FEED MY SHEEP

Sermon Notes, May 12, 2019

Rev. Garry McGlinchy

Pastor Garry’s Mother’s Day sermon was titled “Feed My Sheep.”  The scriptural basis was John 21:15-19, the story of the restoration of Peter.  He compared the grace, forgiveness and compassion of Jesus to Peter to the grace, forgiveness and compassion our mothers have for us.

In this passage, Jesus has fed the disciples breakfast on the beach after a night of fishing.  They’d caught nothing until Jesus told them to throw their nets on the other side of the boat, contrary to the way they’d always done it.  Now He and Peter are talking.  Jesus asks, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” 

“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”

“Feed my lambs.”

Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

He answered, “Yes, Lord.  You know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

The third time He said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was hurt because He asked him the third time.  He said, “Lord, you know all things.  You know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.”

The first two times Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him, He used the Greek word agape, which is divine love, which the law demands.  Peter, remembering his three denials, doesn’t dare to reply with as strong a word as agape.  Instead, he uses phileo in his reply, which means ‘to be fond of,’ as between friends.  Jesus’ third question could be, “Are we even friends?”  Still Jesus tells him, “Feed my sheep.”

In the context of Mother’s Day we see that Jesus, like mothers, restored Peter with grace, forgiveness, and compassion.  And moms, like all of us, can do more WITH Jesus than we can on our own, as was brought out in last week’s sermon.  We also see that Jesus gives Peter everything he needs to take care of the lambs—children,--and the rest of the sheep.  Jesus also gives Peter a hint of what the future holds when he tells him that when he was young he dressed himself and went where he wanted to go, but when he is old he will hold out his hands and someone else will dress him and take him where he doesn’t want to go.  Jesus said to him, “Follow me!”

Our mothers taught us what we needed to know to get along in this world.  Does Jesus speak through moms?  We owe our lives to our moms, especially the moms who follow Jesus.  He will give us everything we need to follow Him.