Excerpts from my Red Rock News Religion Column May 2, 2025
- Rev. Dona Johnson |May 4, 2025
Only two weeks ago, many of us participated in Easter worship and celebrated the risen Christ with family and friends. For many Christians, Easter stirs up feelings of hope and love. But now weeks later, we are back in the world, back on the job, spring break is over and we are left with all the stress and responsibilities of life. For some, the impact of Jesus’ resurrection is wearing off, but our longing to be loved still remains.
In Jesus’ third post-resurrection appearance, he appears to his disciples while they are fishing on Lake Tiberius (John 21:1-19). He calls out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” “No,” they answered. He said, “Throw your nets on the other side and you will find some.” Suddenly their nets are filled with a miraculous catch fish. The miracle gave John all the clue he needed to recognize the man on the shore. He said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” Jesus invited them to have breakfast. After they had finished eating, Jesus pulled Peter aside and asked him, “Do you love me more than these?” In other words, do you love me more these fish? Do you love me more than a successful fishing career? Are you prepared to give them all up to love and give yourself to my people? Jesus asked Peter not once but three times the same question, “Do you love me?” One must remember, Peter had once promised Jesus that he would never desert him (Matt.26:33). Though it was Peter who denied he knew Jesus three times. Peter’s love for Jesus was suspect. But Jesus looks into Peter’s heart, and sees the real Peter. He forgives Peter. He reinstates Peter to give him a future. After Peter affirms his love for Jesus.
Then Jesus challenges his love with a task. “If you love me,” Jesus said, “then feed and care for, be a shepherd to the lambs of my flock.” Love brought Peter a task and it brought him a cross.
Genuine love includes words that affirm love followed by actions of love. To say you love someone is a very weighty declaration because it requires a great deal of responsibility to live out those words. Authenticated love, love that is tried and found true involves responsibility and sacrifice—the sacrifice of pride, the sacrifice of our self-centeredness and our attachments to other things and a surrender of our wills.
Millions of people grabble with love; feeling loved, receiving love and giving love. There are so many people who feel unloved today. For whatever reason they don’t feel loveable or worthy of love so they resist giving themselves to others. You can’t give what you don’t have. Many people are able to love God only so much and are willing to sacrifice only so far because they fear intimacy. They fear being hurt. When we love deeply there is always the risk of being hurt. Love gets messy sometimes. But greater yet, there is always the possibility of forgiveness. When we fear intimacy with God, we compensate by intellectualizing God, knowing God as information rather than experiencing God’s love in their hearts.
David Benner, a depth psychologist and author of “Surrender to Love” writes, “Millions of people fear intimate relationships with God and other people because they have experienced rejection and abandonment by a parent, friend of lover. Love is dangerous because it invites us to surrender. . . The saddest thing of all is when our crippling fear and anxiety stops us from encountering “Perfect Love”—the one thing that has the potential to heal us from our fears.”
One question that surfaces from Jesus’ encounter with Peter is this: how deeply do you and I love God? As God invited Peter to love him deeply, the amazing grace of God gives us the faith and courage to be shepherded and loved back into the fold of his eternal love.
- Rev. Dona Johnson |May 4, 2025