So You Want To Be A Christian

John 21:15-17   (NRSV)

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.” 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.” 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.

Of all the stories that our bible has that tell of the resurrection of Jesus, by far my favorite is this one found in John’s Gospel.

The disciples have all headed home, no doubt disappointed about at all that had take place in Jerusalem a short while earlier.

          Jesus, their leader, was dead

We find Simon Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, James and John the sons of Zebedee, and two unnamed disciples have made their way back to the Sea of Galilee near Capernaum.

Peter says: “I am going fishing” and the others decide to join him.

They catch NOTHING

A stranger appears on the seashore and calls out to them and suggest that maybe they should try fishing on the other side of the boat.

I don’t know about you, but when I have been out for hours fishing and been skunked the last thing I was is some smart aleck telling me how to fish.

But for whatever reason they give it a try

And the results --- well the results were unbelievable --- more fish than they could even bring into the boat

It is at that moment that Peter comes to the conclusion that it is Jesus --- How that can be he is not sure --- but he is sure it is him and he jumps out of the boat and rushes to the shore.

When he gets there, he finds that this stranger/Jesus (Obviously it did not LOOK like Jesus) has started a fire begun baking bread and is waiting for them to bring fish to be cooked.

Jesus/ the stranger says to them:

          “Come and have breakfast.”

 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish.

It was then, that they knew it was Jesus

I love this story --- and it is one of my favorite places in all of the Holy Lands to visit.

It is at this moment that we get these transformational words from Jesus.

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.” 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.” 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.

I have preached on this passage dozens of times over the years --- And I have always interpreted it in a unique way --- suggesting that in some Greek translations of this text that there is a significant play on words.

Three times Jesus asks Peter a question --- but it is not exactly the same question every time.

Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me --- do you agape me (love me fully) more than these?”

Peter said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love (philos --- love you like a brother) you.”

Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.”

A second time Jesus said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love (agape) me?”

Peter said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love (philos) you.”

Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.”

Jesus said to Peter the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love (philos) me?”

Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?”

Peter said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love (philos) you.”

Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.

What strikes me about this passage is that seems to understand the limits on Peter’s ability to love Jesus

Peter is not able to offer Jesus Agape love --- only philos love

Peter can’t offer absolute – unconditional -- perfect love --- only love for a brother

                   And Jesus says THAT IS SUFFICIENT --- I will take what you can offer

There is great power in this story.  It says:

Jesus accepts us where we are and doesn’t demand more than we can give.

I really believe this is what Jesus was trying to say to Peter --- but the problem is, we often get comfortable and believe that giving what we got right now is enough. 

Becoming a disciple -- a follower of Jesus --- a Christian --- means that we are willing to move beyond where we are today and actually FOLLOW --- actually grow in our love of Jesus

It is moving out of our comforts zone and moving beyond a philos love for Jesus to an agape love

So I want you to hold that understanding of this passage in mind, but also try to look at it another way.

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep” to Peter, but if you think about it for a minute ---- Peter would never have seen a shepherd feed a sheep.

          Sheep were pastured --- they were not domesticated

          A shepherd never actually FED their sheep

So what might this text mean to Peter?

Hearing this text as Peter would have heard it --- Jesus seems to be showing what the role of the Shepherd is intended to be. 

And he seems to be suggesting four roles for the shepherd.

·         To keep the sheep mobile and on the road to mission with Jesus.

·         To insure that the sheep had plenty of good pasture so they could mature and reproduce.

·         To keep them safe from the predators.

·         To go out and find any lost sheep. This couldn’t be achieved if the sheep couldn’t take care of themselves in the shepherd’s absence.

If we are to take this story and apply it to today --- this passage seems to suggest that the role of the pastor and staff is to equip the saints.

The role of the laity is to be the ministers.

          It’s that simple.

Laity are not complete saints until they have been equipped.

As Bill Easum says: "Paid staff steal the essence of sainthood from people when they “do” the work of ministry."

Clearly the biblical role of all of God’s people is to be the priesthood of the believer. The author of 1st Peter writes:

You yourselves are being built like living stones into a spiritual temple. You are being made into a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:4-5 CEB)

In most mainline churches, too much emphasis is placed on the role of the paid staff to do most of the ministry.

Believe me, most staff are happy to do it --- that is why we went into ministry --- we like doing ministry

Heck, I get it, it is much easier to pay somebody else to do the ministry --- but that is not what it means to be a follower of Jesus --- to be a Christian.

Christianity has one big over arching goal – to make disciples. 

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28:19-20

Go and make disciples.

          The goal of ministry is to grow people. 

This means that making disciples is more important than sitting on a committee making decisions. 

Put another way:

The role of laity is not to hold an office in the church, to make decisions, and to run the church. 

If I were to ask you what ministries you have performed over the years I am willing to bet that a majority of you would recite a litany of positions that you have held within the church.

Ministry is not about the committees that you have served on, ministry is all about reaching out to make disciples for Jesus.

We spend way too much time and effort on ourselves and not enough building God's kingdom.

So if you want to be a Christian what does that mean?

Remember leadership Guru Stephen Covey --- he always talked about beginning with the end in mind so here are nine things that come to my mind

1.    A priority for a mature follower of Jesus is that they worship God, to worship God. 

They don't come to church to be “fed” spiritually or to be inspired, but to give their hearts to God.

They don't argue over the time of service, or the color of the carpeting.

They may have a worship preference, but they don’t hold that out as the only way, because it’s ultimately not about style.

It’s about giving themselves over to God.

2.    They are constantly seeking God’s will. 

Focus on God's kingdom and not our own personal agenda

3.    A mature disciple loves God and neighbor.

If there is anything I could say about a follower of Jesus it is that they obey what you could call the Jesus Creed:

 “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” Mathew 22:36-40

4.    They are non-judgmental. 

This is the loving neighbor part. Mature disciples know that they have been made whole by the grace of God. They know they don’t deserve it, but God’s unconditional love is just that, unconditional. They know they are not judged, so they don’t judge others.  In other words, they desire all to be welcome because they know all belong to God.

5.    It’s not about them. It’s about God and neighbor. 

It is pretty easy to tell who is about themselves and who is about God and others.

6.    They are intentional about connecting with the least among us. 

People are called to different ministries, but mature disciples are doing something that brings them face to face with Jesus which he tells us is found in the least of these (Matthew 25:31-46).

It might be the homeless, poor, sick, imprisoned, hurting or disenfranchised, but they get in the trenches in some way to connect with someone who is in great need.

7.    They are generous with their time, talent and treasure. 

Mature disciples always seem to have time for others. They use what they do well for the sake of others. And they give of their resources to help others.

8.    They push the church to be outward looking. 

Mature disciples remind the church that it is organized for the benefit of its non-members.

They are concerned about the visitor and the newer attenders, wanting to ensure that they not only feel welcome, but that the programs of the church are meaningful and accessible.

They favor making the building available for use by the community.

They are willing to challenge church members who are only thinking of themselves or about what’s good for the congregation.

9.    Finally, and most importantly --- Followers of Jesus are actively trying to reproduce.

What is the goal of a Christian -- to make disciples!

So a mature Christian --- follower of Jesus --- sees reproduction as their number 1 responsibility.

          Sharing the love and hope that is Jesus.

What is the goal of an apple tree?

          To produce fruit (apples)? NO

          The goal is to produce more apple trees.

The goal of Christianity is to make more disciples --- more followers of Jesus.

I never said that this would be a warm and fuzzy sermon.

But this is the challenge that we sign up for when we choose to be Christians.  And remember you chose to follow Jesus!

As Matt was preaching last week, challenging us to be more hospitable what kept coming into my mind was how we often see church like a sporting event.

We come to church to get excited and fired up --- but we let someone else do all the work for us.

I think we can see church and draw some parallels with sports, but the disconnect is we are not to be spectators, but we are to be participants.

And church is not the big game on Sunday; Church is the locker room talk before the day --- church is the daily practice getting ready for the event.  It is where we get fired up and go over the game plan on how we are going to go out and compete --- it is where we get trained and empowered to go out and execute the game plan.  The coaches don't go out and compete in the game --- their job is to get you ready.

That's what church is

How we live our lives demonstrates how committed we are to the mission and ministry to Jesus. 

Your job --- my job --- isn't to grow the church (please don't tell the superintendent I said that) my job, your job is to grow disciples.

So --- do you want to be a Christian?

It is the greatest journey, and the most demanding journey you will ever be on!

The good and wonderful news is God accepts you exactly where you are.

          If you can only offer God philos love --- God says --- I will take it

BUT DON'T STOP THERE

God desires us to love with agape --- complete, full love

And we do that by becoming mature followers of Jesus

So get involved

Getting involved means interacting with God's children

We have had two funerals these past two days

          Beautiful services celebrating the lives of Tom Lugar, John and Carolyn Tucker

          But we couldn't have done it without some of you engaging in ministry

Michelle, Marilyn, Candice and Debbie all actively engaging people in their grief with the love of God

Ministry is hands on --- seeing God's children --- and lifting them with the love of God

          Soup's On

          Fletcher Place

          Neighbor link

          Martin Luther King Center

          School 43

          Project Transformation

          Habitat for Humanity

          The person who comes in off the street needing help

          IHN/Family Promise

But maybe you aren’t ready yet

          You still need practice and learning

Join a Bible Study or Sunday School Class

          Re (Confirm)

          New Disciple

But my friends, a mature disciple knows that it is not in the classroom where transformation takes place

          There is a time and place for learning

          But the goal of Bible Study is not another Bible Study

At some point we have to set our books down and get busy doing the work of the kingdom

So you want to be a Christian

          A follower of Jesus

                   Come on, let's go and change the world for God

What If You Can't

Genesis 4:1-12 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Now the man knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have produced a man with the help of the Lord.” Next she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground. In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel for his part brought of the firstlings of his flock, their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.”

Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out to the field.” And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” And the Lord said, “What have you done? Listen; your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground! And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you till the ground, it will no longer yield to you its strength; you will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.”

As Matt was preaching last week one of my favorite poems kept popping into my head.

It is Rudyard Kippling’s wonderful poem IF.

If you can keep your head when all about you  

    Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,  

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

    But make allowance for their doubting too;  

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

    Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

    And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;  

    If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;  

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

    And treat those two impostors just the same;  

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

    Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

    And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

    And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

    And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

    To serve your turn long after they are gone,  

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

    Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,  

    Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

    If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

    With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,  

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,  

    And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

A preacher was quoting that poem from Kippling when a man in the back of the room jumped up and said: BUT WHAT IF YOU CAN’T

That is the challenge of life.

Matt was 100% right, we need to listen to each other, we need to demonstrate compassion to each other --- BUT WHAT IF YOU CAN’T!

          What if you can't?

As I was heading to Michigan a couple of weeks ago, we were snarled in heavy traffic near South Bend.  There wasn’t any place to go, but the truck behind me felt like I wasn’t moving fast enough, as soon I could I moved over I did, and as he passed me, he cut the truck over forcing me onto the shoulder. 

          Believe me --- At that moment I wasn’t feeling any compassion

                   Anger welled up inside me

                             I am sure I said a few things that I probably shouldn't have

And running through my head was the memorable line from the movie Network

                                      “I am mad as Hell and not going to take it anymore!”

                             And I tried to safely get a picture of his license plate

                                      Which I failed to do, which made me even madder!

The very first question in the Bible after the exit from the Garden of Eden is found in Genesis chapter 4.  God asks Cain: “Why are you angry?”

I think most of us could be asked the same question.

We are becoming an increasingly angry society

I have gotten to the point where I cannot stand watching the news, because I get angry

There was a powerful article in the Indy Star a couple weeks ago about how dysfunctional social media has become.

I see many of your posts and interactions on FaceBook --- sometimes we just aren't very nice to each other.

Anger is quite dangerous if it is not handled in a healthy way, and it can become extremely destructive.

Some of us have experienced destroyed relationships, destroyed bodies, and even destroyed churches because of anger not being handled in healthy or helpful ways.

Anger can be expressed in many ways.

It isn't always expressed outwardly towards others.

Sometimes it's expressed inwardly and when that happens, internal anger can cause stress as well as depression and many other things including severe health problems.

Anger can throw us into an absolute funk and we don't have any idea what to do.

Anger is real

And like Howard Beale I often want to say: "I am mad as Hell, and I am not going to take this anymore!"

Because, sometimes I can't --- I can't show compassion, I can't be nice, I just can't!

Is that you?

Do you feel that sometimes?

What if I told you that there was another way?

Would you be willing to listen, or better yet take a chance that might change your life?

The answer just might be found in following the advice of Brant Hansen who in 2015 wrote a transformative book called, Unoffendable

The key question he tries to address is do we have a choice?

          Do we have to experience anger?

As I read the book the answer seems to be yes and no.

I do think we can choose not to take offense --- not to become angry.

This choice, however, isn’t made in isolation; the choice to be unoffendable is intertwined --- linked by our answers to a host of other questions.

To try to put this into simple terms let me ask a question; is the choice to run a marathon just one choice?

          Well, yes and no.

To be sure, it’s a choice, but it’s not a choice made in isolation from other choices about diet, sleep, training, and rest.

You don't just wake up one morning and choose to run a marathon that day --- you choose to run a marathon by all the choices you make in the months leading up to it.

So many other things in life are the same way --- none of our choices are really made in isolation from everything else but are truly contingent upon other things.

It’s the exposing of this interlocking nature of anger and offense that I found so helpful in Hansen’s book.

Being unoffendable isn’t a mere choice to grow “thick skin” (whatever that means --- or stop being a snowflake as people like to hurl at each other) --- but the holistic choice to pursue a life centered on Jesus.

BUT wait -- isn't there a place for RIGHTEOUS ANGER?

Aren't there times when we should be offended --- when we should be angry?

Hansen argues that righteous anger belongs to God and to God alone.

He repeatedly quotes from the bible to show how God wants us to get rid of our anger.

Ephesians 4:31 (NRSV)

Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice

Colossians 3:8  (NRSV)

But now you must get rid of all such things—anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth.

How anger is dangerous

James 1:20 (The Message)

God’s righteousness doesn’t grow from human anger.

How silly anger ultimately is

Ecclesiastes 7:9 (The Message)

Don’t be quick to fly off the handle.

Anger boomerangs. You can spot a fool by the lumps on his head.

And probably the most quoted verse in the bible on anger

Ephesians 4:26-27   (The Message)

Go ahead and be angry. You do well to be angry—but don’t use your anger as fuel for revenge.

Which would seem to suggest that anger can be good, and many stop right there, but listen to the rest of the verse

And don’t stay angry. Don’t go to bed angry. Don’t give the Devil that kind of foothold in your life.

And don't forget our passage this morning, as God asks Cain:

“Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.”

Giving into anger can lead us down some dangerous and deadly paths . . .

And Hansen is quick to point out that anger is not listed as one of the fruits of the spirit!

In a post on his Blog, Hansen shares his encounters with what he called "Bible show interviewers":

Bible Show Interviewer: But the Bible says human anger can be a good thing and righteous.

Brant:                          Actually, it doesn’t. (Cites multiple scriptures, including where we’re told, point-blank, to get rid of all anger, that human anger is never righteous, etc.)

Interviewer:                 Oh, so… you’re telling me I shouldn’t harbor anger towards terrorists?

Brant:                          I’m just reading scriptures and stuff.

Interviewer:                 C’mon. You’re telling me to get rid of all anger?

Brant:                          I’m just reading scriptures and stuff.

Interviewer:                 Are you NUTS?

Brant:                          Why yes. Yes I am. But I’m just reading scriptures and stuff.

He goes on:

It tends to become a “You can’t tell me I can’t stay angry towards this or that criminal!”-type discussion. I try to point out that Jesus levels the moral playing field, and we’re murderers, too.

Yep. 2000 years later… and no one wants to hear that. Still doesn’t go over well. The Gospel still liberates many, and scandalizes the rest.

The truth is, most of us are unwilling to let God be God and us to just be God’s creation. 

We want to be in control!

We want to let our anger determine who is right and who is wrong.

Dietrich Bonheoffer in The Cost of Discipleship wrote:

Jesus will not accept the common distinction between righteous indignation and unjustifiable anger.  The disciple must be entirely innocent of anger, because anger is an offence against both God and his neighbor.

Dr Martin Luther King agreed when he wrote in his autobiography

This Monday I went home with a heavy heart.  I was weighed down with a terrible sense of guilt, remembering that on two or three occasions I had allowed myself to become very angry and indignant.  I had spoken hastily and resentfully.  Yet I knew that this was no way to solve a problem.  "You must not harbor anger," I admonished myself.  "You must be willing to suffer the anger of the opponent, and yet not return anger."

He went on and explained how one can fight injustice without anger.  He wrote:

We are not advocating violence.  We want to love our enemies.  I want you to love our enemies.  Be good to them.  Love them and let them know that you love them.

In other words, be motivated by love

          love for victims

          love for bystanders

          love for enemies

I didn't say this would be easy

Let me ask you --- is your anger working?

          Are you happier with your anger --- even your righteous anger?

Is our constant sniping at one another making the world a better place?

As I look around, I would suggest that our anger and indignation has gotten out of hand!

As CHRISTIANS, and I am speaking to followers of Jesus --- choosing to be unoffendable means choosing to be humble.

Hansen concludes his book:

          Choosing to be unoffendable means choosing to be humble.  Not only that, the practice teaches humility, once you've decided that you can't control other people; once you've reconciled yourself to the fact that the world, and its people, are broken; once you've realized your own moral failure before God; once you've abandoned the idea that your significance comes from anything other than God, you're growing in humility, and thats exactly where God wants us all. 

          It's contrary to seemingly everything in our culture, but the more we divest ourselves of ourselves, the better our lives get.  Jesus told us as much.  He said if we'd give up our lives, for his sake, we'd find real life.

          When we surrender our perceived "rights," when we let go of our attempts to manipulate, we find --- surprise! --- joy.

But what if I can't!

          Well, the truth is you can't

You cannot solve your anger problem on your own

But, if you let go and let God be in control, you can begin to allow yourself to be unoffendable.

If you do that you will grow in ways you never dreamed possible

          And your life will be a heck of a lot happier as well!