4/12/09 He Knows My Name

If you were with us last week,

you know we spent our time together

looking at the triumphal entry of Christ

into the city of Jerusalem

just 5 days before His crucifixion.

We saw how that great march,

that great movement,

that great mass of cheering people,

all proclaiming Jesus as their King,

had nothing to do with the real work of God among us.

In fact, I went so far as to say that in Christ

there are no masses,

no marches,

no rallies,

no movements.

There are only individuals.

In Christ

everything is intensely personal,

individual.

He never has been seeking great groups of ardent followers,

He has been seeking only individuals,

each with his or her special name,

and special place in His heart,

and in His plan.

We sing a song here at PBF

that has words that capture this truth powerfully.

It is a song that, I think,

affected many of us deeply

the very first time we sang it.

I have a Maker, He formed my heart

Before even time began

My life was in His hand.

He knows my name

He knows my every thought

He sees each tear that falls

And hears me when I call.

I think that song has the ability to affect us so deeply

because it puts into words

a truth we long to be able to believe

but almost don’t dare accept

because it seems too good to be true.

Could it really be

that there are no masses,

no groups,

no movements in the heart of God?

Could it really be

that there are only individuals,

each with their own special place,

special purpose,

special value?

Could it be that I really am as highly valued by God

as Billy Graham

or the Apostle Paul?

This is Easter morning,

the day when we traditionally focus on

the one event that changed both human history

and countless human lives forever -

the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Usually we focus mostly on the resurrection itself,

and on the events immediately surrounding it.

But I want us to spend today

looking at another incident

that took place a few days following the Resurrection.

We don’t know how many days,

though I think it is likely

that it was about two or three weeks

following the first Easter Morning.

I know we typically think of the appearance of Christ following the resurrection

as being something that took place

exclusively,

or at least primarily

on that first day,

the Sunday following His crucifixion.

And He certainly did show Himself

to several of His followers that first day.

There was His appearance to Mary Magdalene,

and then to Peter,

and then later that evening to two unnamed disciples outside of Jerusalem,

and then

to 10 of the 11 remaining apostles.

But that was simply the beginning

of a series of appearances

that stretched over the next 40 days.

For more than a month

Jesus appeared to every one of His followers,

allowing each of them to verify for themselves,

beyond any doubt whatsoever

that He was alive,

He was real,

He was indeed literally risen from the dead.

And, as far as we can tell,

most of those appearances

were not in Jerusalem,

but back in the small towns and villages surrounding the Sea of Galilee,

back in the rural communities

where He had spent most of the past four years of His life prior to the crucifixion.

We don’t know a lot of detail

about those 40 days between His resurrection and His physical departure from this earth,

but several things are clear.

First of all, He wanted to use those days

to make certain every one of His people

had no doubts whatsoever

about His literal,

physical return from the dead.

Luke simply says that during those days

...He also presented Himself alive, after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days, and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God...(Acts 1:3)

Many convincing proofs...

We know too

that He wanted most of this to take place

outside of Jerusalem,

away from the hostile forces

that had just tried so hard to destroy Him.

He wanted time with His people.

And, even though He did appear to them that first day,

while they were still all gathered in Jerusalem,

even before He saw them personally

He sent word to them through the angels at the tomb

that they were to return to Galilee

as soon as possible,

promising them that He would see them there.

But as I read the accounts we have

of the things that took place during those 40 days,

I see something else taking place as well,

something we would not as easily understand,

looking back on those events 2000 years later.

I believe the Lord was also using those 40 days

both to remove some destructive flawed expectations of His followers,

and to replace them

with strong confirmations

of the ground-rules that would govern His relationship with His people

between His resurrection

and 2^nd coming.

Apart from the contacts that took place

on the day of the resurrection itself,

we are given an in-depth look

at only one of the numerous contacts Jesus had with His followers

during those 40 days.

It’s recorded for us in the 21^st chapter

of the Gospel of John.

And to help us better understand

what was happening in this remarkable resurrection appearance of the Lord,

I want to try to take us back to that day

and see if we can walk through it with Peter and the other Apostles who were there.

Once again Peter was a mess.

So many things in his life

were so absolutely wonderful,

and yet some other things,

some really big things

were simply not going the way he thought they should go.

Well, actually,

it was just one really big thing - it was the Master.

To have Him back again,

to have seen Him after His crucifixion

and to have heard His words of forgiveness and His bold proclamation of victory was incredible.

But once again

He just wasn’t doing things

the way Peter knew they should be done.

Now at last it was obvious to Peter

that Jesus was ready and able

to march into Jerusalem

in all of His resurrected glory

and establish the long-awaited kingdom of God.

And yet,

after days of waiting,

nothing was happening.

Apart from Jesus’ continued unpredictable appearances

to a few followers here,

and a few followers there,

everything was once again on hold.

There were a lot of things Peter was very good at,

but waiting wasn’t one of them,

and this waiting was making him crazy.

He and the other disciples tried to talk through

the same unanswerable questions

they had been talking through for the past two weeks.

When was Jesus going to march once again on Jerusalem?

Why was it taking Him so long to organize his followers?

What could they do in preparation

for what they knew would be the immediate establishment of His kingdom here on earth?

No one had any answers.

That often happens

when no one is asking the right questions.

In the end a grumpy, irritable silence fell across the group.

Peter hated silence.

Peter hated inactivity.

Peter hated not knowing what was going to come next.

He hated the feeling of having no control over his future.

And now, another whole day was nearly gone,

with still no clear direction.

Finally, when he could stand it no longer,

Peter sprang to his feet and blurted out,

“I’m going fishing!”

For several seconds

everyone in the room stared at Peter in stunned silence.

Three years earlier

Peter, Andrew, James, and John

all stood together on the shores of Galilee

as their Lord called them away from their nets,

their boats,

and their petty little aspirations for life.

And now Peter was going back,

for no other reason than because Jesus wasn’t doing things

the way Peter thought they should be done.

Peter had always been able to lead men,

even when he was going the wrong direction,

and within a few minutes

everyone else in the room agreed

that a little night fishing was just what they all needed

to take their minds off the frustrations of the day.

It was a perfect night for fishing.

A warm, gentle breeze was blowing

and a full moon gave them plenty of light.

It was perfect, except for one thing -

there were no fish.

Peter and the others cast their nets from the side of the boat

again, and again, and again.

But when the first rays of the morning sun

broke over the horizon,

Peter finally cast his empty net on the deck of the boat

and dropped down in an exhausted heap next to his comrades.

The lack of fish was discouraging, of course,

but it wasn’t the real problem.

I wonder if you know what it’s like.

There was Peter,

sitting where he should not be sitting,

doing what he knew he had no business doing,

like a little boy angry with his daddy,

hiding behind the house,

hoping with everything inside him

that daddy loved him enough

to come find him,

` and bring him back inside again.

And then, all of the sudden,

they heard that voice from the shore.

“Children, you don’t have any fish do you?”

They all sprang to their feet,

straining to see the person calling to them

as John called back, “No...no fish.”

Then the man spoke again,

“Cast your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you’ll find a catch.”

Peter knew that voice.

He’d been here once before

and he knew what was coming.

He sprang to his feet,

grabbed his net,

and flung it over the side.

And all of the sudden the sea began to boil

with hundreds and hundreds of fish

each one fighting with the others

for the high honor of doing the bidding of its Creator.

Even before John bellowed, “It’s the Lord!”

Peter was over the side of the boat and churning his way to shore.

The others stayed with the boat

and the bulging net of fish,

slowly paddling their way to the beach.

When Peter reached the shore,

at first neither he nor the Lord said anything.

Peter shivered as he stood there,

feeling foolish,

and silly,

and wonderful all at the same time.

Daddy loved him enough to come find him.

Jesus smiled and nodded toward the fire.

The warmth and the smell of cooking fish was wonderful.

As soon as the boat was beached

Jesus suggested they grab a few more fish from the net

so that they could all have breakfast together.

The breakfast the seven of them shared

on the beach

that day was, I think,

as close to perfection as any of them would ever experience on this earth.

They talked and laughed

about the ridiculous fishing venture of the previous night,

with lots of comments

about whose really dumb idea it had been.

They ate until they were stuffed,

and when the food and conversation finally ran out,

they stretched out in the warmth of the mid-morning sun.

Of course, it wasn’t the food,

or the warmth,

or the laughter that made it so intensely, painfully good.

It was just being there with Him.

He stayed with them longer that morning

than at any other time

between His resurrection and His final departure.

There was something He wanted them to know,

something crucial,

something upon which

everything else in the future depended.

He wanted them to know that,

though many things were now

very different from what they had been

before the resurrection,

one thing remained the same -

His being with them was still

His greatest joy and highest priority.

He wasn’t just stopping by

to check up on His men.

He wasn’t policing the troops

to make sure they were ready for battle.

He wasn’t there primarily

to communicate some profound new truth.

He wasn’t laying out battle strategies

for conquering the world.

He was simply doing the one thing

He wanted to do most of all -

He was being with His people.

Every one there that morning felt it.

His sharing in their silly little jokes

and joining in their laughter

and their conversation,

poking at fish still too hot to eat,

and then stretching out next to them

in the morning sun -

those things were as important to Him

as anything else they would ever share together.

In a thousand quiet ways

He told them again and again

that it wasn’t what they were doing that brought Him joy, it was just them.

Those of us who were not there

would, perhaps, find ourselves thinking

that Jesus’ departure from this earth following His resurrection

must have left

a tremendous emptiness and void

in the lives of His disciples.

Remarkably, there is not even the slightest hint of this in the New Testament records.

And I believe I know why.

Jesus Himself had told them what they would discover themselves-

‟But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I don’t go away, the Helper shall not come to you; but if I go, I’ll send Him to you.”

When He was still with them,

in the flesh,

He was limited to the physical body in which He lived.

He could talk with only one person at a time.

He could focus on only one individual need at a time.

If He was talking with John,

or with Andrew,

or with James,

then He could not be talking with Peter.

But now after His departure,

after His freedom from the limitations of His earthly body,

He lives in the personal presence

of every one of His people

every second

of every hour

of every day of our lives.

I have a Father, He calls me His own

He'll never leave me

No matter where I go.

He knows my name

He knows my every thought

He sees each tear that falls

And hears me when I call.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ

was about a lot of things.

It was about God publicly confirming the death of Christ

as an acceptable and adequate sacrifice

for the sins of the entire human race.

It was about God displaying for all of us who would turn to Him as our God

that He has already conquered death for us forever.

It was about His giving us

just a tiny peak into our own future,

a tiny glimpse into what He has in store for each of us

just over the horizon of our own departure from this world.

And it was also about His making His life with each of us intensely personal.

I find it remarkable that

the one incident we have preserved for us

from those 40 days between the resurrection and the departure of Christ

is not a mass rally in the center of Jerusalem,

it is not an organized march through Israel.

It is Jesus poking hot fish, and stretching out on the warm sand

on an isolated beach with His friends.

He never has wanted you as part of the crowd,

part of the congregation.

What He wants is you personally,

individually with Him forever.