True Commitment
John 13:36-38; John 21:15-20
Today is our last sermon on Stewardship. Next Sunday is our Pledge Sunday where you will be able to commit to the ministry of Mount Olive for 2007. Our prayer is that God would guide us as we use the resources He has give us to further His Kingdom. And I would also add that I hope we can really challenge ourselves to greater sacrifice for Christ.
Today we are going to look at Peter, a disciple committed to the ministry of Jesus Christ, but also one who needed guidance and direction from our Lord. As we consider our commitment to God lets look at three things that Jesus says to Peter to help guide him – ŇDo you love me?Ó ŇFeed my Sheep,Ó and ŇAnother will dress and carry youÉÓ
First letŐs look at the John 13 lesson. Here we see Jesus explaining what lays ahead for Him by way of His eventual death o the cross. Peter, in true form, opens his mouth and declares that he will follow Jesus even to death, without really hearing what Jesus was saying. Jesus wasnŐt calling Peter to follow Him at this point but was saying that this final part of Jesus ministry would be one He would do alone – dying for the world. Even though Peter is told he canŐt follow at this time, our next text does show to us that Peter would eventual die for the faith.
But what are also included in this text are Jesus words that Peter would deny Him three times before the rooster crow. Peter, who is the image of a disciple who will follow Jesus wherever He goes, is also human and will deny Jesus when the going gets tough. I believe that true commitment to Jesus doesnŐt involve our strength or our ability – that was PeterŐs mistake. He wanted, by his own power, to follow Jesus. But he canŐt
That is where the beauty of the second text for today from John 21 is so wonderful. In this text we see the disciples after the crucifixion of Jesus gathered by the sea in the morning. Jesus comes among them and in a great reversal He forgives Peter three times for PeterŐs denials. And with each comment here from Jesus we can start to see what true commitment to Jesus is all about.
The first comment from Jesus to Peter is in the form of a question – ŇDo you love me?Ó On the surface this may seem to be a very obvious question but what I believe Jesus is doing is to draw PeterŐs attention away from himself and to refocus it on God. ŇDo you love me?Ó requires Peter, as well as us, to focus on Jesus. True commitment is a love relationship with our Lord. It is not based on our ability to stay strong, to follow by ourselves, or to obey all that God has commanded. To be committed to Jesus is to love Him. Peter, when outside the walls of Jesus questioning, was focusing on his strength and what was going to happen to him if he confessed that he was a follower of Jesus. On PeterŐs own ability, as well as our own if we were in the same situation, let him down. He denied Jesus as he did the only thing he could by his own power – fail to be committed. True commitment involves giving up ourselves and showing total love to Jesus.
The Jesus says to Peter, ŇFeed my sheep.Ó This was an obvious statement that Peter was to be a leader in the church. Jesus was calling Peter to a life of service to the church. But why this metaphor of ŇsheepÓ? I think there are two reasons Jesus used the image of sheep. First is to realize the difficulty of the task ahead – raising sheep is hard work. Being a leader in the church is going to be hard work as well. Jesus also reveals who is really in charge when He says ŇmyÓ sheep. These werenŐt going to be PeterŐs people, But JesusŐ people that he would lead. God is in charge.
The second reason, and I think this is the greater reason, that Jesus may have used the sheep metaphor is how sheep are used in other parts of Scripture. How does the Bible ŇlabelÓ people like you and me? As sheep. We are sheep. By using the sheep metaphor Jesus is really putting Peter and us in our place – which is we are all the same in GodŐs eyes. We are on the same level playing field – we are all sinner in need of GodŐs grace. By realizing this we see that being committed to Christy doesnŐt make us better than others. We all need GodŐs grace. Peter needed GodŐs grace when he had failed Jesus and He doesnŐt disappoint.
The third thing that Jesus says to Peter and this one is probably the roughest one to hear, is ŇAnother will dress and carry you to where you donŐt want to go.Ó This was a direct prophecy to the kind of death Peter would face – martyrdom. True commitment requires total sacrifice – a giving up of our own will and pride, and a give over to God our whole selves. Peter would make the ultimate sacrifice – but in the end, all who believe in Jesus, whether the die or are killed for the faith, give the ultimate sacrifice – our lives.
So how does true commitment to Jesus inform our stewardship? Our stewardship is based on our love of Jesus, on feeding His sheep, and making a total sacrifice to God of our whole lives. When we love Jesus with our whole heart, soul and mind, stewardship will flow out of that love in response to the Gospel. And then we are also called to love our neighbor as ourselves – stewardship is serving our neighbor. God doesnŐt need our good works that was accomplished in Jesus but our neighbor does! When we use our time, talent and resources to serve our fellow man we are being good stewards and are staying committed to our Lord. And ultimately stewardship requires sacrifice. We give our whole selves to Jesus to be used by Him to further His kingdom.
Next Sunday you will be given the opportunity to pledge not only your monetary resources to the ministry of Mount Olive, but also your whole self. How are you going to be a good steward of all God has given you in 2007? How are you going to challenge yourself and your family to be more committed to the LordŐs work? What has God blessed you with that you can share with the whole body of Christ? Think about these things. Challenge yourself. And come next Sunday ready to refocus your life on Jesus and how we can serve Him in His kingdom.
Amen.