FALLING IN LOVE WITH JESUS
Apri] 2, 1989
70:30 a.m. Worship Service
Jonn M. Buchanan
St. Giles’ Cathedrat, Edinourgh
“He said to him... ‘Do you love me?’ Peter...said,
‘Lord. you know everything; you know that I love
you,’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep."
~-John 21:17 (RSV)
scripture

Jahn 21:1-17

It comes down to the man, doesn't it? [a
a,

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some point, out of all the people in history, he
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has jaid a claim on us.\ re May have been an
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individual emotional yobeaval, yand it may have been

an intellectual itch we tried to scratch for two
Cd Cd
Qesna,

decades, \ Tt tay have been a fire in our ==,

about human rights and the dignity of all human
br

beings.\and it may have been a sense of inadeduacy

or guiit or disgust at personal weakness that

resisted resotut ion, pr tt may have been a profound
a,

desire to affirm the beauty of the world and the

goodness of life and the love deep within us. |

Somehow, he was and is in the middle of it.

Aner ican Ineo logian, Jarostav Pelikan, has written a
Jesse s Theounk -thne Carle eves .

strenuous book about ere SOO Rec Jesus of
(yar OC puse Yaot

Nazareth has had on culture. \ Even when the

Wid x. institutions of peligion seem to sag, the man

continues to compe]. | Perken begins his work with
eee
this provocative thought:
rr it were possibte, with some sart of
super-magnet, to pul] up out of history every scrap
of metal bearing at Teast a trace of his name, how
much would be left? \re is from his birth that most
of the human race dates its calendars, it is by his
name that millions curse and in his name that
millions pray.” Cp. 7]
It al] comes cown to this man, doesn't it?
ee ee
Across the centuries people nave been
ine
fascinated, almost cgMpelied, sometimes obsessed
with him ~ believers and unbeTievers. \ art,
- —te. eee —_

literature, music have celebrated him.\ He has been

a friend of counter cutture: \ has offered at"hand

to put your hand into”). has been a Superstar on
Broadway fe Bridge over troubled waters, jand has
continued to speak to high culture in Magnificat,

7 ea Ee De
Passion, Mass and Messiah. \He has gathered up

ee ed a ee
aspirations, expressed deep Igve, | and been the
__—e CS a

rallying point for the anger of communities as

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diverse as the human pace.\\ He is at the center of
movements from Solidarity in Poland to

Tiberat ion

3
ania of Churches in South Africa.

He was in Chinese House Churches for several

decades| and he is at the center of base communities

in Certral America today. \He has comforted the

Pious tand somehow managed to speak to the .
os enegee to couehd of flee
irreverent as well, Vedaegkomideg manana, Lett lieth Comfy les

There are choices to be made about how best
Fes |

to express it: \ from J. S. Bach to the simplest

Sunday Schoo] sone; gram the elegance of the

~~

Cathedral on Sunday, to taking the Sacrament to the

Patients in the geriatric wing; \from the

aa

breathtaking selflessness of Mother Teresa, toa the
rt, TCC.

decision not to cheat on a final exam,

But at the

Oe,

ne .

center is the man.\ And those of us who prefer our

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Gospel in complex sentences, encased in words Tike

=—_

"ampiricai"” and "existential" need the cccasional
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reminder.
I was reminded of that at a seminar on the
EC ne ‘eles
relationship of the Gospel to the life of the
ai Bd
nation.\ I found myself deeply troubtec by the
complexity of our economic situation, \pulled - as

we alt are — between concern for the peor and the

need for a viable and responsible national economy.
a

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The tapic invites passion and the leadership of the
wee MMRDA ARNT

workshop was understandably partisan and sometimes

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angry. | rt Was not easy going fer anyone and it

certainly wasn't pietistic in the usual sense of

that word. | The name “Jesus Christ” was invoked a

jot and not always in prayer.\ On the last evening

bet

the leadership team assembled as a panel to discuss

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the matter af how individuals who care about

Justice and rights and also about an effective and

Da el

productive economy in this complex environment find
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that their own souls are fed. f was startled to
hear one of the leaders ~ a strong, creative woman
from New York City| deeply committed to socia}

justice and social change - angwer CT am fed by my

personal relationship with Jesus christ.” )It was a

magrrificent reminder that regardiess of where we

Si er

are ecclesiastical ly: [- High Churen Anglican to

i

Free Wilt Baptist and al] points between; or

Lien

politically ~ Tiberal to conservative; esandless
ior. Le Dl

of anything else, at the center is the man, and our

coming to terms with him. >

Krister Stendahl, one of the leading New

Testament scholars in the woritd, now a Scandanavian
etn | oes BN ay

Bishos,| gave-a lecture in a midwestern city in

America and a layman from Iowa had got up during

the questicn and answer period and asked very

roa mpty, [ "Professor Stendahl, how did you get

a

‘hooked’ on this stuff?" Sine audience Jeaned back
and expected from Stendah] a fairly longsheired

description of the historical, conceptual,
‘ieee a

philosophical path by which he had come, and 7t was

a great moment when Stendahl said, (‘my family and I
were not church people at al] and the only way If
could rebel against the mores of my family was to

go to church! | And when I got to church, within six

beaten

months, I fell in love with Jesus.'"} (Trinity

a

Seminary Review, Fall, 1982, pas. 33, 34]
The question is posed first by Jesus himself.

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"Do you tove me Peter?” \it is found in the Gospel
Lenn

Jessen for the day.
On the night Jesus was arrested and subjected
to the humiliation of a phony religious trial
mera Lae.

before Caiaphas, Peter had followed at a safe

=e

distance into the courtyard of the high priest's
residence. \rt was there, warming frimseif at the
fire, that Peter had been challenged. Cou are one
of them!" p young woman had said. \ and Peter,
startled, frightened, had denied it. [feo tines

Rice NEE

#t happened that night and each time Peter denied

knowing Jesus, punctuating his third denial with an
obscenity. \It is one of the more poignantly human

stories in the Gospel narrative, and it concludes

SS

powerfully with the cock crowing and Jesus' eyes
nal arial
meeting Peter's and Peter weeping bitterly,
devastated by his own humanness.
2
What occurred next, for Peter, is unclear.
Jesus was crucified on a Friday. \rr the disciples
eee we.

were around, most of them at least, kept a discreet

distance. fe the first day of the week, Peter was
one of the figst to discover the empty tomb. | And
then there occurred a series Of mysterious
resurrection appearances. \some time Jater Peter
and the others are fisging in the early morning when
the pisen Christ appears on the shore. { they eat
breakfast together and the stage is set for the
oe 2
conclusion of the matter of Peter's denial.
As Peter denied knowing Jesus three times.
now Jesus asks him three times, (simon Peter, do

you Tove me?] And as he denied Jesus three times
now Peter profegses His Jove, with_the same
increasing intensity. \ and three times Jesus adds
the admonition: "Food my Jambs...tend nd. my

sheep. . . feed my sheep;..."

There are at least two dynamics happening in
ee
this intense interchange. \ The First has has to do with

the power of Jesus’ love for Peter. | dopsrmenieis

. \ Surely, after the

crucifixion, following his own terrible cowardice,
—_—,

Peter was virtually a prisoner of Nis own guilt.

We know a Tittle bit about our vuinerability and
Stl tite al

culpability here. \we know whet it means to set
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high goals and espouse noble ideals, \to Plan to be

brave and courageous and strong, and then head for
Ed eee

cover as soon as the going gets tough. \ We know

pee
what it feels like to fail to Tive up to our own
SEE ae
expectations of oursetves and the gui tt which
resuits. \Wie can, that 1s to say, sense more than a
Dd

littte of the self-inflicted remorse Peter was

werroty

experiencing after the crucifixion.
"Do you Tove me, Peter?" \ nna was he
supposed to say to that’? The truth of the matter

was that he had not behaved in a way which
De |

expressed love far anyone or anything but his own

i

life. yet, he did love ye Jesus.\ How ve very human this

PT,

internal polarity is. \te Knew what he had done and
he knew the intensity of his own soul. \He Joved

Jesus as he hacl never loved anything before. \ and
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so the first dynamic here has to cdo with Peter,
Canal Pe

even in the midst of the pain and guilt and remorse

a,

of the moment, hearing and experiencing the steady

Tove of Jesus for fim. \ Jesus somehow could love

people who don't appear to have done much to

deserve that love. \ Jesus somehow could discern

2

that which is lovable in even the most untovable

characters. \ Because Jesus stayed with him, even as
—e

he was backing down;\ because Jesus was faithful,

even_when he wasn't, Peter could begin to see

something of value in hinserf, [could “love what

—_,

Jesus loved in him."

That's the first dynamic. \ And when Tt

happens - when in the midst of our sense of our

humanity at its most human ~- our faijures, foibles,

eon

_ , evew
our self-serving posturing, we know ourselves loved

by another.\it is like the salvation the prophet

compared to the gentie, refreshing rain of God

—,

pouring out of the heavens. \ It's no wonder Peter

was in Tove with Jesus.

=

The second dynamic also is about falling in
al

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Jove. (4. toa, iS compelling, but in a very
=e Eee ee
different way.\ What Jesus was asking of Peter now
was strength, coupage, loyalty. \esus love was
hot an abstract ion.\ His love — and this is so
difficult for us to understand - was not an
be

er

engtion.\ It was a lifestyle of helping, serving,
oe Joe =

healing, feeding, liberating. {The dialogue between

Po ee

Peter and Jesus doses not conclude with a mushy

verbal affirmation of affect ionag@@fimme, but with

the behavioral admonition, "Feed my sheep." \wnicn

is ta say that the way one goes about loving Jesus

is by helping with the sheep, [weer 9 ~
Hans Kung somewhere quips that the list of

great_people who loye Jesus but want nothing to do

with the church woutd be long and dist inguished

a —

en

indeed. \ And everyone on it has missed the point.
ae

S
You can't Jove Jesus without feeding the sheep, and

that gets yOu mixed up with other folk and before

sil te

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you know it you're in church.

della,

Now no ane possessed of cammon sense, or even

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a bit of sanity, is going to defend the perfection

or purity of the church. \an fact, on the topic of

er

the church I've always thought the statement was

; pola s
adequate, albeit a little earthly, that - like the

Ark - the conditions inside are intolerable unti]

you consider what's going on outside.
Everyone possese? bf an ounce of thoughtfulness

Knows the frailities and human failings of the

church. | Reflective church people ~ all — have a

‘renee

|
Jovers quarrel with their own church.\ It is full
Le nial —

a

of people. \ Worse yet, it is full of people we
Might not necessarily chose to ike. \ In G8.

Lewis’ Screwtape Letters, Satan coungels his Onc. a Ms beak

Teutenant on the matter of fighting for the soul eau fae 9

of a new omristin vou want to Jean pretty cerel — i+ arene
—, ~ a Yavelves Wn. Wel

heavily on those neighbors,"Yhe says. (Make fis \ ote peng -

mind flit to and fro between ang@yexpression Tike

‘the Body_of Christ! and the actual faces in the

next pew."

1

You can't love Jesus without loving the
shegp. | Even as Jesus was pulling it out of him I
betieve Peter was recalling a1] those instances

senate

when love became visible, tangible, physical: {wren
eererrtetion, —_— ‘in, aa

ite.

mother-in-law; [rien he gently Laat

en uclad Vs
+ parkouele ily
ch Tdrens\ ana ate | with unclean street peo: and
in hot anger overturned tables and drove

moneychangers from the temple;\and when in awful

majesty - at the end knelt in front of each of them
ieee a al

and washed their feet.

i see in Peter my own attraction to the power

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of that kind of love.\ The allure has aiways been a

love whrich has integrity and authentigity and
strength about it. \ But there is a sense in which
ell Caiman
that strength also repels.
After all, falling jp love is very risky
business. \To be in love with ane pepggn is to Jove
humanity more: \ it is to experience more, \senge

mone \care_mon and hurt more. \ If you do not want

that. if you do not want your life changed, } tg_love
a, =

12

yo

UF Ga germce lavabe

and feei and live more, it is better not to get

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close to Jesus.

La sarnaiiaeeel

He defines our humanity better than anybody

else, | Better than anyone he shows us what human
be |

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life can be and therefore what our own potential

=.

7S.

The allure of Jesus is that to think about it

Ld ee

much is ta know that his life is how Ged planned
ea ATE, TZ er

human tife to be lived. \Is there really any
ee

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question any Jonger that he is the only person in

history who understands how to live in peace? \ Is

there any real question that until we learn of him
i.

to ive together as brothers and sisters across al]

the lines of nation, class, race, and ne ligion ~

there wild be no peace? ,Is there any question but

that he weeps again ~ over Jerusalen — and, yes -
me Cet +O te yt .

+ Lond e ©
Belfast_ and Washington Snd-that he would have his”
followers at least be able to do that? \ 15 there

any question about his positicen when aur
— rr

frustration and rage at terriorism erupt in new

terrorjsin’? \is there any question about where he

13

would be in cur world and where his strong love

Dee inl

would take him and and how he would respond to

racism and poverty and oppression?
| iil —_e A
The dangerous allure of Jesus is that he said

the truth and had the courage to tellitne truth and
live the truth. | an in so doing he got himself

crucified out also became a model of human life
oom :

lived so fully that anyone who takes the time toa

erect eater ale

Jearn about it and think about it will be forever
haunted by it.
He was, Hans Kung wrote, the "true
—_— | temas fe
revelutionary.” (What could be more

revolutionary, 7 the great theologian asks, than

(hove of enemies instead of destruction:

uncenditionalt forgiveness instead of retaliation:

F satiate ated

readiness to suffer instead of using force,

blessings for peacemakers instead of hymns of hate
WS For

and revenge."} [Oo Being a Christian, p. 191]
From the earliest days of the Christian
Church unti] today, \the Gospel begins with a story

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about a man named Jesus. From the apostolic

T4

preaching in 35 A.D. until now, the best of the

ee

pulpit is the story of the man. \ And from that day

ge,
beside the ocean, when Jesus met Peter and asked,

“Do you Tove me?" -) being a Christian has been a

Fait eed

precess of falling more deeply in love, and then

finding that one's humanity, one’s own life is

De an eiel

miraculously enlivened and energized and enJarged
—— eon ian,

and saved by that strong love.

It is, someone said, sublimely simple. \"Do

you love me?... Feed my sheep.” J Amen.

a ,

15