Dr. Dale Miller

April 22, 2007

Do You Love Him?

John 21:1-19

I had an uncle named Durward Miller who lived in Morgantown, Indiana. For years he drove a truck for Standard Oil making a trip from Indianapolis to Chicago and back every day. On the side he owned and operated a farm raising beef cattle. As a kid I looked forward to visiting him. He bought me my first and only air rifle. I could not shoot the BB gun in the town where I lived, but I could shoot it at Uncle Durward's place. Mostly I played, but sometimes he would put me to work.

He would eat a big breakfast that was prepared by Aunt Geneva. The fascinating thing about the breakfast was that he would allow me to put ketchup on my fried eggs. I don't know why that seemed to be so exciting to do. I don't remember putting ketchup on my eggs in my home, but it seemed like an adventuresome thing to do when visiting Uncle Durward.

As I look back at him now all I see is a hard-working, no-frills kind of guy who would gladly help out any of the neighboring farmers. As a kid I saw him as that exotic uncle who once rode a motorcycle. When I was the same age as these confirmands are this morning, if someone would have asked me if I loved my Uncle I'm not sure what I would have said. Now, of course, looking back at those years I would say, "Yes, I loved him." But when I was thirteen or fourteen I'm not sure I would have used the word "love" in describing our relationship.

I was intrigued by him; I liked him; and I looked forward to being around him, but for a teenage boy to say that he loved an adult man? Well, I'm not sure that the word "love" would have been in my vocabulary. One other thing I should tell you. Uncle Durward's full name was Durward Dale Miller. Yes, I carry his name.

Let's leave that breakfast scene with my uncle of mystery and his wide-eyed nephew and go to another breakfast scene. The time is several days after the resurrection of Jesus. Some of the disciples are no longer in Jerusalem. Rather, they are on a fishing expedition on the Sea of Tiberias in Galilee. As we know, Galilee is the place of their everyday ministry following Jesus. Perhaps they were trying to return to business as usual.

By looking at what they were doing, we would never guess that Jesus had given them a charge to go into the world making new disciples, sending them off as God had sent Jesus. We would never guess that this was the third resurrection appearance of Jesus to his disciples in the Gospel of John. Strangely it has the feeling of a first encounter.

Jesus has a charcoal fire going on the beach. He has some fish and bread frying on the grill. He shouts out to the fishermen on the boat, "Come and have breakfast. I've got ketchup for your eggs!" He's talking to the seven disciples who have been fishing overnight. As if nothing has happened to Jesus, they are fishing. They have fished all night with no luck, until a stranger on the beach calls out telling them to cast the net to the other side.

We get excited about the rest of the story. They do as the stranger says; they cast their nets on the other side of the boat. When the net is so full they can't haul it in, the disciple whom Jesus loved (no name attached) says to Peter that it must be Jesus on the beach. Impetuous Peter jumps overboard and swims to shore. Of all things we could say about Peter, he does not lack for enthusiasm.

The rest of the disciples join them for breakfast. Jesus breaks the bread, serves the fish and passes around the ketchup. It is a wonderful breakfast and the disciples know that it is Jesus. It felt good; it felt comfortable since they had shared so many meals with Jesus.

Then came an important conversation between Jesus and Peter. Three times Jesus asks Peter, "Do you love me?" Three times Peter says "yes." Peter is hurt that Jesus keeps asking him this question, and yet, we wonder if he might actually be relieved? On the night of Jesus' crucifixion, Peter had denied knowing Jesus three times. Now he gets to tell Jesus that he loves him three times. Peter must have felt a liberating release from the guilt of having denied the man whom he had followed for three years.

So, here we are with Jesus and the disciples having breakfast on the beach. Their stomachs are full; they are reclining on the ground relaxing, and the questions start coming.
  "Peter, do you love me?" "Yes Lord, you know that I love you." "Feed my lambs."
  "Peter, do you love me?" "Yes Lord, you know that I love you." "Tend my sheep."
  "Peter, do you love me? "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." "Feed my sheep."

One profession of love for each denial, and Peter is redeemed at breakfast. Jesus was undaunted by Peter's denial. By the grace of God, Jesus was not going to allow Peter to be stuck with a misplaced sense of guilt for the rest of his life. Jesus had plans for Peter. Guilt keeps us shackled from living the life God intends for us to live. Resurrection grace frees us to do the work we came here to do.

The story on the beach ends with Jesus saying to Peter, "Follow me." In other words, the resurrection doesn't just leave us standing in amazement at what happened; it leads us to work. There is a church to build, and Jesus claimed Peter as the rock for the foundation of the church. This text isn't just about the redemption of Peter, it is about Jesus passing on the mantel of leadership to his disciples, and to all who would follow in the footsteps that lead to being a disciples of Jesus Christ, to all that are willing to carry on his name.

Discipleship is not primarily about achievement; discipleship is basically about relationships.

This morning we celebrate Confirmation Sunday. It is a day for which these young adults have been preparing for quite some time. Years ago, most of these people were baptized. They were cute and cuddly and didn't have a clue what was happening to them. It didn't matter. God loves us long before we have any idea about loving God. God initiates a relationship with us because it is the very nature of God to reach out and to love, to offer us an unconditional grace that brings hope and wholeness to our lives. God says, "I love you," long before we know what love is.

Now is the time in your lives where you have decided to respond to God's love, to confirm what your parents said on your behalf at your baptism. It is time for you to say, "I love you" to God. Jesus is standing in the middle of this sanctuary this morning and asking you, "Do you love me?" It sounds simple enough, but if you are like I was at your age, I have to be honest and say that I was not sure what love was all about. Quite frankly, no matter what our age, I think it's a tougher question then any of us would like to admit.

We like Jesus; we are intrigued by Jesus; and we like being around Jesus; but we're not always sure what it means to love Jesus. Jesus knows that, so he says to Peter and to us, "Follow me." We are invited into a relationship where we follow this man from Galilee. We are not invited to follow a bunch of rules and regulations, but we are invited to follow Jesus and to be as much like Jesus as we possibly can be. Since Jesus loves us, we try to be as loving to ourselves and to others as we possibly can be. We say "Yes" to Jesus and then we figure out where Jesus is taking us. Saying, "Yes" signals the start of a life-long adventure that will take us "who-knows-where."

An exciting part of our adventure is that God doesn't want us to go it alone. God calls us into a relationship with each other as the children of God. Together we figure out where saying "Yes" to Jesus is leading all of us. When we enter into relationship with God, we enter into relationship with the rest of God's family. If we can't enter into relationship with all of God's family, then we are missing the fullness of our relationship with God.

Will you love Jesus enough to invest yourself in becoming the person Jesus believes you to be? When the disciples were eating with Jesus it was reassuring to be in familiar surroundings with a familiar face. Through his conversation with Peter, Jesus let the disciples know that a relationship with him requires claiming that relationship everyday. Loving Jesus is not a goal that we can reach; it is a companionship that is to be enjoyed and nurtured constantly. Faith is not a life that we buy at the Dollar Store; faith is a way of living that we buy into because we want to say "Yes" to God.

Over the years I have encountered people who have said, "If you want to become a Christian then pray this prayer." The idea is that if we pray a particular prayer we have achieved our goal of being a Christian. I believe that we are always in the process of becoming more and more Christ-like. If I were to say a prayer to begin this journey, I would pray. "Lord Jesus, I can barely imagine what I can become through you, but I want to begin. I want to begin by saying "Yes" to you today."

My parents named me after my uncle; his name is carried on through me. When we accept God's love in our lives through Jesus Christ, the name of Jesus is carried on in our lives. We enter living into our lives like Jesus did - wholeheartedly, with no apologies or expectations of immunity from anything that life brings our way. Jesus cared for the world, identified with it, joined in it robustly to exercise its possibilities, to enjoy it, to sometimes suffer in it, to work it, and to proclaim his love for it, despite the world's delinquencies.

It is God's world, including all of its' people, and to spurn it is to spurn God's handiwork. It is the sphere that Jesus embraced, claimed as his own; and in that arena, in its dust, sweat, tears, and laughter, he meets humanity in solidarity with it. We seek to experience all of what God offers us through Jesus Christ in our world today. Jesus points toward the utmost possibility, to our capacity to receive God's gift of love and thereby to become true loving human beings made in the image of God.

"The Kingdom of God is within you," Jesus said. But it is held back by fear, distrust, and a world of hurts. It is within us, an incredible, emerging, dynamic, possibility. The ability to love is our highest heritage. This is the family likeness with God, tugging us on toward the full realization of this divine grace.

An old Hindu fable tells of an orphaned tiger cub who was adopted by a herd of goats. The goats taught the young tiger to speak their language, imitate their ways, and generally to believe he was a goat himself. Then one day a king tiger came along. All the goats scattered in fear except the young tiger cub who was left alone to confront the newcomers. The cub was afraid, but also somehow not afraid.

The king tiger asked him what he meant by behaving like a goat, but all the young tiger could do in response was to bleat nervously and take a nibble of grass. The king tiger then took the cub to a pool and forced him to look at their two reflections side by side and draw his own conclusions. The young tiger was puzzled by the resemblance but still did not understand.

Finally the king tiger offered him his first piece of raw meat, probably with ketchup. At first the young tiger recoiled from the unfamiliar smell and taste of it. Then as he ate more and began to feel it warming his blood, the truth gradually came clear to him. Lashing his tail and digging his claws into the ground, he finally raised his head high and the jungle trembled at the sound of his exultant roar.

He knew what he was. For the first time, he realized his proper nature and its ways. In Jesus Christ we see ourselves. In our weakness and timidities, we see our own splendid possibilities. We have met the tiger. And our hearts beat with life, the hallelujahs rings out, and the bells ring. Goodness does triumph. We are now bound to an incredible future, not because we have a road map, but because we have a promise of love from God through Jesus Christ.

Imagine what we can become by saying "Yes" to this man from Galilee. The possibilities are endless.