Story of Redemption: Psalm 130; John 21: 1-17
[SLIDE 1] This week I did some long and difficult training with new attorneys on how to try a case. We give them a case pattern and critique them start to finish and they put it together and present it in a mock court situation. One of my students was really struggling. A few times when she was given feedback she rolled her eyes at us, which did not go over well. I later learned it was a nervous tick, and she had no idea she was doing it. [SLIDE 2] The day of the mock trial with fake jurors came, and all of a sudden, she hit a homerun. Everything was on point. Her questions were good. Her arguments on point, and her presence was strong. This was an attorney who would stand up and just stare at us because she totally shut down and couldn’t even formulate a question.
I looked at her and said, “I don’t know what ghost of a deceased brilliant attorney came and inhabited your body, but you sounded like a 20-year veteran of the practice today.” She grinned and said, “Good, I needed a little redemption tour after my mess this week.” And indeed, we all need a little redemption sometimes in life. With redemption comes a God-given calling, and that puts us on the right track of faith in this life.
This short passage in John’s gospel is packed with symbolism of Jesus proving who he was to the disciples. [SLIDE 3] They had gone out to do some fishing, but they had not caught nothing. Jesus appeared to them at dawn and told them to cast their nets on the other side. The net was so full they could not draw it in. We’ve heard this story before. Though it’s not in John, exactly, Jesus did this miracle and told them to be fishers of people. Peter then jumps out of the water and runs to Jesus. [SLIDE 4] It brings to mind when Peter walked on water trying to get to Jesus, but falls short and sinks. Jesus then feeds them bread and fish. [SLIDE 5] And at least this time he cooked it unlike the feeding of the 5,000 where there’s no mention of cooking and I fear they got sushi. Then he serves them food reminiscent of the Last Supper.
John is making a point. Though some of these things happened in other gospels, we have a term in the law called in pari materia, which means writings on the same subject should be interpreted together to understand their meaning and intent and create a coherent application. All of these acts of Jesus testify to his holiness because they recall the miracles which identify him. And all these miracles involved the disciples directly in some way or another.
[SLIDE 6] This is important because Peter is likely feeling a bit lost at this point in life. I imagine he is a bit uncertain of himself and of what is next. He may also be a bit scared of Jesus. We see him run to the empty tomb, but there’s no mention of him saying anything at the previous appearances of Jesus, which is not like Peter at all. He was never the shy or bashful type. But in his last interaction with Jesus, he had vehemently denied Jesus and even knowing him three times. Each gospel records this, and in the end, Peter weeps bitterly for what he has done. At this point and time, Peter is a broken man standing in need of redemption.
Each of us will face these broken times in life. It may be the end of a marriage. We may struggle with family relationships, with children and grandchildren. We may have a broken friendship. Because we are so flawed, there are times that we will feel broken and that we will be the one causing the problem. And if we were honest with ourselves, at one time or another, we have all said or done something that grieved our Lord. Peter was so imperfectly perfect. He was at times a mess, but his love and devotion to Jesus were very real. I think at times we can see a bit of ourselves in Peter. He’s the most real and human of the disciples. We have all been on fire so much that we lashed out as he did in the garden. We have been surly and disagreeable as he was in the courtyard. We have cried, struggled, felt ourselves sinking in the waves, and we have all tried very hard.
Peter is a man who needed redemption, and knew at this point he needed Jesus. That’s where we need to find ourselves each day. Sometimes we live this tug of war, only pulling Jesus in when it’s so hard we think we need him to help out. But faith isn’t about calling in the holy cavalry when the going gets tough. Faith is a daily offering of ourselves, our lives, and our hearts to the One who is the God of creation and redemption.
Growing up we were taught that each time Jesus says to Peter, “Feed my sheep (or lambs),” it’s like he’s cleansing away each denial and restoring Peter’s relationship and commitment. At the end of this discussion, a few verses down, Jesus concludes with, “Follow me.” I imagine this was a very emotional moment for Peter. By the third time Jesus asked him, “Do you love me,” Peter had to know what Jesus was doing. Each of those denials, just as bitter and hard as the lashes on Jesus’s body, was wiped away by the assertion of love for Jesus.
[SLIDE 7] Redemption is formulaically very simple: repentance and restoration. Peter had already had his moment of repentance. His bitter weeping and grief proved that he was heartily sorry for what he had done in betraying Jesus with his denials. What was still needed was his restoration. That came here. In any broken place in life, there has to be both repentance and restoration before the brokenness can be cured or rebuilt. Repentance without restoration is just forgiving and moving on. Restoration without repentance is just overlooking the toxic things that caused the brokenness in the first place. You must have both.
[SLIDE 8] But inherent in redemption is a calling. Jesus said, “Feed my sheep,” and concluded with, “Follow me.” Peter’s redemption would have been an utter waste if he had simply thanked Jesus and gone back to fishing. Jesus had done too much for him that he couldn’t help but be changed and called. Peter was a man of charisma, action, a fisherman who could relate to all the folks around him. I’m sure Peter was the person you wanted entertaining folks at dinner. Jesus had changed him, and now that he was redeemed and reconciled, he could never go back. He had a calling from God that be both incredible and dangerous. Yet, he was going to be the rock upon which Christ’s church was built.
Peter most certainly wasn’t ready for his calling. And, frankly, neither are you and I. When I became minister at the young age of 25, I remember being asked, “Will, what are you going to offer and teach those veteran saints who have years of experience on you?” At the time, I didn’t know how to answer that. In retrospect, 14 years later, the answer to that is nothing. But I am certain that God is still speaking to us, no matter how veteran of a saint we are nor whom God may speak through. Redemption, reorientation, and finding our way in faith all require us to trust in the Redeemer of humankind.
[SLIDE 9] When I was in college, I had a poster of Garfield the cat which said, “If I don’t know the answer, I’ll make one up.” That has adequately described my teaching style at this training for new attorneys. Thankfully I don’t apply that to this calling. Whatever was said or done that week of training, somehow, it got through to that new, young attorney. She got it and understood. She was redeemed from her place of defeat and dismay and re-found this work as her calling.
[SLIDE 10] My friends, God is doing the same for you, only the answers aren’t a best guess or what some human can make up for you. In a world that craves revenge and power, turn your eyes to Jesus who values redemption and purpose. Peter, who denied Jesus three times, wept bitterly, and lost his way almost entirely, found his redemption is professing over and over, “Yes I love you, Jesus.” And he found his purpose in Jesus’s reply, “Feed my sheep [and] follow me.” God can work miraculously through you too. It’s no different for us than it was for Peter: Do you love Jesus? Will you feed Jesus’s sheep? Will you follow him? May your answers be firm, and may God give you the strength to live them out.
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