The Word Made Plain

Announcer: Welcome to the Word Made Playing with senior pastor Tony Clark of Calvary Chapel Newport News in Virginia. Currently, pastor Tony is teaching in the book of John. Please open your Bible to John chapter 21 verses 15 through 16.

Tony Clark: Oh, we really get messy now. Do we care more? And I can say yes before I even asked you the question. Do we care more that we left our phone at home than we leave our Bible? We freak out. We don't have our phone and life that we once knew has ended. The end of the world has occurred. The apocalypse has arrived. We left our phone and we act like we have just gone back into the Stone Ages without our phone. But do we feel the same way about our Bibles? Do we feel the same way about the things of God that we do about It it's amazing.

It's a running joke in my family whenever we go out to eat. We always look around at the table. There can be four or five of them there and everybody's on their phone. Flipping. No conversation, no talk. It's just It's just, you know, and it's just and it's just, you know, we just flipping. We just lay everybody, you know, and then to talk, we send each other a text. And and they just write across the table and We're too much. We're too much. Now, of course, you know, we all have phones and and and there's I know in the crowd this size, I know some of you still will have a flip phone.

I understand and God bless you. And you you want to hold on to the old days, you know, and you pull out that flip phone and everybody's looking at you like But do you love Jesus more than these? What are the these in your life? See, there's nothing wrong with these things, but do do you love Jesus more than these things? Or do you love these things more than Jesus? Only you can answer that question. So Jesus said, do you love me more than these? Then the Greek word Jesus uses for love is agape. Which is the highest expression of love.

It is a love that gives and expects nothing in return. It is a love that gives with no strings attached. So Jesus is asking Peter, do you love me with this kind of love? In other words, Jesus is saying, Peter, love must be the motivating factor in serving me. Or you'll be serving me out of duty, not out of love. Or Paul would later say in 1st Corinthians 16 14, he said that everything that you do be done with love. Then Paul lets us in on the secret that motivated him. In 2nd Corinthians 5 14, he said it's the love of Christ that compels me.

Or I have to ask you, what compels you today? Is it money? Is it the next rank? Is it status? Is it to be known? What what what what gets you out of the warm blankets in the morning time and compels you out for the day? What is that? You know, we have to ask ourselves these questions. Paul says it's the love of Christ that compels me, that gets me out of bed, my love for the Lord and his love for me. The love of Christ compels me. And Jesus said that it should be love, agape love that motivates us.

Now, how did Peter respond to this question? Oh, look at the second part of verse 15. He says, you know that I love you. Now, on the surface, it will seem like Peter Peter is answering the the question with a yes. But when you examine what Peter is really saying, lets us in on the heart of Peter at this particular moment. Peter uses the Greek word phileo from which we get our English word Philadelphia, which is the city of brotherly love. And see, the Greek language is more expressive than the English language. All we have is one word for love.

We we all know that there's different kinds and different types of love and the Greeks understood this and they had different words to describe those different kinds of love. You have number one storge. And that describes the parent-child love. Then you had eros that describes sexual sensual love. You have phileo describes brotherly love. And then you had agape. Now, this word agape was not a part of the classical Greek language until the apostles introduced it. Because it it describes selfless love. So often human love is selfish. Agape is selfless love. It's God's love for us.

Something the Greeks knew nothing about. So Peter uses phileo. He he was saying, Lord, you you you you you know I I I love you like a brother. You know, like a brother. We right here. And Jesus responds to Peter by saying, okay, feed my lambs. Feed my lambs. The Greek word for feed is bosko. And it means to feed or to graze or to tend to. And now we must understand that Jesus is restoring Peter back into ministry. And this chapter is so important to Peter and to the Peters throughout history that will fall in ministry.

And if it were not for this chapter, how would we ever know that Peter was restored back into ministry? We wouldn't know without this chapter. Jesus is telling Peter to feed his lambs. The lambs are the little ones. This is why we believe that the best place for those called into ministry is to first feed the lambs in the children's ministry. Why? Because if you can teach children the word of God, you will have no problem with the adults. If you are boring and a poor communicator, oh, they going to let you know about it.

Oh, yeah. I honed in my teaching skills in the children's ministry. I used to have when I taught children's church, I used to have a little puppet. Hurry, kitties, you know, and I had little voices and puppets and all that kind of stuff and I would change the inflections in my voices and use different voices for different characters in the Bible, animated because I had three-year-olds and I all the way to third grade. And I had to make sure that I engaged the three-year-olds. I had to make sure I didn't lose the third graders. And I honed in all these teaching skills.

So when you hear me using different voices and all that all that stuff I learned in children's ministry. Learned it in the children's ministry. Teaching the children. See, some people get up and they give and they think that teaching the Bible is like giving a boring lecture. Like in the universities. Boring boring 30-year-old notes teaching the same mess. No, mm-mm. You got you got to engage and especially when you come to children. Oh, they will let you know youth as well. It's They sitting in, you know, head back on the seat, half awake. Because if you're boring and I 'm telling you if you can engage them, don't think you're going to be all that engaging to adults.

And so I am telling you the best place for preparation is in the children's ministry with the youth as children. They will ask you questions that will cause you to dig dig down to China. Tell you. They will cause you They will ask you questions where you will even question whether you saved or not. You got to engage these kids today. And if you're born and terrible, I'm telling you they will let you know. They will let you know. So those of you who are serving in the children's ministry, youth ministry, God bless you. God bless you.

We You have a special place in my heart. I know for back there feeding and pouring into those kids and they asking you questions and things and Oh my good God bless you. Your labor is not in vain with the Lord. You doing a great work that you're doing and we just very thankful for you here at our church. So that's Jesus tells Peter to feed his lambs. Oh, look at verse 16 because it continues. He said to him again a second time, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me? And he said to him, oh, yes, Lord, you know that I love you.

And he said, well, tend my sheep. Now, Jesus asked Peter a second time, do you love me? Then he said, tend my sheep. Oh, that the word tend in the Greek language is an amazing Greek word is and it's a great word that means to tend to or to shepherd. And so Jesus is saying, feed my lambs, but also I need for you to for you to care for them, to to shepherd them. See, it was the job of the shepherd to not only feed the flock, but also to shepherd or attend to their needs.

See, sheep are not the smartest animals in the world. Thus their needs for a shepherd. And what animal does God compare us to? A sheep. Oh, for some of you, your ego just took a hit cuz you think you all that. You think you're so smart and intellectual and have all the answer. You sheep. You sheep. Thus your need for a shepherd. All we like sheep have gone astray. That's what the scripture says. So it is the job It is the job of the shepherd to make the sheep lie down in green pastures and lead them beside the still waters.

There are times that sheep would fall into a ditch and get stuck in a rut and they would find themselves on their backs and they're unable to get back turned back over un you know, unless the the shepherd came and turned them back over. They would be left on their back and they can die that way. So it was the shepherd's job to make sure that he he restored their souls. Or he leads them the sheep down the right path because sheep will go the same way, feed in the same area and end up getting sick by feeding on the roots and the dirt.

See, it was the shepherd's job to lead the sheep. Because you let the sheep go on their own, they would just go in the same area. And and after feeding on all the the grass that was there, they would just keep feeding on the roots and then they starting to eat dirt and they would get sick. So it was the shepherd's job to lead them by and beside still waters and greener pastures. Oh, it also is the shepherd's job to protect them as they walk through the valley where predators could be lurking ready to attack them.

Then the shepherd had a rod and a staff oh, not only to fight off the predators, but also to guide the sheep, keeping them from the edges of the cliff. What will happen is that that the shepherd would take that little bow peep hook and he would take it and apply the to the side of the uh sheep when he find the sheep near the edge of the cliff and gently apply pressure to get them away from the cliff. Oh, there's time that which sheep have gone over and he's used that hook to grab them to bring them back over to safety.

That was the job of the shepherd. And the shepherd would also anoint the heads of the sheep with oil. He would do this for two reasons. Number one, to keep the bugs and the ticks away. But number two, to keep the sheep from hurting each other when conflict would take place and they would behead but each other, but with the oil on each other's hair, they just roll off each other. So it was the shepherd's job to to do these things. Oh, Jesus Christ, you know is called our good shepherd. He does the same thing in in our lives as well.

Oh, David told us in Psalm 23 verse 1, he said, the Lord is my shepherd. Whenever you can say the Lord is my shepherd, you can use that personal pronoun my shepherd, then and only then can you say, I shall not want or have lack in my life. Then throughout the rest of the Psalm, David gives us what our good shepherd will do for us. Sometimes he has to make us lie down in green pastures. Why? Because we get stuck and in a rut. And Jesus knows that we will get sick spiritually if we continue to feed in the same area.

So he uproots us and makes us lie down in greener pastures. Oh, some of you came to Virginia kicking and screaming. I I ain't want to leave there and I ain't want be here while I hate Virginia. I hate the weather and I hate Virginia. And the Lord has brought you here kicking and screaming because sometimes he has to make us lie down in green pastures. And now you here at our church and you been fed the Bible from Genesis to Revelation chapter by chapter, verse by verse, book by book and you like, I've never been taught like this.

I never heard the word like this. I'm growing so much. I'm taking notes. I can't believe my children how they're growing and we're just growing so much and sometime God has to make us lie down in green pastures. Or he he leads us beside the still waters. Oh, still water speaks of a peace and a tranquility and a quietness of the soul. Many you came here with an unrest unsettled in your soul and you came here and Jesus through his word has settled your heart and given you a peace and a tranquility and a quietness about your life.

And we know all too well that we need Jesus to restore our souls. Oh, please understand who it is who restores our soul. Oh, you can easily go and lay on someone's couch for two or $300 an hour and they can and they can take your problems and tell you why your problem and put it on somebody else, blame somebody else. It's your father, it was your mother, and your father wasn't there, your grandmother did this, your grandfather did that, your uncle did this when you were 12. And you can blame everyone else for two or $300 an hour.

He can take your problem and put it on someone else. But Jesus is the only one that can restore your soul. The soul is God's business. The psyche is God's business. It's always been God's business. That's the word that's used here for soul. It's psyche. That's God's business. But we've gotten so clever as mankind and we've gotten so clever that now psyche or psychology is not the study of the soul, which is its purest definition. Now it's the study of human behavior because now we can look at how humans behave themselves and we can diagnose them and give you answers.

You don't need to go to God because we are the ones who can tell you what's wrong with your soul. When all the time I read here that God is the only one who can restore our souls. The soul business, the psyche business is God's business. It's never been man's business. Freud can't help you. Abraham Maslow can't help you. None of them can help you. That's man trying to help man. The Bible says, vain is the help of man. The soul is God's business. Oh, maybe that's why you still flipped on your back because you trying to get someone else to restore your soul when it's God's business.

Oh, somebody needs to hear that today. And so often we allow sin to tear us up into pieces and we need our souls restored. That word restored just in this purest English definition it means to bring it back to its original condition. Only God can do that. We also get easily spooked out and frightened too. And he promises to be with us as we walk through our valley of the shadow of death. And yes, he uses his rod and his staff on us, keeping us in line, keeping us from going off the cliff and crashing spiritually.

Most definitely, he has to anoint our heads with the oil of his Holy Spirit when circumstances bug us and when people tick us off. And also when we are in conflict with one another, we we we would just roll off instead of causing injury to each other. Or a sign that you need a fresh application of God's Holy Spirit in in your life is when things and people start to bug and tick you off. When you're in conflict with everyone in your life, everyone you come around, the next thing you know, you in conflict and it's always changing jobs because those people on that job, then those people on that job, and then that relationship and them over there and that neighbor and that roommate.

Have you ever wondered the common denominator in all of those things? It's you. It's you that was the roommate. It was you that was the next-door neighbor. It's you on the job. It's you in conflict with them. It's you. It's you. It's you. And you thinking it's them and no, it's you. Or it's just a sign that you need a fresh application of God's Holy Spirit. I always know when the oil of God's Spirit has dried up on my forehead when I'm in conflict with those around me. When I'm in conflict with that woman I sleep in the bed with.

That's my spouse, my wife. I wife. With with with with a ring and and a piece and a piece of paper. And and you went down, got a marriage license and it's recorded with with with the city and the state um that spouse. The The married spouse. Not the pretend you can make your tax-deductible gift online at calvarynn.org or send your gift of any amount to 15553 Warwick Boulevard, Newport News, Virginia 23608 and receive a gift from Calvary Chapel Newport News as our thank you. In addition to your financial support, we ask that you pray for the Word Made Playing broadcast that it touches hearts and generates change in the lives of people around the world.

We pray you've been blessed by God's word today and hope you'll tune in next time to hear the Word Made Playing.