If We Were to Ask Jesus
Rev. Robert Long, guest preacher
John 21:1-19
Three times Jesus asks Peter, “Do you love me?” Three times Peter replied, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.” Three times Jesus says to Peter, “If you love me … feed my lambs. Tend my sheep.” What is Jesus getting at when he asks, “Do you love me?” What does Jesus mean by, “Feed my lambs ...Tend my sheep?” This morning I want to interpret and apply this Gospel lesson using another encounter of Jesus: the parable of the Samaritan.
In the parable of the Samaritan, a certain religious scholar was committed to upholding a rigid system of beliefs that gave privilege to some at the expense of others. The system was a marriage of theology, nationalism, politics, economic access, and status in society. We are not aware of anything remotely like this in society today, are we?
Now, this religious teacher who engages Jesus has become aware that Jesus is offering a way of life that intentionally seeks to release people to discover and fulfill the God-goodness already within them ... their birthright. There are no preconditions required. This leader is clearly aware that, in doing so, Jesus is intentionally moving beyond the controlling boundaries imposed by this theological, patriotic, political, economic, and social marriage of power.
Still, there seems to be a strange dichotomy within this religious leader. On the one hand, he’d like to publicly humiliate Jesus … and to diminish Jesus’ “way of life and love” so that what Jesus asks will fit into what he is willing to offer. He likes his privilege, even if, on the present uneven playing field, many suffer as a result.
But, on the other hand, he seems to be genuinely searching. So, his question is a combination of trickery and a genuine search for something that he senses is missing within him. Have you ever found yourself, as I have found myself, bringing such varying desires together as you have engaged what you know of Jesus?
The religious leader asks Jesus: “What do I have to do to have eternal life?” Listen again: the man is asking about eternal life. The man does not ask, “What do I have to do to have pleasure … or be successful … be acceptable … be looked up to/admired … be wealthy … or to acquire power". He’s tried all of these, and they come up short. And he won’t buy the argument that what he seeks awaits only after death.
Jesus, exceptional teacher that he is, surprises the man and responds with a question of his own. “What is written in the Law? How do you interpret – understand it?” The man answers correctly. “You are to love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and body and mind, and you are to love your neighbor all as you love yourself.” The clear point is: We correctly love God, as we seek the well-being of all others in the same way and to the same degree that we seek our own well-being before God. Indeed this deepest emphasis of the Hebrew, Christian, and Islamic faiths acknowledges that God re-directs our-love-for-God to be expressed as love for all of God’s creation without exception. This is eternal life.
Now the man who engaged Jesus is beginning to catch on. He is becoming uncomfortable with what he is hearing. Eternal life will require change that he doesn’t want to make. He digs his heels in and toughens his heart. He directs all his thought to looking for a loophole. None of us has ever been tempted to look for a loophole for softening Jesus’ demands of love, have we? The man asks, “Jesus, just how would you define neighbor?” You can almost hear him saying silently within himself: “Got you, Jesus.”
Now we don't often think of Jesus as being mischievous, do we? But Jesus knows how to have a little fun at very significant moments. It is just at this point - with this parable - that Jesus’ encounter with the man in this scripture takes a humorous turn. Jesus responds with the parable of the Samaritan. This parable ought to be told so many times in our homes that each person, from oldest to youngest, knows it by heart and takes it with them into each day’s relationships.
The man asked: “And who would you say is my neighbor?” But Jesus isn’t interested in the object ... the neighbor. Jesus is interested in the subject – the questioning man himself. Jesus won’t let this questioner side-track him. In concluding his story, Jesus asks this man – as he would ask you and me today – “What do you think? Which of the three became a neighbor to the man attacked by robbers?”
Now this is a different question, isn’t it? Jesus responds to the man testing him: nice try! You have asked your second question to avoid the answer I gave to your first question … and you know it. I shall respond, then, not to your second question, but to your original, essential question, which you are trying to pass by.
In this parable Jesus speaks nothing about life after death. Nor does he speak about endless life. In this parable, Jesus equates eternal life with “acting as a neighbor” here and now ... in this life … from Monday through Sunday. Eternal life – neighborliness, as Jesus clarifies it here - is a lifestyle. A way of being. A set of guiding values for every relationship with God and others.
Moreover, in this parable, Jesus gives us qualities of this way of being … of neighborliness. They include affirming human dignity, empathy, compassion, care, fair-justice, mercy, acceptance, forgiveness, reconciliation, generosity and community. These are to be integrated into everything we are and do from morning to night, day after day after day after day after day. Jesus says to us: This is eternal life … and these are its characteristics.
And this is also how we are to love Jesus. How we are to feed his sheep and tend his lambs.
And I suspect that until I act, with my choices and votes and participation, in striving for the wellbeing of others in the same manner and to the same degree that I seek my own wellbeing, I am only looking for self-serving loopholes, even in my religious life. And there will remain a restless searching within me as there is in this lawyer.
I believe that we cannot afford to miss Jesus’ point. Important as it is, being regular in attendance at worship isn’t what Jesus means by feeding his sheep. As helpful in some instances as they may be, agreeing to certain religious statements – correct dogma, right doctrine - isn’t what Jesus means by tending his lambs. As significant to us as they are, rehearsing the dates and times of our religious conversions isn’t what Jesus means by the ingredients of saving love. As inspiring and renewing as may be the case, worshiping in varied forms with passion and enthusiasm isn’t what Jesus means by loving God. As comforting as it may seem, claiming to be the only “true” denomination, or faith, isn’t what Jesus means by transforming love. As meaningful as it can be, being compassionate only with those who agree with you, or who will repay it, isn’t what Jesus means by drinking the cup that he drinks. All of these together fall short.
The Priest, this highly educated, religiously correct, celebrant of temple worship passes by on the other side. The Levite, this charismatic, popular, well-positioned lay leader crosses the road and goes on. Their exclusive religious beliefs and practices will not allow them to act as neighbor.
But hear the Spirit of God speak through Jesus’ parable. This foreigner – the one scorned and hated by the religious leaders who pass by – this foreigner (note the verbs/the actions springing from his deep faith and love)…this foreigner sees a battered man. Stops. Expresses compassion. Comes near. Bends down. With his bare hands, and cloth torn from his own clothing, wipes away the blood from the battered man. Cleans and bandages his wounds so that they may begin healing. Loads the man on his own donkey. Walks beside the donkey to the nearest inn. Personally carries him inside and watches over him through the night. And in the morning when he must leave, this foreigner who has integrity of faith and love, puts his money where his compassion is so that another might continue the care until his return.
Here is the content against which I believe we measure everything that we claim to be of the Spirit of God … everything that we claim to be Christian.
I leave to you, in this time in which we are living, to search out the implications of the actions of the Samaritan for your personal life, for your congregation’s life, and for the life of widening circles beyond – right up to our national community and its place among the world’s peoples. But I believe that I hear in this parable - where the early church remembers and passes on the ethical and moral teachings of Jesus - that the same-old, same-old theological/religious, patriotic, political, economic and social marriage of power is NOT AT ALL what Jesus calls neighborliness…kindness…salvation.
What is the spiritual dynamic active in today's scripture? Jesus is standing at the door of our life – “Do you love me more than these?” Jesus is seeking our conviction and commitment to his way of life – “Feed my sheep. Tend my lambs.”
Several painters have depicted the scene of Jesus standing at the door of our life knocking. Almost every one of them depicts a door with no handle on the outside of the door. In John's gospel Jesus constantly stands knocking at the door of our heart and mind and spirit. But the door can only be opened from within. Jesus is engaging us. Open your life. Invite me, allow me to guide you. Live!
In the exchange between Jesus and his disciples in this morning's scripture, Jesus is not just imparting information to us to give us data and facts. He is calling for response. Jesus is calling for us to invest ourselves in his non-violent, yet very assertive, alternative which provides saving, fulfillment.
In his engagement with this religious scholar, and in the parable of the Samaritan, Jesus is summoning, beckoning, calling, asking our passionate participation as his church…his visible body in time and space. Surrender and learn from me whose and who you are. Learn to cooperate rather than compete, to build up rather than to tear down, to be generous rather than to gather only to self, to be fair and equitable rather than greedy and prejudiced, to include rather than exclude, to unite rather than divide, to enter sacrificial love with all who suffer, to celebrate with redeeming acts the full human dignity of every person on the face of this good earth. Practice these things in your personal and in your communal living.
“Feed my sheep. Tend my lambs.” What do you think? Which of these three became a neighbor to the man attacked by robbers?” The one who treated him with kindness.
Go and do the same and you will not just frantically exist…you will LIVE with joy! Let it be so in us.
In the parable of the Samaritan, a certain religious scholar was committed to upholding a rigid system of beliefs that gave privilege to some at the expense of others. The system was a marriage of theology, nationalism, politics, economic access, and status in society. We are not aware of anything remotely like this in society today, are we?
Now, this religious teacher who engages Jesus has become aware that Jesus is offering a way of life that intentionally seeks to release people to discover and fulfill the God-goodness already within them ... their birthright. There are no preconditions required. This leader is clearly aware that, in doing so, Jesus is intentionally moving beyond the controlling boundaries imposed by this theological, patriotic, political, economic, and social marriage of power.
Still, there seems to be a strange dichotomy within this religious leader. On the one hand, he’d like to publicly humiliate Jesus … and to diminish Jesus’ “way of life and love” so that what Jesus asks will fit into what he is willing to offer. He likes his privilege, even if, on the present uneven playing field, many suffer as a result.
But, on the other hand, he seems to be genuinely searching. So, his question is a combination of trickery and a genuine search for something that he senses is missing within him. Have you ever found yourself, as I have found myself, bringing such varying desires together as you have engaged what you know of Jesus?
The religious leader asks Jesus: “What do I have to do to have eternal life?” Listen again: the man is asking about eternal life. The man does not ask, “What do I have to do to have pleasure … or be successful … be acceptable … be looked up to/admired … be wealthy … or to acquire power". He’s tried all of these, and they come up short. And he won’t buy the argument that what he seeks awaits only after death.
Jesus, exceptional teacher that he is, surprises the man and responds with a question of his own. “What is written in the Law? How do you interpret – understand it?” The man answers correctly. “You are to love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and body and mind, and you are to love your neighbor all as you love yourself.” The clear point is: We correctly love God, as we seek the well-being of all others in the same way and to the same degree that we seek our own well-being before God. Indeed this deepest emphasis of the Hebrew, Christian, and Islamic faiths acknowledges that God re-directs our-love-for-God to be expressed as love for all of God’s creation without exception. This is eternal life.
Now the man who engaged Jesus is beginning to catch on. He is becoming uncomfortable with what he is hearing. Eternal life will require change that he doesn’t want to make. He digs his heels in and toughens his heart. He directs all his thought to looking for a loophole. None of us has ever been tempted to look for a loophole for softening Jesus’ demands of love, have we? The man asks, “Jesus, just how would you define neighbor?” You can almost hear him saying silently within himself: “Got you, Jesus.”
Now we don't often think of Jesus as being mischievous, do we? But Jesus knows how to have a little fun at very significant moments. It is just at this point - with this parable - that Jesus’ encounter with the man in this scripture takes a humorous turn. Jesus responds with the parable of the Samaritan. This parable ought to be told so many times in our homes that each person, from oldest to youngest, knows it by heart and takes it with them into each day’s relationships.
The man asked: “And who would you say is my neighbor?” But Jesus isn’t interested in the object ... the neighbor. Jesus is interested in the subject – the questioning man himself. Jesus won’t let this questioner side-track him. In concluding his story, Jesus asks this man – as he would ask you and me today – “What do you think? Which of the three became a neighbor to the man attacked by robbers?”
Now this is a different question, isn’t it? Jesus responds to the man testing him: nice try! You have asked your second question to avoid the answer I gave to your first question … and you know it. I shall respond, then, not to your second question, but to your original, essential question, which you are trying to pass by.
In this parable Jesus speaks nothing about life after death. Nor does he speak about endless life. In this parable, Jesus equates eternal life with “acting as a neighbor” here and now ... in this life … from Monday through Sunday. Eternal life – neighborliness, as Jesus clarifies it here - is a lifestyle. A way of being. A set of guiding values for every relationship with God and others.
Moreover, in this parable, Jesus gives us qualities of this way of being … of neighborliness. They include affirming human dignity, empathy, compassion, care, fair-justice, mercy, acceptance, forgiveness, reconciliation, generosity and community. These are to be integrated into everything we are and do from morning to night, day after day after day after day after day. Jesus says to us: This is eternal life … and these are its characteristics.
And this is also how we are to love Jesus. How we are to feed his sheep and tend his lambs.
And I suspect that until I act, with my choices and votes and participation, in striving for the wellbeing of others in the same manner and to the same degree that I seek my own wellbeing, I am only looking for self-serving loopholes, even in my religious life. And there will remain a restless searching within me as there is in this lawyer.
I believe that we cannot afford to miss Jesus’ point. Important as it is, being regular in attendance at worship isn’t what Jesus means by feeding his sheep. As helpful in some instances as they may be, agreeing to certain religious statements – correct dogma, right doctrine - isn’t what Jesus means by tending his lambs. As significant to us as they are, rehearsing the dates and times of our religious conversions isn’t what Jesus means by the ingredients of saving love. As inspiring and renewing as may be the case, worshiping in varied forms with passion and enthusiasm isn’t what Jesus means by loving God. As comforting as it may seem, claiming to be the only “true” denomination, or faith, isn’t what Jesus means by transforming love. As meaningful as it can be, being compassionate only with those who agree with you, or who will repay it, isn’t what Jesus means by drinking the cup that he drinks. All of these together fall short.
The Priest, this highly educated, religiously correct, celebrant of temple worship passes by on the other side. The Levite, this charismatic, popular, well-positioned lay leader crosses the road and goes on. Their exclusive religious beliefs and practices will not allow them to act as neighbor.
But hear the Spirit of God speak through Jesus’ parable. This foreigner – the one scorned and hated by the religious leaders who pass by – this foreigner (note the verbs/the actions springing from his deep faith and love)…this foreigner sees a battered man. Stops. Expresses compassion. Comes near. Bends down. With his bare hands, and cloth torn from his own clothing, wipes away the blood from the battered man. Cleans and bandages his wounds so that they may begin healing. Loads the man on his own donkey. Walks beside the donkey to the nearest inn. Personally carries him inside and watches over him through the night. And in the morning when he must leave, this foreigner who has integrity of faith and love, puts his money where his compassion is so that another might continue the care until his return.
Here is the content against which I believe we measure everything that we claim to be of the Spirit of God … everything that we claim to be Christian.
I leave to you, in this time in which we are living, to search out the implications of the actions of the Samaritan for your personal life, for your congregation’s life, and for the life of widening circles beyond – right up to our national community and its place among the world’s peoples. But I believe that I hear in this parable - where the early church remembers and passes on the ethical and moral teachings of Jesus - that the same-old, same-old theological/religious, patriotic, political, economic and social marriage of power is NOT AT ALL what Jesus calls neighborliness…kindness…salvation.
What is the spiritual dynamic active in today's scripture? Jesus is standing at the door of our life – “Do you love me more than these?” Jesus is seeking our conviction and commitment to his way of life – “Feed my sheep. Tend my lambs.”
Several painters have depicted the scene of Jesus standing at the door of our life knocking. Almost every one of them depicts a door with no handle on the outside of the door. In John's gospel Jesus constantly stands knocking at the door of our heart and mind and spirit. But the door can only be opened from within. Jesus is engaging us. Open your life. Invite me, allow me to guide you. Live!
In the exchange between Jesus and his disciples in this morning's scripture, Jesus is not just imparting information to us to give us data and facts. He is calling for response. Jesus is calling for us to invest ourselves in his non-violent, yet very assertive, alternative which provides saving, fulfillment.
In his engagement with this religious scholar, and in the parable of the Samaritan, Jesus is summoning, beckoning, calling, asking our passionate participation as his church…his visible body in time and space. Surrender and learn from me whose and who you are. Learn to cooperate rather than compete, to build up rather than to tear down, to be generous rather than to gather only to self, to be fair and equitable rather than greedy and prejudiced, to include rather than exclude, to unite rather than divide, to enter sacrificial love with all who suffer, to celebrate with redeeming acts the full human dignity of every person on the face of this good earth. Practice these things in your personal and in your communal living.
“Feed my sheep. Tend my lambs.” What do you think? Which of these three became a neighbor to the man attacked by robbers?” The one who treated him with kindness.
Go and do the same and you will not just frantically exist…you will LIVE with joy! Let it be so in us.