Sermon: Redirecting Unworthiness

"Redirecting Unworthiness"
Third Sunday of Easter
Psalm139: 1-18; John 21: 1-19 by Rev. Carson Overstreet
Van Wyck Presbyterian Church
April 10, 2016

O Lord, you have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from far away.
You search out my path and my lying down,
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
O Lord, you know it completely.
You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is so high that I cannot attain it.

Where can I go from your spirit?
Or where can I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
If I take the wings of the morning
and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me fast.
If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light around me become night’,
even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is as bright as the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

For it was you who formed my inward parts;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
that I know very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.
In your book were written
all the days that were formed for me,
when none of them as yet existed.
How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
I try to count them—they are more than the sand;
I come to the end—I am still with you. - Psalm 139: 1-18

After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. Simon Peter said to them, ‘I am going fishing.’ They said to him, ‘We will go with you.’ They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, ‘Children, you have no fish, have you?’ They answered him, ‘No.’ He said to them, ‘Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.’ So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’ When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the lake. But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off.

When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, ‘Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.’ So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, ‘Come and have breakfast.’ Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ because they knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my lambs.’ A second time he said to him, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Tend my sheep.’ He said to him the third time, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ And he said to him, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep. Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.’ (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ - John 21: 1-19


Peter went back to where it all began. He went back to Galilee. He went back to what he knew and that was fishing. Fishing gives you time to think about things. When you are sitting in a boat surrounded by an expanse of water time becomes suspended. And in that space there lays a deep opportunity to find yourself. Peter was at a loss. He felt the real absence of his Teacher and friend. He was still processing all that had happened to Jesus Christ.

And then there was the hard part – the regrets he held. He had not lived up to the name his Teacher gave him. Remember at the beginning of John’s Gospel when the two first met? Jesus looked at the apostle and said, “Simon, son of John, you are to be called Cephas” which means Peter (John 1:42). And Peter meant rock.

He had not yet lived into this new identity of being a rock of faith. He had denied Jesus three times. He felt more like a failure than a follower of Christ. He held a lot of shame for turning away from his Teacher, his Rabbi. His unworthiness seemed to create an impasse. Peter didn’t know which way to turn so he tried to go back to what he knew. Peter went fishing and his dear friends followed him.

Many of us can identify with Peter. Throughout some point in life we have all felt unworthy. We feel the weight of this adjective in lots of different ways. It describes us as lacking self-worth; not good enough; having low self-confidence; not deserving; feeling like a burden. The voice of unworthiness is real. And it speaks to us in such a way that we so easily follow its lead. Unworthiness takes us to places where we feel alone, isolated, lost, and helpless. Even when our friends follow us as we try to find ourselves, as in Peter’s case, we still feel this invisible weight.

John’s story of Peter’s unworthiness has spoken into my life many times and it still amazes me. The Risen Christ appeared to the disciples and met the disciples where they were. Christ met them in their emptiness. And then Christ provided what Peter and the disciples needed more than anything at that very moment. Christ provided God’s abundance. First Christ provided the tangible – the net filled with fish. Can you imagine how amazing it would be to catch all of those fish and then break bread and eat grilled fish with Jesus and his posse on the beach? A beach bar-b-que lifts everyone’s spirits right?

But then as Christ and Peter and the disciples sat around that charcoal fire, Christ provided what Peter’s spirit needed. Christ looked at Peter and asked, “Do you love me?” Christ asked Peter this three times.

And our English translations do not do the Greek justice. Jesus actually uses two different understandings of love. The first two questions he asks Peter speak of “agape” love which is God’s unconditional love. The third question he asks Peter speaks of “phileo” love which is like a close brotherly or sisterly love.

Listen to the three questions this way:

Do you love me like God loves you? Do you love me unconditionally? Do you love me like your brother – like family?

Many believe there is no coincidence that Christ’s three questions point back to the three times that Peter denied Jesus Christ. Maybe Christ was holding Peter’s lesser things in God’s grace to assure Peter of God’s forgiveness. Maybe Christ’s questions and Peter’s answers were like a prayer of confession and an assurance of pardon. Rowans Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury says that in this conversation Peter comes to know God as a reconciled sinner and also comes to know God as a reconciling Savior. [1]

But there is something else at work here too. There is only one thing that could speak into Peter’s unworthiness. There is only one word that could redefine and redirect Peter’s shame and lack of self-worth. And that is love.

Christ says, “Do you love me like God loves you – like I love you?” And Peter says, “Yes Lord, you know that I love you. You know everything.”

It’s interesting that Peter never answers Jesus using the “agape” love. He never says “Yes Lord, I love you unconditionally like God loves me.” Peter says I love you (phileo) like a brother, like family. I think Peter was just beginning to learn what God’s unconditional love looked like in his life. I think Christ’s questions were helping Peter’s spirit to reframe his own life and grow in God’s love and grace.

Peter was growing in the love that Jesus had been talking about all along. We can only know the unconditional love of God because God has first loved us (1 John 4:19). God in Christ had searched Peter and knew him. Christ knew Peter’s thoughts from afar. Christ knew Peter’s every move and every word even before it was on his tongue and Christ loved Peter still. Christ had hemmed Peter in, behind and before, and laid the hand of God upon Peter as they sat beside the charcoal fire. There was nothing that Peter could do that could take away God’s love.

And in that moment the Risen Christ was providing God’s abundance in what Peter’s spirit needed. Christ was redirecting Peter’s unworthiness. Peter was moved from a heart of emptiness to a humble heart. In that moment Peter was claimed in God’s love, forgiven for what he had done and left undone, and was being made new.

Christ needed to work through Peter’s unworthiness – this impasse. The most important thing was that Peter needed to love himself again - to feel worthy. And also, God had plans for Peter to go on and to be and to do greater things. John's story says that Peter would shepherd God’s growing flock.

And Christ was not going to let Peter remain in that state of being. Christ wanted Peter to see beyond this cross roads and to fully know that Peter was greater than any lesser thing in past. Christ wanted Peter to fully believe that God’s grace defined Peter – not his unworthiness.

The core of unworthiness is this: it deceives us to believe we are less than we are. When we listen to the voices that say we are not good enough or that we are a burden on others then we feel stuck. Unworthiness leads us to a place where there is no way out. But God's love leads us upward and onward.

No matter what is going on in your life right now I want you to know one thing - and I want you to know this with your head and your heart: God is not content to let you or me stay in a place of unworthiness. I know God is not content to let any of us remain stuck because God risked being vulnerable to put on the thin skin of humanity in Jesus Christ. God has walked in our shoes. God knows our joys and our trials. God knows our highs and lows. God meets us where we are and reminds us of God’s unconditional love revealed in Jesus Christ. God says that we are loved and that is enough.

There is a difference between knowing God’s truth with just our head or just our heart.To know God’s truth with our head takes practice. To know God’s truth with our heart takes prayer. We must combine the two of practice and prayer to learn who God says we are – to find our true selves. We cannot do it in one day. We do it with God’s help one day at a time.

As God works through your situations and mine let’s not forget the best part of John’s story. God will work through our weak places and strengthen us so that we might be and do greater things. And the greater things are to be encouraged ourselves and to encourage one another.

God just might work through you to feed God’s sheep. The humility that you and I receive from God’s love serves to offer compassion and guidance for a sister or brother in faith. Humility helps us to extend that brotherly or sisterly love. The strength that you and I receive from Christ’s presence becomes words of encouragement and spiritual nourishment for ourselves and others. Spiritual strength helps us to receive and extend God’s unconditional love. Both types of love – agape and phileo – are important to the way our faith reshapes us and is lived out.

Do not let unworthiness block your way. Do not listen to the way unworthiness distorts the way we see ourselves. Unworthiness can be a real and an invisible weight that holds us back from all God desires for us in our lives. Let’s not allow the lesser things of our lives define who we are today.

Who are you? Who am I? God says that you and I are accepted, forgiven, loved and freed to forgive others. Nothing less.

Know with your head and your heart that God is hemming us in, reshaping the past and the present, and that God is laying his hand upon us to give us encouragement and hope for the future. Praise God – for we are fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are God’s works – that we know full well in this season of Easter.

And knowing that is enough.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Source Referenced:
[1] Rowan Williams, “Resurrection: Interpreting the Easter Gospel” (Cleveland: The Pilgrim Press, 2002), 31.