SERMON TITLE: Easter People, the People of the Future III
Preached by the Rev. John Lee on April 22,
2007 at DPUC
SCRIPTURE READING
21:1 After these
things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the
21:2 Gathered
there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in
21:3 Simon 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.
21:4 Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.
21:5 Jesus said to them, "Children, you have no fish, have you?" They answered him, "No."
21:6 He 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.
21:7 That 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.
21:8 But 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.
21:9 When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread.
21:10 Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish that you have just caught."
21:11 So 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.
21:12 Jesus 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.
21:13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish.
21:14 This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.
21:15 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."
21:16 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."
21:17 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.
21:18 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."
21:19 (He said
this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this
he said to him, "Follow me."
Easter
People, the People of the Future III
The disciples had toiled all night at the
nets and it took only one word - "No" - to answer his question as to
whether they had caught anything. But
under the direction of Jesus, their net yielded 153 fish, and "large"
ones at that. When the catch was ashore the disciples saw "a charcoal fire
there, with fish lying on it, and bread." Jesus said to them, "Come
and have breakfast." This sharing food leads to the commission to “feed my
lambs.”
Feed my lambs implies many things. One of them is the issue of hunger. Hunger
has always been in the world. And it reminds us of Jesus’ saying, "For you
always have the poor with you." (Matthew 26:11). Is hunger a new issue of
humanity? If any one says it is new, in what sense is hunger a new phenomenon? What
ever the issue of hunger is, “feed my sheep" is never ending commission of
Jesus Christ for us.
Norman Cousins, a prominent political journalist, author, professor,
and world peace advocate, has said, "It is mistaken
and indeed dangerous to think that hungry people will march quietly to their
graves while some people have more food than they need. (The Interpreter, December 1975, p. 4).
"Feed my lambs,"
takes the love of God through Christ. So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of
John, do you love me more than these?” Peter said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know
that I love you.” In this question, Jesus uses “agape”
in Greek, meaning God’s love, God’s self-emptying love. Peter’s answer was “You
know that I love you.” But Peter’s answer was with “fileo” which means
“love as friendship.” It is not the same love as Jesus was asking. And Jesus’ answer was, “Feed my lambs.”
Jesus again asks him, “Do
you agape me?” And Peter answers, “Yes. Lord, you know that I fileo
you.” And Jesus answers, “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.
For the disciples to be
responsive to the command "Feed my sheep" means to join in the
mission of proclaiming the good news to the ends of the world. This is the
mission of Jesus, "thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven."
Therefore, “feed my sheep”, proclaiming the good news of God, “thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven”, were expressed in Jesus prayer at Gethsemane , “not my will but thy will be done.”
It is the mission of the
risen Jesus Christ. It is the call of the risen
Christ to join in God’s mission. It is the mission of the Easter
people, the mission of God’s people for the future coming world. In other
words, it is the mission of the people of the future. To perform the mission of
Jesus Christ there was one thing that Jesus wanted to make sure. Jesus wanted
to make sure that the disciples have love for Jesus who emptied himself, who
did not do his will but strived to do God’s will.
So the third time Jesus is
asking. “Do you love me?” This time Jesus uses “fileo”, the love as friendship.
If not the love of God, try to do with the love as friendship. It is Jesus’
understanding of the humanity’s limitation, and it is Jesus coming to us and
accept us was we are. What Jesus is saying to us is to love, and to fill this
barren world with the love of God.
We are in the season of
Easter, the season when we experience the new life as Jesus died on the cross
and risen from the dead. But during the week, we had shocking news of a brutal
tragedy that happened at Virginia Tech. Many injured and 32 innocent people
gunned down by an anger driven young man. He was a student of the same
university.
This young man killed 32
students and professors. According to the media report, his anger was at the
society he lived in.
There are many opinions
and psychiatric diagnoses. But from someone’s little note, I could tell what
was missing in this young man. “I
am sorry that I didn’t know that you needed help, and I couldn’t give you help
that you needed.” Little concern for neighbours is what was
missing in the society where he lived. What about our society? This small care
is what is missing in our society too. It is basically same in Jesus’ time and
in our time.
Since we are living in the
society like a barren desert, we are called to live with more care, more
generosity and more love. This is why Jesus asked a question again and again. Do
you agape me? Do you love me with God’s love? If you cannot love with God’s
self-emptying love, do you fileo me, then do you love with the love like
friendship? Even that will help you to love others. Go, and feed my sheep.Do
likewise in remembrance of me.
A victim’s family from the
Columbine tragedy seven years ago, said in a TV interview, “healing comes not
through anger, but through forgiveness.” It is true. It is what God’s love
means. We become what we focus on. When our lives focus on anger, it destroys.
When our lives focus on forgiveness, it heals, it reconciles with God and with
people. Marion Current shared Bishop Spong’s reflection on the tragic incident,
“Security comes through faith, faith in Jesus Christ who talks about love.”
Yes. It is the truth. It is the wisdom for this loveless world. Security is not on technical development, not
on my ample possession, but in love, not my way of love, but God’s love, love
love of the risen Christ. When our life focuses on the faith in the risen Jesus
Christ, it creates. It creates the new life, eternal.
In our world of past,
there were many things missing. That was love. In our present world, still
there are a crucial thing missing. That is love. On this Sunday morning, a
little Easter,
Jesus calls us to fill
this barren world with God’s love with the prayer, “Not my will but thy will be
done.” Jesus calls us to move towards the future with love of Christ, and fill
the future world with God’s love. In our journey for the future world, the
world of God’s shalom, we hear the words of the risen Christ. “Peace be with you. Receive the Holy Spirit.”
It is his blessing for us and for the world. Thanks be to God.
This site is prepared by the Rev. John Young-Jung Lee,
a minister of The United Church of Canada
with volunteers who are committed in the works
of Peace and Justice in our global village
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Acknowledgement:
Web planning team: Marion Current, Hannah Lee
Technical support & web designer: David Nam-Joong Kim
Art design team: Raymond NamKi Jung, Johnny Jong Hyun Jeong
Updated April 22, 2007