"Getting Rehabilitated"
Rehabilitation takes faith
Sermon Preached by
The Rev. Dr. Andrew Stirling
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Text: John 21:15-24
I receive some very unusual e-mails! Usually, they are trying to sell me products. No matter how many times I block them, they keep appearing. Some I simply ignore. Others that are trying to sell me hair restoration products and things like that, I probably should read, but more often than not, I just delete them. But not this week! There was one that said “Andrew,” so clearly, I thought the person must know me: “Andrew, take the first step on the road to recovery.” Who could not open something that begins like that?
So, thinking that this was from somebody familiar with me, I decided to read on a little bit further. It was actually an amazing e-mail. Clearly, it was selling a product, but at the heart of it was an attempt to find someone in need of help and give them the means to help themselves on the road to recovery.
The more I thought about those words, the more I realized that we as Christians are often at the heart of recovery in peoples' lives. If you look at 12-step programs, many of them are predicated on the very beliefs that we hold. Churches are often the place where such organizations meet, and there is something about the church and the recovery movement that go hand-in-hand.
Timothy Eaton Memorial Church, for example, hosts one such recovery organization for those seeking help with alcohol addiction. There are many places where such activities occur, and there is something good and right about us being part of helping people take the first step on the road to recovery.
Recovery, restoration, rehabilitation - whatever you want to call it - isn't just about dealing with addictions. It is not just struggling with some medical disease or personal problem. It can go much, much deeper than that; it can go to the rehabilitation of the whole person and their whole life in God.
Last Sunday, after I got home from church, I watched the Masters. I never realized that the man who won the Masters this year, Zach Johnson, is a very devout Christian. I remember reading a biography of Payne Stewart, who was a very well known golfer for those of you who are not golf aficionados.
When Stewart died in a plane crash in 1999, many people were upset beyond just the fact that the world had lost a great golfer - they had also lost a man of faith. But it hadn't always been so for Payne Stewart. He had lived a life that was full of, to use his own description, “Payne Stewart.” He attributed his success at golf to being “Payne Stewart.” His family, his approach to life, in fact his whole drive in life, was born out of the joy of being “Payne Stewart.” But then he hit a dip in his career and a commensurate dip in his life, and being “Payne Stewart” was not all joy, success and frivolity. He had a crisis in his life, and being “Payne Stewart” wasn't enough any more.
With the help of a group of Christians including fellow-golfer Paul Azinger, Stewart came to realize that he had a source of strength and hope available to him. He found a life in Christ that helped him rely, not on being “Payne Stewart,” but on a power and a strength that was greater than him.
Stewart credited this gift of faith for continued success. He did a wonderful job! It is tragic that, after coming to such a great state of grace, he died so suddenly. But he had come to the realization that there is more even beyond Payne Stewart in the risen Christ.
Throughout the ages, we see the rehabilitation, not just of character, but also of reputation. For example, after Al Gore's egregious loss to George Bush a number of years ago, who would think that we would be talking today about him winning prizes for movies and being one of the most sought-after celebrities? Who would think that Jimmy Carter who, when beaten by Ronald Reagan in the 1980, was considered the worst President the U.S. ever had would found Habitat for Humanity and work so hard for human rights, freedom, peace and health?
So often, rehabilitation is based on a good cause; so often it is based on faith. Oh, I know that the media have a tendency to build people up in order that to knock them down. This seems to be a recurring theme. We all love “feel good” stories of people getting better and having their reputations repaired, but it requires something a lot more than just good publicity. It takes something born in the heart.
After the Resurrection of Jesus, two disciples needed to be rehabilitated and their stories have very different endings. One was Peter, and the other was Judas Iscariot. It seems that everyone now has great desire to rehabilitate Judas and make him look better than he was. All of this historical revision is spurious, and predicated on unreliable documentation. Yet we want to see Judas Iscariot redeemed, even though he betrayed Jesus, causing him to be put to death. We just can't stand seeing someone in need of restoration left unchanged. The truth is that Judas's own guilt and lack of faith were so strong, he took his own life.
Peter' story is different. He denied Jesus three times, yet Jesus reappeared to him after the Resurrection. In this story, we see the power of the Easter message manifested in a concrete way. This is the heart of the Gospel.
The last time I spoke about Peter, I suggested he was a warning sign. I said we should beware of the likes of Peter as he was before the crucifixion and Resurrection, because it is often so easy to deny our faith. It is easy to succumb like Peter to the temptation to take the easy path. It is so easy to be a Peter that we need road signs lest we become like him. But now, we see him in a different light. Jesus came to him in a gracious, powerful way and restored him from his brokenness.
The story is very simple: The disciples and Jesus had been fishing, and they were cooking the fish over a fire. The last time we encountered Peter, he was warming his hands over a fire after having denied Jesus. After the Resurrection, Peter was once again by a fire when Jesus took him aside and asked, “Simon Peter, do you love me more than these?”
Scholars debate what was meant by “these”. Was Jesus talking about the fish? In other words, “Do you love me more than you career? Do you love me more than fishing? Do you love me more than your work?” Or was he talking about the other disciples who were present? I think it was probably the latter.
There is something else you need to know to understand this story. The Greek biblical text uses two words for “love” in this passage which have different meanings. One of them is “agape,” literally meaning “the love of God.” This is the sacrificial love of the cross. It is the totally committed, living love of Christ. The other word is “philia,” from which we get the word “philanthropy.” It means brotherly or sisterly love, and suggests affection, gentleness and kindness.
The interplay of these two words in this story is fascinating. Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love (and he used the word “agape”) me more than these?” In other words, do you love me more than these other disciples?
Peter answered, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you!” But he used the word “philia” - I love you as a friend. Why wasn't Peter willing to say “I love you” in the wholehearted sense? The answer is that he was guilt-ridden. He looked at the other disciples and couldn't say he loved Jesus as much as they did because he had denied Jesus three times. He knew that he could not say with a clear conscience, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you; you know I am willing to sacrifice myself for you.” So he said, “Yes, I love you as a friend,” but that was it!
This is a profound statement. It shows that Peter recognized his inability to respond to Jesus' love and grace. He knew he couldn't convincingly say, “Yes, I am someone who can respond to you completely.”
While Leonardo da Vinci was painting The Last Supper, he had a conflict with another man. We do not know what the conflict was about, but da Vinci was so angry with this man, he wanted to hurt him. He wanted to punish him, and carried hatred in his heart. When it came time to paint Jesus' face in The Last Supper, Leonardo couldn't do it. He realized there was so much guilt and anger in his heart that he wouldn't be able to until he went back to that man and set that relationship right. After reconciling with the man, da Vinci went back and painted the face of Jesus - and it was beautiful!
Likewise, Peter couldn't say “I love you absolutely” until his relationship with Jesus was made right. Despite this, Jesus gave him an amazing calling. He said to Peter, “Feed my sheep.” In other words, Jesus did not expect perfection from Peter. He did not expect him to do everything right before he gave him this magnificent call, but rather bestowed a magnanimous gift of grace.
In a televised debate during the 1980 American presidential election, Jimmy Carter received what many viewed as the greatest pummelling in recent memory from Ronald Reagan. It seemed every time Carter was about to say something, Reagan anticipated it. Carter got frustrated because Reagan had all the insights and knowledge while he was not able to function. He was going out of his mind.
Later, Carter found out that writer George Will had seen his pre-interview notes and passed them on to Reagan. Carter was so upset and livid that he held bitterness in his heart for years.
Finally in 1997, when being interviewed by David Willis of The New York Times magazine, Carter revealed: “I was teaching forgiveness one day in Sunday school and I tried to go through my memory for people for whom I had resentment. George Will was one of those people. I asked myself, ”˜What do we have in common?' I knew he had written a book on baseball that I had refused to read, so I went to a bookstore, found a copy and paid $1 for it. I wrote him a note and told him that, while I had resentment toward him, I found his book delightful and hoped we would be permanently reconciled. He wrote me back a nice, humorous note. He said his only regret was that I didn't pay full price for the book!”
Carter knew that he had to put things right. Even though he was the injured party, Carter took the initiative to write to Will.
That is exactly what Jesus did with Peter. It was Jesus who was crucified - albeit raised from the dead, but nevertheless crucified - and Peter's three denials contributed to it. But still Jesus said, “Feed my sheep, Peter.” He had asked Peter, “Do you love me? Do you agape me?” Peter had replied, “Yes, Lord, you know I philia you.” Jesus asked him a second time - He wanted to know where Peter's heart really lay. Peter, again, gave the timid response, “I love you like a friend.”
Jesus asked a third question which, in many ways, is the very essence of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So much rested on it. John tells us that Peter was grieved in his heart because he had already responded twice. It seemed almost too much to be asked a third time, and he knew the cost of saying “Yes” would be great.
But this time, Jesus asked a different question, one to which he felt Peter could respond in the affirmative. Jesus asked, “Do you love me (philia)?” But Peter didn't give the answer he had twice before. This time he answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I agape you.” This time, Peter said, “I commit myself to you.”
In the famous legend of Domiei Quo Vadis, St. Ambrose records an encounter between Jesus and Peter. Peter asks Jesus, “Where are you going - Quo Vadis?” Jesus says, “I am going to the cross.” It is believed that Peter himself ended up being crucified upside-down as a martyr. In other words, he knew the cost of discipleship when Jesus said a third time, “Then tend my sheep.” But Peter was willing to do it.
Isn't it staggering to think that this is the same Peter who, weeks later at Pentecost, was the first to proclaim Christ to the world? Isn't it amazing that this is the Peter who founded the Church in Rome? Isn't it amazing that throughout 2,000 years of history, apart from Jesus himself, and maybe the writings of Paul, the character that we most associate with the Christian faith is Peter? All this is because Jesus was willing to forgive him. All this is because Jesus was willing to reinstate him. All this is because Peter was willing to be reinstated.
There are people who say the message of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is nothing more than a myth - just another dying and rising symbol, just another sign of winter and springtime. But Peter's story tells us it is much, much more. Peter was willing to die because of his reinstatement by the Risen Christ. You don't die the way Peter died for a myth. The presence of the Risen Christ had so changed him that he was willing to have the “agape” love for him.
As you may know, I love cars. There is an incredible story about the Rolls Royce. A man went from England to the United States for a number of months and because he was going to drive around, he decided to ship his Rolls Royce with him. When he arrived in the United States, he drove it for a while until it suddenly broke down. He contacted Rolls Royce, and discovered it was a model they didn't have in the United States. So he contacted Solihull in Britain and asked, “Do you think it would be possible to fix my car?”
Rolls Royce said, “Within 48 hours we will have a mechanic and the parts that you need right where you are.”
He was overwhelmed. A mechanic arrived with the parts in two days, fixed the car and flew home. The Englishman drove the car for the rest of his holiday and had a magnificent time. After months of pleasurable driving, he shipped the car back to Britain and continued to drive it at home.
About a year later, as the man was looking through some of the photographs of his holiday, he realized he hadn't paid Rolls Royce for fixing his car. He was going out of his mind with guilt. “I never even received a bill for this,” he thought. “What am I going to do?” He wrote the company a letter saying, “I don't know if you know this, but you fixed my car a year ago in the United States. I haven't received a bill for it and I think it is about time that I righted this great wrong.”
Rolls Royce wrote back to him: “Dear Sir, Rolls Royce Motor Cars has no record of any of our cars ever breaking down anywhere at any time and we will not be sending you a bill.”
That was their reputation! No wonder they went bankrupt - but that is another story. They forgave the debt. Nothing wrong!
The Risen Christ did the same thing for Peter. Jesus said, “I have no record of your wrong-doing. Go, feed my sheep.” My friends, that is the first step on the road to recovery, and we should be prepared to take it ourselves. Amen.
This is a verbatim transcription of the original sermon.