Another Look: "Balancing Act"

Recap
Last week through Jesus' interaction with Thomas we learned about faith and doubt.
This week (yesterday) through Jesus' interaction with Peter we learned about sin and redemption.

Peter of "three denials."
Jesus giving him three chances to express his love and faith by asking, "Peter, do you love me?"
This way, Peter gets to hear himself speak the words, "yes, I love you," one time for every time he spoke "I do not know this man" back during Jesus' passion.

the balance between the two encounters is really quite amazing and beautiful and reminds us of God's mercy - how it always gives us another chance, how it matches our sin and then goes beyond.

The Braves...

are very bad right now. But the way Bobby Cox treats his players is a nice analogy for the mercy of God.

Consider Troy Glaus (and of course the lillies of the field.. the first baseman of the field?)

Playing pretty bad right now, doesn't deserve to be on the field - but Bobby keeps giving him a chance. The other night vs. the Phillies, Glaus was having a horrible game, Bobby left him in and he hit a 2 run homerun in the 9th to begin a rally that would win the game a little later.

The reason this reminds us of God's mercy is that God does not "pull us out of the game" because of our failures, but he keeps giving us chances, keeps forgiving us, keeps giving us a way out so that we aren't prisoners to our failures and our past.

So What?

The real practical thrust of this passage and the sermon is not to let our sins make us prisoners of our past, of guilt and shame - don't hide like Peter when he jumped out of the boat when he noticed Jesus nearby. Come to God with all the weight of your sin and your past and let him take it from you and replace it with forgiveness and peace. Even if we don't come to him, like we see with Jesus going to Peter and initiating the conversation, God will call us out our darkness and into his light.

Jesus ends his redemptive encounter with Peter by giving him some direction, "follow me."

In bumper sticker form: "Don't Wallow; Just Follow"