Pastor Jeff Lucas of Timberline Church in Fort Collins in Colorado graced City Harvest Church Kuala Lumpur (CHCKL) on 12th of April 2015. International speaker and bestselling author, he also broadcasts his own weekly television programme on Revelation TV, which can be heard daily on over 350 radio stations worldwide. And this was the first time Jeff preached in Malaysia, lifting up the congregation with his sense of humour.
He began the message by referring to John 21:1-23 below, which talks about Jesus and the miraculous catch of fish by his disciples. Standing on the shore, Jesus instructed them to cast their net on the side of the boat. They caught a lot of fish! And when they came ashore, Jesus cooked breakfast for them. This is also the time when Jesus had his well-known “feed my sheep” conversation with Peter and foretold him about his martyrdom. John mentioned also that it was also “the third time Jesus showed Himself to His disciples after He was raised from the dead.”
“The disciples did not know it was Him, because Jesus showed up in such an ordinary way,” shared Jeff. One might expect a great heavenly entrance with dozens of angels dancing around Jesus. If that were to happen, then no one would have to figure it was actually Jesus.
Faith or Fish?
Many people tend to dwell and focus on things that may not be important, just as many people tend to harp and figure out the significance of the number of fish caught that day.
“You see Peter had been called to be a fisher of men three years earlier. But at that time, the metaphor has changed and he was called to be a shepherd of sheep.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I don’t care how successful you are in business, I don’t care how much money you make, I don’t care how successful your career is, if you have been kissed by a vision of the kingdom of God, mere survival will never work for you!” said Jeff.
He added, “It’s no good that you’re just trying to go to work to buy the food to give you the strength to go to work. Don’t spend your whole life living on repeat. There’s an opportunity for you to realign your priorities. It’s wonderful when you catch a 153 fish but let us say, ‘God, that is not going to be my life purpose because my life purpose is found in Jesus.'”
Sitting at the Fire side – Jesus Reinstates Peter
While the disciples were sitting by the fireside by the Sea of Galilee, they had a chance to resolve their regrets. Jesus was cooking breakfast for the disciples by the fire and invited Peter to sit down by the fire with them, which symbolized His forgiveness for Peter even though he denied Him three times prior to His death.
In the same way Jesus forgave Peter, He invites us to sit down by the reality of our history and our shame, and once again express our love for Him.
“Shame silences our worship, and shame makes us back away into the shadows but now Jesus invites Peter to sit down once again by the fire and once again expresses love for Christ,” shared Jeff.
He added, “The grace of God does not minimalize or marginalize our sins. But what God says is, ‘Yes, you did it. Yes, it was wrong. And yes, you are really forgiven now.’ Christ doesn’t pretend that sin doesn’t matter. But Christ faces the reality of our history and He says, ‘You can sit down by the fire and know My forgiveness.’”
Moving beyond pettiness – What is that to you?
18 Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” 19 Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”
20 Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is going to betray you?”) 21 When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?”
22 Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.” 23 Because of this, the rumor spread among the believers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?” (John 21:18-23)
When Jesus prophesized to Peter about what was going to happen to him, Peter was curious about what Jesus had prophesized for John. In reply to that, Jesus simply said, “What is that to you? You must follow me.” (John 21:22)
“Sometimes what happens to us is that we start to follow Jesus and then something upsets us in the church or someone in the church irritates us. Church isn’t quite like the way we like it to be and we start getting uptight. We need to hear Jesus say to us, ‘What is that to you? You must follow me,’” shared Jeff.
Do not allow your passion to get hijacked by irrelevancy. It’s impossible to have everything your way. So, do not get upset about things that do not matter.
“Ladies and gentlemen, the church is not about how I want it to be or what you want it to be. The church is not Starbucks, it is not a coffee shop! But it is the gathering of the people of God for the purposes of the kingdom of God! Sometimes, when we say I don’t like that, I think Jesus says, ‘What is that to you? You must follow me,’” said Jeff.
Jesus has a work for you to do that is unique. Do not look at what He has given others to do. But look at the work He has given you. Will you trust Him for His grace in completing the work He has given you to do?
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Kim Yung
NOTE: All pictures of CHCKL are credited to CHCKL
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