Message:
Back when I lived in Yokohama in the 90s, we attended YUC (where Pastor Claudia is now serving). We were doing a church cleanup day because, in those days, there was a burnt-out hull of the old church that was destroyed in WW2. It was a place where the kids played after church; if I were a kid, it would be where I'd want to play. However, due to the debris, it was a little dangerous. Anyway, we were doing a church cleanup because we did not have a property manager like Ted. I had gathered a small mountain of wood and burnable stuff and was told to burn it. But it wouldn't light. So I poured gasoline over the pile and lit it. It didn't just burn; it exploded, and a ball of fire and unlit gas hit me from my waist down, and my legs literally (not figuratively) were on fire. I was rushed to the hospital with second-degree burns on my legs. After being discharged, I went to a burn specialist where every three days, I had to have my bandages peeled off and reapplied with medicine. I would lie on my back, and this older nurse, maybe in her late 50s, would say, "This is going to hurt, count to three," and I would start counting. Sometimes she waited until two, sometimes until three, but she would smoothly rip off the bandages. I am not ashamed to admit that I would whimper with tears running down my face and shout out in pain. One day, the older nurse was busy, and I got this young, kind nurse just out of nursing school. I laid down just like normal, and she said, "I think this will hurt, so I will be gentle." She slowly went about pulling these bandages off my leg inch by inch. It hurt like H-E double hockey sticks. I was weeping on the table when the old nurse barged in and said in Japanese, "What the H-E double hockey sticks are you doing?" and ripped them off in one smooth motion. I tell you this story because her decisiveness and straightforward care of my leg was the gentlest thing in the world. In a world of hurting people, we need deft hands at caring for people. Counseling is not my main gift. So when I am called to give care, I am aware that I can sometimes be too aggressive. So I hold back and, like that young nurse, slowly deal with things instead of being who I naturally am as a straightforward person. We know from John 1:14 that Jesus is full of Grace and Truth. That is important. Full of grace and truth. We often err on the side of one or the other. We either are too truthful, too honest, and so end up scaring people away from us and away from our faith. (I might cut if not enough time) I had a friend who was on fire for the Lord (a good thing), but he would go out at nights in Toledo to the areas of the bars and tell people to repent and turn from sin. He, of course, was mocked. He said he was telling people the truth, but he had no grace, no compassion, no social skills. I have known other people that anything goes, and they will tell you it is okay, even though it wasn't okay. And we naturally fall emotionally on one side or the other of the grace and truth sliding scale, and none of us has it perfectly balanced. That is why there are many times I will pray before talking to someone. God, help me to be full of your grace and also your truth. By the way, I challenged my friend to go into a quieter bar and instead of shouting damnation at people, to simply buy a drink and talk to people. To my knowledge, he never did, and to my knowledge, he never led anyone to Christ, and just the opposite might have pushed people further away from God. We know that Jesus met with, talked to, not talked at sinners and tax collectors. That is one of the things that the Pharisees held against him. James the brother of Jesus says, (3:13-16) “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the gentleness that comes from wisdom”. It is actions done in gentleness that comes from an understand that is informed by our relationship with Christ that shows our wisdom. This is not the wisdom of this age but a wisdom connected to the Logos. There was a movie starring Robert Redford called "Horse Whisperer." The movie was based on a real man who worked with injured and damaged horses. The real man, not Redford, said that... Stay calm and centered (for us, that is staying in the Spirit, or as old-timers would say, "Staying Prayed up"). Know that it takes time. Set loving boundaries. Let the horse come to you. In the scene we are going to watch, the horse has run away in fear, and Redford stays connected to the horse but allows the horse to come to him. Just like in Luke 15, the father waited for the prodigal son to come home. Let's watch the clip... In John 21, Jesus restores Peter, the person that Jesus said would be the rock of the early church. We know when Jesus was arrested, Peter stayed close but then denied Jesus not once, not twice, but three times. Here, Jesus meets Peter and asks him a question. Jesus asks, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" And Peter says, "You know that I love you." Jesus says, "Feed my lambs." First, we know that Jesus is addressing Peter formally, not as a friend, by calling him "Simon son of John." Secondly, lambs are small and vulnerable. If a mother sheep rejects her lamb (and it happens), shepherds have two choices: let the lamb die or milk a sheep and feed the lamb himself. Interestingly, that lamb, when it grows up, will be the most devoted to the shepherd of any sheep in the flock. It is an understandable command that even a fisherman could understand. Jesus says again to Simon son of John, "Do you love me?" Again Peter says, "Yes, I love you." Here, Jesus gives Peter a second command: "Take care of my sheep." This is normal because sheep can feed themselves; all they need is general guidance, and sheep pretty much care for themselves. Jesus, for a third time (and we cannot miss that Jesus asks him three times, just as Peter had denied him three times), asks, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" We know that Peter felt hurt because Jesus was gently but firmly asking Peter to commit to this relationship. Peter says, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you." You see, Jesus knew that Peter loved him, but Peter did not yet know how much he loved Jesus, and Jesus was giving him a mirror to Peter’s own heart. The final command was, "Feed my sheep." Numbers one and two make sense, but number 3 does not. Sheep know how to eat. But Jesus knows that some are so damaged by life that they have lost the capacity to do the normal thing. These are people who should be able to handle spiritual meat, but because of trauma or difficulties, they are unable to do so. Because of this, Jesus is calling Peter to not just care for the little ones, not just to care for the normal ones that need a little direction, but to care for the weak and challenged. They need a gentle but truthful, loving hand to guide them back to health. If you feel like one of these wounded sheep. Please do not keep it to yourself. Please tell someone preferably someone mature enough to pray for you and support you in a loving way. But as much as you get support from these spiritually mature people also tell Jesus and allow him to touch your heart with his loving hands as he cares for you. For Jesus tells us, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Let's pray.
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