SUNDAY: THE COMEBACK

My name is René, I'm another one of the pastors here at Twin Lakes Church. So glad to be with you for our fourth Easter service and fifth church service of the weekend. Every service has been full and we have been so grateful to see so many old friends, new friends and enemies, just all kinds of people gathered together. It's been awesome.

Hey in this series seven days what we've been looking at is each day in the final week of Jesus in the weeks leading up to Easter during the Lent period and today appropriately we wrap it up with a look at Sunday. But before I dig into the message there are a couple of very ancient Easter traditions that we want to get involved with here at Twin Lakes Church. And the first one you may have heard of and it's just the pastor when he starts a sermon says Christ is risen and the congregation responds with He is risen indeed. That's right. Now that you know it, let's try it. Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Doesn't that feel so good to say? Can I hear an amen?

And then there's actually another ancient tradition or you're gonna think I'm making this up but I'm not and it's this very very like centuries old tradition goes all the way back to the third century and it's that the pastor starts his Easter homily with a joke. So who am I to buck tradition? Here we go. I'm gonna try this one. So there's a guy you may have heard of this guy. He flies into San Francisco International Airport after a long transcontinental flight. He's exhausted. He grabs his luggage, heads outside to catch his Uber ride, gets into the back of the car and you know it's been a long flight so he just rests his eyes for about 20 minutes and then he's got a question and so he taps the driver on the back shoulder and the driver screams, "Ahhh!" And veers across three lanes of oncoming traffic. He barely misses a telephone pole as the car skids to a halt on the opposite side of the street.

And the rider says, "What was all that about?" And the driver says, "I'm so sorry. This is my first day on the job for the last 30 years I've been driving a hearse." Now... Here's the thing with Easter. We can forget what a shock it was that someone they expected to be dead was alive, right? You know one of the most interesting things to me when you look at the gospel accounts of all of the followers of Jesus is none of them portrays themselves as the lone hero who believed Jesus. Who said, "Remember Jesus Christ? Remember how he used to say on the third day I'm going to be raised from the dead and we all thought that was metaphorical but I think it's actually going to happen. Look, it's sunrise. On the third day everybody gather around the tomb. Let's welcome back the risen Jesus. Three, two, one, welcome Jesus." Not one of them still believes that.

Every single one of the followers of Christ, men and women, they expect that Jesus to do exactly what dead people normally do. Stay dead, right? And when they went to the tomb, as somebody put it, nobody expected no body. When they rolled the stone in front of the grave, they left because it was over. In fact, when people start to say, "It's incredible. I just saw Jesus. He rose from the dead." There's one interesting line that's in the Bible in terms of the responses not of Jesus's enemies or doubters but of the former followers of Jesus Christ. There's one line that captures their response over and over and over again and it's this, "They did not believe it."

And I say this because we tend to think that Easter is the holiday for true believers, right? Who without a doubt believe all this stuff. But really if you look at the first gospel narratives, like in the Bible, really Easter is for not so sure believers and sometime believers and fallen believers and even unbelievers because that's what all of the first disciples were like. Starting with the biggest failure and most spectacular Jesus denier of them all. And I bring up this, one of the things I love about Easter is that if you wonder, like you came in the door, maybe somebody invited you or something or you haven't ever been here before and you wonder, "Do I really belong here?" You know, in this church place because I have doubts on that. I'm uncertain about things and I've made some slip ups. You are going to love this because that's exactly who Jesus rose for.

So what we're going to do is we're going to look at the classic Easter narrative in the Gospel of Mark chapter 6 just verses 1 through 7. And then I want to zero in on one line in one verse, just one person and one story. But here's the way the story starts. When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother James and Salome brought spices so they could go and anoint him. And this was part of the embalming process. In other words, they brought spices so they could anoint his dead body. They didn't bring, you know, snacks so they could refresh his resurrected body. Nobody expected nobody.

But very early in the morning on the first day of the week, they went to the tomb at sunrise. And they were saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone from the entrance to the tomb for us?" And looking up, they noticed that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. And when they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side and they were not delighted. They were not reassured. They were not convinced. What Jesus said the whole time, wow, that was not metaphorical. That was literal. No, they were alarmed because they were thinking this is some kind of a grave robber.

Don't be alarmed, he told them. You're looking for Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified. He has risen. He's not here. See the place where they put him. And now here's the verse I want to zero in on. But go, tell, I love this, tell his disciples and Peter. Tell his disciples, and say that phrase that's highlighted out loud. Tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee. Galilee is the northern lake region where Jesus first called all these guys out of being like fishermen and tax collectors to be his followers. He's going to go back there and you will see him there just as he told you.

Now my question is why did he say it this way? Tell the disciples and Peter. Peter was one of the disciples. In fact, Jesus had chosen Peter to be the leader of the disciples. No, go tell the disciples, but especially make sure you tell Peter why. His story is amazing. Let's rewind back three days earlier. Remember it's the Last Supper and Jesus told them all of you will desert me. And as is typical of Peter, the cocky, arrogant, loudmouth who's always the first to speak. Excuse me, Lord. You know, Jesus is making his final speech to the disciples. Excuse me, your attention please everybody because our Lord and Savior is only half right. Lord, even if everyone else falls away, they're sitting right behind him. He's completely throwing these guys under the bus. Even if all these jokers fall away, I will not. It's not going to happen. You're talking to Peter. You're talking to the rock.

And Jesus replied, I tell you the truth, Peter. This very night before the rooster crows twice, you will deny not once, not twice, but three times that you even know me. And Peter dares. What gall? He contradicts Jesus again. Nope, not going to happen, Lord. You may be even the Messiah, but you got that wrong. So what happens? Well, at first it looks all right because Peter's arrested rather Jesus is arrested. He's abducted and Peter does follow him. He doesn't deny him at first. He follows him at a distance right into the courtyard of the high priest. And he sat with the officers and warmed himself by the fire. Don't miss that detail. Why is that detail even in there? I can tell you having just been in Israel a little more than a week ago, Jerusalem gets cold this time of year, but there's another reason for that detail.

Then something happens. A teenage girl kind of for some reason is being very, very mean to Peter. And she says, hey, servant girl, aren't you one of his disciples? No. I never heard of the guy. And this teenage servant girl kind of pursues this line of questioning, but I saw you with him. I said, I never heard of the guy. And then what does she do? She goes and talks to some other people who say, yeah, I think she's right. I'm pretty sure I saw you. And then the Bible says, he, Peter, started to curse and swear. I don't know this man you're talking about. Now I read this and I'm kind of willing to give him a break because mean teenage girls can be scary. I mean, I'm scared of them. Okay. But this is even worse than it sounds because the original Greek, therefore curse is the root word for anathema ties. And this is like the worst word you could possibly say to somebody. Think of the absolute worst swear word and string it together with all the other bad swear words. This was like that bad.

Why? Because it meant something that's kind of rated PG-13 or R, but I really, I debated how to express this in church because I knew Easter we'd have a lot of kids here. Let me put it this way as one Greek dictionary delicately puts it. This word means divine damnation to perdition. Except you got to know Peter was not saying, well, divine damnation to perdition. You know, he was very much more how shall we put it? Fishermanly in the way he expressed this now. And here's the thing. Language experts say that the way the Greek sentence order is constructed. Peter is either saying this of himself calling down damnation on himself and his soul or, and this is the more likely reading. Are you ready for this? He is saying this about Jesus who is being tortured within eyesight. He is saying, you know what? God can damn him to hell. I don't know him.

Immediately a rooster crowed a second time and Peter remembered when Jesus had spoken the word to him before the rooster crows twice. You will deny me three times and he broke down and wept. Thinking I am unfaithful, unreliable, untruthful, untrustworthy, unworthy to be a disciple. And then he quits. Did you know that? Peter actually quits. What happens is the gospel of Mark ends soon after this, but the gospel of John picks up the story in John 21. Look at it starting in verse 3. I'm going fishing. Simon Peter told the disciples. Now what had been his job three years early? A fisherman. Do you see what he's doing here? He's quitting and going back to his old job. Probably because like I'm not worthy to be a disciple anymore and anyway it's all over. I'm going fishing.

And the disciples said, we'll go with you. And I've always thought to myself they probably said that because remember one of their 12 had just taken his own life. Judas because he'd been in despair over how he had denied Jesus Christ and betrayed him. So I kind of feel like Peter's community is going, yeah, we're going to come along with you. Make sure you don't do anything drastic here. So he goes back to fishing and he said, failure even at that. So they went out, it says, and got into the boat but caught nothing that night. Peter's like, I can't do anything right. All the wheels are falling off. It's just nothing's working.

And as they're out there kind of in desperation, kind of aimlessly floundering about into the boat, they see in the early morning mist there's a, there's a one person on the shore of the lake. And they can't quite make him out, but he calls out to them, hey fellas, caught me fish. No, they replied. He could just kind of hear the irritation in their voice. He goes, why don't you try this? Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you're going to find some. And they look at each other and they must have thought, well, that sounds familiar because that's the kind of miracle that Jesus used to get our attention three years earlier. And they kind of shrug like, well, it's worth a try. And so they do an instantly fish stream into that net so full they can't even lug it back onto the boat. And the boat's like going in circles.

And John, one of the disciples looks at Peter and he says, that's got to be a Lord. And the ball says, it's a funny detail. Peter just cannonballs into the water and just swims to shore. And John writes in his gospel, leaving the rest of us to lug the boat back into shore. And when they landed, they saw fire of burning coals there with fish on it and some bread. I got to show you something that I thought was so cool. Last time we were in Israel filming for a book I'll be writing on Peter, we saw something amazing. We just happened across the serendipitously or providentially. And some fishermen had been fishing for tilapia, which is the fish that the disciples would have been fishing for with a boat with nets in it. And their friends on shore had made a fire and were cooking a meal for them.

And so I had to whip out my phone and I asked him, can I take a picture of your fire? They looked at me like I was crazy, but I said, I really want to do this to help you, this Easter. Picture this story. Don't miss this. The risen Jesus is back from the dead with resurrection power. And he doesn't float down from heaven with thunder and lightning and point his hammer to the disciples and say, "How dare you deny me?" No, he shows up and says, "How would you like your toast?" What's this tell you about Jesus? He's saying to the disciples, "I still care for you, even though you've denied me, even though you all abandoned me in my hour of greatest need, even though I warned you against it. I still care."

But it gets even better because the word used there for coals. That comes from the Greek word anthracia. That's where we get our English word anthracite. That exact word is used only twice in the Bible. Here, in John chapter 21, and in the courtyard fire where Peter denied Jesus. Jesus is deliberately making the same exact kind of fire. Looks the same, smells the same as the fire around which Peter cursed him. Now, why do you think Jesus did that on purpose? Well, he knows how we're made. He knows that smells bring back emotion. They bring back memory. Like, for example, for me, you know how Crayola crayons have a distinctive smell? That's the smell of childhood for me, right? Or the smell of old school copper-toned sunscreen. That's the smell of summer. Or the smell of pipe tobacco for me. That is my Uncle Carl. Or how about that new car smell, right? Every time I tell my wife, Lori, hey, listen, we need a new car. I got to get rid of this old beater. She gets me new car air freshener and just calls it a day. So that's all right.

Well, for Peter, a charcoal fire equaled failure. It smelled like disaster. And so Jesus is saying, smell that? Let's redeem that memory. And I envision Peter and Jesus staring into the fire. You know how you can have some great conversations staring into a campfire? And Jesus says not, will you promise never to do that again? Will you promise to try harder? Not, you know, you have really not lived up to the potential I saw in you. He says, do you love me three times? And that is a very vulnerable question to ask, isn't it? Have you ever asked somebody, do you love me? There's only one reason to ask that question. If you love them. The risen Jesus is saying, I still love you. I still invite you into relationship with me.

Maybe today you feel awkward being here because it's been so long. And maybe you think, but I've done so many things I regret. And what he's saying is, do you still love me because I've been waiting for you without stretched arms and breakfast? Well, meanwhile, back of the fire, Peter says, Lord, you know everything about me. You know that I love you in between the lines, even though I mess up. And Jesus says, then Peter feed my sheep again, three times, once for every time Peter denied him. He's saying, Peter, I still have a plan for you. Stop benching yourself.

And I was thinking, isn't it strategic that Jesus shows this kind of a spot to reinstate Peter? The very region where he first called Peter, he's saying, Peter, listen, I called you out of being a fisherman at this lakeshore three years ago and now knowing everything I know about you, I would choose you again. In fact, I chose you then, I choose you now, and I will never unchoose you. And the risen Jesus is here with the same message for you. I chose you, I choose you still, and I'll never unchoose you.

But I've relapsed, but I backslid, but I'm not sure about everything I used to be sure about in my faith. Do you love me? Then come on, I got an adventure for you. The risen Jesus is here, and you know what I kind of feel like he's telling me as a pastor? He's saying, go tell his disciples, go tell those Christ followers at Twin Lakes Church, and especially tell, and you can just fill in your name there, especially tell Gary, make sure Sophia hears this, make sure Helen knows this is for her, especially tell Marco, especially tell René, I still care for you, I still love you, I still have a plan for you.

Listen, I feel like right now so many people are in such despair and feeling like their life is over. What I'm going to do for the next six weeks is really lean into this idea. We're starting a new series called Your True Self based on the first couple of chapters of Ephesians. And it's about this, it's about hearing God's voice telling you, you have a destiny, and you've been chosen, and you are loved. I really hope you can join us. You listen enough to the other negative voices, come and hear God's voice telling truth for you, telling you I still care for you, I still love you, I still have a plan for you.

You know what? I bet if Peter himself were here, I think, while I was thinking, he'd just run up and grab my microphone from me, first of all, knowing Peter. And then he would say, listen to me everybody, listen. Maybe you used to be a Jesus follower or you used to go to church, but you had some doubts and you did some stuff and you wonder if it's for you anymore. He would say, been there, but I know Jesus is alive. And he is not asking, will you try harder? He's just saying, man, do you love me because I love you? Let's go on an adventure together.

See, the resurrection makes this promise. The worst thing is never the last thing. Not your failures, not your relapses, not your doubts, not even your death. I want to wrap up with a story I love to tell at Easter. A Chicago pastor described his very first day of Little League Baseball. And he said this is one of the most life shaping events of his childhood. And here is how he told it.

He says, my first ever Little League Baseball game, all my relatives showed up to watch. It was a field in the middle of Nowheresville, Iowa. And he says, I was the youngest guy on the team, the least skilled on the team, and I played right field. And even when you're eight, you know why you're in right field. Because in the recorded history of Little League, never has a ball ever been hit to right field. He says, I came up to bat three times and struck out every single time. Until last inning, bases loaded. Our team behind by one run, two outs, and I was up. I walked what seems like 50 miles to home plate. And the second I looked up toward the pitcher, I knew I was toast. Because that pitcher stood at least six feet, nine inches, and had a full beard. At least that's what a 10-year-old looked like to an eight-year-old.

And he winds up, and I don't even see his first pitch. I just hear it, whoosh, strike one. I haven't even moved my bat off my shoulder. Second pitch, whoosh, strike two. I step out of the batter's box, and I tapped my shoes with my bat. I didn't know why. I'd seen it done before. He said, then I made my big mistake. He said, I looked around, and I saw on their team's side 200 people standing up and screaming for me to strike out and lose the game. On my side, 200 people, including all my relatives who'd come to see me, screaming for me to get a hit and win the game. He said, I'm eight years old. I never felt that kind of pressure in my life. And so I said to myself, I got to get a hit. I got to get a hit. And I got up there, determined to remember everything I'd been taught, and I actually started swinging during the pitcher's windup, and I swung as hard as I could, and I missed. Heard the ball thunk, umpire say, strike three, you're out, game over. Huge cheer from 200 people, audible groan from 200 other people.

And I walked down to the dugout, pulled my hat over my eyes, put my head in my hands, and just sobbed. I heard the gravel crunch underneath car tires as people pulled out of the parking lot. Then everything got quiet. Crickets. Until I heard the noise from the pitcher's mound. Thunk. And a voice. Hey, son, get back up. Game ain't over. I pulled up my cap and looked out, and there on the pitcher's mound stands my dad wearing a mitt. My relatives were all in the field waiting for the game to restart. My Aunt Emma was out in lift. My athletic Uncle Todd was in center. Two toddlers wearing diapers were waddling around the infield aimlessly.

He said, I sheepishly walked over to the plate. My dad throws a pitch. Everybody starts cheering, and I miss. He throws again, and I miss again. And about 15 pitches later, by accident, whack, I knocked it into left field, and I stood at home plate admiring what had just happened. And my dad says, what are you doing? Run. Oh, okay, where's first base? I'd literally never been there. So I ran over just in time to see Aunt Emma throw the ball into center, and I thought, cool, I got a double. Run to second base just in time to see Todd, my Uncle playing center, throw the ball into right where there's nobody. And so I round third, sprint door to home, dive for the plate, slide across, jump up, and I see him, five feet in front of me. My dad, down on one knee, tears streaming down his face as he holds out his arms and says, son, welcome home. You are safe. And I throw myself into his arms as he picks me up and whispers in my ear, told you the game wasn't over.

And as the sun set on this little baseball field in Nowheresville, Iowa, my relatives ran onto the infield and carried me off on their shoulders, cheering. And he says, that day turned into one of the best days of my life. Isn't that a great story? Well, I believe your heavenly Father brought you here today to say those words, my son, my daughter, you can get back up. The game is not over. Because on Good Friday, Jesus took your sins to the cross, and on Easter, he stepped out of the tomb with new life for you. Welcome home. You are safe. Amen.

Praise God. Let's pray together. Would you bow your heads with me? Heavenly Father, thank you for the words and the power of the resurrected Jesus. Thank you for forgiving us all of our sins and giving us the power and promise of new life. And God, no matter what we've done or what we've thought or what we've said, thank you that you say to us, I love you, I care for you, and I have big plans for you. And we want to follow you into hope and purpose and resurrection. In your name we pray, amen. Let's all get to our feet.