Christ is alive! So . . . now what? Resurrection reminds us that dying for what you believe in is a one-time affair. Living for what you believe in; rather living for who believes in you . . . that’s a more difficult proposition. To say that life is “a game” is not a means of dismissal or frivolity, nor does it mean there are fundamentally winners or losers. The game of life is simply something in which we are all players. It’s full of successes we hope never die, and the seemingly endless, instant reply of failures we pray to forget.
Life is a game, but that doesn’t mean it is without meaning. First, “game” in this context simply refers to interaction or relationship. How do we live in relationship with each other? How does our relationship with God affect how we relate to each other. In the basic sense, think of any team sport. Whatever you do affects what your opponent does, which in turn affects what you do, and so on and so forth. This is what’s called, “Game Theory,” which is the study of strategy. We are always playing this game with each other, which is why it may be difficult to see. You have already played this game here this morning in the sanctuary. Why did you choose the chair in which you are sitting? If you’re the first person in the sanctuary, the game is easy. But if you’re the second, that’s when the fun begins. This is a small scale example, but it also happens on the large scale in the world of economics or business—how does human interaction affect supply and demand. Game theory is found in the world of education and politics. It is also alive in the church. What does the game of life look life for those who follow Christ?
Hear these words from John 21:
After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. 2Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. 3Simon Peter said to them, ‘I am going fishing.’ They said to him, ‘We will go with you.’ They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
4 Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5Jesus said to them, ‘Children, you have no fish, have you?’ They answered him, ‘No.’ 6He said to them, ‘Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.’ So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. 7That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’ When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the lake. 8But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off.
9 When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. 10Jesus said to them, ‘Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.’ 11So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn. 12Jesus said to them, ‘Come and have breakfast.’ Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ because they knew it was the Lord. 13Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.
15 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.’ 16A 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.’ 17He 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. 18Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.’ 19(He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, ‘Follow me.’
Peter sees Jesus on the Lakeshore. How is he supposed to react? Well, He puts on clothes and jumps headfirst into the water (those of you who took the John Bible study know the punch line here). It is a curious reaction until to stop for a moment to picture the scene. Remember the last words Peter shared about Jesus while Jesus was alive. Peter was warming himself around a charcoal fire confessing three times, “I don’t know him.” And there’s Jesus standing near a charcoal fire. It’s kind of like when you are sitting in the living room, minding your own business, and your wife, who loves Nutella, goes into the cupboard to enjoy a spoonful of Nutella only to open the jar to find nothing in it. She stands there in silence holding the jar . . . Jesus is standing around a charcoal fire. What was going through Peter’s mind at that moment?
What was Jesus going to do? What was Jesus going to say? Peter, full of shame puts on clothing, in the same manner as Adam and Eve in the garden after they tasted the forbidden fruit, and he jumps into the water because just getting his feet washed wasn’t enough. He gets to the shore and they all eat in silence. Have you had that kind of meal? You know, the kind of meal in which all you’re doing is feeding the elephant in the room? Jesus breaks the silence saying, “Simon, son of John,” and notice that he’s no longer Peter. He’s lost his title of “Rock.” When we betray, deny, when we damage relationship with others, it can leave a mark. “Simon, son of John . . . do you love me? Feed my sheep.” This exchange happens three times, once for every time Peter denies his friendship with Christ. Peter is forgiven through question and command.
The risk of sorry—the risk of forgiveness. How do you react to the words, “I’m sorry?” Does it matter how it’s said or when it’s said? It takes a fair amount of courage to hear those words—“I’m sorry,” because the person who has wronged you has just served the ball into your court. Do you say “thank you?” Do you cry? Do you cross your arms and say, “Simon, Son of John, go to Hell?” Maybe you’re the one saying, “I’m sorry?” Maybe you’ve played this scene over and over and over again in your mind. Maybe you’re praying that they will say, “Don’t worry about it.” Maybe you’re praying that they punch you across the face because that will feel better than the way you’ve been beating yourself up. Forgiveness is not forgetting. It doesn’t mean that everything has gone back to normal. Brokenness causes scars. The Risen Lord had scars. Forgiveness means that that I refuse to hurt you the way you hurt me. Forgiveness is a place of healing. It is a place of holiness. It is also a place of risk . . .
Several years ago many hostages who were held by Columbian leftist rebels were released. In the many interviews following this terrible ordeal the hostages have had polar reactions. Some have been filled with rage and anger and vengeance, and I don’t want to dismiss that. If the Psalms teach us anything, they teach us that anger and frustration are emotions that, at times, need to be expressed in order to move on in our relationship with God, but I was speechless when I heard an interview with Ingrid Betancourt, a former Columbian presidential candidate, who was held in captivity for six years. She was chained around the neck, 24 hours a day. Ann Currey said to her in the interview that anger and vengeance is the usual response. Ingrid said, no, I don’t feel vengeance. Vengeance is a chain, and I no longer want to be chained there. I am free.
I wonder how many times Ingrid wrestled with hate and fear before coming to a place of freedom through forgiveness. It certainly takes practice. In Matthew 18 Peter asks Jesus how many times we are to forgive someone . . . seven times? Jesus replies, “No . . . seventy seven times.” Jesus is not inviting us to create a score card, but it does take practice. Giving ourselves over to the practice of forgiveness helps us to see and to live Resurrection.
There is a church sanctuary I’ve seen that has a curious problem, so to speak. Around the sanctuary there are beautiful stained glass windows retelling Jesus’ life, with one slight rather glaring error . . . there was no Resurrection window. When I brought this to the attention of my host he said, “Well, there is a Resurrection window,” and he showed me a window detailing our scripture lesson today. There was Peter at Jesus feet and fish cooking on the rocks, except it was in the place in Jesus’ life, according to the arrangement of the sanctuary, in which Jesus was calling his disciples. They had a Resurrection window, but it was in the wrong place. He said, “We were too busy with building the sanctuary, too busy with the unnecessary things of the world, that we failed to recognize the Resurrection. We thought about fixing it, but we decided to leave it so that it would be a constant reminder to never again miss the Resurrection.”
Resurrection is a game-changer, but it takes practice to recognize what God has done. Giving ourselves over to the practice of forgiveness opens our eyes to the games we play. Peter was playing a game with Jesus that morning. Jesus says, “Simon do you love me,” the Greek word for love being “agape,” meaning “sacrificial love.” Peter replies, “You know I love you,” but the Greek word in Peter’s reply is “filio,” which means “fondness.” In other words, Peter isn’t quite answering in the affirmative:
Peter do you love me?
Lord, I am quite fond of you.
I asked on facebook earlier this week as I was wrestling with this story, “When Jesus asked Peter, ‘Do you love me,’ what if Peter said no.” One of my seminary buddies replied, “Well, he kind of did, but that’s the Good News isn’t it?”
Do you love me? Maybe. Feed my sheep, so that you can see how much I love you. Amen.