Community Church Sermons

Year A

June 1, 2014

Easter 7

Taken Where We Don’t Want to Go

John 21:18-22

Dr. Dan Ivins

Interim Senior Pastor

Note: This was the 8:00 service sermon. The 10:15 sermon can be seen on our Youtube site at tellicochurch.com

The Text Says:

Today’s scripture occurs in Jesus’ post-resurrection appearance to the disciples up in the Galilee, where he is in a discussion with Peter about a prediction of his own future martyrdom, the cost of “following me.” Upon hearing his own fate declared by Jesus, Peter “turns to the beloved disciple and asked, “Lord, what about this man?” Jesus rebuked curiosity about the future. He was fully aware of the inquisitiveness that hangs around religion that Jesus knows are not our concern. Jesus advised Peter that his interest should not be with John’s destiny but his own. Our individual paths lie before each of us. It is for us to take it. Other things can wait and many of them are not our concern. A truth which has innumerable applications.

The Preacher Says:

Dr. Dan Ivins, preaching

Our text is the final post-resurrection appearance of the 4^th Gospel, up in the Galilee, featuring a conversation Jesus had with Peter on the seashore: "When you were young, you went about wherever you wanted; no one constrained you. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands and somebody else will take you where you don't want to go; Jesus said this to let Peter know the kind of death he will die.”

Ah, “when we were young!” Those were the days! Jesus takes us back to the good ol’ days, when everything we did was effortless; and we took so many things for granted; like getting up out of a chair or putting on socks. We were young, and free, on “Easy Street.” Reflect on that, because next he turns to the other way... “But when you are old...” Things are going to change. Nothing will work like it used to. Memories will matter more than dreams. “When you’re old,” you have to play with what’s left, instead of what was.

When I lived in Sun City, AZ a retirement community among the elderly, I got a look at what I’ll be like if I live 20 more years. I said when I turned 40, no problem. Couldn’t tell much difference from 30. Then came 50 and I began to slow down, get stiff, had to buy glasses. At 60 it intensified like crazy. Physical problems cropped up; some requiring surgery. That’s when an elderly Texan in her 80's said to this 60 year old whippersnapper: “Just wait! You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!”

Because being old means getting “taken.” It means “stretching out your hands for help and somebody takes you where you don’t want to go.” It can be anything from getting “had” by an internet hoax, to a move to a smaller place. A dreaded trip to the hospital? “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Ah, taken! In myriads of ways it happens. And if you haven’t experienced anything like that yet, you’re either a kid, or lucky! But you won’t identify with those stunning words of realism Jesus spoke to Peter by the sea.

The context has to do with destiny -- John’s and Peter’s. And when Jesus talks destiny, his or anybody else’s, they learned to listen-up! Especially when he’s telling them “how they’re gonna die.” Whatever it is, it’s not gonna be pretty. Jesus had just declared what was going to happen to Peter. Then Peter blurts, “What’s gonna happen to this guy?” And Jesus tersely tells nosy Peter to “mind his own business!” The “beloved disciple” has to walk his own lonesome valley. And Peter, his. But this stuff about “being taken” threw the big fisherman for a loop! He couldn't run away from it because this is Jesus talking. All he could do was accept what could not be avoided. That’s being “taken!”

Can you imagine the impact of having somebody like Jesus say something like that to you? Especially when you know what he says has a way of happening? I sure wouldn’t wanta hear it! "Ah Peter, when you were young, you were a free bird! But when you get old, you'll stretch out your hands and you’ll be taken where you don't wanta go!" And the kind of death you’ll die! Wheeeeew! Strong stuff.

You gotta feel for Peter. He’s a shining example how life will jerk you around. Sooner or later we all will bump into a form of reality that we can't run away from. “Stretch out your hands and somebody takes you.” You don’t wanta go there, but what choice do you have? You’re fresh out of options, control is a joke, and the decision’s made for you. “Taken!”

Most of us are pretty good experts at the art of denial. There are things in our lives that we’re so sure will never happen to us. Back when we were young and vigorous and hadn’t a care in the world. We felt immune to unpleasant things; stuff that happened to somebody else. Old age? The kind of death you’re gonna die? Just distant spots out over the horizon. And as long as we're healthy, and they’re in the distance, how many of us give any thought to being taken? I mean taken so that it leaves its mark forever on your body. Where you’ll never be the same.

Oh you get so tired of being taken by the American Health system. Insurance and hospitals wanting their cash. Still, we’re fortunate to live in a time when something can be done to correct some of what goes wrong. But I won’t even get into the pain. When it won’t go away and you can’t do anything for it. Yeah, I can tell you about being “taken where you don’t wanta go.” It’s a helpless feeling, man.

And the thing that’s never gonna happen to you ... happens. Everything else about life-as-you-knew-it gets put on the back burner. Anytime you’re“taken where you don’t wanta go.” You feel a pit in your stomach as you tumble out of your familiar world into another world, much lower than the one you took for granted: a world with less sunshine and music, filled with darkness, walls and barriers, needles and blood and utter frustration. All accompanied by a telling silence, in which I swear you can hear your heart beating against the back of your skull! More tests, X-rays, hospitals ... it’s not going to get better. Only worse. “But I don’t wanta go there?” “Taken!” Is lay-me-down-surgery that takes a goodly-while to get over. The mind works in two ways at once at the ambiguity. I’ve never looked so forward to something I dreaded so much! You get impatient and numb and ornery and just want to be left alone, but not too alone, and may even wish to die, as sequential thought evades you. A kaleidoscope of strategies flash before you as you close the doctor's door behind you. You’re left staring out at something called “Bilateral?”

“When you were young,” you didn’t have to fool with it. You started out strong and solid, like a rock. Mom did the cooking and laundry, Dad provided pocket change. “But when you grow old,” you come back home with a vulture perched on your shoulder! No human being is exempt from this. It’s just a matter of time. Not even Jesus. That means those of us who believe in his Gospel have no protective door to insulate us from the trauma of "stretching out our hands and somebody yanking us around, where we don't wanta go." There's a few things I'd like to say this morning about when life ambushes us.

One of the hardest lessons for me is learning to wait. Especially somebody like me who’s life is fun and full of activities. Just sitting around, waiting. Can you feel what that’s like? The anticipation plays tricks with your mind and you’re tempted to do too much too soon. And I know better. On this one, I admit, I have to rely upon my friends. Waiting -- on healing, waiting -- on God, waiting -- in doctor’s offices, is not something I do well. But healing takes time. I’d like to fast-forward a few weeks, because I severely underestimated the affects of the assault to the body that doing two at once does. But it’s one day at a time.

When Jesus dealt with the sick folks in his day: sometimes he made some of them well! Other times he didn’t; and instead challenged them to get a life and go on living in spite of the weakness. But most of the time, he stood with them through the pain, healed or not.

In my observation, it appears to me that God cares more about how we manage what can’t be controlled than getting what we want. (John 11:33). That’s the testimony of numerous people of faith who have suffered, is that God is somehow with them in the suffering. That’s why the shepherd Psalm has been such an inspiration for so many for centuries, "For thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me." Just to know somebody’s with you, when you feel so alone, wondering if you’ll ever get well. That somehow, God is there “in the presence of our enemies.” What a resource of encouragement! Faith brings to the believer a mysterious sense of calm and peace when you’re being wheeled-away on a stretcher "taken ... someplace where you don't want to go?"

When my PT guy came to bend and contort, I showed him our steeple out the window. He said “You’ve got something going for you that a lot of my clients don’t have,” a supportive church family. Yeah, my ordeal last month allowed me to see the heart of this congregation. It’s a beautiful thing. They gave me morphine, but what I needed most was hope. My church family gave me that. Our place may not be big numerically, but it’s got a big heart! To be on the receiving end of that is a humbling experience.

Few saints knew this peace like the Apostle Paul, who was constantly being taken places he didn’t want to go, who died in house arrest in Rome. He was stricken with a chronic ailment that he called "a thorn in his side." What it was, we’re not told. Given his personality, my guess is it was a stomach ulcer the size of a tennis ball! He prayed often to have it removed but always it remained. Instead he was told, "My grace is sufficient for thee."

He wanted healing, he was given grace. So it was Paul who wrote, "Suffering begets endurance. Endurance begets character. Character begets hope" (Rom 5:3). Later on he said, "I glory in my infirmities!" (2 Cor. 12:5). Do you think that triumphant spirit had anything to do with this giant-of-a-man whose pain God used to inspire millions for ages?

But more often than not Jesus got himself in trouble healing people. Especially when he did it on the wrong day or in the wrong place, around the wrong people, or forgiving their sins before healing. Often when Jesus healed others, it won him a multitude of friends and alienated a handful of enemies. Which is pretty much par-for-the-course of trying to help people.

“If there be any other way, Father, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will but Thine be done.” Two separate wills competing in the Garden ... and Jesus lost. He drank the cup that he didn’t want to drink from. “Nevertheless, Thy will be done…”

Did even Jesus know about being “taken?” O yeah! But he did it with class. Then there’s hope for us.