“We love because he first loved us.”—1 John 4:19
After the resurrection, Peter returned to Galilee and decided to go fishing. This is after Jesus’ arrest, after Peter’s sword-swinging attempt to defend Him, after Peter’s denial that he even knew the Lord, and after Jesus’ death on the cross and burial in a borrowed tomb. John 21 records the event where seven disciples fished all night and caught nothing. Jesus directs them from the shore to try fishing on the other side of the boat. Upon realizing it is Jesus, Peter jumps in and swims to shore.
On the lakeside, Jesus asks Peter three times, “Do you love me?” Some believe Jesus is giving Peter an opportunity to restate his love for Jesus once for each time he denied knowing Him. After each question and Peter’s affirmative responses, Jesus replies, “Feed my sheep” (John 21:15-17). Jesus’ message to Peter and to us is if we love Him, we should serve Him by serving those around us, God’s little and helpless lambs.”
Earlier Peter made promises of service, but these were rash commitments of a heroic spirit. Peter did not yet fully know the degree of love God had for him. Only after the death, burial and resurrection could Peter completely know the power of God, the height of God’s love and the depth of his sinful self. At the Last Supper, Peter said, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death” (Luke 22:33). At the time of the arrest, Peter swung His sword and nearly killed one of Jesus’ captors.
Many of us have heard of heroic instances of service. A soldier covers a live grenade with his own body protecting fellow soldiers or helpless civilians. A parent or sibling dives into turbulent waters to rescue a loved one only to remain lost forever beneath the waves. Someone gives up their place on a lifeboat or their turn in a rescue basket and misses their opportunity for deliverance. These may be great feats of heroic courage, but not Christian service.
Christian service is our response to a loving God who has loved us with an everlasting love. Christian service does not leap forward impulsively at the sight of a human need or make rash promises that are impossible to keep. The motivation for our service is not the great need of the world (even though the need is surely overwhelming), but the call of God in Christ Jesus. “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you” (John 20:21).
Anyone who has received forgiveness, intimate fellowship and tender love from the hand of God cannot help but love God back. We love God back by loving one another and those in the world around us. The motto of C. T. Studd, an English missionary to China, India and Africa, was, “If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice is too great for me to give for Him.” Paul, missionary/evangelist and human author of much of the New Testament writes, “I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 21:13).
God loves you, sister or brother. It matters not in what struggle you find yourself, what sin you have committed or what hatred you have buried deep within your soul. God loves you in Jesus Christ, and God has established that fact forever on the cross. Have you received His love? If you say you have received His love and forgiveness, a great question to ask yourself as we draw near to Easter is, “How are you loving God in return?”
(Randy Bain is the senior pastor of Oakland UM Church located at 1504 Bedford Street in Johnstown. You may reach him through the church website www.oaklandumc.com.)
