Our Redeemed Purpose

Service link: https://youtu.be/IZMMbbDqmkQ

Readings: Isaiah 6:1-8, Psalm 30, John 21:1-25

              God made each and everyone of us for a purpose. You have probably heard me say this before, but it is an important reality to be reminded again and again that God has a plan for you and more than that, that God has a special role just for you.

We could look at God’s role for us in a general way.  The very first blessings God gave back in Genesis was to the animals as he told them to be fruitful and multiply. Then he gave us an even more special blessing after, not only were we to be fruitful and multiply, but we were blessed to hold dominion and tend the garden. You see it is the purpose of all things to be creative and lifegiving, but it is our special purpose not just to be creative, but to help everything and everyone else be creative and lifegiving too. We are not just to be and share God’s blessing, but we are to help everything else become God’s blessing too.

You will notice something interesting in God’s curses after Adam and Eve eat the fruit. What is it that God curses? Other than the snake, God curses the ground and the womb. Both of the ways humanity is physically creative, both of our blessings suddenly become more difficult because we are disobedient to God and we have in a sense walked away from God.

We are now broken people, living in a broken world and so our purpose, our creativity, our blessings become strained. We aren’t always blessings creating blessings, because we aren’t used to it and something within us and outside of us is often pressuring us not to be. Most of the time we don’t even know our purpose because we have been too far removed from it, we have ignored it for too long, we have convinced ourselves our blessing is a curse and/or people in our lives haven’t recognized it in us. It can be so hard to do what we should be doing for all of these reasons and more.

So, most of the time, we don’t do what is right and in that we become more distant from our purpose and God. When Isaiah is pulled up into heaven, he struggles with even being there. This isn’t some kind of false humility; it is his literal recognition that he doesn’t belong there. He sees the wonder and splendor of just the creatures who are worshipping God and that immediately tells him what he is not. Isaiah is not yet someone who can make the world shake with his worship. Though Isaiah would go on to be an amazing prophet, his calling starts with this recognition, “I am not what I am supposed to be”.

Peter had to go through the same thing, but Peter didn’t want to face it. He didn’t want to face the reality of what he had done and who he is. Sure, he is so excited to see Jesus that he leaps out of the boat and swims to Jesus and in a childlike joy this is endearing to us, but he is not what he was meant to be. I can’t critique his actions in that moment, maybe he was supposed to help everyone row the boat back so that together they could see Jesus, maybe he wasn’t supposed to go fishing in the first place because God had made him a fisher of people, but one thing is clear Peter was sharing the blessing God had given him so that he could increase others’ blessings.

Jesus had to redirect Peter’s path. Peter already loved Jesus like most of us do, but he wasn’t following that love to the action it dictated. So, three times Jesus asks Peter, “Do you love me?” You can imagine someone important to you asking you this question. Each time they ask it becomes a bit more pressing, until the third, when Peter responds with sadness. Was he sad because he knows he hadn’t practiced it, was he sad because he knew he didn’t love Jesus as much as he should, or was he sad because Jesus doubted his love? Either way Peter needed to grow in the walk of love, like we all do.

To Peter’s love Jesus responds with three similar but different directives: feed my lambs, tend my sheep and feed my sheep. Jesus is redirecting Peter to his purpose. The one word that remains in all three is “my”, marking out what is most important. Who are we working for? Who are we serving? The answer should always be Jesus. Then are we recognizing who people belong to? If you know someone is the child of your best friend, would you treat them better? If Jesus is truly our best friend, which he should be and more, then we should recognize his children and treat them as such. Lambs and sheep are likely related to those who already spiritually belong to God (part of Peter’s particular calling), with Lambs marking the little ones (not just the young, but also the needy). Then feeding and tending relate to our blessings, those things that we have been given. Feeding is sharing what we have so that others might be filled as well. This does end up being food in Peter’s case, but also sharing God’s word. Tending is about building up the blessing in other things, like Adam and Eve in the garden. Peter through teaching, leading, healing and baptising would lead many to follow Christ so that they too would become a great blessing to the world.

Now our particular calling is likely going to follow the same general idea. We are called to use our particular gifts to be fruitful and to share those blessings, but we are also called to use those gifts in such away that we encourage the fruitfulness and blessing of others. This will always relate to Jesus Christ as the source of blessing, but it can look many ways. It might be that one of your gifts is a particular trusting relationship that you can speak into when no one else can. It might be that one of your gifts is material and so you can invite people in, share and offer sanctuary. It might be that one of your gifts is a growing relationship with Jesus, which you can invite others into and share your experiences, both good and bad.  Notice, I haven’t even mentioned particular skills yet or personalities yet. I wanted to emphasise just by being a human moving around in the world, God has already gifted you in ways that you can bless and experience blessings.

There are times when we will experience unfruitful times in our calling or work. I think, often times, we experience unproductive times, because we need a rest, or we are doing the wrong thing, or doing it the wrong way or sometimes we are doing it at the wrong time. Ultimately, in any of these, we are less productive because we are not following God. Just take the disciples fishing for example. Here they are, at least three of them are professional fisherman. Jesus called them to fish for people, they walked with him for around three years, they saw him die or horrendous death and then they see Jesus risen to new life and only two weeks later they go fishing like nothing has happened. What is the result? They catch nothing all night and they are about to give up. I think we would do well, if we feel stuck or lost to ask God, what would you like me to do?

They don’t ask but God is gracious as always and offers them direction anyways. Jesus gives them a simple direction that probably would have sounded ridiculous to them. What is going to change if they throw their net on the right side. Maybe one fish could have swum in. We might think the same about our work and purpose, what will it really change if I take a small break, what would prayer do, what would changing tasks do. Yet the result can be extraordinary. The disciples caught more fish than they could carry and God gives provision for that as even the net doesn’t rip. I have a habit I started in seminary where I pray before I start writing or working on anything big. What I have often found is that I experience God’s direction in a greater way. For those with a geometric or mathematical mind, if you change your direction even by 1 or 2 degrees at the beginning of your day, your destination will be very different. I had this experience this week. It’s a bit of a convoluted story, put simply God was pushing me to do something that made little sense to me at the time, but I didn’t do it. Had I done it, when I was randomly forced to drive to North York the next day, I would have been ready to be a greater blessing.

Our created purpose is to bless with all of our particular gifts: our relationships, the place we are in, the stuff we own, our skills and personality. I would encourage you to look at every part of your life and to discern with God how can that relationship, that moment, that skill be something that leads to God’s blessing. Likely, with many things you won’t see it at first. Some realities might only feel negative, or some may feel to set in stone. But remember God blessed us to increase the blessings in everything else too, so it is our role to turn things into a blessing, to tend the garden around us, lead in the dominion around us so that we can look at something and see it bearing fruit. We can’t compare ourselves like Peter did with John either, each of us have different gifts, or different situations and each can serve in a different way, but all are important. The resurrected Christ who comes to us, is essential in our calling, because he is the redeeming force for those fishermen and for our work and rest. He is one who brings us in to send us out. He is the one that changes our hearts so that we might use our gifts to tend and feed his lambs, his sheep. AMEN

Isaiah 6:1-8

1)     What does Isaiah think about his being brought into heaven? Why is he scared?

2)     What would you think if you were drawn up into heaven, and you saw these angels and felt the shaking?

3)     How was Isaiah’s response appropriate for all of us? Why was the hot coal on his lips essential and important to what comes later?

4)     What was Isaiah’s calling and how does it relate to what comes before?

John 21:1-25

1)     Why do you think the disciples go back to fishing two weeks after they saw the risen Christ?

2)     What do you think the significance is that these professional fishermen didn’t catch anything all night and then suddenly with Jesus’ help caught more than they could carry?

3)     What do you think they would have thought when a stranger told them to throw their net again?

4)     Why does Peter jump and swim to get to Jesus?

5)     Do you think there is any significance to Jesus already cooking before they bring anything to him?

6)     Why do you think Jesus asks Peter three times, “Do you love me?”

7)     What are the differences/similarities in Jesus’ commands? How does this relate to humanity’s general calling or Peter’s particular calling?

8)     Why does Peter care about what will happen to John? Why does Jesus dismiss this?

Think about:

1)     What do you think God’s purpose for humanity is? Relate your thoughts to God’s blessings for humanity in Genesis 1 and 2

2)     Is there anything that you think God is calling you to?

3)     Reflect on the gifts God has given you: the people, relationships, situations, skills and stuff. Are there ways that you could be using those gifts to bless others or to build up the blessings in them?

4)     What are some things you should do when you are feeling stuck?

5)     Do you ever compare what God has given you with what someone else has? Why is this unhelpful?

6)     Are there things about you or your life that you don’t think are gifts or blessings? What could you do to make them blessings?

7)     When we don’t know how to use our gifts, or don’t see them for the gifts they are, or when we feel stuck, why is the resurrected Christ and Holy Spirit essential?

a.      What can we do to invite them into all we do?