You follow Me

"Feed My Lambs" - James Tissot

TODAY'S SPECIAL: John 21:12-25

TO CHEW ON: "Then Peter seeing him (...the disciple whom Jesus loved following...) said to Jesus, 'But Lord, what about this man?' Jesus said to him, 'If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow me.'" John 21:21,22

There is discussion among Bible interpreters about why Peter asked the question, referring to John, "Lord, what about this man?" Was he genuinely curious? Did he  feel that John, trailing behind Jesus and him should be included in the conversation? Or perhaps he wanted reassurance that John would be joining him in the assignment Jesus had just given him (Peter) to feed Jesus' sheep and lambs (i.e. the shepherd the flock of believing people).

But Jesus' answer is not ambiguous. He says, in effect, it's not your business. "You follow me."

This speaks to me about my own tendency to compare myself—my talents, my calling, my life, the results of my work—to others. In the light of Jesus' words here, I shouldn't. Rather, I need to follow His direction and leading, and leave off comparing my strengths and weaknesses, my opportunities or lack of them, my apparent successes and failures with your strengths, opportunities, and successes. For He says to each one of us: "What is that to you? You follow Me."

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, the urge to compare (leading to envy, discontent, and insecurity)  tempts me often. Help me to be alert to Your direction, to follow, and to stay unconcerned with how my calling looks in relation to the calling of others. Amen.

MORE: Peter's end

As it turned out, Peter's and John's ends were quite different. Tradition has it that Peter was crucified. Clarke's commentary says, "...all antiquity agrees that John ... was the only disciple who was taken away by natural death."

You and I could waste a lot of time trying to figure out the whys and wherefores of our various destinies. How much better for us to simply follow Him and leave off concerning ourselves with why our paths are different.

Today is the Feast of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. The liturgy for the day begins with the following collect:

"Almighty God, whose blessed apostles Peter and Paul glorified you by their martyrdom: Grant that your Church, instructed by their teaching and example, and knit together in unity by your Spirit, may ever stand firm upon the one foundation, which is Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen."

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 Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Going fishing

TODAY'S SPECIAL: John 21:1-19


TO CHEW ON: "Simon Peter said to them, 'I am going fishing.'" John 21:3

It had been a traumatic week or so for Peter. Jesus—on whom he had pinned his hopes for what...ousting the Romans and proving Himself the nation's messiah; at the very least carrying on using His miracles to outsmart and out-power His enemies—had been killed. But worse, just before that, he, Peter, had denied, after three years together, that he was in any way associated with his friend.

Now Jesus had reappeared, back from the dead, resurrected. It was wonderful but confusing. All the more so because Peter probably no longer saw himself as worthy of playing any role in what Jesus had in mind.

I can just see the disciples sitting around, discussing—What's next? What's the future for us, for me, now? And it would be at this point Peter would get up and say, "I'm going fishing." I see it as his way of saying, 'I'm going back—back to the old life of what I know, what I enjoyed, what I do well so I can again feel normal, useful, and not a failure.'

Trouble is on this night "they caught nothing." He couldn't even do fishing well!

It was at this critical point, early in the morning after the frustrating night of failure, that Jesus appeared again. He told them to cast their nets on the wrong right side of the boat. They did, and hauled in an unheard-of catch of large fish. And then Jesus invited them to breakfast on the beach after which He and Peter had it out.

Jesus pressed Peter by asking him three times: "Do you love Me?" The first time he phrased it, "Do you love Me more than these?" I imagine Him motioning toward the boats and nets as He said these. I believe He was asking Peter to be done forever with fishing.

I think of this story often when I'm tempted to get off task. I have, since I've taken up writing, had several what I consider God-given assignments that brought with them their share of discouragement. When those projects have felt overwhelming, or haven't gone well, or have appeared unlikely to sell even if I finished them, the temptation has been to "go fishing." For me, going fishing means abandoning the big job He has given me for something safer, more predictable, the kind of project I've had success with in the past. It means going back instead of going forward.

What's your way of going fishing?

Jesus presses home the issue with us like He did with Peter: 'Do you love me more than these? Then show it by doing the job I've given you to do.'

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to be clear on Your assignments and resist the temptation to go back to the safe, faith-impoverished pre-assignment life. Amen.

MORE: Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul

Today is the Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul. The day's liturgy begins with this collect:

"Almighty God, whose blessed apostles Peter and Paul glorified you by their martyrdom: Grant that your Church, instructed by their teaching and example, and knit together in unity by your Spirit, may ever stand firm upon the one foundation, which is Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen."

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Have you thought about the finish line?

TODAY’S SPECIAL: 2 Timothy 4:1-8

TO CHEW ON: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” 2 Timothy 4:7

“Shortly after noon on July 5, 1997, the doctor told me I had cancer,” writes Larry Crabb in the Introduction to his book Soul Talk. He goes on, “My wife and I cried when the doctor left. He had made no promises. We didn’t know if I’d live or die. It takes a while to realize what life is all about. We don’t ask the hard questions until we have to. That day I had to. …The curtains covering my soul fell back and I began to see what was happening inside. When that occurred, the battle began. But it’s also when life began” (Soul Talk, p. 2).

The “curtains covering my soul” got a definite tug in 2006 – the year my mom died. As I made funeral arrangements then cleaned out her apartment and gave away and sold her things, I began to know at a gut level it would be only a matter of time before the person whose heap of stuff needing to be dealt with was me. And I’d better start living more than ever with those hard questions in mind.

Questions like: Have I discovered what I’m here for? Have I made a difference? What will I be remembered for? If I died today, would I have regrets? What would they be?

Paul was able to say, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous Judge will give to me on that day.”

What about you? Have you begun asking yourself the hard questions? It’s never too soon to begin, so that you can end like Paul did – with no regrets!

PRAYER: Dear God, please keep the light on inside me. Help me live today with the end in mind. Amen.

MORE: More finish lines

• Today the church celebrates the Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul. The liturgy of the day begins with this collect prayer:

"Almighty God, whose blessed apostles Peter and Paul glorified you by their martyrdom: Grant that your Church, instructed by their teaching and example, and knit together in unity by your Spirit, may ever stand firm upon the one foundation, which is Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen."

• Every Christmas, Concordia College in Moorhead Minnesota presents a program of choral music. For years they have performed it against the backdrop of a 20 x 60-foot painted Christmas mural reflecting the year's theme. For many of those years David Hetland designed the stunning murals for those concerts, then supervised the volunteers who painted them. In 2006, at the age of only 59, Hetland died – but not without a sense that he had achieved something of significance.

David Hetland talks about his life and work.

A David Hetland mural

• Gavin MacLeod became famous for playing parts on the Mary Tyler Moore show and the Loveboat series. But now that he’s older, he considers a couple of far less prestigious projects the ones that define what his life is about.

Gavin MacLeod "The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry"




If you had to make a 2-minute video like this, what would you say about your life?

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The Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. - Used with permission.