If You Love Me - Feed My Sheep
by Pastor Mark Taylor - August 3, 2018
“He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.” (John 21:17)
I am thinking about the many times “feeding” was a part of our Lord Jesus’s ministry. He began His ministry at a wedding providing an important part of a meal - the wine.
He fed the 5,000 men plus the women and children on a mountain and then another 4,000 plus in a field. He ate and drank with sinners and in the homes of the religious leaders. He ate with the disciples daily and prepared them a meal at least twice. One of the first things we will do as “the Bride of Christ” is to attend a great wedding feast in Heaven.
As you can see, being part of a meal is not just a geographical location or being at the same place every time at the same time. It is an action that happens when the sheep are gathered. Our Lord said “where there are two or more gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” (Matthew 18:20). This can be done in small groups in homes as well as in beautiful buildings. The believers attending are the “church” and the non believers who are guests can easily become part of the family of God. People were spiritually and physically fed in homes in the early church and there are many “home churches” throughout the world where the sheep are being fed. Many of the best meals I have had are in the homes of friends and family instead of large restaurants.
There is more than just the “food” involved in these events. We often think of preaching or teaching as “feeding” the sheep. But let’s look at the whole event surrounding the meal. The meal is the gathering of a group of people who want to feel loved and feel they belong. We will seldom remember the menu we ate from, but we will never forget the love and fellowship we experience at a special meal. The words we hear from the Bible are “spiritual food”, but the love coming from the people sharing those words are what will be remembered.
First there is the invitation. Before we can “feed” our Lord’s sheep, we have to invite them to the Lord’s table. There are people hungry for being a part of a meal with friends and family. But most of all we need to invited our Lord Jesus to attend and share during the meal.
Second there is the preparation. The food has been prepared by God Himself in the 66 books of the Bible. But the meal is not just a “one man’s show” where we gather to be entertained by the delivery. This is a time for a group of people to gather and work together. We need a place, we need cooks, we need greeters, we need servers, and we people to clean up. But most of all we need to prepare our hearts for the meal.
Third there is the reason for the meal. It is not just to eat the meal. It is a time of fellowship with each other and our Lord Jesus Christ. It is a time to share and a time to listen. In the days of the Bible a meal was a time when family gathered and invited guests to join them. It was a time of joy and a time of remembering the good things surrounding the lives of the people attending the meal.
Today we go through the fast food windows, get our food and eat in our cars or in our living rooms watching TV. No one is being “fed” what they really need, and that is a time of belonging and interaction.
If we love our Lord Jesus, then we need to provide them with the whole experience of having a meal centered around love. “Feed My Sheep”.
