Observation: After Jesus' Resurrection, he sits by the sea of Galilee for one last heart-to-heart with Simon Peter. Jesus asks Peter three times, "Do you love me?" Although Peter is confused and a little hurt by Jesus' repeated question, it gives him the opportunity to declare his love for Jesus three times--just as he denied knowing Jesus three times the night before his crucifixion. Each time Peter declares his love, Jesus basically tells Peter to do the same thing: tend and feed his sheep.
Application: Today is the festival of Sts. Peter and Paul, Apostles. Both the text from John 21 and the appointed prayer today focus in on martyrdom, or the fact that Peter and Paul both died for publicly professing their faith. According to Christian tradition, Paul was beheaded in Rome, and Peter asked to be crucified upside down, because he saw himself as unworthy of dying the same type of death as his Lord. Often when a saint's life comes to a dramatic or violent end, the death takes the focus and the life takes a backseat. But really, it's the life of a saint that can teach us a lot more. God willing, it's very unlikely that Christians today in the western world will be beheaded or crucified upside down for our faith. But we will be asked, on a daily basis, to do the work of Peter, and feed Jesus' flock. It doesn't have the dramatic flare of a public martyrdom, but it's what needs to be done. Every day, we will be surrounded by people who need to hear good news: that they are loved, that their lives are precious in God's sight, and that God cares about their needs, both spiritual and physical. It may not go down in history, and we may not even remember or notice by the end of today the ways we built up Jesus' flock. But Jesus will.
Prayer: Jesus, I love you. Help me show it by feeding and tending your flock today. In your name I pray, Amen.
I agree, the life before the death is really what counts, and probably should be shared at funerals.
ReplyDeleteMake your life count and your death will be easier.