Excited for Jesus.

 

I am not sure about you but I have a Favourite Bible passage. It is the Gospel reading for this morning (John 21:1-19) In this reading the disciples see the risen Jesus. I have wondered if they had lots of questions that they wanted to ask Jesus. I love the way Jesus said to the disciples,  ‘let’s have breakfast’.

Some of you may know that I am a formula 1 fan, and my favourite team is Ferrari. I saw a clip this week of the manager of the team, Fred Vasseur, being asked what he was most scared of and his answer was missing dinner. I liked that answer, it is honest and practical! Jesus met the disciples needs by helping them to catch fish and then suggesting that they should have breakfast.

In the gospel reading Peter met Jesus for the first time after Peter had denied knowing Him. He had denied Jesus three times and Jesus asked him three times if he loved him and Peter said yes three times. He was forgiven and Jesus then asked Peter to follow Him.

I can't think of a more perfect way to start again. It is like this for us every time we do something wrong as we can go to Jesus, ask for forgiveness and start all over again. Everything is new and wiped clean. 

In our reading from the book of Acts (9:1-6;7-20) we heard of Saul whose life was started anew. A man who had previously persecuted the believers of Jesus became a believer himself. Not just this but Ananias had to trust God that Saul had changed, that he had been wiped clean and was starting again. 

Please know that I am not saying that any of us physically need to be wiped clean, I am not advertising soap. I am trying to get us thinking of how well we would accept someone who came up to us, and said that they had been changed by God. That they had been wiped clean. If we felt God talking to us and telling us that we needed to help someone who had previously been trying to kill believers and believe that they had changed, would we have reacted in the same way as Ananias? 

It is hard to think of ourselves in this type of situation. I would hope that I would believe straight away. Saul had been particularly bad. He could be a real baddie for us, and certainly he wouldn't necessarily be someone we would have wanted to bump into. 

However, in his mind Jesus had been a pretender. Saul was an up and coming believer in the Jewish faith. He didn't want anything to take people away from God. I always think of him as a very zealous man. In the reading we heard that he was going to Damascus to collect letters so that he could use this authority from the synagogue to arrest the believers of Jesus. Then something shocking happened, as light appeared and Saul heard the voice of Jesus and he was changed. Saul had a calling from God which meant that he could start again. 

Ananias on being told about Saul, was understandably a bit questioning but he did accept him. Not just this but by laying hands on Saul he was offering friendship. This action showed the strength of the Holy Spirit working through him as Saul was healed and could now see. 

It reminds me of the wonderful hymn Amazing Grace with the lines, ‘I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.’ Saul did make it to the synagogue in Damascus but whilst there he talked about Jesus, and said that He was the Son of God.

An incredible change, a new way to go and a new message to proclaim. 

Back to the gospel reading. Peter had been forgiven, and in that forgiveness Jesus gave him the task of being a shepherd to His followers. Talk of job changes. For Saul from someone trying to kill, to someone who preached. For Peter from fisherman to shepherd. Not literally of course but how often does God call us to make a change ?

The change can be in the way we live, the people we spend time with, the television we watch, the books we read, the things we do that do not help us. God calls us all to make sure that we are following Him.

Following means changing, it is all about becoming more and more like Jesus, God the Son. 

Jesus is alive! Death has been conquered but do we live as if we are happy and excited about this news? I remember years ago there was a saying that a Dog was for life, not just for Christmas. This was due to the number of dogs being bought for Christmas and then forgotten about.

Easter should have a saying too, ‘Live everyday thankful that Jesus is Alive, not just at Easter.’ Its not as catchy but it is something we should think about.

Saul was passionate about his faith in Jesus, so much so that he preached a phenomenal amount, and started Churches, and wrote letters of encourgament and he was persecuted for his faith. He was excited about Jesus and the message He brought.

Peter had walked with Jesus, he had experienced the forgiveness of Jesus. He was excited as well, and he preached about Jesus. Even in the middle of a big Jewish festival, the feast of Pentecost. He was also persecuted.But he did all this because he was excited by Jesus and the message of salvation.

We have heard about Jesus, we follow Him. Are we excited by the good news of Jesus? Would we tell others about Him? I am not going to suggest that we can be persecuted in quite the same way but when people mock our beliefs, that can feel like a type of persecution. Peter and Saul both saw it as worth it, after all in Jesus they had found all they needed. This was a relationship with God knowing they are forgiven, and also that in every situation they could keep believing because they knew God was always with them, and would always love them.

Jesus, God the Son, is alive! Lets be excited by the wonderful truth that God loves us and will never leave us. AMEN