Sermon for Sunday May 1, 2022 - Priceless
GOSPEL: John 21:1-19
The holy gospel according to John.
Glory to you, O Lord.
The risen Christ appears again to his disciples by the sea where they were first called. After echoes of the fishing and feeding miracles, he gives a final reminder of the cost of a disciple’s love and obedience.
1After [he appeared to his followers in Jerusalem,] Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. 2Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. 3Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
4Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5Jesus said to them, “Children, you have no fish, have you?” They answered him, “No.” 6He said to them, “Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. 7That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the sea. 8But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off.
9When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. 10Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” 11So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn. 12Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord. 13Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.
15When 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.” 16A 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.” 17He 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. 18Very 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.” 19(He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”
The gospel concludes:
The gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.
If you have your bible handy,
turn to John 21, which we just heard.
You’ll see right before it, the ending to John 20,
which is really a perfect, complete ending
to John’s Gospel:
“Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.”
This is John’s purpose statement:
this is what John’s Gospel is all about,
believing in Jesus,
and through believing
we have new life, abundant life, following Jesus.
Today’s Gospel,
Jesus’ third appearance after the resurrection,
is most likely a later addition to John,
written almost like an appendix
to John’s first 20 chapters.
And it is likely written by a different author.
For us bible nerds,
there are 28 words in chapter 21
that do not appear in the first 20 chapters.
this is okay,
this was the practice at the time.
Often, disputed texts
are not found in the earliest manuscripts;
much like the ending of Mark’s Gospel
which has 3 different endings;
each found in different manuscripts.
Yet John chapter 21 is found
in all earliest manuscripts.
I find this fascinating.
It doesn’t matter that it is a different author,
it is included with John.
I’m glad this story, this appendix, was included
because it is priceless
for understanding God’s priceless grace.
When we think of those things that are priceless,
we might think of certain people -
family, friends, children.
Relationships.
We might also think of certain artifacts,
like the paintings in the Sistine chapel,
or the Mona Lisa.
We might say that which is irreplaceable
is priceless.
Growing up in the 80’s,
I was a big fan of professional wrestling.
For the wrestling superstar,
and for the wrestling fan,
the most priceless thing out there
is the championship belt.
One of my favourite wrestling characters from that time
was the Million Dollar Man Ted Debiase.
He was a marvellous heel –
perhaps the most hated bad guy around.
He had that sinister laugh,
and a truthful but agonizing tagline:
“Everybody’s got a price.”
The million dollar man even had the audacity
to buy the heavyweight championship belt
from Andre the Giant!
For the wrestling fan,
it was outrageous!
A betrayal of what it means to be a champion.
How could the Giant do it - for money???
For those who don’t like wrestling,
it was kind of silly.
But it showed his tagline holds profound truth –
“Everybody’s got a price.”
Everyone has some kind of price
that they can be bought with.
We learned this week that Twitter and “free speech”
costs $44 Billion -
a price Elon Musk was willing to pay.
Two months into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,
we see how many lives Putin is willing to expend
in order to invade and conquer.
Judas was bought with 30 pieces of silver.
For Peter – it was more like a price
that he wasn’t willing to pay –
Peter could not stand up for Jesus
when he was questioned that Good Friday.
Peter denied following Jesus
in favour of self-preservation
The cost of being a disciple
was too high for Peter.
Like it or not,
The Million Dollar Man is right:
everyone has their price.
But there is no price that God wont pay for you.
God in Jesus paid the ultimate price for you,
so that you may have abundant life.
God’s love doesn’t stop at the cross,
God’s love is best shown on the cross,
but it doesn’t end there.
Jesus appears for the third time after the resurrection,
Despite denial and abandonment,
Jesus invited Peter back into discipleship.
This story happens at the Sea of Galilee,
not in Jerusalem,
where Jesus previously appeared to the disciples
in the locked room.
It is a bit of a journey;
at least 150km by foot,
or 30 hours of walking,
between the locked room
and the Sea of Galilee.
Jesus had appeared,
the resurrection is real,
And Peter went home.
Peter returned to his old way of life,
Peter went fishing,
not for people,
but for fish
We don’t know why.
Maybe Peter was hungry,
maybe they needed to make a living,
Maybe Peter was waiting for Jesus in Galilee
like he had been told;
but it sounds to me
like the move of someone who gave up:
on the mission,
on Jesus,
on God,
on himself,
and went back to what he knew.
Peter had already seen Jesus alive behind the locked door,
but something was getting in the way
of Peter following the resurrected Jesus.
I think there were three things getting in Peter’s way;
1. What the disciples think of Peter
2. What Jesus thinks of Peter
3. What Peter thinks of himself
First, with Peter’s 3 fold denial of Jesus,
Peter might not have been considered
a disciple anymore.
Mark’s Gospel tells us, after the resurrection,
the women went to the empty tomb,
and the young man said to them:
“Go tell the other disciples and Peter
that (Jesus) is going ahead of you to Galilee”
Peter needed to be reconciled with the disciples.
Second, after denying Jesus 3 times,
Peter would likely feel incredible guilt and shame.
How could Jesus possibly forgive me?
Peter - quick to talk,
act first, think second,
is very quiet on the beach.
Jesus has to start the conversation.
Three times, Peter denied Jesus.
Three times, Jesus asks Peter “Do you love me?”
But it is more profound than that.
In Greek, there are three kinds of love:
Agape, Philos, and Eros,
and there is a hierarchy.
Eros love is at the bottom:
Eros love is self-centred,
selfish kind of love
that only cares
for the wellbeing of its object.
Think erotic - that’s the root.
Philos love is better than eros:
it is like a love between friends or siblings
that can be deep and meaningful.
Think Philadelphia - the city of brotherly love.
But even Philos love doesn’t quite stand up to agape love
– which is the highest form of love –
Agape is the word used to describe
God’s love for the world.
When Jesus asks Peter “Do you love me”
it is in this order:
“Do you agape love me more than these?”
“Do you agape love me?”
“Well, do you at least philos love me?”
Each time Peter responds, “I philos love you.”
If Peter said “Yes, I agape love you”
then Peter would be a liar.
Peter has done enough denying the truth.
Peter can’t say he agape loves Jesus,
because Peter’s love
cannot compare with Jesus’ love.
Keep in mind,
much of what Jesus talked about it John’s gospel
is about reframing love.
Jesus says: “No one has greater love (agapē)
than this, to lay down one's life
for one's friends (philos)" (15:13).
On Good Friday,
Peter did not lay own his life for his friend,
that was too costly for him.
But Jesus forgave that,
and welcomed Peter back into the discipleship fold.
Feed my lambs.
Tend my sheep.
Peter is reconciled with the disciples,
not by his own work,
but by Christ’s invitation.
Peter is reconciled with Jesus,
not by his own work,
by by Christ’s invitation.
Peter is invited to follow Jesus,
to continue Jesus’ ministry.
God has a way of inviting the least likely candidates
into Jesus’ ministry.
That’s Peter;
who by human standards
is the least likely candidate
to feed Jesus’ lambs.
That’s Saul - persecutor of the church,
breathing threats and murder against Christians,
yet was filled with the Holy Spirit,
and by God’s Spirit
gave his life to proclaim Christ.
Ted DeBiase, The Million Dollar Man,
the professional wrestler,
the heel who bought
the heavyweight championship:
he became a Christian minister later in life.
After years of being the best bad guy around,
God called Ted,
another least likely candidate,
to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ,
despite his past,
despite some shady family connections.
God continues to call unlikely people –
Like Ted Debiase,
Like the apostle Paul,
like Peter,
like you and me.
God forgives,
God loves,
God accepts,
and God invites.
Our past does not get in the way
of God’s invitation.
But what about that third thing that was in Peter’s way?
Peter was reconciled with the disciples,
Peter was accepted, loved, and forgiven by Jesus,
but considering his betrayal and denial,
could Peter accept himself,
love himself,
forgive himself,
I don’t know for sure,
but when I read Peter’s preaching in Acts,
it sounds like someone who has stopped
giving up on God,
and stopped giving up on himself.
Peter was willing to show Jesus’ agape love
and lay down his life for his friends,
Peter was willing to pay
the cost of discipleship.
What Peter experiences on the beach with Jesus
is more than Peter’s redemption,
Peter is charged with caring for Jesus’ sheep – the church.
3 times Peter denied Jesus,
and 3 times Jesus affirmed Peter’s gifts
and call to lead the church.
Jesus believed in Peter,
and affirmed Peter,
that by God’s grace,
Peter might believe in himself too.
All this over a Holy Communion breakfast.
As we prepare to eat Holy Communion Breakfast with Jesus,
Trust that Jesus is accepting you as you are,
with all your quirks,
loving you, as you are,
with all your faults
forgiving you,
for all your sins against God,
against neighbour,
against yourself
and setting you free,
despite your past,
inviting you to follow.
God’s grace frees us from sin,
death,
and the evil from the outside
and the evil within.
Indeed the Son makes us free,
but sometimes we still hold ourselves captive.
Trust in Jesus, the giver of priceless grace,
who radically accepts you,
unconditionally loves you,
abundantly forgives you,
that you might radically accept yourself,
unconditionally love yourself,
abundantly forgive yourself
and through that believing; have new life in Jesus’ name.
This grace is priceless!
This grace is yours.
Thanks be to God! Alleluia!
