Sermon Tone Analysis

Text: Jn 21:15-19

Theme: Jesus Reinstates Sinners

Doctrine: Perseverance of the Saints

Image: juxtaposition of denials with reinstatement

Need: reminder of the enduring grace of God

Message: welcome as Christ welcomes

 

*Reinstatement of Peter*

Jn 21:15-19

*Intro*

Put yourself in the place of Peter this evening.

Try to think how you would feel if this were you.

The person for whom you have given the last three years of your life has just been executed, and then resurrected.

It seems as though all the hopes you had for this person, for your life, have been brought to nothing.

There is no throne, there is no kingdom, there is no victory over the Romans.

Nothing seems to have changed.

Sure Jesus is arisen, so what?

Good for him.

So what that death could not hold him?

So what?

What does this mean for Peter?

How does this change his life?

*Back to Life, Back to Reality?*

Finding himself back on the shores of the Sea of Tiberius, the Sea of Galilee, he decides to go back to the life in which he was comfortable.

He turns to the others who are with him and says, “I am going fishing.”

It seems to me that there is a lot of bitterness in this statement, a lot of grief, a lot of confusion.

He seems to be saying, “Well, I do not know what to do now.

Jesus is gone.

The last three years seem to have been a waste.

I might as well go back to fishing, at least that I knew how to do.”

The song by Soul II Soul “Back to Life” would fit Peter's mood.

BACK TO LIFE, BACK TO REALITY

The last few years have been fun, but life has to go on.

It seems that in the long run, nothing really changed.

His three year encounter with God, has not amounted to much, or so he thinks.

Do we ever feel this way?

Do we ever feel like to fire has gone out from our bellies.

There are times in our lives in which we are on the mountaintop; when we have had a great week at Bible camp; when we have spent a week in spiritual retreat; when we have been on holiday and felt God's presence directly in our lives; when we have decided to give up our bad habits and turn them over to God.

Then, however, we return home.

We come back to our work, back to our neighbourhood, back to our schools, and we lose the height of that experience.

We begin to feel the drudgery of our every day lives pushing down on our souls and crushing our spirits.

We begin to feel like that mountaintop experience of our faith was in another lifetime, and it is now back to our lives, back to reality.

The funny thing is, Peter does not seem very good at fishing anymore either.

His frustration continually mounts as he casts net after net after net over the water, hauling them back in empty.

After spending all night in this fruitless endeavour, he is about to call it quits.

But just as the sun breaks over the horizon, Jesus shows up on the shore.

Calling out to them, he asks the one question I am sure Peter is dreading, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”

The simple answer comes back across the water, “No.”

Then this crazy statement, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.”

Now, I do not know much about fishing in the first century, but I think fish are pretty much the same.

If they had trouble catching fish all night, throwing it a few feet in a different direction should not really make any difference.

This is probably why the beloved disciple realises it was Jesus after they take in a huge haul of fish.

Peter, ever the impetuous one, jumps into the water and struggles to the shore.

Jesus has prepared breakfast for them and asks for some of the fish they had caught.

Peter, eager to do whatever he asks, hauls in the net and they count 153 large fish.

After the leisurely breakfast you can picture them relaxing around the fire.

Peter finds himself back in close proximity to his Lord.

His mind is racing trying to figure out something to say, something to break the awful silence that reigns between them.

That horrible night has been playing over and over in his mind.

He cannot get away from the guilt that he is suffocating under.

His mouth is dry.

His throat is closing.

Panic is beginning to rise.

He thinks, “How can I continue to live this way?”

The truth is, he cannot.

He is not able to get over the fact that when the chips were down, when he wanted to prove himself, when wanted to sink the game winning three pointer, he dropped the ball.

When Peter was put under pressure, he collapsed like a house of cards.

He cannot get over the fact that he had told Jesus, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.”

And when Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.”

Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.”

But Jesus words came true and Peter once again begins to replay the rest of that fateful night.

*First Denial and Recommission*

He is following the crowd at a distance, not wanting to be recognised, but not wanting to miss what will happen to Jesus either.

He was travelling along with another disciple who was known to the high priest and who was let into the courtyard, Peter, however, had to wait outside.

The other disciple went back out and talked to the servant girl at the door to let Peter in.

As he was passing through the gateway into the courtyard of the high priest, the girl took a good look at him and exclaimed, “You are not one of his disciples, are you?”

Nervous at being recognised, and anxious that nothing happen to him, he denies it and replies, “I am not.”

One simple sentence, one simple statement, yet it carried so much weight.

Peter shakes his head to bring himself back to the present.

Jesus breaks the silence between them, and his voice sounds oddly loud after the lengthy silence.

“Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?”

What a question!

How to answer this one.

What does he mean 'more than these'?

Is he asking if Peter loves Jesus more than he loves the disciples, or is he asking if Peter's love for Jesus is greater than that of the other disciples.

Is Peter's love really greater than the other disciples's?

He made the claim that, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.”

He said that he loved Jesus more than the others.

He said he would even die for him, yet what did he say when asked if he was one of Jesus's disciples, “I am not.”

The questions makes Peter wince, and almost under his breath he responds, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Then Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

*Second Denial and Recommission *

“Feed your lambs?”

Peter thinks, “how can I possibly do that?

How can I ever feed anyone, or teach them, or comfort them, or give them advice, after what I did.

How could you put any trust in me after /that/ night?”

Peter stares into the fire, and his mind wanders back to the other fire, the one in the courtyard, the one he stood around /that /night.

Standing in the courtyard with all those people, he thought he would be inconspicuous.

He thought that no one would notice him, no one would care, no one would pay attention to him, they were all riveted by the scene unfolding before them.

At least Peter was.

He could not understand what was going on.