The Seven Churches of Revelation - Smyrna (Revelation 2:8-11)

SMYRNA: FAITH UNDER PRESSURE

 

Do we hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches? We have begun a study of the Seven Churches of Revelation and today we are looking at Smyrna, a Church under pressure.

            I was thinking about the good and the bad of being pressured and a certain beverage came to mind: Coffee! We drink this brackish dark liquid every day. Since coming to Rosenort, I drink more of it than ever before. It is a social drink. It is a spark in the morning. It is a companion to sweets. Can you imagine life without that heavenly aroma?

            What does this have to do with pressure? I thought of the process that it takes to get that cup of elixir to your mouth in the morning. Think of it: the berries are grown and then yanked off the life-giving branches of their bushes; then they are left out to dry in the hot sun; they are roasted to the point where they are unrecognizable as berries (now they are beans), darkened by the punishing heat; next, they are ground down to various levels; then they are subjected to scorching hot water to create COFFEE!! All so you can wake up with a Lilystone cinnamon bun and a coffee to start your day out right.  

            That’s the church of Smyrna. Of the seven churches, only Smyrna and Philadelphia receive no complaint from Jesus. He commends them, encourages them, and promises them eternal life. It is quite probable that the reason Jesus has no complaint for this church is that Smyrna was a suffering church, a church under pressure. Jesus praises them for enduring trials and then tells them there is more to come. They have suffered and they are going to suffer still more. Why? Why wouldn’t Jesus rescue them from this suffering? 

            Peter speaks to the why in his letter: “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith – more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire – may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ,” (1 Peter 1:6-7).

The Church of Smyrna (2:8)

 

Smyrna is the only one of the seven cities still in existence today. It is known today as Izmir. 

            Smyrna had been a Greek colony as far back as 1000 BC. Around 600 BC, it was invaded and destroyed and left in ruins for 400 years. About 200 years before Jesus, it was finally rebuilt with a specific design with beautifully paved roads and careful planning for its buildings. It was known as the crown of Asia. This city had literally been brought back to life. 

            When Jesus identified himself to the church at Smyrna, he took off on this theme. He said, “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life,’” (8). This fits the situation that the church was facing. They were suffering for their faith. They were under extreme pressure to give up on Jesus.

            Suffering has a devastating effect on our faith. Pain, emotional or physical or spiritual, contributes to a loss of perspective. We see the problem before us like a looming monster and often can’t see past it. We are disoriented by pain.

            To these Christians who were suffering, Jesus identifies himself in two ways. 1) The first and the last – He is first, the source of all things. He is sovereign as God the Father is sovereign, meaning that nothing happens outside of the boundaries of his permission. He is in control. Isaiah wrote of Yahweh, “I am the first and the last; besides me there is no god.” (44:6). Jesus equates himself here in Revelation as this same God. He is the LAST – the goal, the final word on life.

            2) “Who died and came to life” – not only is Jesus God, he is the Good Shepherd who laid down his life for the sheep. He has gone through the valley of suffering and death and has made a way through it for us to follow. There is nothing the church is suffering that he hasn’t suffered. Death is the worst thing that can happen to a person, and Jesus has experienced it and defeated it. 

“I know what you’re going through” (2:9)

 

As with all seven churches, Jesus knows something about Smyrna. Specifically, he knows their suffering intimately. We can pick out four types of pressure that they faced.

            First, Jesus says, “I know your tribulation and poverty…” The word “tribulation” is thlipsis in Greek and it means “crushing beneath a weight.” Like coffee beans, like grapes to make wine; like grain to make flour. But why were these believers’ poor in a prosperous city like Smyrna? 

Tribulation and poverty are thrown together for a reason. A trade guild was like a union in the Roman Empire, and it is likely that Christians could not in good conscience join a guild. If a person wanted to join the carpenters’ guild, they would experience immorality, vices, and unscrupulous business dealings. Being Christians, they were shunned by contractors and employers because they didn’t say, “Caesar is Lord,” a requirement of most guilds. As a result, they were finding it tough to make ends meet.

Jesus continues to say, “I know…” Paul reflected on the poverty of the Macedonian churches and compared them to Jesus’ own example. “…in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part… For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich,” (2 Cor. 8:2, 9). This is why Jesus adds this about the church at Smyrna “but you are rich.” What they have given up for the gospel has made them spiritually rich.

The second trouble the church endured was the “slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not but are a synagogue of Satan.” For the first few decades, everyone saw Christianity as a sect of the Jewish faith. Christians had the protection of the state and the same privileges that the Jews had until a couple of things happened. One, the Jews were jealous of the popularity of Christianity. And two, Emperor Nero needed to blame someone for the fire that burned down the city of Rome – he decided that Christians would make a good scapegoat. The Jews took advantage of this and began to inform the authorities on Christian activities as treasonous to the Empire. Christians could not say, “Caesar is Lord,” because only Jesus is Lord. (See slide: 6 Slanders).

The Lord’s Supper (Body & Blood)               = Cannibals

Communion/Love Feast                                 = Orgies

Families divided on matters of faith               = anti-family

No images of their god                                   = atheists

Refusing to declare Caesar is Lord                = Unpatriotic

Preaching that the world will end in flames   = Anarchists/Incendiaries

Now, to be clear, Jesus calls them “false” Jews. Ethnically they are Jews; spiritually they are not since they have rejected Jesus and were persecuting the church. Who are the true Jews then? (See Rom. 2:28-29)

Do we experience slander in Canada? No. Wait. I recall hearing this and found an allusion to it this week. A certain Prime Minister told Stephen Long, a pastor, that evangelical Christianity is the worst part of Canadian society. And Global News from 2022 reported that a new Angus Reid survey identified evangelical Christianity as more damaging to society than helpful. According to EFC, evangelicals made up about 7 percent of the Canadian population, down from 12 percent in 2003. Evangelicals are seen by most Canadians as deviant. Isn’t that disheartening? 

Sam Storms, in his sermon on this passage, said this about slander: “We live in a day when we Christians will be accused of many things: we are antisemitic (because we insist on faith in Jesus as Messiah to be saved), antichoice (because we oppose abortion), anti-gay (because we won’t affirm homosexual intercourse…and anti-intellectual (because we won’t embrace biological evolution). They will accuse us of being unloving, narrow-minded, bigoted, intolerant because we believe in something called the second death (hell) and the only way to escape it is through faith in Jesus Christ. And our response to all such anti-Christian rhetoric is to love them and pray for them and tell them ever more fervently and humbly about eternal life that can be found in Jesus.” (https://www.samstorms.org/sermons/sermon/2017-05-14/-seeing-the-so-that-in-suffering)

We have not faced widespread imprisonment, but that was the third trouble that the church in Smyrna could expect “…the devil is about to throw some of you into prison…” Imprisonment in Roman communities was not a long sentence. It was not a punishment because jail was just a prelude to execution.

And the fourth trouble…being put to death. Martyrdom. They were going to die. What may strike you about this reality is that Jesus does nothing to prevent it. He does not alleviate their poverty or deliver them from slander. When the devil moves to have the Christians killed, Jesus does not intervene. Sometimes he did and does. Sometimes not. 

Our heads may spin at the thought – why do Christians suffer persecution? Maybe we ought to ask why we do not? John Stott offered this reason: “The ugly truth is that we tend to avoid suffering by compromise. Our moral standards are often not noticeably higher than the standards of the world. Our lives do not challenge and rebuke unbelievers by their integrity or purity or love. The world sees in us nothing to hate.” Ouch! Compromise.

But this is why the church in Smyrna was under pressure – they did not compromise!

 

“Do not fear what’s coming” (2:10a)

 

The Christians at Smyrna were facing touch economic hardships, they were being slandered by the Jews, they were social outcasts and considered traitors by the populace. Is there anything worse that could happen to them?          

            Jesus says to them, “Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is going to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation,” (10ab). Oh, there’s more. I’ve already mentioned that prison is just a prelude to death. But Jesus says not to fear this. 

            Jesus does not rescue them from the fate of execution. But this is not abandonment. Popular theology teaches that Jesus delivers us from our problems, but that’s not what we see in the NT. Jesus DOES NOT rescue us from our tribulation, but he DOES walk with us through it. Take note of three things:

            Jesus knows what we are going through. We have already unpacked that detail, but I want to repeat it. He knows our troubles, our heartaches, and our spiritual poverty. He knows how weak we feel when the devil and the world conspire to make us quit. But he didn’t quit, and he invites us to follow his example and not give up our faithfulness. 

            Second, notice that the devil is limited in his ability to attack us. He may seem to have a long leash, but he is only able to trouble us to an extent. Jesus says, “ten days.” There’s a subtle hint to Daniel chapter 1 when the four Jewish lads are tested for ten days by their handlers to see if their food is better than the Babylonian delicacies. 

            The devil is limited. Remember in the gospel how Jesus said that we should not fear the one who can kill the body but rather fear the one who can kill both body and soul. The devil lacks subtlety and his attacks can backfire, for what Satan intends for our destruction, God can use for our spiritual growth. The devil wants to destroy our faith with difficulties, to test us beyond our endurance. But God uses that same fire to refine us in our faith. (Rom. 8:28 “…all things work together for good…”)

            Third, though the devil inspires the unbeliever to kill Christians, it’s just death. Romans 8:38 tells us that death cannot separate us from the love of God. I honestly don’t understand why Christians fear death or lose their cheese when loved ones die. Death is not the end for us. Death is a doorway for those who have put their faith in Christ, the one who died and came to life. He is our hope beyond the grave. 

            Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Jesus means death. If standing on the truth of Christ threatens your life, don’t fear it. Remember that the theme of these seven churches is being a witness for Jesus in a hostile world. That may mean death. It may mean the “death of a job,” an opportunity, a relationship, - or death itself. 

 

What is the Spirit saying to the Church? (2:10b-11)

 

“Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.” 

            A teenager was sitting in the audience when this letter was first read to the church at Smyrna. His name was Polycarp, and he was no doubt impacted by what he heard from his Lord Jesus. 

            Many years later, Polycarp was the elderly bishop of this same church. On Saturday, February 23, AD 155, during some public festivals, some troublemakers got it into their heads to root out the “atheists” in their city, those who did not believe in Caesar as god. 

            When a crowd came to arrest Polycarp, he first served his captors a meal and all kinds of treats. Then he asked if he could have an hour to pray before going out to the arena. Not even the police captain wanted to see Polycarp die at this point. He tried to persuade Polycarp to just say, “Caesar is Lord,” and be done with it. But Polycarp was adamant that only Jesus Christ was Lord. 

            When he entered the arena, there came a voice from heaven saying, “Be strong, Polycarp, and play the man.” The proconsul gave him the choice of cursing the name of Christ and declaring Caesar lord, or death. Polycarp said this, “Eighty and six years have I served him, and he has done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?” 

The proconsul threatened him with burning, and Polycarp replied: "You threaten me with the fire that burns for a time, and is quickly quenched, for you do not know the fire which awaits the wicked in the judgment to come and in everlasting punishment. Why are you waiting? Come, do what you will." Legend says that the flames never touched him, and he had to struck down with a sword. 

Paul said, “We are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance of death to death, to the other, a fragrance of life to life,” (2 Cor. 2:15-16). Is that aroma coffee? 

 

So that…

 

                                                AMEN

 

17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Cor. 4:17-18)

The Seven Churches of Revelation - Ephesus (Revelation 2:1-7)

EPHESUS: RETURN TO YOUR FIRST LOVE

 

Do we hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches? Each letter to the Seven Churches ends with this challenge: Listen to the Spirit. What is he saying?

            In our new series on the Seven Churches of Revelation, we are studying seven real churches that had real problems. These are not churches of the future; they are first century churches that faced difficult challenges in their time. What makes this relevant to us is that not much has changed for 21^st century churches. 

            Just as Jesus spoke to the churches of Asia Minor (Turkey), he speaks the same message to us today. I know this because of how John composed the letters to the seven churches. From a literary perspective, there is a pattern we cannot ignore. The first and seventh churches are in danger of losing their identity as Christian. The three center churches contain members who have remained faithful and those who have compromised with pagan culture. The second and sixth letters are written to churches that have proved themselves faithful to Jesus even in the face of persecution. The significance of this is that the Christian church as a whole is in poor condition – not only are the healthy churches a minority, but the churches in the worst condition form the bookends and the churches with serious problems are in the center. In short, the church is in trouble and needs to address the problems. 

            What is true for all seven churches and what is true for RFC today is the same issue: Witnessing for Christ in the midst of a culture that is hostile to the good news of Jesus! 

            Do we hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches? 

            We begin with Ephesus and the call of Jesus to return to our first love. When I first considered this phrase, my thoughts went back to a blonde-haired, green-eyed lass in my college days who grabbed my romantic attention. That experience caused me much heartache and issues that haunted me for years. To return to your first love…is not that.

To the Church of Ephesus (2:1)

 

“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands,” (1). 

            Ephesus was not the capital of the Roman province of Asia, but it was the most important city. Its influence was like Toronto or Vancouver on Canada. It was a center of commercial life and a crossroads where people from other nations met. Ephesus was also home to a huge temple dedicated to Artemis that covered two football fields in length. It was one of the seven wonders of the world. About 200,000 people lived in Ephesus. An ancient poet, however, lamented that the city was full of immorality and horrible acts.

            Into this cesspool of sin and degradation, Paul planted a church. In Acts 19, you can read about how Paul met some people who knew the baptism of John, but nothing about the Holy Spirit. Paul spent two years there teaching them about Jesus. (It is worth noting that our Mennonite forefathers chose Steinbach and Rosenort due to their distance from the city of Winnipeg and the railway which connected most towns to the city. This was an attempt to remain somewhat disconnected from the world. Meanwhile, Paul went straight into the cities to preach the gospel in those dark places). 

            The Christian message stirred up some resentment after a while since people stopped buying statues of Artemis. Two companions of Paul were seized and taken to the great 24,000 seat arena and were nearly martyred on the spot. Sharon and I traveled to the ruins of this city in 2007 and I got to place a hand on the spot that these two Christians possibly stood. 

            Nevertheless, the church at Ephesus grew and became a leading center of Christianity. It was here that Timothy was appointed pastor of the church. It was also here that John brought Mary, the mother of Jesus, while he ministered there. 

            To this church, Jesus reminds them that he is the man who walks among the golden lampstands. Referring to John’s description of the man in chapter 1, we see that to each church Jesus reminds them of a different aspect of his character as it pertains to their need. This church at Ephesus needs to know that Jesus is present and knows what’s going on.

 

“I know what you do” (2:2-3; 6)

 

There is an American slasher movie titled, “I know what you did last summer.” Four teens drive over a man at night and out of fear dispose of the body. Someone knows what they did and terrorizes them with that knowledge. It’s a frightening thing to hear, “I know what you did.”

            Jesus says it twice, “I know…I know…,” but it’s a good thing (see 2-3). Perhaps it is a fearful to realize that Jesus knows RFC and all that we think and do. He knew Ephesus. He knew the good things that they did. He knew that they were very keen about being doctrinally sound and were committed to do Christian charity. They took their faith seriously and guarded against false teachings. 

            When Timothy was the new pastor in town, Paul wrote two letters to the young minister counseling him to beware of false teachers. (check out 1 Tim. 1:3-11; 4:1-8; 6:2-7; 2 Tim. 3:1-17). If someone came to Ephesus and claimed to be an apostle or some important messenger from God, this church was careful to compare their sermons with the scriptures. It didn’t matter how charismatic a speaker the person was, if they heard something unbiblical, they called him on it. 

            The church at Ephesus was what many call today in the US and Canada, a Bible Church. We saw that one time while traveling through Wyoming, a church that advertised itself as a “Bible Church.” I was at first delighted, then disturbed, because I wondered what they meant. If they were like Ephesus, they were very careful about what was preached.

            Later, in verse 6, Jesus commends them again for this attention to good teaching. He says, “…you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate,” (6). We don’t know much about the Nicolaitans and what they did. But their name comes from two Greek words which mean “conquer” and “people.” This is interesting because in the church at Pergamum, they are linked with those who hold the teaching of Balaam (Balaam's story can be found in Numbers 22-24. This contains the famous talking donkey event. Balaam was hired to lead the people of Israel astray from Yahweh's law.). And Balaam could be derived from two Hebrew words which mean “conquer” and “people.” The two names thus describe an evil teacher who has won victory over the people and brought them under a heretical teaching. That teaching led to a lifestyle of playing Christian on Sunday and living how you felt like through the week. It abused the grace of Jesus that saves us from sin and was used as a license to sin. 

            Jesus said, “You hate that; I do too.”

 

“You’ve lost that lovin’ feeling” (2:4)

 

That’s a song by the Righteous Brothers, isn’t it? It fits. Jesus loves that the church at Ephesus is a Bible-believing church, but something’s missing. Jesus said, “…you have abandoned the love you had at first,” (4). 

            What does that mean? From studying the context, I believe the NLT got it wrong: “You don’t love me or each other as you did at first.” This reads too much into it. The Greek says simply, “you have lost your first love.” 

            What the NLT misses is the “witness” aspect of the letter as a whole. I truly believe that the Ephesians loved Jesus. What is implied in this “lost love” is that the church has lost its zeal for telling the world about Jesus. They are no longer witnessing about the crucified and risen Lord. 

            As Simon Kistemaker tells us, the church that Paul planted, and Timothy pastored was now in its 2^nd and 3^rdgeneration members. They may have lacked the enthusiasm of their parents and grandparents, the faith and love that they demonstrated in the early days (Eph. 1:15). This next gen functioned not as propagators of the faith but as caretakers and custodians. What was missing? Their evangelistic outreach! They loved the Lord, but no longer with heart, soul, and mind. 

            When the Lord Jesus first appointed the twelve disciples, Mark tells us that Jesus had two main purposes for his followers: “…that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach…” (Mk. 3:14). This is the same invitation we have today: To be with Jesus and to go out in his name and tell people about him. I love how the enemies of the apostles in Acts commented on them, “they could tell they had been with Jesus.” 

            It is one thing to say "I love Jesus," but do we talk about him? Sharon and I have a regular practice of calling Katy on Saturday morning to catch up on family news. What does she talk about the most? Andrew, her beloved. That's what you do when you love someone, you talk about them.

            Last week, you may have noticed, Stanley had sparkles all over this three-piece suit. Emily, our dean of women, said that she hugged him one time and was brushing off sparkles from her clothes all day. You could tell she had been with Stanley. That’s what we want the world to see – that we have been with Jesus, and he just rubs off on you to others. 

            But the church had lost this fervor to share Jesus. They were content to guard their walls and keep out false teaching, the messiness of a depraved culture, the stain of sinners. A church that does this will soon die out. That’s what’s frightening about the church today – if we are content to act as custodians and caretakers, we will wither away and become like the church at Ephesus…oh wait, there is no church there!

 

Remember – Repent – Rinse – Repeat (2:5)

 

“Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent,” (5).  

            What is the answer to this spiritual laziness? Jesus wants us to remember where this journey all began. It begins with the person of Jesus. We can get lost in the “doing” and the “busy work” of the church and eventually become exhausted with Christian service. It is tempting to equate service for the Lord with love for the Lord. Our labors become mechanical, however, when we forget why we are doing all this service stuff. 

            Remember, Jesus says, and return to your first love. It’s me, he says. Sometimes there is too much “doing” and not enough “being.” Remember that childlike wonder Jesus loves when people come to him; remember to be like Mary and just sit at Jesus’ feet. Take time to listen to Jesus speaking to you from his Word. 

            Repent then and do the works you did at first. Jesus “threatens” (more like “has to”) to take away the church’s lampstand if they do not repent. The lampstand is the clue that this is about being a witness. The lampstand gives light but what is the point of a lampstand that doesn’t shine? Why have a lamp in your living room with no bulb? It’s not working. Jesus has to take it away. 

            Repent, repeat the works you did at first. To repent is to change your mind or purpose. In other words, as a church and as individual followers of Jesus, we need to rethink how and why we do church. Why are we here? Why did we start a fellowship called RFC? Many of us don’t know because we came later. What SHOULD we be doing? 

            Our acronym gives us a good direction: 

R – Radically following Jesus. Honestly, we may not seem radical, but it is our hope that spending time with Jesus will make us more and more like him and thus less and less like the popular wisdom of the world.

F – Furthering the Good News. Here’s the tough challenge. Are we telling people about Jesus? The other day when Sharon was having her eye examined post-surgery, she overheard a woman telling a stranger that God loved him, and she explained the gospel in the waiting room. What about your waitress? What about the gas attendant? Can we just tell them, Jesus loves them. Yeah, they’ll think your weird. Yup! And? 

C – Caring for the Community. New people are coming into the Rosenort community, and we have the opportunity to welcome them to a home. More than a place to sleep, this is a community unlike many in Southern Manitoba. And that through the love of Jesus!

 

Do we hear what the Spirit is saying? (2:7)

 

This expression reflects what Jesus said about parables and his other teachings. When his disciples asked why he spoke in parables, Jesus replied with a quote from Isaiah saying,

“To you has been given the secret of the Kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so that…

They may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.” (Mark 4:11-12)

            Do we hear what the Spirit is saying to RFC? 

            To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God! 

 

                                                AMEN

            

Easter Sunday 2024 - Reset: The Restoration of a Failed Disciple

RESET:

THE RESTORATION OF A FAILED DISCIPLE

 

A couple of weeks ago, I was facing a major fork in the road of my life, a huge decision. Once the crisis had passed and the intense emotions connected with it had settled down, I found myself sitting on the couch alone with our dachshund thinking, “I need a reset.” 

            What is a spiritual reset? A reset is needed when we stray from the purpose and person of Christ. We all get distracted by decisions, disappointments, and faulty discernment about life. If we stray too far from the foundation of our faith, Jesus, we may end up sinning. Sometimes it’s just losing our way in discipleship. 

            A reset is simply coming back to Jesus, back to square one where life with him all began. The beautiful thing is, Jesus wants to restore us back to intimacy and harmony with himself. He wants to create in us a new heart (again), to heal us, that we would walk in peace with him after having wandered off (yet again). 

            Isn’t that incredible? Jesus wants to restore us back to that beautiful place where we first knew the joy of knowing him, fellowshipping with him, working with him in the power and authority he gives his followers. When we walk in this restoration, we are walking in the Kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is here; heaven is here now. 

            There are moments in life where I need to stop, to look where I have walked, and confess, “I need a reset.” I need to get back to Jesus. 

            The restoration of Peter in John 21:15-19 is the template of this reset. We know that if we fail in following Jesus, that Peter’s disastrous failure and reset give us assurance that Jesus will restore us. Peter denied knowing Jesus. That’s got to be the worst thing you can do to Jesus. 

            In our portraits of the witnesses of the Resurrection, we find that if fail Jesus in discipleship, he will restore us.

There’s no going back (John 21:1-14)

 

In John’s gospel narrative, the week following the Passion was incredibly dramatic. Sunday morning the tomb was empty; Jesus’ body no longer wrapped in grave clothes; women running around saying Jesus was alive. Then Jesus appears to the Ten disciples behind locked doors. A week later, Jesus appears again and invites Thomas to put his hands on the wounds and see that Jesus is flesh and blood. 

            Peter and the disciples have seen the resurrected Christ! First, they witnessed the horrible death of their Teacher; now he’s alive and talking to them. What would you do next? 

            Peter says, “I’m going fishing,” (3).

            When you don’t know what to do, do what you know, I guess. Six of the disciples decided to go with him. For Peter, fishing was a reset, going back to his old job. It was comfortable, familiar, stable work. He didn’t grab his pole and just sit on the dock; Peter went back to work. 

            There are two literary cues, two déjà vu moments that tell the reader that “there’s no going back now.” 

            First, we read, “They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing,” (3b). Sound familiar? Then some stranger on the shore yells out, “Caught anything?” Nope! “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you shall find some,” (6). They catch so many fish that they can’t haul in the nets. You know you’ve heard this somewhere before. When Jesus first called some men to follow him, they were fishing just like this. Jesus tells them where to fish and they are amazed at the catch. Peter’s response is fear, “he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord,” (Luke 5:8). 

            Then we read that Jesus is making breakfast on the shore and he invites the men to bring some fish. What had Jesus done? He built a charcoal fire and invited Peter and the disciples to sit around it. Can you imagine being Peter and eating breakfast, or trying to, with the familiar smell of a charcoal fire bringing you back to that dreadful night? There is only one other place in the NT that talks about a charcoal fire: the night outside the high priest’s house where Jesus was on trial, where Peter stood warming himself while denying he knew Jesus (18:8).

            The olfactory memory always astounds me. We smell something and it brings us back to an event of some importance. Sometimes the aroma is comforting and brings you back to better times. Other times, you don’t want to remember. 

            I imagine Peter had a hard time choking his breakfast down as the charcoal fire brought him back to his denials. What was Jesus going to do? What was he going to say? 

            Dr. Mark Rutland tells of a survey conducted some years ago. Several thousand Americans were asked, “What did they most want to hear from other people?” The number one answer, “I love you.” No surprise there. The second answer was close to the first, “I forgive you.” But the third answer was more surprising. The third? “Supper’s ready!” 

            Think about that; that’s pretty much the gospel in a nutshell. The scene on the beach encapsulates the gospel as Jesus will say to Peter in effect: “I love you. I forgive you. Come and eat with me.” 

            Peter can’t go back to fishing. Jesus won’t let him. Once you have been confronted with the risen Jesus, life will never be the same again. 

 

But how do I go forward? (John 21:15-19)

 

Once you have encountered the living Christ, how do you go back to your day job and live like it doesn’t matter? Okay, fine, but I have failed him, you say. I have not spoken up for him in the coffee room. I feel like I haven’t grown spiritually. I have even “denied him” by choosing the popular way of living over the radical ways of Jesus. Sometimes I’m not even a good neighbor, you say. 

            I can’t go back, but how do I go forward? 

            Do you think you are unredeemable? Peter must have thought that he was beyond hope of restoration. But look at the exchange between Jesus and Peter and note the cues:

            Jesus says, “Simon, son of John…” (15-17). Maybe it’s a little thing, but if you look through John’s narrative, Simon is called “Peter” throughout. The only time Jesus calls Peter, “Simon, son of John,” is when he first met him and said, “You shall be called Cephas (Peter),” (1:42). This is the reset. Jesus is bringing Peter back to where their journey together began. Jesus does not bring up his past, his sinful life “before Christ,” but brings him to the day that changed everything. Meeting Jesus. Following Jesus. Experiencing Messiah. 

            Your reset may involve revisiting the time when you first believed in Jesus, recalling the peace and forgiveness you initially felt. Your reset may be recalling the moments when Jesus was most real to you, remembering how truth impacted you or how God’s people rallied to you. 

            Then Jesus asks Peter, “Do you love me?” Three times! The first time, Jesus says, “…do you love me more than these?” (15). These what? The fishing boats and the old life on the sea? More than these men that fished with you? Most likely “more than these” is referring to Peter’s boast in Mark 14 where he says, “Even though others will fall away, I will not.” But he did fall away! He denied Jesus three times, each time more furious than the first. And after the third denial, Peter went out and wept bitterly. 

            Peter was a broken man, and his denials of Jesus reflected his rejection of crucified Jesus. He wanted King Jesus, a conqueror, a world-beater. Now Jesus confronts him with the question that boils down to this for Peter and for us as well – Do you love Jesus as he is, crucified and risen? Or is your love for him conditional on who you want him to be? Will you accept Jesus on his terms? 

            Peter’s answer is emphatic, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” (15). No more boasting about what he will do for Jesus; Peter appeals to what he believes Jesus knows. You know that I love you, Jesus. This is the biggest part of your reset: Do you love Jesus? Everything comes back to this profession of love. Not, “Do we love what Jesus does for us?” But “Do you love Jesus?” 

            The reset (you may call it repentance in some cases) includes sorrow for sin, but that is not enough. A change of heart means hating sin and loving Jesus. Whatever keeps you from loving Jesus and loving him most of all – heart, soul, mind, and strength – it must go. 

            Peter is getting upset with the repeated question, “Do you love me?” But I’m sure you see what Jesus is doing. Peter denied him three times and three times, Jesus asks “Do you love me?” This is the restoration of Peter. And what it tells us is you cannot out sin the grace of God. As far as your sin goes, the gospel goes further still (Shall we go on sinning that grace may increase? By no means! Rom. 6:1)

            Following each “Yes Lord…I love you,” Jesus tells Peter to act like a shepherd…feed my lambs…tend my sheep…feed my sheep. Our reset in coming back to Jesus comes with a responsibility. That responsibility is to be like Jesus, the Good Shepherd. Isaiah 40 pictures God as a shepherd, “He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young,” (40:11). Now Jesus calls us to be shepherds, to care for the people around us. If we love Jesus, we will be like him; if we are like him, we will care for others. 

            When Jesus had finished restoring Peter to his place among the disciples, he had one final thing to say: “Follow me.” The original invitation given when Peter first met Jesus was repeated. 

            Peter needed a reset. Jesus brought him back to the beginning of their relationship with verbal cues: Simon, son of John; a threefold question regarding love to erase the threefold denial in the courtyard; the shepherd motif; and the simple invitation, “follow me.” Maybe you don’t need to go back to the beginning of your journey with Jesus; maybe you just need to go back to Jesus…

 

Do you feel like a failure as a disciple of Jesus? Do you feel like you have not measured up to what you think is required of a follower?

            Failure doesn’t mean you’ve blown everything. It means you have some hard lessons to learn. It doesn’t mean you are a permanent loser. It means you aren’t as smart as you thought you were. It doesn’t mean you should give up. It means you need to go back to Jesus for a reset. It certainly doesn’t mean that God has abandoned you. It means that God is continuing to work in you, shaping you, transforming you into follower of Jesus. 

            If you have failed in one way or another, look at Peter. Only Judas fell harder. Peter’s is a story of restoration, and it is an encouragement to all of us that the grace of Jesus goes further, deeper, and to greater lengths to catch you when you fall. 

            You have met the resurrected Jesus at one point in your life. And over the course of your life, Jesus has been changing you. I am not a perfect example, but I call attention to myself for a moment. If you love anything about me, if you are glad when I am around, if you see anything good in me, be convinced of this one thing – it is only because Christ is in me. It is only because he has reset me time after time, and I am a work in progress. 

            If you have only met the resurrected Jesus this very morning, I want you to know you will never be the same and you can never go back to the old ways. You are made new. 

            “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come,” (2 Cor 5:17).

AMEN

Good Friday 2024 - Denial!!

DENIAL!!

 

Peter was known to be impulsive and brave. He was the first one to speak up; he was driven by fierce loyalty to Jesus. Peter may have been the type of person who thinks while he speaks. Others think before they speak. Not Peter. 

            When Jesus asked his disciples who the crowds’ said Jesus was, they answered “Elijah, or one of the prophets.” When Jesus asked who they thought he was, Peter replied in that impulsive yet not completely informed way of his, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!” 

            Jesus then goes on to explain the mission of the Christ that the Father had sent him to accomplish. Peter steps up and says, “No way, I won’t let you die!” Jesus has to rein him in and rebuke his zeal. 

            After the Passover supper on that Thursday evening, Jesus and the remaining Eleven disciples go out to their campsite on the Mount of Olives and settled down for night. But Jesus tells Peter, “You’re going to deny me three times tonight.” Peter responds again in his typical Petrine courage, “If I must die with you, I will not deny you,” (Mark 14:31). 

            

            This morning, when it was still dark and people should be asleep, a group of men came to the campground. They were a mix of Jewish elders, Temple police, some quasi-military type bullies, and other tag-alongs; they came with torches and weapons to arrest the radical upstart, Jesus of Nazareth. 

            Peter once again displays his bravado and rudimentary swordsmanship, pulls out his short-sword, and lops off the right ear of Malchus, the high priest’s servant. It’s entirely possible that Peter was trying to cut off the man’s head and missed. Did Jesus roll his eyes? 

            Somewhere between the arrest of Jesus and the trials held in the middle of the night, Peter begins to lose that bravado. If you read all four accounts in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, you get a hodge podge of details that are difficult to reconcile. Matthew talks about two servant girls; one who let Peter into the courtyard of the house of the high priest where Jesus is on trial. She says to Peter, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.” John records that it was like an accusation. Peter’s response is terse, “I do not know what you mean.” Or in Luke’s account, “Woman, I do not know him.” The other girl repeats the question or statement. Peter is getting agitated. One writer says that he started calling down curses on himself and denying any relationship with Jesus. 

            One of the bystanders standing around a fire at which Peter and the others are warming themselves notes that Peter has a Galilean accent. “You are one of them,” he notices. Peter responds, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” Courage is beginning to erode. That defiant declaration to die with Jesus is becoming a bit of a farce. 

 

            As I pondered Peter’s three denials, I speculated about the reasons for his denial of Jesus. What led to his breakdown?

            My first thought: Is this the Messiah that Peter had expected? One who would surrender to the authorities without a fight? Who would weakly walk into defeat? It was plain to see that Peter and the other disciples never really understood Jesus when he talked about the Father’s plan for him to die in Jerusalem. 

            My second thought: Was there a growing fear of being associated with a radical who defied tradition and the status quo? Jesus took the Torah and reinterpreted it. Jesus was not submitting to the Pharisees and the priests. This could go really bad. Add to this that it is one thing to bravely propose to defend Jesus from hypothetical threats and quite another to face the very real danger of a trial and condemnation.

            My third thought: Was Peter’s denial simply a knee-jerk reaction that once blurted out is too hard to come back from? I mean, Peter was impulsive. He was under pressure. He was bewildered by the arrest and the beatings Jesus began to endure.

            What really gets me – after the third denial, the three denials that Jesus foretold – Jesus, battered face, bruised eyes and all, looks straight at Peter (Luke 22:61). Their eyes lock. Did Jesus look disappointed? Was it a look of hurt? A look of “I told you so”? Or “Run, you fool!”? 

            Peter went out and wept bitterly. That we do know.

 

            A pastor named Jerry Smith observed several steps that led to Peter’s denying Jesus. He said that denying to know someone is to refuse to acknowledge a connection with them. Peter refused to acknowledge that he was a disciple of Christ. He goes on to say that if we follow the same steps Peter did, we too may end up denying Christ.

Step 1: Confidence in self. Peter was confident that he would fight for Jesus to the death. I’m not convinced that Peter was confident in his own abilities to fight. He was a fisherman, not a soldier. But we may be too confident in the level of our faith or gifts or finances. We may like Peter depend on what we see in front of us and fail to realize that Jesus has other ideas of how to overcome a situation.

Step 2: Lack of prayer. Peter and the disciples could sense tension on the evening before Jesus’ arrest. Jesus asked them to pray with him, to prepare for the crisis about to befall them. But Peter and the others slept. 

Step 3: Failure to understand God’s plan. Jesus spoke of God’s purposes again and again. Suffering and sacrifice. Jesus talked about the Son of Man being given over to the rulers in his talks with the disciples many times. Peter spent three years learning at the feet of Jesus, but in the early morning before Passover, Peter failed to grasp what the Lord was telling him. When we fail to understand God’s word, we fail to understand how God works. We end up failing to discern and thus deny the presence of God in what’s happening to us. 

Step 4: Hanging with the wrong crowd. Peter was standing with the people outside the house instead of with the disciples praying and encouraging one another. So often when crisis strikes, we, like Peter, feel that prayer is a waste of time. Or if we isolate ourselves from God’s people, we may find ourselves in a vulnerable position. Faced with a choice of being for Christ or saving our skin, without the strength of community we may end up denying God. 

            Smith may have some helpful insights here. Peter was certainly more susceptible to the influencers in the context of his situation. He had been too confident in his allegiance. He didn’t pray with Jesus to the Father in the face of crisis. He didn’t understand God’s purpose for Jesus. He allowed the crowd to stifle his faith and courage. 

            However, as practical as these steps are, my heart wondered, “How do I deny Jesus today?” In what way do I deny him in my faith journey? 

            This week I was reading in The Valley of Vision, a collection of Puritan prayers by authors like Spurgeon and Bunyan and Watts, and I came across a challenging prayer. I pray one every morning. It caught me unexpectedly.             

            The prayer goes like this (paraphrased):

My Father,

When you are angry towards me when I do wrong,

I try to create peace between you and me by promising to not sin in the future.

But teach me this,

That I cannot satisfy the demands of your law, 

Because this effort rests on my own righteousness,

And only Christ’s righteousness, already accomplished, 

Already finished, is the only thing fit for that purpose; 

And when you point out my sins,

It is not that I should try to reform myself, but only

That I should be more humbled, afflicted, and separated from sin. And then I can be reconciled and be made righteous in Christ by faith; that a realization of Christ’s work and ability is the only way I can be made right.

I can never be made right by resting on my own faith, but only by trusting in you, my only salvation, by faith.

            If I could summarize this prayer for you, I would say this: I deny Jesus Christ when I realize my sinfulness and then think that I must deal with that sin by my own efforts. Yes, I must identify my sin and confess it. But I can’t make myself good or better or whatever by saying, “Okay, I’m going to give up ________ for Jesus.” And yes, I absolutely must cooperate with the Holy Spirit who wants to separate me from my sin and sinfulness. But first I must go to the cross of Christ and acknowledge that the body of Christ sacrificed for me, the blood of the Son of God, is all I need, is more than I need, to be saved from my sins and sinfulness. Nothing else. My efforts will NOT make me righteous. Nothing but the blood of Christ. 

            So, I realized that for years and years, I was trying to deal with a personal weakness and sin by working it out on my own. All the time, Jesus was saying, “Give it to me. I will take it and nail it to the cross. Then it’s done. You are free.” 

            If we cannot accept so great a grace in that amazing act of sacrifice of the Son of God – God’ dearest and only Son – then I deny him the privilege of being my Savior. 

 

            Let us not deny Jesus this privilege in our lives. Trust him with your sin and let him nail it to the cross. 

 

                                                AMEN