“Cherish Every Encounter with Jesus”

a The 3rd Sunday of Easter a

John 21:1-19

Have you ever been in a situation where you knew that someone you love was not going to be with you
much longer...where you knew that you had precious few opportunities left to spend time with them? I would
imagine if the Lord presented you with that kind of a situation, your approach to the relationship would change
quite dramatically. So often, we take our most basic relationships for granted, not realizing that, while our loved
ones are with us today, there is no absolute guarantee that they will be with us tomorrow. But when that reality is
crystallized in our minds, when we receive bad news from the doctor, or when we hear of tragedy, or when we learn
of a loved one who has been sent off to war, or any other event that cuts our time with our loved ones short, we
change our perspective. No longer do we take them for granted, but we try to make every second count. We make
every day special, every moment a lasting memory, treating every moment as if it were the very last that they will be
with us.
The way that we approach such relationships is the very approach we are to have when it comes to our
relationship with Jesus – every single day of our lives! Today is the 3rd Easter Sunday, and as we have seen already,
each subsequent Sunday in the Easter season teaches us something very valuable about our lives of faith in Jesus.
Today, the lesson that we learn from the gospel of John, by the Spirit’s guidance, is to cherish every single encounter
that we have with Jesus. Treasure in your hearts every opportunity that he gives you to come to him and share in
blessed fellowship with him, for as it was with the disciples by the Sea of Tiberius, he continually invites you into his
majestic presence, despite whatever wrongs you have committed against him. He invites you to be in communion
with him, not holding your sins against you, but offering you the opportunity to hide your sins, your guilt, your
apprehensions in his wounds, in his blood. And when you receive the benefits of fellowship with Jesus, he re-
commissions you to his service, for he knows how you have sinned, but also knows how best you may serve in his
kingdom as souls who have come to him for restoration and reconciliation. Therefore, cherish every encounter with
Jesus, because you don’t know how many encounters you may have left with him. Cherish all of them! His
invitation removes sinners’ apprehensions. And his commission restores sinners to his service.

I. His invitation removes sinners’ apprehensions

If you look carefully at the first couple of verses here, you’ll notice that Jesus here appears to a very
interesting collective of disciples. First of all, Simon Peter, the rock-man, the chief disciple, the one who was
probably closest to Jesus and was arguably the most learned among the disciples, the one who said, “Lord, I am
ready to go with you to prison and to death, I will never deny you,” only to openly deny any association with Jesus
during the early morning hours of Good Friday. You have the denier. Then there’s Thomas, the doubter, who said
after the death of Jesus, “Unless I see it, I will not believe it.” You have the denier, the doubter...Nathanael, the
skeptic, “Can anything good come from Nazareth,” he asked when Andrew told him that he had found the Messiah,
Jesus of Nazareth. And then, of course, James and John, the sons of Thunder, who asked to be at Jesus’ right and
left in the kingdom of eternal glory. A denier, a doubter, a skeptic and two brothers with overly-elevated self-worth,
along with two other unnamed disciples, who were most likely among the disciples who abandoned Jesus in
Gethsemane, were not present at Calvary, and were locked in a room on Easter Eve because they were afraid of the
Jews– what a collection!
If you really think about it, each one of the men who are named, and even those that weren’t, had reason to
be apprehensive about being in the Lord’s presence. How could Peter get those words out of his head, how he had
cursed the name of Jesus on the night he was betrayed? How could Thomas forget how his skepticism of the
resurrection message prompted a specific rebuke from Jesus in front of all the other disciples? Each one of them had
reasons to be shame-filled and guilt-stricken in the presence of their risen and glorified Savior-God.
What about you, fellow deniers, fellow doubters, fellow pride-filled sinners...do you not have the same kinds
of apprehensiveness at times? If you’ve been away from the church for a while, isn’t it difficult to come back into
the Lord’s presence, for you know that you haven’t remembered the Sabbath Day and kept it holy by honoring God
in worship and receiving his blessings of faith? What about if the elders or the pastor have had to speak to you
about a lifestyle pattern that is damaging to your faith and your relationship with Jesus, and may be putting your
soul in danger of eternal hellfire? Isn’t it a challenge to swallow your pride, to come into the presence of your God
and your fellow Christians who do love you, in order to be absolved of sin and restored to a new life in Christ
through the gospel?
Look inside of yourself this day, and what you will see is a clear identification with every one of the disciples
to whom Jesus appeared at the Sea of Tiberius. Every one of us, especially yours truly, every sinner has countless
reasons to be apprehensive about being in the Lord’s presence, in the presence of his holiness, his majesty, his glory.
And yet, our Lord does not take the opportunity to beat us over the head with his knowledge of our transgressions
like we’re moles in a Whack-a-Mole game! Instead, he tenderly invites us into fellowship with him by addressing us
as he did the disciples on that day, “A"4*4",” children...not “sinners” or “unworthy ones” or “Hey you, denier,” or
“Hey you, you who haven’t been to church in a while,” or “Hey you, you who have decided that it’s more fun to
indulge in the devil’s traps than to live a life of righteousness...” He says, “Children...my children...” and then turns
our attention to his gracious care and his gracious call.
That’s exactly what he did with the disciples. He silenced and removed their apprehensions by mentally and
spiritually taking them back to the day when he called them to be disciples, that same day when they had another
miraculous catch of fish, when Jesus called them to be “Fishers of men.” But this time, he had more to share with
them, not just a miraculous and great amount of fish, not just breakfast, but he also had his marks of grace in his
hands, feet and side, nail and spear marks in which all of their shame and guilt was hidden, marks that show our
Savior to be a loving and gracious God, a humble servant of mankind whose chief concern was not to lord the
people’s sins over their heads, but to provide the means through which God the Father would “remember their sins
no more.”
Whatever apprehensions you may have about being in the presence of your Savior today, hide those shame-
filled apprehensions in his glorious wounds. Leave them at the cross, and follow him in faith to enjoy the fellowship
he establishes with you through his blood. Heed his invitation today, dear friends, because our time is limited, and
every week, every day, every moment with our Savior is special. And know that when you spend time with him in
his house, in meditation, in prayer and in worship, both corporately and individually, he is not only preparing you
for eternity, but he is educating and training you to be a blessing in the world, as you lead others to the cross of
glory!
II. His commission restores sinners to his service

That’s exactly what Jesus did for Peter on this occasion. He removed Peter’s apprehensions, and restored
him to service so that he could be a blessing to the world by carrying the news of Christ’s resurrection to needy
souls. “15 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than
these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” 16 Again Jesus said, “Simon son of
John, do you truly love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” 17
The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third
time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.”
One has to wonder how many times Peter had opportunity to speak of Jesus’ resurrection and didn’t because
of what had happened on the evening of Maundy Thursday and the morning of Good Friday. We’re not sure
because the Holy Spirit chose not to reveal that information to us in Scripture. However, we can easily understand
how hesitant Peter would have been to serve as Christ’s representative when, on three separate occasions, he had a
chance to proclaim the gospel that fateful evening and three different times, he disowned his Savior. What an
unreliable witness, an unreliable disciple and certainly not worthy to be sent out as a servant of the Savior of the
world.
But that’s what made this encounter with Jesus so special for the quintessential disciple. 3 times he had
spurned the Lord verbally, and three times the Lord Jesus gave him opportunity to confess his faith and love for
Jesus. 3 times Peter had cursed the name of his Christ, and now 3 times the Christ gave him opportunity to speak
blessing. Not only had Jesus removed his apprehensions, in 3-fold commission, he restored Peter to serve him in his
kingdom, showing that despite sinful weaknesses, the Lord is graciously willing to use us for the most blessed work
of all – serving him through extension of the gospel.
You, who have proven time and again to be unworthy to represent your Lord Jesus in the world, cherish this
day – cherish every single time that you encounter your Lord in his house, in his Word, in his sacrament – for
through these means he not only removes your sin and your guilt, and truly any apprehension to be in his presence,
but he restores you graciously so that you may serve him, as Luther says, in “righteousness, innocence and
blessedness.” Though we are unreliable witnesses, we are still called by grace to be “witnesses to the ends of the
earth.” We are given chance upon chance to openly express through worship and witness how deeply the Lord Jesus
has loved us, even unto death on the cross, so that the tender lambs of this world may be tended, fed and led to the
sheep-pen of the Good Shepherd for all eternity. And know that when you are restored to service through the same
gospel that removes your sins, that gospel message which has the power to turn you from sinner to saint in Christ
will powerfully work, despite your weaknesses, to accomplish the Lord’s will in his kingdom.
So, cherish this day and cherish this encounter with Jesus, truly every encounter that you have with Jesus in
his house, in his Word and in his sacrament. Treasure your time in the presence of your glorified and risen Savior,
for when you spend time with him, he is preparing you for time and eternity and for most glorious work in the
world – fishing – fishing for souls! Treasure it – cherish it, and always remember what a special blessing it is to
spend time with the Lord, before he calls you home to behold him with your very eyes! Amen.