John 21:18-23 (Peter's Call)

Losing Focus in a Microwave World

Now as we come to the end of our time in the gospel of John We're getting close to 200 sermons in this gospel, which is pretty fantastic. And as we come to the end of it, I don't want us to lose our focus.

It's real easy if you're in your final moments of school or if in your final moments of a job or if you're in your final moments of anything to get a kind of senioritis. Where you're ready for something to be over and you're just kind of looking past it to the end.

There's a way that we could lose focus that I don't want to have happen. Because why we live in a microwave world. We live in a world where human attention spans are plummeting. They've even done studies that human attention spans today have fallen in the last Several years I think since the year 2000 from 12 seconds to 8 seconds.

Which is actually worse than a goldfish. That's true. That coincides I think with technology and development for instance the proliferation of digital media. You remember back in the old days you had to sit down and actually read a book or write a letter and you had to Have prolonged attention span and focus farmers had to go out into the fields and plant and work and it took a long Time for them to be able to see the fruits of their labor.

So it took focus. But then we invented this thing called movies where now our attention span really needed to be limited to a couple hours and then you have television shows that came out after that and now we've Wintered it down to 30 40 minutes at a time.

Then you get YouTube and you have 15 20 minute videos unless you watch the broadcast. It's a little longer than that. Then we have the invention. We mentioned it earlier of the Chinese app tick-tock.

Where now you can watch something in less than a minute and just spend hours one minute at a time. Wasting your life in front of a device. This technological developments have not all been bad, but they have caused our attention spans to dwindle and I don't want that to happen to us.

Not today and not ever. Now we're not the only ones that lose focus. They're biblical examples of people who lose focus. One of them is Peter. Peter's a man who struggled at times to maintain his focus.

In fact some of the most colorful scenes in the Bible if you want to list out in the Gospels some of the funniest scenes. You're almost guaranteed that Peter is in them all of them. He's a man who? Jumped into things with sometimes without a lot of thought and jumped out of things without a lot of thought.

He's a guy who sticks his foot in his mouth quite a bit. And he's a guy who shows up in these really colorful situations, I think it's great though because it makes him relatable. It's hard to relate to John and John's gospel because he's the beloved disciple.

He's always he's always doing the responsible thing. But Peter I can relate to a guy like that. Because I don't always do the right thing. I do things like he does all the time. For instance, there's a couple examples.

It's not in John's gospel, but the transfiguration. The transfiguration happens and Jesus pulls back reality for a moment and shows that he's God and all the disciples hit their faces rightly so and then Peter out of like one open eye sees Moses and Elijah standing there and Peter gets a great idea.

Peter says I'm going to honor Christ by putting Jesus on the same level as Moses and Elijah. So this can't go wrong. Let me tell Jesus my great idea says Jesus great idea. Let's make you and Moses and Elijah a tent then will this tent will honor.

It's like a presidential library sort of thing. This tent will honor you and it'll honor you on the same level as Moses and Elijah because they're the biggies. Like when you talk about the Old Testament, it's the law and the prophets.

It's Moses and Elijah Jesus. You are so high and lifted up. We're gonna put you on that level and what he didn't realize. He was actually bringing Christ down. Because Moses and Elijah did not come to that moment to hang out with Jesus as equals they came to worship.

So Peter got it wrong. Lost focus for a moment think about when Peter walks on water this great moment. He says hey Jesus walking on water. I think I should too and he gets out there loses focus and in a moment.

He's sinking like a brick. You think about when Peter rebukes Jesus? Do you remember that part? Where he said Jesus says I'm gonna go and die and Peter says no, you're not Lord and Jesus says get behind me Satan.

Like it's a bad day when Jesus refers to you as the Lord of darkness. Peter lost his focus. You remember Peter chopping off Malchus's ear. Like he falls asleep first of all, then he wakes up and there's a whole horde of people who are taking Jesus away.

And he thinks with a hobbit sword that he can make a difference. Jesus rebukes him again. He lost focus later in his life. He wasn't immune to it. He still struggled. Paul says that he had to excoriate Peter.

Because he refused to eat with Gentiles in this moment. He let the Jewish circumcision party Force him not to eat with people who were called by the name of Christ. Peter loses focus. In a way like he's ADD before that was common.

Before that was. You know the diagnosis of the month sort of thing. He loses his focus all the time and he loses his focus in our passage today. After this great moment where Jesus restores him he takes the eye off the ball and he swings and he misses fantastically and What I hope that we see in that is that we can relate to him.

But what I also hope that we see in that is what Jesus does and what Jesus responds and what that teaches us about Who we are in Christ? So if you will go ahead and turn with me to John chapter 21. You remember last week as you're turning I'll give you a little bit of background.

Peter was restored. He was restored out of one of the greatest moments actually the greatest moment of his failure ever where he denied Jesus three times and This week we're gonna talk about how he goes from that failure.

To learning what it means to actually be a man of courage. How he might have began his walk with Christ pretty terribly. But he was gonna finish it gloriously. So if you will join me in John chapter 21 as we look at three things today the repetition of his call the Reformation of the man and the risks associated with being a Christian.

The Repeated Call of Christ

John chapter 21 18 through 23 says truly truly I say to you. When you were younger you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished, but when you grow old You will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you.

This is Jesus speaking to Peter by the way and Bring you where you do not wish to go. Now this he said signifying by what kind of a death he would glorify God. And when he had spoken this he said to him follow me.

Peter turning around saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them and The one also who had leaned back on his bosom at the supper and said Lord who is the one who betrays you? So Peter seeing him Said to Jesus and Lord.

What about this man? And Jesus said to him if I want him to remain until I come what is that to you you follow me. Therefore this saying went out among the brethren that the disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die.

But only if you want him to remain until I come. What is that to you? Let's pray Lord. Jesus is so easy for us to get distracted in our call and in our walk it's so easy for us to let pain and Opinions and preferences to get in the way of what it is that you're doing.

Lord, I pray today that as we watch and we look at Peter. That we would understand rightly who we are and who you are and what that means for us and what that means for our life. Lord may we learn from our brother and may we grow as Disciples of you as brothers and sisters of you as children of Almighty God adopted into your family.

Let us grow. It's in Christ's name. We pray. Amen. Now you'll notice that the call to Jesus is Repeated. There's repetition in this passage when Jesus or when anyone else in the Bible employs repetition.

We ought to pay attention like a father sitting his family down for a family meeting and repeating himself. There's something important that's happening when repetition occurs in the Bible. And especially in Hebrew and in Greek when you repeat yourself, you're increasing urgency.

You're infusing Amplification you are magnifying intensity. For instance the classic example, you probably are well aware of is holy. Holy. Holy the Lord God Almighty. When you go into the presence of God and you see the angels Surrounding the throne of God singing they're singing not holy is the Lord not holy.

Holy is the Lord but holy. Holy. Holy is the Lord. And What this means is? That it's putting God on the infinite maximal level. You see when you repeat something once you're amplifying it. You're taking it out of the ordinary and into the superlative.

You're saying it's the best. When you repeat it three times, however, you're taking it out of the superlative and into the infinite Maximal where nothing could possibly even conceivably be better. Now this is very fascinating to me something I have not seen before.

Jesus has just restored Peter. How many times and how many times did Peter deny Jesus? Three times. Here you have a classic example. Holy. Holy. Holy is the Lord God Almighty. It's the infinite. Holy.

He's infinitely holy. And here you have Peter denying Jesus three times. It is that kind of betrayal? It's not an ordinary betrayal. It's not a superlative betrayal. It's not the betrayal of the betrayals.

It is an infinite slap in the face of Almighty God. What Peter did? It is an infinite cosmic act of treason that Peter denied him on an seemingly unforgivable scale. I Don't know the man. I don't know the man.

I don't know the man. Infinite treason. Which means that? The only person who could restore Peter is someone who also was infinite. When you commit an infinite sin, the only thing that can restore you is an infinite God.

So when Jesus says Peter who am I do you love me more than these? Do you love me more than these? Do you love me more than when he says do you love me the three times? He is saying I'm the only one in heaven and on earth who can actually forgive you for cosmic treason.

And he does. There's other examples, however Jesus using repetition don't remember when Mary and Martha that moment Mary's sitting down at the feet of Jesus listening to Jesus teach and Martha's in the kitchen throwing her pans around.

Stewing and frustrated so much. So she finally comes up to Jesus and says will you tell my sister to help me? I mean, we're trying to make a nice meal for you. In that moment she was more concerned with the meal than the guest.

And What does Jesus do? He doesn't give her a tongue-lashing. He doesn't yell at her or shame her. What does he do? He says Martha. He repeats her name. Why. Because he's saying I love you. When you repeat someone's name like that, you're saying that I have an intimate relationship with you.

You're not just some acquaintance to me. I love you and she's chosen the better part. So therefore you choose the better part as well. The pans let him deal with themselves. You don't have me forever.

So he uses repetition why to break through her lack of focus? Repetition Jesus uses to break through the distractions and through the lack of focus. He says it to Nicodemus. Nicodemus this Arianite scholar who's supposed to know the Bible frontwards and backwards comes to Jesus at night.

And then when he comes to Jesus at night He's confused to all get out on who this Jesus is and Jesus says to him barely barely I say unto you. He's saying wake up Nicodemus. You're the you're one of the theologians of Israel.

Wake up. Open up your eyes. I am The one who was promised I'm God. I'm the one that the father sent because he so loved the world. I'm the one that he will give to save our people from their sins and what's interesting is Nicodemus does end up coming doesn't he he's the one who pulls Jesus his body down and buries him and becomes a public follower of Christ after that.

Jesus used repetition to cut through the distractions. There's other examples, but today Jesus uses three repetitions, which I think is so fast I don't know of another text in the whole Bible where there's three repetitions.

There's three phrases that Jesus repeats twice in this passage, which is absolutely astounding to me. He says truly truly. That's the first one when he begins truly truly I say to you. After restoring Peter, do you love me?

Do you love me? Do you love me now? He starts with truth and not just any kind of truth ultimate truth. Do you know me? Do you know who I am? Truly truly means that Jesus is about to spit truth bombs on an absolute level.

It means that he's speaking superlative truth. It means that Peter ought to stop and pay attention. Remember every time Jesus uses repetition. It's to make people pay attention. So Jesus is setting the tone for the conversation.

I've done this as a parent. Where I've set the tone for the conversation. No one speaks. I speak you listen and We all know what happens when the particularly creative and artistic child among us Just blurts out and doesn't pay attention and you as a parent are like what have I done wrong?

This is sort of what happens here with Peter. Jesus sets the tone for the conversation saying truly truly. This is about truth Peter. Listen to me and Peter goes. Yeah, but what about that guy? And you're almost like are you listening Peter?

Are you paying attention at all to what I'm saying? And no, he wasn't. Peter plays the comparison game with John. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, Jesus I know you're talking about ultimate truth and you're talking about all this but what about him?

John and all of his pompousness and always getting everything, right? What about him? What's what are you gonna do to him? And then Jesus gives him another set of repetition. Why cuz Peters lost focus Jesus gonna bring him back.

What's the second set of repetition if I want him to remain until I come what is that to you Peter? And then to the end of the passage He says to the exact same thing if I want him to remain until I come what is that to you?

This is a really important question and This is meant to get Peter out of his turning and to look straight at Christ. Did you notice in the text that it says that Peter turned around? Jesus had invited Peter to listen to him straight at him and it says Peter turned around and says what about that guy?

He turned away from the focus that he should have had on Christ. And instead he was more concerned with other people. Jesus is reminding him. What is that to you? That means that you are not in charge Peter.

You are not in charge. You're not the one who sets the trajectory of your life. And I think there's many of us maybe all of us who need to hear that. That we are not in charge that we do not set the terms for our life.

Peter is reminding or Jesus is reminding Peter that it's his job to determine Peter's steps. Peter's life. Jesus is saying I get to determine the way you live and I get to turn determine the way you die.

Your way. Peter led you into three sets of denials when you had charge over your life. You messed it up at every single turn now. You're fired. That's what the cross is. Is us getting fired from rulership of our life in Christ now being King.

It's Christ's job to tell us where we go. It's Christ's job to tell us what we do. He is our Lord. Lord means Lord. We don't put a man bun on Jesus and make him less threatening. Christ is King. He is Lord.

And when we When we were saved from our sin the rulership of our life was transferred out of our own Hands and into the hands of Christ. Peter obviously didn't agree Quite with this yet. What about that man?

I don't like the end of my story Jesus. What about that man? Can I trade stories with him? We do the same thing don't we. We stand on that same beach with Peter and we say well, what about this Jesus?

And what about that Jesus. And We forget that our life is not our own. We let our preferences dictate our Emotions and thoughts and opinions instead of letting the Word of God dictate who we are and who Christ is.

We whine about the mission that he's given us and the assignment that he's given us and the station that he's given us and the amount of resources that we have and on and on. And on we can go we whine about where he has placed us and we look at other people and we say what about him?

Or what about her. And Jesus would say the same thing to us. What is that to you? What is that to you? He didn't leave us in charge brothers and sisters when he saved you your leadership was forfeited.

When you were in charge you crashed and if you kept holding on to the steering wheel. You would drive it straight into the lake of fire and hell. Same for me the problem is Us. The solution is Not for us to be saved so that now we can take back over the control of the wheel.

The solution is for us to let go of it. And allow God to be the one to drive our life and praise God that he does that look at what Paul says in Galatians 220 he says I have been crucified with Christ.

Crucifixion means that you're dead at the end. So Paul's saying hey, I died back then and it's no longer I who live. But it's Christ who lives in me and the life which I now live in the flesh. I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me brothers and sisters.

You see what this means? That when you become a Christian you die. When you become a Christian your opinions die your preferences die your thoughts die your your control issues die and you turn in control to Christ and It's not he who lives in.

You see you and me are the problem. Peter asked him what if. What if you gave me a role like John's where I could live? I Totally off-topic in the Bible it's in this passage. It says that that there were disciples who believed that John wasn't gonna die.

Do you know that there's like historical records of Christopher Columbus thinking that he was gonna find Presbyr John? Yes. People thought he wasn't gonna die. That's not what Jesus said. That's not what Jesus said.

But Peter is like I like John's story better than mine. Will you give me that I like so-and-so story better than that. That's what we all do. That's what we all do. We want someone else's story because we don't like what Jesus has given us.

Do you know what that actually does when you say that it's indicting God? You're saying that God I could have written a better story for my life than you can you're saying in effect. I Don't trust you and I would do better than you brothers and sisters.

It is better to die Faithfully giving all glory to Christ. Than to bellyache our way to hell or to have everything that we think that we want and be separated from Christ forever. We all do this. We look at our friend who's wealthy and who has more status than us and we say Lord.

Why can't that be me? Maybe the Lord has called you into poverty. Maybe he's called you into infamy. Maybe he's called you to be rejected. Why are you complaining about where he's called you to is he not good?

Is God not all powerful and all loving and all kind and all considerate and he's given you exactly what you need for your story. Why do you what's it to you what someone else's story looks like? God is sovereign in the sense that you are exactly where God has called you to go where and be the pain that you're suffering with today is exactly the pain that God has chosen for you to walk through and He has called you there for your good.

He has called you there for your joy. He's called you there for your development. He's called you there to give him glory. There is nothing Accidental in where you currently are. The question is how are you gonna respond to where you are?

Are you gonna be like Peter and say what about him? What about her? What about that? What about this? Are you gonna just simply say God I don't like where I'm at, but I love you and I know that you're good and I know that you're working out the situation for my good and for the for your glory and I'm Gonna trust you.

Jesus repeats the question twice because he's showing Peter That the question he asked what about him is a totally illegitimate question. What about you Peter? Are you gonna rejoice in what I've given you the third repetition?

That he gives is follow me. He begins by saying in verse 19 now that he said this signifying about what kind of death that Peter was gonna die. He's spoken to him and he said follow me then after Peter questions that he says you follow me.

So he repeats that he repeats that the purpose of your life Peter is not to get off track and looking at this person and that person and everything else the purpose Of your life is to look straight at me and to follow me where I go.

You go if I turn left you turn left if I turn right you turn right if you ever been driving down the road and all of a sudden you see something really fascinating off to the side and you look over there and Then the next thing you know your wife's Ribbing you telling you that you're you're driving is actually following the direction that you're looking.

You're kind of starting to run off the road. Have you noticed that? If you start looking this way long enough you start going that way. That's what happens to us when we look away from Christ little by little inch by inch.

Turns into mile by mile and we're off course. Because we did not set our face on Jesus Christ. That's what Peter did. It says Peter turned around Instead of staying straight. This is why Peter gave him the dual Repeated command follow me.

Peter stop looking to your left and to your right and to your up and to your down. Look right at me. Look right at my face. Follow me. Because if you follow me, you will never be lost brothers and sisters.

What we need to learn from this is that we need to have the right kind of stiff neck. There's a stiff neck where we can't turn from our sin and that's wrong. But there's also a stiffness of neck where we can't turn away from Christ where we won't turn away from Christ.

Where we would do anything other than turn away from Christ stiffen your neck. The only purpose for which you exist is to glorify God and enjoy him forever the only reason you are here is to look straight at Christ and Follow him because when you don't that's when you end up in a ditch.

Every problem in your life every confusing thing that's happened to you every Issue that you could list out for me if we were to sit down and talk about all of our struggles our response to those struggles are Completely determined upon whether we have looked at Christ or whether we have looked at this and that.

Every bout of anger every moment of depression every anxious thought all of it is completely determined predicated upon whether you were looking straight at the face of Christ. Now I'm not saying that there's not such a thing as chemical depression or anxiety.

I'm saying what you do with it. Because if you give in to it and you look at this and you look at that and you turn your glance away from Jesus. You will crash. Safety comes in looking straight at Christ.

You are not in charge. That's the best news you've ever heard. Christ is in charge. So that's the first thing he repeats all these things to get Peters attention to tell Peter you're not in charge and that I am your Direction and if you look at me if you follow me you stop turning around and looking at John and everyone else.

You will have great joy even in your darkest moments. That's what Jesus is teaching now. There's also Reformation in the call that Jesus gives to Peter. There's Reformation. What do I mean is I mean that Peter is going to become somebody utterly new.

He's not going to be the same person that he is in this passage. If he will just set his face on Christ and follow Christ look at what it says in verse 18. Truly truly I say to you Jesus saying I'm telling you the truth Peter.

When you were younger used to gird yourself up and walk wherever you wish. But when you grow old you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you and bring you where you do not wish. To go on the surface that sounds really depressing.

Yeah, and my younger years I had freedom and I'm gonna lose all my freedom. In my younger years, I had agency I could choose what I wanted to choose and in my older age I'm not gonna get to choose anything.

What a bummer. You can almost understand why Peter was balking at it and turning and saying what about John? I don't think it's an accident. However that Jesus uses this language of girding and walking.

When you gird yourself. You're dressing yourself for work. You're you're you're bringing your long robes up so that you can run or so you can move so that you can walk in it. Just said earlier and John 21 7 that Peter was girded for fishing in that interesting.

So Jesus said when you're younger, you'll gird yourself. Just a few moments ago Peter you girded yourself you whenever you jumped out of the boat you put on your clothes. Jesus said you'll gird yourself and you put on your clothes when you're younger.

But when you're older someone else will do that work for you. Jesus I think is appealing back to verse 7. Where Peter was girded for work. He dressed himself and he ran straight into the Sea of Galilee to swim to Jesus.

I think Jesus is reminding him that Everything you've done so far Peter has been because you wanted to because you thought you knew best but there's gonna come a day Peter. Where you're not gonna have those freedoms and something so profoundly Catastrophic is going to happen to you to where you won't even mind it at that point where you'll celebrate it where you'll have joy.

You'll be such a different person that all this free will that you think you need there. Peter Won't be yours anymore, and you'll be thankful. See old Pete when he was standing on the beach wanted to have his own way and You and I in a similar way want to have our own way.

We want to have our faith on our own terms. We want to do what we want to do and yet Christ did not purchase you to leave you where you're at. He purchased you to redeem you to restore you to overhaul you.

He bought a dilapidated house and he plans on tearing down every wall until it is beautified and restored. Now I don't want to talk in euphemisms here in this verse. What is happening is Peter is being prepared for his death.

It says that this is the moment that Peter was gonna Glorify God. What kind of death is he talking about? Those scholars have said that by Jesus being stretched out. This is actually death on the cross.

So Peter is being told That although you like to have things your way and you want to have faith on your own terms. You're not gonna die that way Peter and it's gonna be a part of your Reformation and it's gonna be a part of my glory.

At the end of Peter's life we just read it. We didn't put we didn't plan that by the way second Peter one where he says that Jesus told me how I was gonna die. Beautiful the way the Holy Spirit cordon that coordinated those passages at the end of Peter's life he got arrested and he ended up in a prison cell in Rome and Before Herod if you read about Herod, he was a wicked sinister man Before Herod kills himself not Herod.

Excuse me Nero. I meant Nero. They're both wicked. Before Nero kills himself. He gets Peter out of his prison cell and he pronounces execution on Peter and What I think is so interesting is when Peter comes He interrupts the proceedings just like he does here in John 21 and John 21 Jesus is saying this is how you're gonna die and Peter says what about that man when Peter dies?

He interrupts the proceedings and He says not like that man. What do I mean? At the end of Peter's life they were going to crucify him and Peter filled with grief Said I cannot be crucified in the same way that my Lord Jesus was crucified.

I can't be killed like my Lord. So he asked the executioner. Can you crucify me upside down? He didn't look at the free people in the room and say what about them why do I have to die. He said if I have to die and let me die upside down.

Because he was reformed. Over the course of his life through the Holy Spirit this man became no longer a coward. But he became courageous and his final moment of death his final moment of life. He said not like him.

Not like Jesus. Let me be crucified upside down because I'm not worthy to die in the same way that my Lord Jesus died. We may be on the beach with Peter and ask questions like why did I have to come from a broken family?

Why did I have to have abusive parents? Why did my spouse have to cheat on me and leave me? Why'd my story have to be about losing a job? Or having my family fall apart or having my finances collapse or whatever else it is.

Many of us stand on the beach with Peter in that way. But my challenge to all of us is that Peter didn't stay that way. The Holy Spirit came into Peter. He was a part of a early group of people who turned the world absolutely upside down.

God used him to preach mighty sermons. 3 ,000 people came to know Christ. God used him to raise people from the dead. But God also used him to die in a way of utter shame with courage. Because he knew that the path that Jesus had chosen for him was better Than anything else on earth.

The path that Jesus has chosen for each of us today is better. It's better than your opinions. His path is better than What your thoughts are on the matter? He's Lord and Brothers and sisters if you will simply follow him.

I'm not saying that you're gonna be crucified upside down praise God that we don't live in that time period. Amen. But I am saying that you're gonna walk through pain. There is no doubt that you're gonna walk out of here today and you're going to face heart-wrenching things.

But don't run from them and don't fall into the comparison game where you're looking at other people and blaming God and saying why can't? My life be like that. Put your face straight at Christ and walk through your pain and walk through your suffering and walk through it with dignity as a Christian.

And I promise you that the same joy that Peter had will be yours. There is no joy in comparing yourself to others. It's a life of slow death of bitterness. But there is joy in following Christ brothers and sisters set your face on him walk towards him and Be joyful and what he has given you and you will have joy.

The Reformation of Peter Into a New Man

Let's pray Lord Jesus. Thank you so much For your servant Peter, thank you for letting us see him in his in his darker moments and his forgetful unfocused moments. And Lord, thank you for letting us see him After he surrendered everything to you and and he was willing to follow you.

Lord, thank you for in this passage you telling us commanding us to follow you To stop looking at everything around us and To fix our eyes straight on you the author and the perfecter of our faith who for the joy set before you you endure you Endured the cross Lord.

You're not asking us To do anything that you haven't already done. Lord help us to remain focused to remain fixated on you and Lord help us to be the kind of people who have great joy great peace and Give you great glory.

It's in Jesus name. We pray. Amen.