Hello, you are listening to Second City Sermons,
a ministry of Second City Church in Midtown Harrisburg.
It's our hope that these sermons will draw you
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sermon. God bless. As Amy said this morning already,
I am not the pastor at this church, so surprise
visitors. We are glad that you are here, but
you might not be getting our A game today. Try
again sometime. In my day job, I'm a teacher
at a local Christian school, and the drama production
that we did this year was Jane Austen's Sense
and Sensibility. If you are unfamiliar with the
plot of that story, let me tell you about it.
So the main characters are two sisters, the Dashwoods,
and they're in relatively difficult economic
circumstances because their dad just passed away.
Well, one of these sisters, Marianne, she falls
in love with a guy named Willoughby, who is charming
and romantic and quotes poetry. And as a guy
who myself quotes poetry sometimes, I think it
doesn't get much better than that. So Willoughby
has to go away to London for a while, and the
two sisters end up following him, in part as
a nice surprise, and they catch up with him at
one of these genteel parties that people apparently
had in Regency London, and they're announced.
The person at the door says, the sisters Willoughby,
or excuse me, the sisters Dashwood, or whatever.
So he knows that they're there, but he won't
come over and say hi. Willoughby. He won't even,
like, look in their direction. So they're standing
in the back saying, like, um, uh, what's this
guy doing, right? Marianne thinks that she's
engaged to this guy. So he's very intentionally
not interested in them at this party. So after
a little bit of this, Marianne, who was played
very ably by Lucy Hood in our production, she
says, good God, Willoughby, what is the meaning
of this? Have you not received my letters? Will
you not shake hands with me? And he awkwardly
says more or less, oh, hi, I did get your letters.
Bye, and leaves. He just leaves the party, right?
So it turns out Willoughby is a bad guy. He's
been sort of emotionally using Marianne, and
he doesn't want her encroaching on other more
financially profitable areas of his life. So
he pretty publicly rejects her. And the chapter
in the original, that is in Austin, ends with
this, quote, every circumstance seemed uniting
to heighten the misery of Marianne in a final
separation from Willoughby, in an immediate and
irreconcilable rupture with him. And if you know
the story, you'll know that Marianne will soon
go and stand in the rain. looking in the distance
at Willoughby's house, and she will get so sick
and feverish from this bad decision that she
almost dies. So what you can say is Willoughby's
rejection of her and her reaction to it almost
kills her. So that circumstance is fictional.
It's exaggerated. This emotional exaggeration
is part of Austin's point. It's called sense
and sensibility, right? She has two heightened
sensibilities. But like Marianne, we do experience
disastrous rejection sometimes, don't we? And
those rejections can be deeply painful. And they
don't have to be romantic. They can be social
more broadly. They can be professional, right?
They can be anything, really. And even the memory
of a rejection like this can bring on these intense
feelings of shame and failure, things that happened
years ago. You don't even want to remember them.
Consider some examples. Say you work at a job
faithfully for like 15 years and give it everything
you want, everything you've got, and then your
boss retires and you apply for that position
and the company gives the job to some other guy
and everybody forgets that you had seniority
and we just move on with our lives. Or, say,
You don't get into the school or the program
that you've applied to and set your heart on.
Or say, all your friends get together for a party
and you're not invited. So these are greater
or lesser degrees of rejection, but they all
kind of do the same thing to us internally, don't
they? Because what does the shame of rejection
say to you? As Henry Nowin, who is a... Psychologist
says, quote, as soon as someone accuses me or
criticizes me, as soon as I'm rejected, left
alone or abandoned, I find myself thinking, well,
that proves once again that I am a nobody. Like
Austin shows with Marianne Dashwood, that kind
of thing can make you feel hopeless. Like life
doesn't make sense anymore and maybe it'd be
better to just stop caring. So how does this
relate to our text today? Well, consider another
example. Say you have this years -long, beautiful
friendship with another person. You love this
person, and you think this other person loves
you, and then you run into that friend unexpectedly
after an absence, and that friend is so deep
in conversation with another person that he doesn't
even notice you. He just sort of shrugs you off.
Does that sound familiar? It might, because that's
literally the text of the Gospel we just read.
Consider, John, who is the author of the book
of John, was one of the disciples. He was one
of Jesus' closest companions. He had a beautiful
years -long friendship with Jesus, and then Jesus
goes and dies, and then he comes back. This is
a big deal. If you're unfamiliar with the plot
points here, ask somebody about this later. It's
something to think about. But when he comes back,
he has this long, memorable conversation, not
with John. but with a different guy, with Peter.
So Peter Rowan preached about this two weeks
ago and he did a great job. But the thing that
I can't stop thinking about when I read this
account is that the author of the story that
we are reading is John, not Peter. Church tradition
has always said that the phrase beloved disciple
is referring to the book's author. He refers
to himself that way in verses 7 and verses 20
of our chapter. And then again in verse 22, it
says, this is the disciple who's bearing witness
about these things. This is John who's telling
the story. So how John positions himself in the
story is fascinating. So Jesus has risen from
the dead. He shows up. This is everything John
has been hoping for. And Jesus doesn't talk to
him, to John. at all, personally. At least it's
not in the text. He talks to Peter instead, and
Peter, of all things, he brings John up. He wants
to get the attention off of himself, apparently,
and he sort of gestures over his shoulder at
John, and he says, uh, what about this guy? And
Jesus... This is not textual, but this is the
way that I picture it. Sometimes it says that
Jesus turns and views something. It says that
earlier with Peter. Peter... turns and sees John.
It doesn't say that about Jesus. So I picture
Jesus doesn't even look back at John, right?
He refers to John in the third person. It doesn't
say his name. He says, if it is my will that
he, he, him, that guy, if he remain until I come,
what is that to you? This is between you and
me, Peter. What's that do to John? Think about
it. This is the last chapter in the book that
John is writing. There's no softening of the
story after this. This could be an utterly crushing
experience for the author of this book. Jesus
kind of does a Willoughby, doesn't he? John desperately
wants to talk to him, and Jesus won't talk, right?
John could feel rejected, left alone, or abandoned.
He could allow himself to think, well, that proves
I'm a nobody, in no one's words. And in order
to turn up the intensity here, we're not just
talking about us having hurt feelings. as important
as that can really be. So if the same situation
happened with different people, it might be sad,
but it's not the end of the world. But, keep
in mind, this is Jesus that we're talking about.
Friends, if it turns out that Jesus doesn't like
us as much as we thought, as much as we hoped
that he did, that is actually the end of the
world. If Jesus doesn't like us, there's no other
court of appeals. There's no hope. We are, you
and me, the new kids at the school of the universe.
And if Jesus doesn't speak up for us and say,
hey, come over and sit at my table in the cafeteria
of creation, we will be sitting by ourselves
forever. And the Bible calls that the outer darkness,
where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.
So I'm phrasing this socially. rather than judicially,
but I hope you get the point that I'm making.
In fact, I think you could say earthly rejection,
the experience of earthly rejection may be so
powerful because it suggests eternal rejection
by the one who really matters. Remember, the
Lord himself says, I will say unto them, depart
from me, I never knew you. This is people who
thought they had confidence in Jesus. With that
in mind, how can we be easy or happy in our relationship
with Jesus? Well, let's follow John. So we have
good reason to believe right here in the text
that John lived a long time. So verse 23 says
that there was a rumor that the early church
going around the early church that John was never
going to die. This suggests he lived a whole
long time, right? We have other evidence to suggest
that the gospel of John was written significantly
after the other three synoptic gospels. So it's
entirely possible that John had to sit with this
exact question for a long time. How can he know
that he is beloved, right? If the last personal
experience he has with Jesus is that of Jesus
not speaking to him. Well, here's the thing he
is the one who decides to end the gospel message
with this particular story And he does it in
such a way that it looks bad for himself look
back at first 20 with me It says Peter turned
and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following
them stop right there He's following them That's
almost a pathetic sad note here Jesus goes and
he has this an intimate conversation with another
guy and John is just tagging along after them
like a little dog He's begging to be noticed,
and Jesus doesn't say anything to him. And so
this is a really bold move by John, or if you
think about it in larger terms, knowing that
the scripture is inspired by the Holy Spirit,
this is a really bold move by God himself, because
John says he wrote this book, quote, that you
may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son
of God, and that by believing you may have life
in his name. That's just at the end of chapter
20. It's on the same page. So, John is telling
us, believe in Jesus, he's worth it. And then
he's simultaneously showing us how Jesus doesn't
pay attention to him, though he deeply desires
it. This is a strange recommendation letter.
So the question for me is this, why does John
write it this way? Why does he tell the story
with him as sort of left out in the cold while
Jesus talks to Peter? And I think the best answer
is this, John is utterly confident that Jesus
loves him. And because he is confident, he's
willing to tell the story in a way that might
look embarrassing for himself or even bad for
the Lord. Why? Because he trusts the Lord and
he knows that what he does is right and is loving,
even though it might not feel like it all the
time. So this is my sort of thesis statement.
Here it is. Friend, if you have confidence in
the love of Christ for you, you have all the
confidence you need. I'll say that one more time.
If you have confidence in the love of Christ
for you, you have all the confidence you need.
So let's break that down a little bit. I want
to look at how John had confidence and then how
our confidence can be like John's. So first,
John had confidence in Jesus's character generally.
John had confidence that he was beloved because
he was among the beloved. Look again at the beginning
of the chapter in verse four. It says, just as
day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore, yet
the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.
Jesus said to them, children, do you have any
fish? Let's stop there. Children. is what Jesus
says. If you're reading another version, particularly
the NIV, it might say friends. Friends, haven't
you? Any fish? I went and looked this up. In
Greek, the word is children. Some of the manuscripts
do say friends. But in any case, children or
friends, Jesus calls his disciples to himself
with this loving, intimate term. And what does
he do after he calls them? He provides for them.
He feeds them he instructs them how to get what
they're looking for and then he gives them what
they're looking for So I'm talking about fish
But I'm also talking about himself, right? That's
more what they need. He eats with them He shows
them his physical body which they had seen remember
mangled and dead just a couple of chapters ago
and Now it's up and moving and eating fish for
breakfast. He's showing them that death is not
the winner and John knows John remembers that
Jesus has said that he will never cast anyone
who comes to him away. John had written that
just in chapter 6. So John can think I'm anyone
who will come to Jesus. John can think I'm in
children, right? I am one of those that the Lord
has fed and isn't that where we find ourselves
here today? So brother or sister, unless you
are really extremely special, I do not think
the Lord is going to audibly speak to you. directly.
Right? And so you're just like John in that regard.
Jesus isn't speaking to him, he's not speaking
to us. Okay. But I think that you and I can have
the same type of confidence that John has here
because this is what happens week in and week
out here in this church. So Jesus, in the person
of his authorized representative, what does he
do? He calls us to himself. He calls us children.
He calls us friends. He teaches us. He provides
us with a meal. He shows us his body. We can
have the confidence that John has. We can know
that we are loved because Jesus calls his beloved
to him and we are among the people he has called.
But you might be saying, well, I believe that
God has called a church to himself, but I'm not
sure about his love individually for me. That's
sort of the Calvinist problem, isn't it? In a
nutshell, God loves some people, sure, but does
he love me? That's the problem it seems like
John could be dealing with here because Jesus
is showing his love directly to Peter and not
to himself. So I want to say that John knows
he is beloved. He has confidence because he has
in the past experienced Jesus's love individually.
He knows that being with Jesus has changed something
in him. This is usable history for him. So John
has had personal, intimate contact with the Lord
and he will not forget it when things get difficult.
So let's look back. I see this as sort of the
fulcrum of the story. Verse 20 says, Peter turned
and saw the disciple whom Jesus left following
them, the one who also had leaned back against
him during the supper. Let's stop there for a
second. I don't think there's any real plot connection
in this current situation with the Last Supper.
We don't need to remember, oh yeah, that was
John, that was the guy who leaned back against
him. So why does John bring it up now? I will
suggest to you that this detail is here because
it's so important to the author. John's experience
leaning on Jesus that night, being close to the
Lord, is what gives him the personal confidence
to know that Jesus loves him, even though he
is not directly experiencing that love in this
part of the book, in this part of the story.
Right? So it's because this is a metaphor, but
I think it's one that the text is pushing us
to think about. He has been close to the Lord's
heart. Because he's been close to the Lord, he
knows he can trust him. I said before that John
uses the phrase the beloved disciple for when
he speaks about himself. Can you guess where
the phrase is first used? It's in chapter 13,
which is the story of the Last Supper. Chapter
13 verse 23 says this, one of his disciples whom
Jesus loved, that's the first use of that phrase,
was reclining at the table at Jesus' side. This
being close to Jesus was a life -changing experience
for John. Being close to Jesus that night changed
who he is. It changed the way that he thought
about himself and his place in the world. So
he refers to himself as the beloved of the Lord
ever after. And I think he brings up that experience
here because I think here John was tempted to
be hurt by Jesus's seeming rejection of him and
needs to fortify himself by the memory of Jesus's
love that he experienced so personally, so clearly
back in chapter 13. And I think that the Lord,
so stick with me here, this is a little maybe
too bold, I think the Lord wanted him to feel
that apparent rejection. Why? So that John can
tell us that sometimes things are uncomfortable,
but we might still be the beloved of the Lord,
right? Sometimes it might feel like the Lord
is not with us, or is not paying attention to
us, or is not showing us the love that we need,
but we can remember that he has shown us his
love. that we are truly the beloved and we can
bank on that. Because Christian, you can know
the love of Christ. If you were once dead in
trespasses and sins and you have been changed
by the love of Christ, if you know that you are
a new creation because of your contact with the
risen Lord, that can be workable data for you.
That can be the grounds of your decision. That
can be the lens through which you view all new
experiences. and our temptations to feel otherwise
that the Lord doesn't love us, those are just
temptations. That's the story that sin is telling
us. The Lord has shown us His love in Christ,
and we can think of ourselves as His beloved
ever after us. Right? Jesus is big enough that
your personal comfort and satisfaction are not
always part of the current plan, but they are
part of the eternal plan. That's confidence.
So I've called the sermon in almost confident
people because I don't think I've got the same
degree of confidence that John had and I don't
know that most of us will get there in this life,
but We can start we can get close to the heart
of Christ in prayer in the study of the scriptures
in gathering at the Lord's table with the Lord's
people I Think we can know the love of Christ
that passes knowledge as Paul says in Romans,
we can have a mustard seed kind of confidence
in him and we can watch it grow as we trust him.
So I wanted to say that you can have confidence
that you are loved. So if you followed me to
this point, you might be asking, well, what does
that confidence look like in the world? I'm glad
you asked. Friend, we can be confident in the
face of mystery. One haunting thing about this
episode and with many of the stories of the resurrected
Christ is that the disciples don't recognize
him. Isn't that kind of weird? They've been with
this guy for a long time and then he shows up
and they don't recognize him. This is a repeated
thing in all of the gospel accounts. Look at
verse 14. It says, this was now the third time
that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after
he was raised from the dead. And yet, it says
in the beginning, they didn't recognize him.
They did not know that it was him. He's shown
up three times to them particularly. They still
don't recognize him. Why? Jesus is a mystery.
You can't tell what he's gonna do. You might
not even recognize him when he does show up,
right? And John and the other disciples are showing
us here that we don't have to understand what
God is doing in our lives all the time. In fact,
I would say if there's no element of mystery
in your faith, you probably don't have a biblical
faith. If your God can't surprise you, Your God
isn't big enough. Do you feel a CS Lewis quote
hovering on the horizon here? Well, I am happy
to deliver. Here it is. Of course he isn't safe,
but he's good. He's the King, I tell you. You
cannot control Jesus. You cannot direct or constrain
or anticipate him, but you can trust him. You
can know he's good. You can be close to his heart.
Next. This is sort of a related part of that,
right? You can be comfortable, you can be confident
even when you're not comfortable. How about that?
This is a strange, this is a strange episode,
right? The resurrected Christ is strange. He
doesn't fit in our world, right? So this is verse,
I should read my text here. This is verse 12.
Jesus said to them, come and have breakfast.
Now, none of the disciples dared ask him, who
are you? They knew it was the Lord. This is strange.
Jesus feeds his people, come and have breakfast.
That's nice. That's not threatening. But then
look at this next part of the verse. None of
them dare to ask him, who are you? They knew
it was the Lord. They don't dare to ask him because
they knew. So you don't say they didn't dare
to ask if there's no element of uncomfortability
or fear, right? In Isaiah, that reading that
we did in the Revelation reading we did this
morning, the Lord says, do not fear. Why? Well,
because he's scary, right? He is holy. And when
we recognize his holiness and our unholiness,
we are properly in terror of him. But he knows
that we are dust. He will soothe our fears if
we come to him whoever will come to him. He will
never cast out So lastly if We can learn John's
confidence in Jesus we can be confident in our
role And that's the thing I think that follows
from this really strange situation in which John
is telling Peter's conversation. I Think what's
happening here is that because John knows himself
to be the beloved disciple He doesn't mind Peter
being the beloved disciple as well He doesn't
have to be the hero of the story. The attention
and the spotlight doesn't have to be on him.
He knows that Jesus is going to get praise, get
glory for his love for many, right? And he's
happy to tell Peter's experience of belovedness.
Okay. So. If we have this confidence, if we have
John's kind of confidence in the resurrected
Christ and his love, we don't have to elbow people
out of her way in our rush to God, right? We
don't have to pharisaically tear others down
so that we look better than them. Rather than
hating Peter and envying him, John gives praise
to God because Peter is also the beloved. And
when we get closer to knowing that we are truly
the beloved, I think we will rejoice in the belovedness
of others more as well. And we will know that
our heart is being changed to be more like the
merciful Christ when we do that. And by the way,
we'll also be becoming more like John himself.
So here's an interesting biographical snippet
about John that comes from the Church of Father
Jerome. Quote, when he, John, tarried at Ephesus
to extreme old age, and could only with difficulty
be carried to the church in the arms of his disciples,
and was unable to give utterance to many words.
He used to say no more at their several meetings
than this. Little children love one another.
At length, the disciples and fathers who were
there, wearied with hearing always the same words,
said, Master, why do you always say this? It
is the Lord's command. was his worthy reply.
And if this alone be done, it is enough. And
I'll just say this. Do you remember when Jesus
gave the new command that we love one another?
It was the Last Supper. It was the night that
John was leaning up against him. Friend, John
went to his grave saying what Jesus said to him
that night. The night that he learned that he
was the beloved. So I started with a story from
Jane Austen. I'll finish with a quote from her.
Her dad and her brother were Anglican pastors.
Her early biographer, who was also a pastor,
who was her nephew, said that there was no sincere
Christian than her, and she's a literary genius,
so she's qualified. Anyway, at the end of Northerner
Abbey, her early novel, she says that her intelligent
readers will know that we're all hastening together
toward perfect felicity. And friends, if you
have confidence in the love of Christ for you,
well, that is absolutely true. Let's pray. Oh
Lord God, you are good and your mercy endures
forever. We praise you for this text. We praise
you that John can know that he is the beloved.
We pray Lord that you will show us your goodness
and your glory and that we would respond as people
who are called by your name and who love your
purposes. We pray these things in Jesus' name.
Amen. Thank you for listening to Second City
Sermons podcast. We hope this sermon has encouraged
you to worship God and to celebrate the gospel
of Jesus. Please consider subscribing to this
podcast and joining us in person each Sunday
at 10 a .m. You can find us online at SecondCityChurch
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Thanks again for listening. God bless.