Dalton First United Methodist Church Podcast
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Dalton First United Methodist Church Podcast
God's Recall - Pastor Steven Usry
God's Recall - July 30th, 2023
Have you ever felt the sting of failure so deep it made you question your worth? How about the relief of grace and redemption in your darkest hour? Join us as we journey through Peter's powerful story of resilience and redemption, where even his lowest moments become opportunities for growth. We discuss an intriguing moment when Peter, despite a fruitless night of fishing, follows instructions from a stranger on the beach and is rewarded with a miraculous catch. This moment of recognition, where Peter identifies the stranger as the Lord, sets the stage for a life-altering conversation.
You are listening to the Dalton First United Methodist Church podcast. To learn more about Dalton First United Methodist Church, visit us online at DaltonFUMCcom. We hope that today's message from Pastor Stephen Usry inspires and encourages you.
Speaker 2:I want to say a brief word of welcome to those who are joining with us and worshiping with us online. We are so honored that you've welcomed us into your home and those who are worshiping with us via the televised broadcast. It is something that we never take for granted, and we hope, if you're ever in the area, you will come and worship with us. Next week, I'm going to launch a brand new series. I've never preached a series, a group of messages, at Dalton First. This will be my first time. In the month of August. We're going to focus on the family, and so I want to invite you to join me next week when a new series called Bless this Home. Now, here's the idea, guys. Anytime we launch a brand new series, it is a wonderful moment for you to be able to say, hey, our pastor is doing something new and launching a brand new series on this Sunday. Don't miss out on it. And so I want to invite you, especially as we get ready to roll into the fall and school starts, to get back in session and invite somebody to come to this place, this place that has been a life giving resource in your life. So, inside your worship guide, I want to invite you to turn there with me real quickly. Here's an outline of today's message and the scripture that was just read. In your seat, back in front of you is a pen that's always provided for you to be able to take notes and follow along. I hope maybe that you'll fill in some blank circles from scriptures, maybe even write in the margins some things that you want to hold on to after today's message.
Speaker 2:I drive a Volvo, my wife drives an SUV, an American made SUV. I don't know I'm not going to tell you the manufacturer of it, because here's why I've been driving my Volvo for about six years and I've never gotten a recall on it. But her American SUV we get one about every year. All right, it's a little, and you know you let's happen for you too. Right, you go to the mail I was something that's been recalled and you've got to bring your vehicle in and if you don't do it it can be scary. Right, in her recall she said we've had her vehicle for about six years. I think it's about every year. Six times I've had to take her car into the shop for various things. One thing was the air conditioning system would not work right. It would fail and they need to do something with AC, but that was minor compared to an exhaust system that could set fire in the rear of the vehicle, right, they had to take that in there for that, and there was an issue with the brakes at one moment. There was an issue with the bumper at one moment. So we keep taking that vehicle back, and you've done this before. Thankfully, they do the work for free, right, they're going to make it right. If they've had an issue, they're going to fix the issue that has been there.
Speaker 2:You know, the scripture that we read this morning is the third time Jesus appears after the resurrection, and some people call this Peter's recall moment, this moment of being able to be reset, redirect, meeting with Jesus one more time and being brought back into the fold after after denying Jesus three different times, after a moment of utter failure in his life. And you know what I think this story for you and for me. It certainly has something to teach us about how God operates in our lives, and so, as we dive into John, chapter 21, I want you to not only hear Peter's story, but my hope for you this morning is that you would maybe think about some moments in your life where you've had a moment to reset things with God, a moment to be redirected, a moment to kind of put down an Ebenezer, if you will, and say God met me here again and set me a new right, rekindled our relationship. Certainly, what happened with Peter and, by the way, peter desperately needed it, you know, in your story it says that Peter had said to the disciples I'm going to fish. Peter was a leader and even even when he's at his longest spot, he's still leaving. I'm going to fish. And the other disciples look down and said we'll go with you, we'll go with you. There were six of them, by the way. Six of them went fishing that night and they called nothing all night long.
Speaker 2:By the way, that is one oaring moment to fish through the night and you don't catch anything. Right and frustrating to book. Can you imagine if you're going to put yourself in Peter's place? You've been in a hard place spiritually. Is there such a thing as being spiritually fatigued, spiritually weary? I see Peter in that place, probably dry, probably wounded, probably disappointed with himself and his own denial of the Messiah, and he's in this place and he can't even get good results from the fishing trip, right, nothing is happening all night long. And then all of a sudden this figure appears in the wee hours of the morning, says friends, have you caught any fish? No, we haven't. And then you know the story right, throw the net on the right side of the boat.
Speaker 2:I love this moment in the scripture. Sometimes I see the scriptures like a movie and evidently John was standing right next to Peter when all of a sudden they threw the nets over and the nets got full of fish. And John, the Bible calls him. He calls himself the disciple whom Jesus love Almost Skyler whispers in Peter's ears. It's the Lord, not another word had to be spoken in that moment. When Peter realized what John was saying was true and that Jesus was on that beach, peter grabbed his garment, dove into the water, swam to the shore and, guys, I only wish I knew what happened in the next few minutes in that opening conversation. They're not recording the scripture. We don't know what that reunion was like when Peter was all alone with Jesus on the beach. But what we do know is when the other disciple showed up dragging this net of 153 fish that did not break the net. Did you catch that? The miracle that did not break the net.
Speaker 2:Jesus has got breakfast lined up, right. He's got a fire going. He says bring the fish over. Nobody ever talks about where did the bread come from, right. And Jesus has breakfast prepared, but he has a lot more in his mind than just breakfast, right? And so Jesus, while they're having this meal, begins to ask these questions.
Speaker 2:I bet this is a pretty familiar scripture to you, maybe, where Jesus looks at Peter and says do you love me? Peter says, yes, I love you. It's this intimate moment Feed my lambs, feed my sheep three different times. A lot of scholars have made a lot about the fact that Jesus asking those questions three times is a mirror to the denial that Peter made three different times. I don't know what's all built into that, but I hear Jesus's words, I'm sorry. I hear Peter's words and Peter looks at him for the third time and he says Peter, do you love me? And hurt. Peter says Jesus, you know everything. That takes me back to how many miracles he'd seen Jesus. Do I mean he knew that Jesus knew everything, right? And he says you know everything. Why are you asking me this? Peter looked, jesus looks at him and says follow me, feed my lambs, guys. There's this beautiful picture of how Peter is set back right and set back anew. That I hope you and I will take a few lessons from. So if you have your marge, you're outlining in the margin there or in the nose.
Speaker 2:I just want to point out a couple of simple things this morning, and the first thing I want us to take note of about this passage is notice what Jesus doesn't say. Notice what Jesus doesn't say. Jesus could have said a thousand things to Peter in this moment after he felt betrayed, after he denied him. Let me just mention a few things that Jesus doesn't say. Jesus doesn't look at Peter and say I told you so. I mean, I told you. I told you that you were going to deny me use for up and down, that you would not deny me. I told you you. You, I told you three times before the Rooster crowing. You wouldn't believe me. You know.
Speaker 2:He doesn't say that. What else doesn't he say? Jesus doesn't look at him and say you know what, peter, that was real and that hurt me. He doesn't say that either. I mean, jesus was utterly betrayed, not just by Peter, but by the whole flock of them. Right, but Jesus is not focused on being able to show his knowledge, that he knew something that others knew and wouldn't listen to. He's not interested in showing his own self, you know, into focus on himself. That's not where Jesus is at. Jesus is completely focused on these disciples.
Speaker 2:Here's another thing he doesn't say. He doesn't say, man, you blew it. I mean, you royally blew it and you really, really disappointed me. Peter, I looked at you like you're the leader of the bunch and you blew it. Doesn't say that, by the way. To me, that would be focusing on. I guess maybe Jesus is disappointment. This isn't focused on that, by the way, if every one of us, when we messed up, god looked at us and say, oh, you blew it, he would do that all the time. Right, the Bible says in Romans three there is no one righteous, not even one. All have turned away. I'm so thankful. I'm so thankful that God doesn't when we blow it, he doesn't just look and say, oh, you're useless, you'll never be used again. That was one too many times. Now you're useless. Here's the epiphany for me, when I begin to think about what's not said that Jesus didn't say. All of a sudden, I realized something. Not only is that the way he works, Peter.
Speaker 2:Every time that I've needed a reset, every time that I've made a recall, every time when I had blown it and I needed to be put back on the right track again, he didn't say those things to me. He doesn't say those things to you. He doesn't come and say man, did you mess up royally? You really did in this time, right, god? When we come in our sinfulness and in our need to be fixed because we're broken, he never looks at us and goes oh, you're useless now. Oh, I'm so disappointed. Oh, you really really hurt me. That's not what God does at all. So it means that we should listen here, because he doesn't do that thing. He doesn't say those words. Jesus doesn't condemn Peter in this moment. You hear that there's one scripture that says there is now, therefore, no condemnation for those who have been found in Jesus Christ. Jesus doesn't condemn Peter, and when you come to him in your moment of failure, he doesn't condemn you either. That's not the way it works. What does Jesus do? What is he saying? He makes it personal. He says do you love me? Yes, I love you. Jesus, do something for me. Okay, don't miss that. Don't miss that. You got to get this. Peter could have been doing a million things. What was he doing? He'd gone back to fishing. When times are tough, when we get really low, when our spiritual lives are, do be down, down, down, right, we will oftentimes default back to what we know, and that's what Peter's done. Jesus is looking at him and saying I told you to follow me and I've called you to fish for people, not fish out here in this lake. It was as if Jesus was saying do you love me? If you love me, then you'll feed my people. I love to think of this as the moment where Jesus was also kind of saying and by the way, you're not a great fisherman, right? All that long-yand-call thing, baby, I've been training him for three years, follow me, follow me, notice what Jesus doesn't say and notice what Jesus does say. It's this beautiful invitation to step back into discipleship, step back into following me, step back into walking with me, talking with me. Just because you blew it, it doesn't seal the deal. There's still so much for you to do. One more thing I want you to notice about this passage that we can learn from it. I want you to notice that Jesus is the initiator of this moment, that Jesus is the initiator. It's not Peter that starts this moment. Peter's just out there, being fruitless during the night on a fishing boat. Right, it's Jesus who initiates the recall of this relationship. Why is that very important, guys?
Speaker 2:John Wesley said it this way that God reaches out to us, but we are utterly depraved and if it were not for God's grace and part of us, we wouldn't even be able to respond. The idea that God is the initiator of all relationships, god is always the initiator of covenant, god is always the initiator of forgiveness, and so what we see in this picture that Jesus is initiating a recall moment. Jesus is acting. The Bible says it this way in Romans. But God demonstrates his own love for us while we were still sinners. That's helplessly lost. While we were still sinners, christ died for us. You know, I think there are so many people even hold denominations have been built around people about what they do, what they're doing, their response. Some people even make baptism about how somebody is choosing to be baptism. I want to be baptism, guys, hear me on this. Theologically, we believe that God initiates all relationship and anything we ever do is just simply a response to what he has already done. We love why? Because God first loved us. This picture, this is a beautiful picture of how God is working behind the scenes, drawing us, wooing us, calling us to himself, even before we recognize how desperately we need him.
Speaker 2:Pastor Stephen, how does that happen? I mean, I've been in this moment where my faith felt low and my spirit light felt cold and I felt kind of like my prayers hit a concrete ceiling and I desperately wanted to rekindle my relationship with God, but I didn't know how. How does he work? How does he call me back to himself? It's no different than Peter. Sometimes it's through a situation, sometimes it's through a circumstance, sometimes it's through a person, sometimes it's through an event, sometimes it can be through a sermon, like right now, where you might feel like you're the only person in the room and God's speaking to you.
Speaker 2:Can I tell you, I've been a Christian since I was 11 years of age, gave my life to Jesus when I was 11, called him in the ministry at 13 years of age and I thought to tell you that my journey has been this wonderful straight line. But it hasn't. It hasn't? I zigged and I was zagged, and over and over again, god has been faithful, calling me back to his side and understand it. It's been vast anymore about what God was doing to call me back, pull me back, rekindle me back into relationship, that anything I ever did, I was simply, by His grace, responding to what he already did. So it can be through a million ways. You could stand on the edge of an ocean or see a sunrise or a sunset and all of a sudden being just overwhelmed with the warmth of the love of God and the reminder that God loves you.
Speaker 2:I meet people all the time and they say, pastor, steve, and I just feel so far away. How can I come back to God? This is a beautiful picture. Realize that he is searching for you, longing for you, going after you. So let's get into the house real quickly and I'm going to look a little bit faster, okay. What do I need to do to experience a God recall If you find yourself in Peter's place? Just two simple thoughts I want to give you this morning, and the first one is this write this one down Remember. Remember where God's met you in the past. Remember what God's done for you in the past. Remember those moments where he was so intimate and close to you. Remember those moments, the scripture that I provided for you.
Speaker 2:There is Luke, chapter 5, and it's the moment that Peter met Jesus. Maybe you remember the story, right? Jesus was teaching on the beach. Jesus needs to get out in the water because so many people were there. He looks at Peter and he says I need to borrow your boat. He gets in the boat with Peter. He says put out in the water. Peter says yes, and they put out together Jesus. Peter's never seen this rabbi before, right?
Speaker 2:But all of a sudden, after he teaches for a while, jesus does a miracle. He says drop down the nets. Peter looks at him and says we hadn't caught anything. I told you Peter was a bad fisherman. We haven't caught anything. And then, all of a sudden, when the nets are filled with fish if you remember the story Peter falls on his knees and he says go away from me, I'm an unholy man. And Jesus says to him follow me. From this moment forward, you won't fish for fish, you'll fish for people. Notice this Now, listen, notice this.
Speaker 2:In Peter's recall moment, jesus does the same type of miracle to remind him of where he began and where he is today. Right, it's this beautiful, this beautiful ego of the miraculous catch of fish, early on, when they first met each other, and then later on, when Peter so desperately needs to be recalled and redirected and rekindled. I would say to you there have been so many times in my life where I just needed to lean back into my past and remember what God had done, to remember those moments and ask for him to do those things in my life Again. The power of memory is strong. Did you know that 352 times in the Bible is the word remember? 352 times the Bible says remember. If you actually use a variant of the word remember, it's more than more than 550 times that God says remember, remember. Guys, there is power in memory. But not only that. Don't, don't just remember. You want to recall. You reestablish, right that one down. You reestablish relationship. You reestablish relationship. You do something.
Speaker 2:Peter said do you love? Jesus said do you love me, feed my sheep? So you want to. You want to really see that, that rekindling of your soul, that fiery born inside of you. You do something. You begin to serve, you begin to feed, you begin to love, you begin to read, you begin to pray, you begin to pursue, you begin to talk. When Peter understood that he was forgiven and he understood Jesus was saying I can still use you, let's go. Go, feed my sheep, tin my lambs. Oh, the game was on. Peter would become the leader of the church in Jerusalem. We're the most persecuted spots of all the new Christianity. Peter would become a strong leader, but he needed to be reminded that he was loved and he needed to be reminded that he was forgiven. And then, out of that, he began to serve Church.
Speaker 2:I just want to remind you of a couple of things here today. God loves you. You are eternally loved. The question from this scripture is do you love Jesus? If you do, feed his lambs, tin his sheep, and in so doing, even in your actions, you will meet Christ.
Speaker 2:Let's pray together, god. There's not a one of us in the room who hasn't needed a recall moment. There's not a one of us in the room who hasn't needed a moment to be refired, rekindled and had our relationship with you reestablished. God. You're speaking this over us today because we need to hear of your love and your call to go, follow you into our world. Oh, jesus, be strong and real to us and help us to share you with the world. Help us to be faithful followers of you who understand that, lord, we cannot blow it enough where you will say I'm done with you, that you're not interested in our disappointments or our failures. What you're interested in is calling us to follow you and to walk in your forgiveness. May it be so with each and every one of us. Jesus, give us your spirit and help us follow you boldly. We pray this in your most holy name, jesus, amen.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Dalton First United Methodist Church podcast. If today's sermon resonated with you, we encourage you to share it with someone who might benefit from the message. Join us for worship and stay connected at daltonfmccom. God bless and see you next week.