|
He Loves Us
Anyway!
introducing the apostles Peter and Andrew
Sermon based on Luke 22:31-33, 54-62;
John 21:15–17
by Rev. Frank Schaefer
Peter and Andrew were brothers but they seem to have been quite different.
Andrew was the one that discovered Christ first; he had been a disciple of
John the Baptist. He saw Jesus for the first time when John baptized him
in the river Jordan and called him the “Lamb of God.” It was Andrew that
made the astonishing statement that Jesus was the Son of God, the Messiah.
He brought his brother Peter to Jesus, and both of them followed him and
became disciples and, later, apostles. Andrew seemed to be a deep thinker
theologically, whereas Peter often seemed to have made confessions before
he truly understood.
One time, Peter repeated his brother Andrew’s words
when Jesus asked: “who do you think I am?” Peter blurted out: “you are
the Messiah, the son of the living God!” Only, it turns out he didn’t
really understand what exactly these words meant, because when he opposed
Jesus’ next words about having to suffer and die, he said: never! And
remember what Jesus said? “Get behind me Satan.” I can imagine Andrew
rolling his eyes thinking: “that’s my loud-mouthed brother!”
And it’s not like Peter takes this lesson to heart
for next time. He just continues to speak up boisterously. At the Last
Supper, when Jesus talked about how all of the disciples would be failing
him, Peter swore: “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to
death.” And Jesus answered him, “I tell you, Peter, before the rooster
crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.” What
happened next shocked all of the disciples: Jesus is betrayed by one of
their own-Judas Iscariot; then he is put on trial before the Sanhedrin and
later before Roman governor, Pontius Pilate. A few hours later he was
scourged and being nailed to the cross. That’s when they panicked and
dispersed and went into hiding for fear of their own lives.
That night Peter was warming himself at a fire among
the people when a female servant of the high priest spots Simon Peter,
saying that he had been with Jesus. Peter replied: “Woman, I don’t know
him.” That was denial #1.
Then Peter went out to the gate, away from the camp
fire, but a man followed him saying: “You also are one of them.” And Peter
answered: “Man, I am not!” That was denial #2.
The third denial came when Peter's Galilean accent
was taken as proof that he was indeed a disciple of Jesus. Peter insisted,
“Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking,
the rooster crowed and I can imagine Peter breaking down at that point,
remembering Jesus’ prediction of his failure.
How did he go from “Lord, I will die for you” to “I
don’t know him” within 24 hours? Was his word any good ever? Did he really
believe in Jesus? He was certainly not the leader he thought he was. In
fact, except for Judas, he was the weakest of them all. He had deserted
the Lord; he had denied him; he had failed him.
This must have been the low point of his life. Its
one thing to be a sinner and to thoroughly mess up your life and then to
become a Christian. You can always say, that was my former life and God
has forgiven me and gave me a chance to start fresh. It’s another story
when you’ve been a Christian, when you’ve followed Jesus for many years,
like Peter did, and then to fail God in such a big way.
Perhaps there are some here this morning that feel
this way and think they have totally fallen from the grace of God; perhaps
there are those who think that they have committed the unforgivable sin
and that there is no hope for them to ever being accepted and forgiven by
God again.
To Peter’s credit, he may
have felt like that inside, but he came back to find the other disciples;
he shared with them his failure (or else we wouldn’t know about it); he
confessed his failure and was forgiven and once again accepted into the
fellowship of the believers. But did Jesus forgive him?
The answer is yes, as you
may have guessed. Because after Jesus was raised from the dead and
appeared to the disciples, including Peter, something odd happened.
On first blush, it seemed
like Jesus was holding something over Peter; Jesus asked Peter: “do you
love me.” And though Peter answered “yes, Lord.” Jesus was not satisfied.
He asked a second time: “Peter, do you love me?” as though he didn’t
believe Peter’s confession; as though he was saying: Peter, how can I ever
believe you again after what you did to me? And again Peter answered, “You
know I love you, Lord.”
When Jesus asked him a third
time: “Peter, do you love me?” Peter was really hurt inside according to
John’s account. Perhaps he felt like Jesus was holding a grudge, perhaps
his sin was outside the scope of God’s forgiveness, or perhaps he thought
that his word was no longer trustworthy. Peter was deeply saddened,
perhaps he thought back to the moment of his denial of Jesus and felt the
shame, the pain, the agony of his failure all over again.
This time, when Peter
answered his Lord, he opened his heart to him-he laid it all out there for
God to see-- when he said: “Lord, you know all things; you know
that I love you.” This time, Peter knew that he meant his words; his
confession was pure and he knew that he would never betray his Lord again.
And this time, the Lord accepted his confession and
charged Peter (like he did in his previous responses) to feed his sheep.
Only this time Jesus did not ask Peter again.
Three times, Peter had
denied Jesus, three times Peter had to confess his love to Jesus. Jesus
had not given up on his most boisterous disciple—even though he hurt him
very much. There was never a question about Jesus’ love of Peter. Jesus
loved him even though he knew ahead of time that he would deny him; he
loved him anyway.
There is a song by the
Sidewalk Prophets, that expresses this incredible, absolutely amazing
love Jesus has not only for Peter, but for us all. Its entitled: “You love
me anyway:”
I am the thorn in Your crown
But You love me anyway
I am the sweat from Your brow
But You love me anyway
I am the nail in Your wrist
But You love me anyway
I am Judas' kiss
But You love me anyway
If you are here wondering this morning whether God still loves you even
though you keep sinning, even though you keep denying him in front of
others, know that Jesus loves you anyway. And I don’t mean to say that
Jesus loves you anyway because he is this stoic who doesn’t feel pain. I’m
sure that Jesus’ heart is breaking and that he feels the death-pangs of
the cross all over again when we disappoint him, when we let him down. But
He loves us anyway.
And that, my friends, is the totally and utterly undeserved grace of
God in action. Word’s cannot express, the human mind cannot fathom, this
LOVE God has for you and for me. How will you respond this morning to
Jesus’ declaration: “I love you anyway?”
|
