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Last week we left several of Jesus' followers staring at the empty tomb. Frightened, confused, uncertain what to do. The challenge to them and to us was this: Jesus is not here; he is out there in life. Go and find him.

The good news is that indeed, they did go out and they did find him. Did you? As we rejoin them today, Jesus has already appeared to them several times. They are glad to have him back, yet it's still a little unsettling, because he just sort of shows up out of nowhere. They have come to believe that he is alive, yet it's still not clear to them what his purpose is, and what impact Jesus' resurrection will have on their own lives.

In our story for today, it's early morning; several of the disciples have been out fishing all night and have caught nothing. Jesus appears on the shore, tells them where to find the fish, and after they haul in the overloaded nets, they bring the boat in to shore, where Jesus has been cooking them breakfast. After breakfast, Jesus pulls Peter aside to take care of a little unfinished business.
 
 

A few employees of Boeing aircraft company decided to steal a life raft from one of the 747's. They managed to sneak the raft out of the plane and then they took it home. When they took their prize on a little float trip down the river, they were quite surprised as a Coast Guard helicopter descended upon them. It turned out that the chopper was homing in on the emergency locator that is activated when the raft is inflated.

They are no longer Boeing employees. (Story file, 15.3.6)

It makes perfect sense that they would be fired for such a stunt. In a similar way, it would have made perfect sense, if Jesus had cut Peter from the roster after his pitiful display of cowardice just before the crucifixion. What would you do if a so-called friend denied even knowing you, just when you needed supporters the most? But instead of firing Peter, he forgave him and then he gave Peter a ministry. Feed my sheep. Tend the flock of God. Be the rock I have called you to be.

Well, isn't that just like Jesus?

And this is what the resurrection is all about for the followers of Jesus: a second chance, a call to ministry.

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is not just an event for the church to celebrate. It’s something for us to experience for ourselves. The Resurrection is what defines the church. Everything is different because Jesus died and is now alive. The Resurrection draws a boundary between past and future, expectations and reality; fears and possibilities; death and life.

We might say that the resurrection defines the church because it defines who Jesus is. The resurrection validates what Jesus has taught and done for the three years of his ministry. He is the Messiah, he is the Son of God.

And that's true; but the resurrection also defines the church in another respect, because this new life does not stop with Jesus. Resurrection is something that happens to each one of Jesus' followers. When I say that, I am not just talking about "pie in the sky by and by." The power of the resurrection is not just for when we die. It's for now, today.

Peter's reinstatement, as this story is called, is a crucial story for us, because it shows us how this resurrection power works in the life of one disciple. It therefore gives us hope for this power to be effective in our own life.

Peter comes into this story with a feeling that we all know. He is immobilized by it. Like the stone that had been rolled across the opening of Jesus' tomb, a very large boulder stood at the door of Peter's heart--a boulder called guilt. And the feeling is well-deserved. For Peter failed his friend, big-time, when he denied him before the crucifixion. If his

guilt is left untreated, it will deepen into bitterness and despair.

It's important for us to understand Peter's predicament, because for some of us, too, there is a large obstacle standing in the way of living life fully, and keeping us from doing our ministry effectively. Our own failures, or our emotional wounds become the stone rolled across the opening to our heart, and keep us captive to the past. But when we let these things define us, we are not being true to our faith. What defines a Christian is not failure, or our past experiences or our feelings. What defines us is the Resurrection.

Step into Peter's sandals with me for a few moments and see if you can experience what he experienced. You're sitting on the beach with your friend in the early morning sun. You want to much to get back the warmth, the intimacy that you carelessly cast aside in a moment of fear. Yet now you have a new fear--a fear of rejection by the one who means everything to you.

Jesus looks at you with those piercing, yet compassionate eyes. Are you squirming a little bit, having trouble looking him in the eye? Then, you are right there with Simon Peter.

Listen to what Jesus says. There are lots of questions that Jesus might ask. What were you thinking? Do you realize what you did? Are you sorry for what you did? Do you promise never to do it again? Have you gotten your act together?

But he doesn't ask any of those things, does he? What does he ask?

Do you love me?

That question speaks volumes, because Peter has made so many rash statements over the three-plus years that he has been following Jesus: Everybody else might fall away, but I will never fall away. I will follow you to the death. Have you ever made rash promises to God? Oh, God, if you'll just get me out of this one mess. . .

The brief conversation is charged with emotion, Jesus' tough love colliding with Peter's guilt. It’s significant that Jesus calls him Simon, his given name, instead of the nickname Jesus had given him. Peter, the Rock just doesn't fit him right now. The emotion is intensified by a play on words that doesn't come through in the English translation. There are two different words used for "I love you" in the conversation. Jesus starts out asking Peter "do you agape me?" Agape being the love that Jesus modeled, self-giving, thinking of the needs of the other, a love based not on fickle emotions, but on choice. Peter answers "I phileo you." Phileo being more of an emotional attachment, an affection. Something akin to our word "like." By the third time the question and answer are exchanged, Jesus is asking, "Peter, do you even like me?" And Peter is stung to the heart by the third repetition, and the implication, feeling the depth of his failure.

Why did Jesus spend so much effort on this love stuff, instead of Peter's behavior? Because at the heart of it, this business of being a Christian, being a disciple, is not

about believing all the right things, or even doing all the right things. It's about a relationship. It's about putting that relationship first.

Imagine Jesus looking you in the eye, knowing all that you've done, all that you plan to do, and saying "Do you love me?" "Do you even like me?" What do your actions say about where your heart is?

Peter's failure, that moment of weakness on Good Friday, when he denied his relationship with Jesus--could well have become the defining moment in his life. His guilt could well have hardened into bitterness, an unforgiving attitude toward himself, isolating him from his friends, his family. Preventing him from having any kind of positive influence on anyone else.

But you see, Jesus had already named him; Simon the faint- hearted fickle follower had been given the name Rock--Peter. And on this rock, I will build my church, Jesus said. In this post-resurrection encounter, we see that Jesus meant what he said. He would build his church upon the rock. Simon Peter. Of all people. Feed my sheep.

And in this very intimate conversation, Peter discovers that failure will not define his life. Resurrection will. And he will grow into that name after all by the grace of God.

We had a profound example of this resurrection power at our presbytery meeting this past week, when we voted to re- instate a colleague who for the past six months has been serving a sentence of what we call "temporary exclusion" from the exercise of ordained ministry. He had been found guilty of using the church computer to view sexually explicit material. I'm not telling you anything confidential. It was in all the papers. During the six months, David was required to be involved in a rehabilitation program. And when he had completed his requirements, he applied for re-instatement. What I've seen before in cases like this is that when a minister gets in that kind of trouble, he or she drops out of the ministry. But it's to David's credit, I think, that he has chosen not to let his failure define his future. So, he has re-entered his ministry with perhaps a more sober view of himself, yet with the hope that God can still use him.

Failure and past experience does not define the disciple of Jesus Christ. Resurrection does.

In 16th Century Spain, the coins were minted with a picture of the pillars of Hercules, which guard the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea. Under the picure on the coins was stamped these words: "Nothing Beyond." Well, of course, the world was flat back then! There was nothing beyond those pillars. Then, the upstart Columbus, pointed his little fleet of boats toward the sunset, and discovered a whole new world. By necessity, the Spanish government revised the motto on the coins to "More Beyond." (story file, 16.6.2) Columbus' little discovery redefined the world.

This is what the resurrection does for us. It redefines our world. Where there was "nothing beyond" in our life, now there is much more--a whole new world of life and ministry.

Each of us, in our own way, needs to experience what Simon Peter experienced. We need to face the real pain of our past, we need to receive the love and forgiveness of Jesus, and we need to accept our ministry, whatever it is. This is where the power of the resurrection becomes real for us.

Do you love me?

Feed my sheep.