May 5, 2010, John 21

Key Verse:

Jesus answered, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me."

(John 21:22)

Central Truth:

Whose blessings are we trying to count?

WHAT'S IT TO YOU ?
I remember being in middle school and Tommy Hilfiger shirts were a big thing. My parents worked hard to make ends meet, sometimes working two or three jobs to keep food on the table and the lights on. We were by no means rich, and they couldn't afford to go spend $40 or $50 on a shirt. As a teenager, I didn't understand that. All I wanted was to be like the cool kids that wore the fancy new shirts with the cool logo on the front. As hard as my parents tried to get through my thick head that the shirts were probably made in the same factory as the less expensive, no brand name ones, I wanted one of those shirts. It was a status symbol, something to show how cool you were. I had a buddy that had several of these "cool" shirts, and his parents didn't seem much better off than mine; so I would always ask my parents why they could afford them and we couldn't. It didn't matter to me at the time that when my dad was gone some weekends he was working to support me. All that mattered was the quest for the shirt and how I felt that I was owed one. How could they ever cause me to not be like the other kids and not buy me a "cool" shirt? What kind of parents were they?
What I should have been asking was, "What kind of selfish kid am I?" I had parents that loved me and worked hard to support me. I had parents that showed up to my baseball games and drove me to countless practices and school activities. I had parents that were there to correct me when I was wrong and celebrate with me when things went great. But I let my sight and focus turn from what I did have to what I didn't have, and it caused tension in the relationship that I had with my parents during those years.

In John 21:20, Peter is walking with Jesus and listening and learning from Him. At this point, Jesus had already been crucified and was risen from the tomb. I can't imagine Peter's excitement just to be with Him. Jesus chose Peter and wanted him to know that He loved Him no matter what happened the night He was crucified. He want Peter to know that he was forgiven and wanted him to minister and lead others. I can imagine that when Jesus next spoke of what kind of death Peter would experience it sort of rattled him a bit. At that point, I imagine that Peter wanted to make sure that he wasn't the only one who was going to die like this. So, Peter turns around, sees another disciple, and asks Jesus, "Lord, What about him?"

Jesus' response was simple, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me." Let me translate. "Mind ya business, Peter. You don't need to worry about that. That is for me to know and you to find out. Just follow me." (...definitely my version and not found anywhere).

How many times do we have great things happening in our lives and then all of the sudden see something out of the corner of our eye that lets us lose focus? We are blessed with a roof over our head that we can afford, but we see a friend's house and can't get it out of our mind. Even though it would be a stretch for our budget, God wants us to reach for greater things, right? We have a reliable car that is paid for, but see a new sporty one, one that might cause us to reduce our tithing just a bit, but it will be worth it because we will use it to do good things for the church. After all, Jesus would want us to have it, right? We have a great marriage but have a friend that would never commit and seems to be having so much fun single, without the hassles that we have, and we constantly wonder what our lives would be like if we were still single. Then that doubt sets in, and we begin to ask God why we couldn't have this or that, be this or that, or do this or that. We take our eyes off of God and start looking around, and we forget about the great things that God has provided us with and done for us. We start counting the blessings of others and forget about our own blessings.

I challenge you to make a short list of the things in your life that you are most thankful for and keep them with you. When you start to question God's motives for others peoples lives, pull it out and look over it. Use it as a focal point to help you remember what God has done for you. Write on there and remember what God said to Peter, "What is that to you? You must follow me."