Physical Therapy

Sermon prepared for Messiah Lutheran Church, Auburn WA
by Pastor Greg Kaurin
April 18, 2010

Text: John 21:1-19

Physical Therapy

They counted them: 153 large fish. For 2000 years, people have puzzled over the meaning of that number, 153; I think it was just John’s way of describing their surprise and his memory, “I was there, and I remember it exactly. We counted them…153 fish!”

And then, this exchange between Peter and Jesus. Every year, something new occurs to me. This year, it’s when Jesus asked Peter, “Simon Peter, do you love me more than these?” There’s a couple possible ways to read that question, and both are meaningful. Jesus could have been asking, “Look at all this, Peter, your old life, fishing with nets, the boat, the beach, the comfort of these friends, but do you love me more, enough to leave this behind?” Three years earlier, Jesus performed this same miracle and called Peter and some of the others to follow him, “And,” Jesus said, “you will be fishing for people.” Jesus might have been asking Peter, “Are you ready, now?”

The other possible meaning is that Jesus may have been reminding Peter of the time, just before the arrest and crucifixion. Peter had boasted to Jesus and said, “Even if all these others fall away, I will never desert you” (Matthew 26:33)! I love you more the most, Lord! That very same night, it was Peter who denied even knowing Jesus… three times.

You know, even after that strange and wonderful Easter day, the Appearances to the disciples, and last week to Thomas, this had to be eating at Peter. He had to be wondering every time the risen Christ looked at him, “Does Jesus know: how I ran and hid like the rest, and what I said?” So, Jesus chose this moment to uncover that wound.

There on the beach Jesus asked him the first time, “Do you really love me, Simon Peter, more than these?”
“Yes, Lord, you know I do.”
“Then, (1) feed my lambs. Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
“Yes, Lord, you know I love you.”
(2) “Tend my sheep.” And finally Jesus matched Peter’s denials asking once more, “Simon, Son of John, you love me?”
“Come on, Lord, you know everything. Yes, I Iove you.”
And Jesus answered, (3) “Feed my sheep.”

We could dig into the fact that in the Greek New Testament, Peter and Jesus were each using different words for love. Jesus was asking for agape, or selfless love, and Peter kept coming back at him with philos, or friendship. There are some great insights to draw from that. But the main thing to point out is that for the three times he denied Jesus, Jesus let him to counter each with a statement of love. But Jesus did even more. He added mission, something to do to get Peter moving.

After a knee or hip replacement, what do doctors want you to do as soon as possible? To get it moving. Very soon you’re into physical therapy. Why? They don’t want your joint to freeze or muscles to atrophy.

T3his can happen spiritually. Even after blowing it, and receiving grace, and hearing forgiveness, we can still get stuck. We can keep returning to that sin, that ache, confessing it again, and hearing the words of forgiveness, again and again. And sometimes we wonder why we just can’t seem to let it go. Why do we sometimes have such a hard time taking God at his word, letting go of something, and moving on?

Or, worse, is to be the person who maybe never denied Jesus the way Peter did, or never ran away like the Prodigal Son, and each week returns to hear how much God loves them, and each week sings the songs, hears a nice sermon about Jesus’ love, and walks home, week after week, (sigh) basically unchanged.

One of my classmates is a professor now at Luther Seminary, David Lose. For the last year he’s been looking at studies on happiness and fulfillment, both in the secular world and the spiritual. The two primary things we seek, or that can help us feel happy or fulfilled are no surprise at all:
1) Community: do I feel like there are people who love and support me?
2) Purpose: do I have a sense that what I do matters.

What did Jesus give Peter that morning? He restored their relationship. “Simon Peter, do you love me?” “Yes, Lord, I love you.” Community. That is what is meant to happen here each Sunday, with Christ, and with each other. The peace of the Lord be with you all! [And also with you.] And then we exchange it; we are in Community with God and with each other.

And then, at the end of worship we say, “Go in peace” and do what? [Serve the Lord.] Thanks be to God. Purpose. Jesus said it this way to Simon Peter: Feed my lambs. Tend my sheep. Feed my sheep.

My friend from seminary also mentioned results from a survey taken of churchgoers in the United Kingdom. The results start out pretty good. Of those who regularly and voluntarily go to church, 96% say they look forward to hearing the message. Wow! It’s not always the top reason why they go to church, but 96% look forward to hearing what their preacher might have to say. But before any of us get too puffy, the survey also asked how clearly their preacher communicated God’s love. What percent would you guess? 60% of those surveyed said their preacher clearly communicates how much God loves them. Okay, considering all the different takes and preachers and denominations, that’s not horrible… unless you’re in the 40%.
Finally the survey asked whether the messages they’ve heard have had influence or somehow changed the way they lived. What would you guess for that? 17%. 96% look forward to it, 60% hear God’s love in it, but 83% walk away, Sunday after Sunday, basically unchanged, unaffected.

Several years ago, I was riding in one of our member’s pick-up trucks. We had been talking about prayer, and he said he was struggling with it. On the other hand, this was the same man who was constantly doing things for others and the church, because, he said, he felt close to God when he was doing it, could feel Jesus presence when he was helping and talking with them. Well, what do you think that is? That’s prayer, living prayer.

God opened the conversation when he first made you. He cleared the lines by forgiving and saving you, and promising that nothing would come between you, Romans, chapter 8. And now, what you say, whatever you do with your life is a response to him, for good or bad, we answer God with our lives.

What Peter in our gospel lesson needed to hear from Jesus was release. He could let go of his internal fears and worry, and then put that release in motion. He needed a new direction: to tend and feed others. Even after hearing forgiveness, we can still be stuck on ourselves, our own lives. Imagine a bird, you’ve nurtured it back to health. It should be ready to fly, so you open it’s cage, …and it sits there looking at you. This can happen to people or groups or churches.

We were put here for a reason, not just to be saved, not just to sing and worship. (“Yes, Lord, yes you know we love you!”) but also to take care of each other, to love and tend to the people God puts in our path, to do things that help suffering around the world.

This is our physical therapy. Probably one of the strongest units I know is right here. Messiah Lutheran Church of Auburn, WA. We do a lot of things well, and I’m sure there are many churches that outstrip us on the rest. But let that go. We don’t have to become the best in class; God won’t be impressed by how nearly perfect our work or results are. And he doesn’t want us to run higgly-piggly doing good, but to focus: Are we feeding God’s little ones? Literally and spiritually, are we feeding them? Are we tending the larger herd, the sheep, and feeding them? Are you? You could be quietly blessing or praying for each person as you meet them. Or working with someone specific.

You and I can do great things, but the greatest thing we can do is to show and tell someone that we care, and that God loves them. If one person is worth celebrating in God’s kingdom, then he or she is worth our patience and our time.

Let me be clear, you are loved by God, you are forgiven. That’s why we can say, “Go in peace.” You have community. You also have a purpose. You matter, and what you do matters. Your life is prayer. One of the reasons you are here this morning is to tell God how much you love him. Now, go and show him.