Our relationship with other people can and does take many forms,
spouses, children, siblings, co-workers, neighbors, tennis partners,
bridge players, hiking buddies.... many forms. But if, for example,
one of your golf foursome fails to turn up, hasn’t told you anything
about it, if your bridge partner absolutely baffles you with the
calls he is making, if your neighbor doesn’t mow his lawn, if your co-
worker slacks on the job, you don’t ask, “Do you love me?” Such a
question can only be provoked when a deep, personal intimate
relationship is involved. Indeed, it is only asked when there is some
doubt about the relationship.

In this gospel incident, obviously Jesus had some doubt about the
relationship of Peter and himself. Good reason to ask. You remember
that Peter had once said, “I will die with you, Lord.” And then, in
the Garden of Gethsemane, he went so far as to draw a sword in
defense of his Lord and to cut off the ear of one of the men come to
arrest Jesus. But then, we know that, when it came to crunch time,
Peter was a coward and backed away from all his grandiose statements,
denied ever having even heard of this man, Jesus of Nazareth. So
there was good reason for Jesus to ask multiple times, “Do you love
me?” Then, Peter’s present protestation of love was later proved
truly genuine, when he was to lay down his life rather than to deny
his Lord again.

What application might all of this have for us? Well, first, I hope
and pray that we may never have to ask a loved one, or have a loved
one ask us, “Do you love me?” I hope and pray that we may never have
to hear Jesus ask us, “Do you love me?” What could possibly provoke
such a question from one who loves us, from Jesus who loves us? A
breakdown in communication, a slow erosion of intimacy. In the case
of Jesus, that breakdown, that slow erosion of intimacy may well
result from a neglect of prayer. For any relationship to not merely
survive but to flourish, we have to spend time with the people we
love ....good, quality time, intimate time. And such time spent with
God we call prayer. Without prayer, there can be no real genuine
intimacy with Jesus. And we run the risk of having him ask us, “Do
you love me?”

Later on, Peter proved his faithfulness, even to the point of
martyrdom. The proof asked of us is usually not so drastic, but can,
in its own way, be difficult. You remember that Jesus said, “Whatever
you do for the least of my brothers and sisters you do for me. I was
hungry and you gave me to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me to
drink. I was naked. You clothed me. I was sick and you visited me,
and so on.... Whatever you do for the least of my brothers and
sisters, you do for me. That is called “compassion.” And it’s from
the Latin words that mean “suffering with,” suffering with someone,
being intimately involved in the person’s life to the point of
feeling what the other person is feeling, and acting accordingly.
Compassion. And it’s not always easy to exercise compassion. There
may be times when we’d be inclined to say, “Well, that person really
doesn’t deserve my compassion.” Have I deserved the compassion of
Jesus? No. But Jesus shows compassion to all. And Jesus wants to see
that in me. And that’s the question we’ve to ask ourselves, “Does
Jesus see that compassion in me? Does that way we relate to our
fellow human beings make it clear that we really do love Jesus?” I
would sincerely hope so, and, if it does, then we will never have to
risk hearing Jesus asking us that question, “Do you love me?”

Rather, we will have the joy of having Jesus say to us, “Come on!
Let’s go fishing!” Let’s go fishing. Do you remember he said “I will
make you fishers of men.” We will be sharing by our compassion, by
the way we treat other people. We will be sharing in the ministry of
Jesus and that ministry was to bring people to a realization of the
love of God for them. How else is anyone going to experience the love
of God if it is not through other people, through us? That’s the only
way that people are going to experience the compassion and the love
of God, when they experience it from us. It was through the sharing
of food that the risen Jesus revealed himself to Peter and his crew.
It will be through a similar sharing of what we have that Jesus will
be revealed to be alive and present and active in our world today.
And it will be in response to such a revelation that every creature
in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, everything
in the universe, will cry out to the one who sits on the throne and
to the lamb, “Be blessing, honor, glory and might forever and
forever!” Amen.