Good morning and welcome to worship! I am so glad you’re with us. I’ve spent the last two weeks studying and praying about our Gospel lesson today and I’m excited to share what I’ve learned. Let’s open our Bibles to the last 10 verses of the Gospel of John.

 

Anybody remember the story of Humpty Dumpty? Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, humpty dumpty had a great fall, and all the kings horses and all the kings men, couldn’t put humpty together again. But Jesus can! He can resurrect ruined lives, families, congregations, even whole denominations!  There is nothing as radical as the transforming power of the resurrected Christ! Amen!

Peter was a natural leader. He saw himself as a “can-do” guy who wasn’t afraid to take a stand. Peter was a rescuer and a fixer. He had a good heart, but he was boastful and proud. As a result, just like Humpty Dumpty, he took a great fall. Maybe some of you can relate.

 

When Jesus first met him, his given name was Simon. Jesus nicknamed him “Rocky”.  Peter means the rock. If Jesus gave you a nickname, what might it be?

 

Most of you know some of the stories of Rocky. He’s the one who stepped out of the boat in the storm and walked on water until he got scared and sank like a stone. He’d have gone to the bottom except Jesus reached out and lifted him up. I can’t help but wonder what Peter the fisherman thought about being pulled from the water by a rabbi? Rough on the ego?

 

Rocky bragged 3 different times in the presence of the other disciples that even though they all bailed and ran away, he would never abandon Jesus. I don’t know how the other disciples put up with it except they considered the source. That’s just how Peter was.

 

Rocky was the one who interrupted and corrected Jesus 3 different times when he said he was going to give his life for the world. Each time Rocky said, “No way!” Jesus said, “Yes, way!”

 

When Jesus warned Peter that he was going to deny him 3 times, Rocky again attempted to correct Jesus in front of the other disciples. He said, “I will lay down my life for you.” Guess where he got those words? He got them from Jesus. It was Jesus who said, “The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”  So who is the Good Shepherd? Jesus or Rocky!

 

So there’s Rocky on that horrible night. Jesus has been dragged by a lynch mob before a midnight kangaroo court. John manages to get Peter into the courtyard of the high priest where a servant girl asks Peter if he is Galilean. Three times Peter denies knowing Jesus. The last time he even curses as part of his denial. Peter the rock has crumbled. Peter looks up and his eyes meet Jesus’, and then - just as Jesus predicted - a rooster crows.

 

Three boasts, three betrayals, three inexcusable failures. What a mess! Peter the Rock has crumbled into a handful of dirty sand. But that’s why Jesus came. When Jesus asked the disciples, “Who do you say I am?” It was Rocky who said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God!”

 

What that means is Jesus is the Messiah, the Savior of who fail, who fall short, who crumble when the pressure is on! Jesus is the Good Shepherd who gives his life for the sheep!

 

So here they are – Rocky, the proud pebble that crumbled and Jesus the Rock that can not be shaken - on the gravel on a beach in Galilee. Can you hear the waves, smell the fish, the campfire, feel the wind in your hair, the sting of burned fingers from eating hot fish?

Peter is about to learn, once you meet Jesus and you begin to follow him, you can’t go back. Your old life is dead. Jesus the True Rock grabs the arm of Peter the broken pebble and they walk up the beach. John follows behind. Wherever Jesus goes, John wants to follow.

 

Vs 15. Jesus uses Peter’s given name. “Simon, do you truly love me more than these?” Shame wells up in Peter’s throat, tears spill down his cheeks! Peter bragged that he loved Jesus more than the other disciples did, more than fishing, more than anything in the whole world! Then he fell.

 

Note the words “truly love”. The Greek word is “agape”. It means deep sacrificial love. The love described in 1 Cor. 13. Let’s read it together. “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” 1 Cor 13:4-8

 

I think before Rocky crumbled, he would have jumped up and said, “Sign me up, I’m in, I can do that!” But now Peter refuses to make such a claim. Instead of saying “Of course I truly love you!”

“In fact, I truly, truly love you!”   Instead, Peter uses a completely different word – a much humbler word – it is the word phileo – the love of a friend. “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you!”

 

Then, Jesus says, feed my lambs. Sign up for the nursery, change some diapers, wash some dishes, greet some people, wipe some runny noses, visit some shut-ins, clean some floors.  “If you want to be great in the kingdom of God learn to be the servant of all.” We only change the world through ministry and mission.

 

Jesus asks Peter again, “Simon, son of John, do you truly love me?”  Peter can’t bring himself to confess anymore that he has the same power to love Jesus as Jesus has to love him. “Lord, you know that I love you.” Then, “Take care of my sheep.” Sheep – stubborn, vulnerable, needy, onry, dumb. Lots of hard work and very little glory in tending sheep. Except for the fact that that’s what Jesus did. He lived it everyday. He is the Good Shepherd of Psalm 23 and John 10.

 

And then Jesus asks again. Three boasts, three denials, now three questions. “Simon, son of John, do you love me.” This 3^rd time, Jesus changes the word from agape to phileo. It’s as if he is saying, “Peter, your love isn’t perfect like mine, but will you love me with the strength that you have?”

 

John tells us that Peter was hurt when Jesus asked him three times, “Do you love me?”  Dealing with our failures is never easy. But if we will confess, Jesus promises to cleanse, forgive, and get us back on track again, morning by morning.  Jesus is leading Peter to a place he can’t get by himself – reconciliation, forgiveness, resurrection, re-commissioning for the task ahead.

 

Take special note of vs 18 Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, when you were young,  you dressed yourself and went where you wanted. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.”  Jesus is referring to a familiar metaphor for aging. When you are young and strong you do as you please, dress as you please, go where you please, but when you get old enough, somebody else takes over.

 

But he’s giving this proverb a deeper meaning. He’s referring to our spiritual life. Spiritual immaturity sees ourselves as the center of the universe and God sort of there on the side – sometimes an inconvenience, getting in our way. But sometimes God needs a little help so its good that we’re there to give him a hand. At least that’s how the spiritually immature see it.

 

Spiritual maturity is coming to terms with our own sinful depravity. It’s realizing that Jesus was right when he said, “Without me, you can do nothing”. We stand before God clothed in the rags of our sin until God by his grace comes and clothes us in the righteousness of Christ.

 

Vs 19 ends with Jesus calling Peter to the same task he did when he first met Peter. “Follow me”.  Our call to bring the light of Christ into a broken and dying world has never been greater. So who is the rock on which our family, our congregation, our ministry and mission stands?

 

It’s not our strength, our infallibility. It’s not our talent, our wisdom, our skill. The Rock on which we stand is not Peter the fractured pebble. It’s not you or me. It’s Peter’s confession. “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”  It’s our pointing to Jesus and following him into servanthood.

 

Jesus is the Rock that cannot be shaken, even when we fail, he remains secure. And he has called us to follow him into ministry, feeding the hungry, taking care of the sheep, bearing witness to the reality that he alone saves us from our failures and puts us back on our feet.

Rocky still has some lessons to learn. Even after this incredible encounter, he turns around, looks at John and says to Jesus, “What about him?”   Jesus replies “What is that to you? His story is between him and me, its none of your business, Peter, brothers/sisters, Christ Lutheran Church, you follow me.”

Where are you at with your call from the Lord this morning? Feeling a little like Humpty Dumpty? If the Lord can restore Peter, he can restore you! The Lord has something for you to do, a calling that belongs to you alone. A ministry for the sake of transforming the world, one person at a time!  But it can’t be done in your own strength or wisdom alone. It can only in the strength of the Lord. In fact, its out of your weakness and failures that God’s power will be most evident. Your failures haven’t changed God’s call on your life. 

 

The Lord is able and willing to put you back on track. But it will require that your old sinful ego be crucified and that you stand, not in your own strength and pride, but in him alone. That’s true for us as individuals and for us as a congregation. Will you pray with me…