those of you gathered here today…
Do you love Jesus?
It's a good question.
It is an appropriate question.

It has been my observation that people of faith are often quick to say they love Jesus and like the seminarians mentioned earlier, after that, our responses are all over the map when it comes to explaining what that means in our lives.

It is not uncommon for us to make reference to our love of Jesus in our prayers, and many of the hymns and songs we sing make reflect our love of Jesus.
And of course we show our love through worship—by showing up for the principle event in the love of the church, hopefully with a degree of regularity.
We show our love by being faithful stewards and giving back a portion of what God has so generously given us.
We may even wear a cross as a tangible sign of our faithfulness and devotion.
Some Christians even have one of those fish symbols plastered to the bumpers of their cars.
And it wasn't that long ago that you could see WWJD bracelets hanging on arms virtually everywhere.
It's pretty easy to say and show that we love Jesus in such concrete, tangible ways.

In today's Gospel reading we encounter a conversation between Jesus and Peter where Jesus three times raises the question with Peter, "Do you love me?"
And for each of the three times that Peter betrayed Jesus he responds that "Yes", he loved Jesus.
And as we listen to that conversation we can't help but notice that Peter was getting a bit flabbergasted by the repeated question, but we also can't help but notice that Jesus is looking for more than words and outwards sign of devotion.
In other words, when it comes to Peter, the disciples and each of us—Jesus wants not only our hearts and our words—Jesus also wants our hands, our feet, and our eyes, our very being.
For our Lord, "love" is a verb, and active one at that.
In short, loving Jesus is an all-encompassing way of being and for many of us it's the hardest four letters to put into action that you could ever string together.

And yet that whole conversation between Jesus and Peter where Jesus calls and instructs Peter to "Feed his lambs" and "Tend his sheep, and finally to "Feed his sheep" –in that little exchange we can find everything we need to know about what it means to be a Christian—to loving God with all our heart, soul and mind.

Allow me to explain.
Let's begin by considering the question that Jesus asked. "Do you love me?" Jesus could have asked any number of questions.
He could have asked, "Did you remain faithful?"
But he didn't.
He could have asked, "Did you deny me?"
But he didn't.
He could have asked, "Did you run away?"
But he didn't.
Jesus asked three questions, but they really boil down to one: "Do you love me?"

I find this wonderfully encouraging.
Jesus is catching Peter at his all time low point.
Peter had denied Jesus three times.
He had run away.
He had lost faith.
He felt terrible.
But Jesus didn't rake him over the coals.
He didn't criticize him for his failure.
He asked him only one question: "Do you love me?"

The reason I find this so encouraging is that I, too have failed Jesus.
And so have you.
If Jesus wanted to air our sins in public, we would be terribly embarrassed.
If Jesus demanded a clean and pure life from us, we would be hopelessly lost.

But Jesus doesn't ask, "What have you done?" he doesn't ask, "Have you been good?"
He doesn't ask for a list of accomplishments.
He doesn't ask how many commandments we have violated. He asks only, "Do you love me?"

I find that encouraging, because I can do that.
I can love Jesus.
I am not sure how well I've done with the rest of it, but I can love Jesus.
And if that's the only test is have to pass, I can pass it.
And so can you.
You can pass the test too—because you can love Jesus.

If Jesus required us to be truly holy—or to serve in high-church office—or to read the Bible every day—or never have an impure thought—or never to have violated the commandments—if Jesus required those things, we would be lost.
But Jesus asks only, "Do you love me?"
We can do that.

When Peter answered that he loved Jesus, Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."
Let's talk about that.
And in the spirit of Martin Luther and the Catechism we can ask: And what does this mean?
As you may know, lambs are sheep that are not fully grown—they are sheep that are still in need of special care and feeding—sheep that need someone to teach them how to grow up rightly.
Lambs need someone to keep them from running out in front of traffic.
They need someone to make sure they eat right and get enough sleep.

If we love Jesus, we will do what we can to feed his lambs.
We will do what we can to love, protect, feed and teach the children in our care.

Within our homes it means that we share our love and teach our children what it means to love Christ.
It means we take their spiritual growth and nurturing seriously, because if you don't, your kids will catch on sooner than you think.
If your faith is not a priority—it won't be a priority for your children.
It's sad, but it is true.
Therefore it means setting an example in worship, study, prayer and serving.

I'd like to think that we do that at this church.
We love our children, and provide opportunities for Sunday school, Summer Bible Camp at places like Camp Onomia and others; place where they can learn about Jesus and his love for each of them.
Through opportunities like Vacation Bible School, Confirmation studies, Retreats, Mission trips, Synod Middle School Gatherings and Servant events—all provide occasions for our youth to grow in their relationship with Jesus and with their brothers and sisters in Christ.

Jesus is speaking to us when he says, "Feed my lambs." He is speaking to you and to me, so I invite you to give that some thought as to how you might answer that call—how might you contribute to the well being of the children and youth of this congregation—of this community.
Ask yourself how you might become a blessing to children in other parts of the world who are desperately needy. Jesus says, "Feed my lambs."

Then Jesus said, "Tend my sheep."
Tend is a bigger word than feed—every gardener knows that.
It is easy to feed a garden—all you have to do is to sprinkle some fertilizer on the ground.
Tending the garden is the hard part.
Tending the garden means getting your hands dirty. Tending the garden means hoeing weeds.
Tending the garden might mean building a fence to keep the deer and rabbits from eating your plants.
Tending the garden is hard work, in part because it requires the gardener to anticipate what plants need—and then to provide it.

Jesus says, "Tend my sheep."
Ask yourself what that means for you.
Ask yourself what you could be doing to help others—whether children or adults.
There are plenty of folks in this world who could use your help, your support, and your encouragement—there are folks in this community, in this congregation, as well as across this nation and around the world.
Trust me, there is no shortage of people who would benefit from your loving Jesus in tangible ways.
What does Jesus want you to do to help them?

And finally, Jesus told Peter, "Feed my sheep."
Jesus himself provides the model here.
He fed people bread and fish at the feeding of the five thousand.
He gave them food for their bodies.
He fed people bread and wine at the Last Supper.
He gave them food for their souls.
In other words, Jesus fed people to meet their physical needs, and he fed them to meet their spiritual needs.

Jesus calls us to do both.
Ask yourself what he might want you to do to feed your hungry brothers and sisters—to give them physical bread.
And ask yourself how he might be calling you to nurture people spiritually—to give them spiritual bread.

In Matthew 25 we are reminded that whenever we feed someone who is hungry, when we share a cup of cold water with the thirsty, when we clothe the naked, when we welcome the stranger, when we take care of the sick or visit those who are in prison—we are in fact loving and serving our Lord Jesus Christ.

One of my favorite camp songs is the one that reminds us that they will know we are Christians by our love.
And it is true, the world will recognize Jesus when you and I, modern day disciples, truly love Jesus by feeding and tending, by displaying the kind of down to earth love and compassion that exemplifies our Lord and Savior.

As people of faith we are defined by our love for Jesus and our love for those who Jesus loved.
In Ephesians 6:245 Christians are defined as people "who have an undying love for our Lord Jesus Christ.

Today, this morning, Jesus is asking the 64 thousand dollar question: Do you love Jesus?
That's the question.
Do you love him?
Do you?
If you do, feed his sheep!
Amen.

Pastor Stephen Blenkush
Zion Lutheran
Milaca, MN
www.ZionMilaca.org

 

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