A Love Ne’er Too Far
John 21:9-19; Acts 9:1-6 (7-20)
"Yes, Lord. You know everything. You know that I love you."Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep."
When Christ spoke to his disciples out on the water, he was instructing them to "steer themselves" in a specific direction—the right direction. The right side of the boat symbolizes the righteousness that Jesus Christ calls us to live as his followers. As any vessel steering toward the long low tone of the fog horn will crash into the south tower, casting our hope on any other Savior will lead to destruction.
I believe that Jesus is not standing ne’er too far from us, as far away as he may feel at times. Christ is as near to us as he was to the disciples in their boat that Galilean morning. We know what it is like to work as hard as possible and still come up empty handed. All night the disciples fished and yet had caught nothing; they felt like failures; they were just sitting there in their boat, nets empty, nothing to show for all their hard work.
Yet, within the stillness and behind the fog, Jesus was there! The disciples were able to hear the Lord speak to them, even though they could not identify him by sight. It was not as important for them to see him as it was to hear him, and though it was important to hear him, it was far more important to obey him, which leads us to the second section of this passage. If Jesus were to say to us, "Do you love me?" would we be able to say yes, and not only mean it but also prove it?
Probably many of us can identify with Peter and how his feelings were hurt by Jesus asking him three times, "Do you love me?" There is a reason for the Lord’s persistence. If we love Jesus, truly love him, then we must act on that love. We must dedicate ourselves and all our efforts into carrying on his ministry. That ministry is to feed and tend the sheep that belong to his flock. Love for Jesus must always be followed by action for Jesus.
We can see this formula in the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. He was a man who took great delight in having Christians slaughtered. You could say that Saul had a nasty reputation…but he received a divine revelation. Granted, Christ had to knock the man to the ground to get his attention, blind him for three days, and send Ananais to restore his sight, but the point, at any rate, is that even as far as the old hate-breathing Saul was from the new greatest-of-these-is-love Paul, Christ love was ne’er too far from either one of them.
When Paul was ordained to his new role, he told Christ he loved him by spreading the Gospel throughout the known world to those who needed to hear it most. Next to Jesus, Paul was the greatest fisher of all.
We do not have to be the greatest fishers of all, but we do have to fish. We do not have to be the best shepherds of all, but we do have to tend the sheep and feed the flock. To love Christ is to serve him and to serve him is to love one another and all the others.
The trouble for all of us overworked and discouraged Christians is that we want to give up. We can’t see, feel or hear the love that comes from God. The fog is thick; the horn is silent; and something like scales seem to cover our eyes. This is exactly the time when Christ’s love is nearest.
A simple message lies herein for the followers of Jesus Christ. His words to the Church are the same as they were to the first disciples: "Children, come have breakfast with me." His breakfast is the most important meal of the day! Amen.
April 14, 2013
The First Parish Federated Church of South Berwick, ME
The Reverend Donna Lee Muise, Pastor
