Even if we don’t know it very well, most of you are
probably aware of Peter denying Jesus three times during his arrest. This is a semi-famous
scene in the story of Jesus. But I bet fewer of you are aware of the scene
after Jesus rises from the dead when he meets with Peter on the shore of the
lake. This scene is only in the Gospel of John and we don’t read it in our four
year cycle of worship readings at all. It occurs only once every three years in
the Revised Common Lectionary, which means it’s probably been ten years since
it’s been read in worship here, and even then it was paired with the story of
Jesus appearing to the disciples while they are fishing so it’s simply not part
of our worship enough. So, today, I am going to give the scene its due.
The story goes like this: Having denied Jesus three
times, which is what we read today, we hear nothing from Peter. Meanwhile,
Jesus is crucified, he dies, and for three days there is not a word. Then,
suddenly, Jesus reappears on the shore while the disciples are fishing and,
after he tells them to fish on the other side of the boat, he meets Peter for
breakfast. The Gospel of John picks up the story here:
“When 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.’ A 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.’ He 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. Very 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.’ (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ (John 21:15-19)
Three times Peter denies Jesus and three times he is
given a new direction. The resurrection changes everything. Peter is given a
second chance, but it’s more than that. This isn’t a shape up or get out
moment; it’s Jesus nudging Peter as if to say, “The rules of the game have
changed.” It’s no longer about whether you will deny me or not. Now, it’s about
whether you love me, and that’s all that
matters. As Peter’s story shows we are forgiven not because of our willpower or
the goodness of our hearts but because of what God has done for us. All we can
do is love in return.
“Feed my lambs,” Jesus says. “Tend my sheep,” he
continues. “Feed my sheep.” Jesus promises to Peter that the hands of time are
turning and that he will be taken someday where he doesn’t wish to go. He will
die. Jesus seems to shrug it off: feed my lambs, tend my sheep. Jesus is a pain
in the butt when it comes to the easy life, but he also offers us something we
cannot achieve by our own means: Real forgiveness. Peter’s denial is temporary—the
forgiveness is lasting, the calling to follow, the work of feeding lambs and
tending sheep—that never ends.
The Gospel of John proclaims that every death is met by a
commensurate resurrection. It’s such an astonishing promise. It’s SO good. So
needed. So beautiful. We don’t spend a lot of time feeling sorry for people who
bring ruin on themselves like Peter. He has nobody to blame for his denial but
himself. He had three opportunities to stand up for himself, to confess the
faith and to say, “I BELIEVE!” He doesn’t, but that’s not what matters to Jesus
in the end. Imagine if that were the last word! Imagine if that was all we ever
got: Three chances. Three strikes and you’re out. In life, sure, that’s sometimes
how it works, but, mercifully, that isn’t grace.
No, Jesus shows us that Peter is worthy of redemption in
spite of himself. To me, that makes him relatable because all of us need more
than three strikes. We get in ruts, we imagine that our past is so bad, our
wrongs so grievous, that there is nothing to be done to make up for them, and
in one sense that’s right: We can’t change the past. It’s only by the grace of
God that we are granted something more that we never deserved. And because of
that our past does not define us.
In the wake of Jesus’ death you can imagine how
desperately Peter needed this scene with Jesus on the shore of the lake, but it’s
not just a moment for Peter. It’s for all of us. For all of us who believe,
even for half a second, that we could be beyond redemption; for all who think
they’ve done something too awful, for all who struggle to love themselves and
can’t imagine how anybody else could, even the God of the universe. This scene
is for you! This scene is what grace looks like—the risen Christ meeting us is
our despair, and this is despair of our own making. It is because we aren’t good enough; it is because we are not enough. Jesus is not coming to offer a
pick-me-up and to tell you how great you are. No, Jesus is simply asking us as
many times as we have failed, “Do you love me?” Of course we do, Jesus! Of
course we do! But is that enough, Jesus? Is it? Or are our mistakes too much?
Is our denial too great? Are we too broken?
Jesus simply shakes his head. Feed my lambs, tend my
sheep. It’s never too late. Salvation
is always now. Grace obliterates the wrongs of the past and opens the doors to
the future, but it makes all the difference in the world right now. It’s about now. Feed my lambs, tend my sheep. Right
now. Because it doesn’t matter where you’ve been and the future can wait. Do
you love me? Jesus asks. Then tend my sheep.
This
is Peter we’re talking about. This is the rock on which the Christian church
will be built, and if the church’s foundation rests on one who fails so
magnificently and in such a critical moment then the rest of us can be assured no
matter our mistakes that the grace of God will meet us. We are saved not
because we always assent to faith—Peter couldn’t—instead we are saved because
the cornerstone of God’s church is failure, and the seeds of failure sow
redemption because we have a God who went to the cross before us.
That’s grace.
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