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“Christ is Still Teaching: Feed My Sheep”
John 21:1-19
April 19, 2015
Confirmation/Ordination Sunday
Christine Chakoian
First Presbyterian Church
Lake Forest, Illinois
3rd Sunday of Easter
All through Lent, we focused on what Jesus taught us about what really
matters, about how best to live. The word “disciple,” you may not know,
literally means “student.” As disciples, our primary purpose is to learn from
Jesus.
Now, of all the things that Jesus taught us, some of the most important
ones came after Easter, after his resurrection. Why? Because he knew it
wasn’t long before he’d be in heaven, and wouldn’t be walking around on
earth to teach us. There’s urgency to his last words.
How many of you were here last Sunday? A quick recap, then: last week
we looked at the very end of Matthew’s gospel, when Jesus’ last instructions
to his disciples was to go and teach what he taught – especially those things
that counter-act the most destructive messages we tell ourselves. When we tell
ourselves that only the strong survive, Jesus says, “the meek shall inherit the
earth.” When we tell ourselves that nothing we do really matters, Jesus says,
“love one another as I have loved you.” When we tell ourselves “me first,”
that popularity or power are the point of life, Jesus says, “no greater love is
there than this: that we would lay down our lives for our friends.” Jesus’
teachings are a 180 from the soul-sucking voices in our heads. And now, after
Jesus is raised from the dead, he tells us that we, his students, are entrusted
with his words. We’re the teachers now. Not a test you check off but a lifetime
of choices about whose voice you’ll follow.
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That was the word last week in Matthew’s gospel. This week, in John’s
gospel, he has another word for us. Let’s listen again to a snippet of what he
has to say.
***
John 21:1-19 (edited for length)
After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of
Tiberias. Gathered there were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin,
Nathanael of Cana, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples. Simon Peter
said to them, ‘I am going fishing.’ They said, ‘We will go with you.’ They
went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know
that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, ‘Children, you have no fish, have you?’
They answered, ‘No.’ He said, ‘Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and
you will find some.’ So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in
because there were so many fish. [One] disciple said, ‘It is the Lord!’ When
Simon Peter heard it was the Lord, he jumped into the lake. The other
disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far
from the land, only a hundred yards off.
When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and
bread. Jesus said, ‘Bring some of the fish you just caught.’ So Simon Peter
went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred and fiftythree of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said,
‘Come have breakfast.’ … Jesus took the bread and gave it to them, and did
the same with the fish. This was the third time that Jesus appeared to the
disciples after he was raised from the dead.
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When they finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, do you love
me?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him,
‘Feed my lambs.’ A second time he said, ‘Simon, 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, 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. … After this he said to him, ‘Follow me.’
***
What does it mean when Jesus tells Peter, “feed my sheep”? Different
Christian traditions hear it differently. In the Roman Catholic Church, this was
seen as Jesus’ hand-off to St. Peter - the first head of the church. Once Jesus
went to heaven, the church would be in Peter’s hands. For Roman Catholics
today, the chief shepherd is still the Pope, his Cardinals underneath, and below
them the Bishops and priests. So on Friday, when Cardinal Francis George
died, this was a HUGE deal: the Catholic Church lost the man who had been
shepherd to 2 million Chicagoans. May he rest in peace.
Protestants – including Presbyterians - have a different take on what it
means when Jesus tells Peter, “feed my sheep.” We don’t have a Pope. We
don’t have Cardinals. We don’t have bishops. We don’t have priests. Instead,
we have “the priesthood of all believers,” as Scripture calls it. “The priesthood
of all believers.” That means that you and I - we’re all priests together. Or to
put it another way, we’re all shepherds of God’s flock.
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So when Jesus says, “Feed my sheep,” he’s not just talking to Peter. He’s
talking to each and every one of us here. It makes sense, doesn’t it, because
there are so very many sheep to tend. Jesus’ sheep are not just members of this
church … not even just Christians. God so loved the world – the whole world enough to send Christ to us. Everybody matters to God, and all of us are
needed to tend them.
So today, in honor of our young adults Confirmation at 9 a.m., and our
Deacon and Elders Ordination at 11 a.m., we’re going to spend a few minutes
on sheep-herding. And to make it abundantly clear that I’m not “above” you
as a shepherd, I’m going to come to come among you. I am no better than you
are as a shepherd; no higher, no more special. We are in this together.
So on to our lesson: how do we tend Jesus’ wide-world of sheep?
1. Have a heart for the sheep … especially the vulnerable ones. As Jesus
said in Matthew 25: every time you keep the hungry fed, the naked
clothed, the lonely visited, you do it to me. How do we feed Christ’s
sheep? We feed them literally at Soup Kitchen. And we feed them when
we watch out for the kid who is getting bullied on FB/Twitter/Instagram.
In our well-heeled neighborhoods, it’s easy to believe that every sheep is
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taken care of. Nope. Watch out for sheep to see their need below the
surface. It’s amazing what can be done.
Yesterday was Mary Beattie’s funeral. Mary was a member here for
years, and a Deacon. She accomplished a lot for others. She was a fierce
advocate for children through government efforts, in social service
agencies, and at home – including taking in numerous foster children
along the way. In preparing for the funeral, I found out one of the
reasons why: I had never known that she had an incredibly difficult
childhood, raised by a single mother in the Depression, struggling to get
by. Mary never forgot how it felt to be a vulnerable child. Mary had a
heart for the sheep. And once you really have a heart for those sheep, you
can never turn away.
2. Know when you’re the sheep. One of the things I love about this church
is that it is the most generous, giving, roll-up-your-sleeves-for-others,
mission-driven place I’ve ever belonged to. It is extraordinary. But we
make a mistake if we cast ourselves as the generous-givers, and other
people as the needy-takers. We can only maintain a heart for mission
when we recognize our own neediness. And sometimes … sometimes
each one of us will be a sheep in need. When that happens, let someone
know. All sheep get hungry, cranky, scared or tired now and then. Don’t
pretend to be Superman or Wonder Woman. There’s only one ultimate
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Good Shepherd, and that would be Jesus. The rest of us are his assistants,
and we haven’t learned to walk on water yet. Know when you’re the
sheep who needs to be cared for, and let someone know.
3. Show up for the sheep. Even when you don’t like all the sheep in this
fold, in this church, show up anyway. Even when you’re tired or bored or
busy, show up anyway. Don’t show up because you’re proving anything.
Show up because of the other sheep. Let me say it again: show up
because of the other sheep. Somebody in youth group needs you – your
prayers, your smile, your compassion. Somebody in your Bible study
needs you – your wisdom, your interest, your hug. Somebody in the pew
next to you needs you – your faith, your encouragement, your
vulnerability. Show up. I know that not all sheep are cute. I know that
sometimes the sheep are stinky. I know that sometimes sheep bite. But
show up anyway, because there are still sheep that need you … and you
never, ever know when your presence will make all the difference in the
world.
I hope you know by now that Jesus loves you – dearly, deeply loves you –
loves you enough to have given his life for you. But today I hope you also
know that he’s counting on you not to hoard that love, but to share it. That
matters to Jesus so much more than reciting the Apostles’ Creed perfectly. It
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matters to Jesus so much more than knowing your Bible verses backward and
forward. It matters to Jesus so much more than outward appearances of faith.
You, my friends: you’re the shepherds now. Have a heart for the sheep.
Know when you’re the sheep, so other shepherds can take care of you too.
And show up: show up for the sheep, even when you don’t feel like it. This
may sound corny, but I mean it with all my heart: Jesus is counting on you.
Amen.