Easter 3 C + Do You Love Me? 5.1.22

 

M. Campbell-Langdell

All Santos, Oxnard

(Acts 9:1-6, (7-20); Psalm 30; Revelation 5:11-14; John 21:1-19)

 

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my lambs." A second time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Tend my sheep." He said to him the third time, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, "Do you love me?" And he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep.”

There is so much in today’s scriptures that one could preach on. In the gospel alone there are numerous places from which to launch off in various directions. But as I dwell upon this week’s readings, my heart is drawn to the interaction between Peter and Jesus.

Do you love me? These words from Jesus bring to mind a song someone in my sermon brainstorming group reminded me of this week. It is called “Do you love me?” and it features in the classic musical “The Fiddler on the Roof.” In it, Tevye is informing his wife Golde that their daughter is to be married, and he waxes romantic, asking if she loves him. And it catches her off guard. She mentions all the things she has done for him over twenty-five years and suggests that those actions show that she loves him.

The song concludes like this:

(Golde)
Do I love him?
For twenty-five years I've lived with him
Fought with him, starved with him
Twenty-five years my bed is his
If that's not love, what is

(Tevye)
Then you love me?

(Golde)
I suppose I do

(Tevye)
And I suppose I love you too

(Both)
It doesn't change a thing
But even so
After twenty-five years
It's nice to know

(source: https://www.lyricsondemand.com/soundtracks/f/fiddlerontherooflyrics/doyoulovemelyrics.html)

It doesn’t change a thing, but it does. It changes everything.

In this passage, Jesus and Peter speak and Jesus gives Peter a chance to publicly re-avow his love for him after thrice renouncing Jesus before his death. This is a public forum, in front of the disciples, and it even feels a bit awkward and bad for Peter. It may also make him think of his refusal at first to have his feet washed by Jesus, and how he then went all in for having his feet washed (indeed he wanted a full shower) and for serving as Jesus modeled.

Here Jesus asks Peter if he loves him three times. In the first two times, Jesus asks Peter if he loves him using the word agapas and Peter responds using the word phileo to respond that he does love him. The third time Jesus asks if he phileis him- in the interlinear version that I read, the distinction was between agape meaning “to love” and phileo meaning “to dearly love.” Others have separated out the various forms of love in Greek and mentioned that agape is a more expansive love, the closest thing we have to the love of God. And philia is more of the love within a family, there as much because of family ties and reciprocity as true self-sacrifice. But I have heard other scholars say that we cannot put too much into distinguishing between different words for love. Just as we might say we cherish, love or desire someone those might all mean we love them in different contexts, they all might be as strong and pure as the other. Another point to note is that Peter understood Jesus as asking him three times the same thing, hence he did not feel Jesus was changing up his meaning substantially.

In fact, I think we need to focus more on Jesus’ responses here. Whenever Jesus tells someone to do something, it is important. If he tells someone to do it three times, he really wants us to do it. It is interesting that this is backed up by recent studies which say that a person is likely to remember something if you repeat it three times, especially in three different ways. Which, interestingly, Jesus does, by using slightly different phrasing each time. But each time we hear the same message. To love is to serve. We cannot just feel a strong allegiance to Jesus in our hearts, we must serve his people, and some of us would extend this to nonhuman creatures also who are also a part of God’s creation.
To love is to serve. To love is to wash feet. To love can even be giving of one’s life, as Jesus tells Peter he will have to do at the end of this passage.

To love is to serve. This time of pandemic has brought this home to me in a new way. One faithful volunteer told me that the fact that we kept our food pantry and Bread of Life dinner going throughout the pandemic, with only a couple of short closures for the pantry to figure out how to manage logistics, has renewed their faith in the church. We can keep worship going online or in person and thankfully we are now back in person with online streaming. But we could not virtually feed people. It is huge just to be able to greet people that come onto campus during the week and give them a bag of food. It may not seem like much but to that person that could be the difference between having enough energy to make it to the shelter and start their program or getting sick or desperate and making bad choices. One day recently a tall young man came to our gate. I gave him a bag of food. And he walked away with tears in his eyes. I felt so bad but I also felt like, wow, at least he knew someone cared and responded to his needs. Saw him as a human being.

The more we give to each other, the more we are able to recognize the good in each other- to see Jesus in each other. And the more we can heal in ourselves, able to reaffirm our love of Jesus as Peter did, and walk forward more whole and free.

Love is feeding the sheep.

Love is washing feet.

Love can mean giving one’s life.

But love is freedom and wholeness and peace.

So keep feeding those sheep!

And remember, the same is true for you. Jesus dearly loves you. You are also his sheep, and he wants you to thrive.

Amen.