Pastor’s Corner – May 4, 2025
Do You Love Me?/John 21:1-19
When I’m out socially people I meet often ask me about my belief in God, since they assume I’m a “man of the cloth.” They are curious as to how one can still have a religious belief in a post-modern age. In general they are not wrong in asking this question since so much of religion has been a creation of systems of beliefs that seem outdated as fantasy. And religion has often been the root of conflict, weaponized as a tool of oppression. My simple response; it’s not about believing in God, but loving God!
Let me explain. It’s not a question of the existence of God, nor orthodox belief systems, but that which is fundamentally the very thing that holds life together in meaningful ways — love. As I often share my favorite passage from I John 4:16, “God is love and those who abide in love abide in God and God abides in them.” In the end what matters is what we do from love rather than what we say or believe in. This is inclusive and universal, even if one claims to be an atheist. There is room for everyone, and we certainly don’t have a monopoly on God with Christian claims!
In our post-resurrection scene this coming Sunday Jesus asks Peter, “Do you love me?” The disciples returned to their occupation as fishermen. Their journey with Jesus must have felt like a dream. They returned to what was familiar to them after the trauma in Jerusalem. Now back in their home village, nothing was the same anymore. They were restless, no fish caught, and exhausted. Then they heard the voice of Jesus from the shore. They caught their net full of fish. Jesus prepared breakfast for them and they ate together in silence. Then Jesus asked, “Do you love me?”
This coming Sunday I want to explore with you this important question we all must ask ourselves and what that means. Was Jesus simply romantic or was he pressing a question that demands all that we are, to love God and to love our world as God loves us? I invite you to the shore of Galilee to have breakfast with Jesus and find ourselves pondering the question of love, the power that gives life and meaning. Amen.
Dae