FOTS 1—Love & Joy: Psalm 145: 14-21; John 21: 14-19
We begin a new series this week to take us through the Easter season. We will explore each of the fruits of the spirit and how they impact our lives. Where do these “fruits of the spirit” come from? We read about them in Galatians 5: 22-23, “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” They are listed in the middle of Paul’s writings on living under law versus living under God’s Holy Spirit. I’ll never forget being in Sunday School and one of the other students listened intently to all fruits named, then got really indignant because he expected apples, grapes, and oranges. But that was not what he got. It probably did feel like a bait and switch when you expect an apple or grapes and instead get a lesson on patience and self-control.
Our first two fruits of the spirit are love and joy. The scripture for today is quite perfect for these two fruits of the spirit because it talks about food. And nothing can bring joy and love to one’s life like good food. We learn earlier in John 21 that Jesus had cooked breakfast for the disciples while they were fishing. Roasted fish and bread are not exactly what I would want for breakfast, but I’m pretty sure if Jesus was cooking for me, I would eat whatever he put on my plate…and like it. After Jesus had given them a miraculous abundance of fish, and fed them breakfast, he has a curious exchange with Peter.
Three times he asks Peter if Peter loves him. With each yes from the disciple, Jesus responds with: “Feed my lambs, take care of my sheep, [and] feed my sheep.” Jesus has a powerful way here of infusing love and joy into the plain and ordinary. For Jesus, love was shown on a cross with suffering and death. But the work of love doesn’t necessarily have to nail us to the cross. Love is found in the ordinary things of life: sharing food, cooking for someone, fishing and daily work, and the simple words of telling someone that you love them.
Jesus showed the disciples that he went to the cross for the ultimate act of love, so that they could live the miraculous in their ordinary lives. Think of how moving and powerful it is when someone asks how you are, how your family is doing, brings you food, or just hangs out and goes fishing or spends some time with you. Love is found in these simple gifts and acts.
I have a friend who shows love with a simple recipe for cheese biscuits. I know when I visit home I can count on my mother’s meatloaf. And I know when I visit one long-time friend, she will show love by NOT cooking anything. Sometimes we get so caught up in life, in busy-ness, in our troubles and struggles that we forget to take time to stop and consider the small and ordinary ways that others show us God’s love for us—in blessings and care.
But Jesus’s act also brought joy to Peter. This was shortly after Peter had denied Jesus three different times which was a cowardly betrayal after having professed to believe in Jesus as the Son of God. No wonder Jesus so often said, “Ye of little faith” to them. But here we see a reversal from bitter tears to grace and restoration. Three times he proclaims his love of Christ. Three times he undoes those words of denial and betrayal. And three times he is called to God’s work.
Earlier in chapter 21, when the disciples see Jesus, Peter jumps out of the boat and thrashes through the water to get to Jesus. It’s a chance…an opportunity he can’t miss to restore the love and relationship he felt was broken. It was also an opportunity to find joy in Jesus’s forgiveness and restoring grace. Psalm 145: 14 says, “The Lord helps the fallen, and lifts those bent beneath their loads.” Peter was bent beneath the load of his guilt over his denails. We can see this in the fact that he was unable to even wait for the boat to near the shore. He jumped in the water to get back to Jesus.
The Psalm goes on to say, “You give them their food as they need it, [and] You satisfy the hunger and thirst of every living thing.” This love and care from God are as ordinary as simply giving someone a meal, but it’s also so extraordinary as we read that Christ is the bread of life and the living water. Food is very powerful way of showing love. Jesus fed the disciples on the beach. Jesus is the bread of life. Jesus is the living water which will quench all thirst.
We even see it in the Communion table. Of all the ways Jesus could have symbolized his greatest act of love for us, he chose food: broken bread and cup of salvation. Food brings life, and it is in this love of Christ that we find life. Bread and cup are so ordinary, so simple and plain, but when see the love found in these symbols, they become something miraculous and extraordinary.
That day on the beach, Jesus showed love in the most ordinary of ways—conversation, cooking breakfast, helping them fish with a bit of a miracle, and simply being with those who followed him, and those with whom he had developed a relationship. These ordinary things showed extraordinary love. A simple conversation with Peter wiped away his guilt and replaced it with joy and a purpose—to feed the sheep. Peter was called to lead and pastor the church, to share the Good News and encourage the growth of faith and love in others.
Jesus finished his time with Peter with one simple request. Follow me. He didn’t call on them to follow at the foot of the cross. He didn’t call on them to follow when leaving the tomb. It was in the ordinary—the service, the acts of love—that Jesus called on Peter to follow him. The pathway to love and joy is clear. It’s food. I bet you thought I’d say it’s Jesus, didn’t’ you? The answer is food, but it’s not really in the cooked fish. Instead, in bread and cup, we see love and joy, a table which welcomes all to remember God’s grace for all time. But Jesus didn’t give Peter a free breakfast, for it came with a call. In the love, the grace, and the joyful restoration of a broken relationship, Jesus said to Peter, “Follow me.” May God give us strength to do the same.
Worship Video: https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/520348966427326