{"id":1573,"date":"2022-04-18T08:34:53","date_gmt":"2022-04-18T12:34:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=1573"},"modified":"2022-04-18T08:34:53","modified_gmt":"2022-04-18T12:34:53","slug":"do-you-love-me-more-than-these","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2022\/04\/18\/do-you-love-me-more-than-these\/","title":{"rendered":"Do You Love Me More than These?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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For the four weeks leading up to and going beyond Easter, we’re looking at the life of Peter.\u00a0 Because he\u2019s so often at the center of both the brightest and darkest moments in the Gospels, he has always been a source of hope and inspiration for those endeavoring to follow Jesus.<\/em>


During the Middle Ages, Benedictine monks stood at a crossroads every morning.\u00a0
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Whenever a new monk entered the common life of the monastery, he would exchange the clothes he used to wear for extremely simple garb \u2013 robes fashioned from an unimpressive bolt of fabric.\u00a0 The newcomer would hang his old garments in the monastery closet. \u00a0That\u2019s where they would stay, year after year.
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Every monk, no matter how long he had been part of the monastic community, knew he could go to the closet at any time.\u00a0 He could put on his old clothes and go back to his former life.\u00a0 Every morning he needed to make a fresh decision to stay the spiritual course \u2013 to decide whether he loved Jesus and this new way of life more than anything he had left behind.
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Our daily crossroads aren\u2019t likely to be quite as dramatic.\u00a0 But they are definitely just as important.
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In his book When God Interrupts<\/em>, Princeton seminary president Craig Barnes suggests that God is in the interruption business.\u00a0
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On the road to Plan A (the destination of our choice), we are suddenly compelled to go in a new direction \u2013 perhaps by a drunk driver, a financial advisor\u2019s mistake, a scary MRI, a strategic plan that was flawed from the start, or a shifting market that renders our entire industry irrelevant.\u00a0
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But God is faithful in such unwelcome and uninvited moments.\u00a0 Now we have a choice.\u00a0 Are we longing for some version of Plan A that we can never have again, or are we allowing the interruptions in our lives to open our eyes to what God is offering us in Plan B?\u00a0 Most of us wouldn\u2019t be nearly as open to trusting God \u2013 or even remotely as certain that we needed a Savior \u2013 unless our own plans and security systems had been blown up.
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And that\u2019s a very good thing.
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God may break into our lives through circumstances that bring us pain.\u00a0 Or that knock us flat.\u00a0 Or that force us onto an alternative path.\u00a0 At such moments we may be tempted to picture ourselves as victims.\u00a0 But becoming a victim is a choice \u2013 a choice to waste <\/em>our suffering and the opportunity to start life over.
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Losing a dream can feel like dying.\u00a0 But such deaths are often the means by which God heals and rescues us.\u00a0 Which means that our \u201cfailures\u201d may be his successes.\u00a0 Our \u201csetbacks\u201d may prove to be turning points.\u00a0 Our \u201cdisasters\u201d may turn out to be God\u2019s biggest breakthroughs.
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Every morning, just like those medieval monks, we have a choice:\u00a0 We can either turn our hearts toward what we have lost (or are still in the process of losing), or we can open our hearts wider to what has always been our one true hope, which is Jesus.
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That\u2019s the background to John 21, the closing chapter of the fourth Gospel, which describes a particularly memorable event during the days that followed the first Easter.\u00a0 We can forgive the disciples for feeling a bit whiplashed at this point.\u00a0 Their \u201cPlan A\u201d \u2013 in which Jesus the Messiah would immediately usher in the fullness of the kingdom of God \u2013 has disintegrated.\u00a0 Jesus died.\u00a0 But not so fast \u2013 he\u2019s alive again.\u00a0 What in the world might happen tomorrow?<\/em>\u00a0
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When in doubt, Peter defaults to his old way of life. \u00a0\u201cGuys, I\u2019m going fishing,\u201d he says to his friends.\u00a0 The other disciples answer, \u201cSave me a place in the boat.\u201d
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After a night of fishing futility, a stranger on the shore encourages them to drop their nets over the side one more time.\u00a0 The result is a spectacular haul.\u00a0 It suddenly dawns on Peter, having experienced this scenario before, that he knows who that stranger is. \u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s the Lord!\u201d he shouts.\u00a0 Whereupon he plunges into the water and heads for shore.
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What follows is breakfast over a charcoal fire and a conversation that is both uncomfortable and restorative.\u00a0
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In the presence of the others, Jesus looks his number one disciple in the eye and says, \u201cPeter, do you love me more than these?\u201d
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These what?<\/em>\u00a0 The Bible doesn\u2019t say.\u00a0 Maybe it\u2019s, \u201cPeter, do you love me more than these nets of yours, or these fish, or these friends who are sitting alongside us right now?\u201d \u00a0Here we can each fill in our own \u201cthese.\u201d\u00a0 Do I love Jesus more than my job or my health or my addiction or my kids or my picture of what the future simply has to look like?
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Whenever our lives are interrupted \u2013 as soon as we grasp that we have been jolted into some version of Plan B \u2013 we have an important question to answer.\u00a0 Jesus wants to know:\u00a0 Do you love me more than anything else?\u00a0 Do you love me more than the dearest thing you have ever left behind?<\/em>
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\u201cYes, Lord,\u201d Peter answers.\u00a0 \u201cYou know that I love you.\u201d\u00a0 Jesus asks the same question a second time.\u00a0 \u201cDo you truly love me?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cYou know I do,\u201d says Peter.\u00a0 In John 21:17 Jesus pushes the same issue a third time.\u00a0 \u201cPeter, do you love me?\u201d\u00a0 At this juncture the Bible tells us that the fisherman\u2019s feelings are hurt.
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Why would Jesus ask the same question three times?\u00a0 Maybe it\u2019s because the last time Peter was asked a question three times, he didn\u2019t do so well.\u00a0
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\u201cDo the know the man named Jesus of Nazareth?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cNever heard of him.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cAre you sure you weren\u2019t with him?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019ve got the wrong guy.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cAren\u2019t you one of his friends?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cI swear to you \u2013 he\u2019s nobody to me!\u201d\u00a0<\/em>
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Of all the disciples, Peter had seemed to have the brightest future, the most spectacular Plan A.\u00a0 \u201cOn this rock I will build my church,\u201d Jesus had said about Peter, or at least about his faith.\u00a0 Where was that faith now?\u00a0\u00a0 But here\u2019s the good news about Plan B.\u00a0 However how we end up there \u2013 whether it\u2019s because we have denied Jesus three times, or somebody we were counting on has denied us three times \u2013 we can still go forward.
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Each time Peter answers \u201cYes,\u201d Jesus recommissions him: \u201cThen feed my lambs.\u00a0 Tend my sheep.\u00a0 Go take care of the people I love.\u201d\u00a0
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Every new day, the same question lies before us:\u00a0 Do you love me more than the life you used to have, the dreams you used to dream, and the other paths you still might pursue?<\/em>
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If we\u2019re willing to leave our old wardrobe hanging in the closet, even when we\u2019re tempted to go back to our old life, God is able to turn our mistakes into his victories.
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Don\u2019t let your track record keep you from welcoming Jesus\u2019 restoration.
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As the author Anne Lamott reminds us, \u201cIt\u2019s OK to see yourself as crazy and damaged, because all the best people are.\u201d

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For the four weeks leading up to and going beyond Easter, we’re looking at the life of Peter.\u00a0 Because he\u2019s so often at the center of both the brightest and darkest moments in the Gospels, he has always been a source of hope and inspiration for those endeavoring to follow Jesus. During the Middle Ages, Benedictine monks stood at a… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1574,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[93,421],"class_list":["post-1573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-commitment","tag-peter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1573"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1573\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1575,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1573\/revisions\/1575"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}