I teach an Adult Bible Community at Thomas Road Baptist Church called the G.A.P. (for Graduates and Professionals), and each week I post the notes on my blog. So, here is the outline and questions for our meeting on November 7, 2010. Thomas Road started a new church wide series entitled "Live Like You Were Dying." The staff at TRBC provided teachers topics and notes for each lesson for the next few weeks (this is our fourth and final week). I used the notes they provided and tweaked them a bit to fit our particular group. The result are the notes below entitled "Forgiveness: Jesus Style: John 21:15-19." If you have any questions or would like to add a comment or two, that would be great!
Forgiveness: Jesus Style
John 21:15-19
Live Like You Were Dying Series
Introduction
This is the last Sunday of “Living Like You Were Dying”
We’ve talked about:
a. Proper focus to be God’s champions and live as he desires
b. The need to speak sweeter and seek to be agents of God’s healing touch in the lives of others
c. The need to follow Jesus’ example of love in reaching out to others
Every week we walk into this building and act as though our lives are in fine shape
We claim to be “fine,” and it seems that everyone here has their act together
We all act like we are living the American Dream
But life isn’t nearly so neat, is it?
We all have issues—relationships that are broken, an ongoing struggle
We simply don’t want anyone to know
The starting place today is to acknowledge the elephant in the room. We are all broken and we all have failures. And somewhere along the way in life, we will all need to restore and reconcile a broken relationship. Sometime in your journey you are going to need to ask forgiveness and then there will be times when you will need to extend forgiveness.
So, here’s the question of the hour “How do we face that which is uncomfortable to face and restore that relationship that has been broken?”
Peter’s Story
This week we will look at the issue of “giving forgiveness”
We will consider how Jesus forgives by looking at one particular example of Jesus’ restoration of Peter
This is a story of release and restoration
Remember Peter’s denial
What do you think Peter felt when he heard that crowing rooster? How did his denial hit him?
The sense of failure was all consuming. Peter, the rock, had been crushed and crumbled under pressure
Fast forward to the resurrection
Peter saw the risen Christ and heard the words “Peace be with you”
But how could he be at peace? Had he not disqualified himself?
So, he went fishing
You know the rest of the story
Jesus shows up and cooks them breakfast after showing them where the fish were
Now breakfast is over, and an awkward silence descends on the scene
Jesus turns to address Peter
They are going to talk about the elephant in the room
John 21:15-19
Jesus does three things in showing forgiveness:
1. He pursues
2. He focuses on relationship
3. He restores
1. He Pursues Us
Jesus comes looking for Peter and the disciples
God takes the initiative. Sometimes we talk about people being seekers but the Bible portrays God as the original seeker. He pursues us. No matter what you’ve done or what’s in your past, the great God of the universe pursues you.
John 14:16-18—Jesus doesn’t abandon his own—he sends another Comforter (i.e., another of the same kind as Jesus)
Jesus will never forsake his people
The Spirit “comes alongside” of us to provide help for our spiritual journey
Jesus is our advocate—Hebrews 4:14-16
Many of us portray a self-confidence and a self-reliance that betrays a common truth—we all want to be pursued
Is there somebody that you have a broken relationship with that you need to pursue?
Jesus didn’t wait for Peter to come to him and seek to restore the relationship.
Jesus tracks down Peter
Jesus pursues Peter because he is focused on relationship
2. He Focuses on Relationship
He doesn’t drag up the past
Jesus prepares a meal and eats with Peter
Notice that he doesn’t drag up Peter’s past failure
There is not one word of rebuke
Jesus is in the grace business, not the guilt business
He comes to restore, not to condemn
Romans 8:1, 34
If any could condemn us, it would be Jesus
But he chose to die for us rather than to condemn us (John 3:16-19)—cf. Psalm 103:12
Apparently Jesus had “let go” of Peter’s denial—he didn’t keep rehearsing it over and over
We need to learn from Jesus
Colossians 3:12-13
Discussion question: In what ways have you learned to “let go” the hurts of the past? What are some practical ways that you can “make allowance for each other’s faults”?
Jesus asks Peter three questions
He doesn’t ask them to condemn Peter, but to check on the relationship
He asks these questions to see where Peter’s heart was regarding their relationship
Matthew 26:31-35—Peter promised to stay with Jesus until death, even if no one else did
Of course, Peter not only denied Jesus, he pronounced curses on himself if he even “knew” Jesus
Jesus didn’t recount Peter’s promises, he went right to the heart
“Peter, are you still with me? Do you love me?”
Jesus sought to restore the relationship
Jesus focuses on relationship because he wants to restore Peter to service/ministry
3. He Restores to a Place of Service
Three times Jesus asks Peter about their relationship, and three times he requests that Peter would look after Jesus’ sheep or lambs
The most precious thing to Jesus is people
People created in God’s image need a witness of God
Jesus asks Peter to be that witness, to shepherd the flock with the same love he received
“There are a lot of people who sit in church pews who profess love for Jesus Christ, but by whose lives you would never know it. If we truly love Jesus, it will work itself out in ministry: to his people and to his world. Our love needs to be so deep that we are led to really follow in Jesus' footsteps and to love those around us.” Jerome Cooper
Jesus places his most treasured possession in Peter’s care
“The proper foundation for ministering to other people is not guilt, which focuses on ourselves, not even love for others, which focuses to often on people, but love for Jesus Christ, which is the only true focus of ministry. And it's as we love him, that the love for others will grow.” Jerome Cooper
The issue here is not only forgiveness but also restoration
What relationship needs to be restored or re-instated?
Peter moves from resigned to re-instated. This is an incredible gesture of trust from Jesus to Peter
Jesus doesn’t view Peter as disqualified from ministry or from service
In spite of the denials from Peter, Jesus sees Peter as a valuable member of the family. Jesus wants Peter to serve the flock of God.
Jesus wanted to restore Peter, and not just to a relationship with Jesus. He wanted to restore him to a significant ministry in the church
It is interesting to me that the assignment he repeated to Peter 3 times was “take care of my sheep”. It wasn’t to build a great church or launch a world-wide ministry. It was to shepherd people.
God was not through with Peter, and he is not through with us
Jesus wants to see broken relationships restored and re-instated
He wants all of us to act as reconcilers—those who forgive and restore one another (2 Corinthians 5:18-19)
He has done it for us, now he wants us to do it for others
Where do you need to look for reconciliation? Who needs restoration in your life?
Jesus seeks reconciliation, should we do any less?
Application
Pope John Paul, Corrie Ten Boom, C. S. Lewis--examples of people who learned to forgive
We all have hurts, we all have needed forgiveness, release, and restoration at one time or another
Those of us who follow Christ have experienced this first hand in our salvation—God forgave our sin, released us from past guilt, and put us in a position of service and ministry for him
This week, what can we do to put this message into action
1. First, spend some time thinking about Peter’s situation. Read 1 Peter to hear his take on “feeding” and “caring for” Jesus’ flock.
2. Second, pursue those who need God’s forgiveness. Make time to share the good news of salvation with those who are estranged from God. While you are at it, pursue those in your own life who need forgiveness from you. Face the elephant in the room. Pursue reconciliation and seek to restore relationships that have been broken. If there are those in your life who you need to forgive, then do it. Do what you can to restore relationship.
3. Finally, look for opportunities to serve out of love for Christ.
If we want to forgive others, we must follow Jesus’ example
Discussion Questions
Do you want the fire of God’s love to motivate your ministry? What kinds of things can quench that love?
Why did Jesus ask about Peter’s love three times? What did Jesus expect Peter to do to show his love?
What does it mean for us to feed or care for Jesus’ sheep or lambs? What does that look like in real life?
Where has God’s forgiveness, relationship, and restoration blessed you? How has God restored and re-instated you?
Who needs your forgiveness, relationship, and reconciliation? How can you bless someone else as God has blessed you?
What would the church look like if we followed Jesus’ example of forgiveness?
Will we do it for the love of Jesus?
What needs to change for us to live this way?
Thanks for reading!
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