I heard this story several years ago, and it has recently come to mind, of a little girl who had a toy pearl necklace. These plastic pearls were her most treasured possession. She wore them everyday and even slept in them. They made her feel like a princess.
One night, as her daddy was tucking her into bed, He asked her this question, “Honey, do you love me?”
The little girl replied, “Oh daddy, of course I love you.”
“Will you give me your plastic pearls?” the father then asked.
She got a horrified look on her face and covered her plastic pearls with her hand. “But daddy, these are my greatest treasure! I can't give them to you.”
“It's ok,” her father assured her. “You don't have to. I know you love me and I'll always love you.” He kissed her goodnight and left the room.
The father repeated this request for the next several nights, all with the same response from his daughter. Finally, one night, when he entered her room, she was sitting on the edge of her bed with both fists holding something tightly. The little girl had tears streaming down her cheeks, and she looked up at her daddy, saying, “Daddy, I really do love you, and I am going to give you my pearls.” With that, she held out her open hands with the plastic pearls inside. The father gently took the pearls and put them in his pocket. Then, he reached into his back pocket and took out a beautiful real pearl necklace and put them around his daughter's neck.
In a very real sense, we initially turn over our lives to Christ, fake pearls in exchange for the heavenly pearls of salvation, His life for ours. Worthless and futile is exchanged for eternal and infinite value and heavenly purpose. We celebrate and sing. We tell others in the hope that they will also bow their knee and receive this generous, undeserved swap so beautifully illustrated in the covenant between David and Jonathan.
There are more request for plastic pearls as we walk the road of sanctification. Remember Peter already walked with the Lord when he was asked, "Peter, do you love me?" Christ posed the question as agape love. Peter answered "Yes, Lord." The word Peter used for Lord is Kurios, he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master, lord. That's the right answer, Jesus is his Lord. This is Peter's verbal acknowledgement. But then he does something funny. When Peter continues his answer, "You know that I love you," he changes the word for love from agape to phileo. The Lord asked do you, Peter, love Me in a covenant way, unconditional, once for all, til the death kind of way. Peter answers, yes, I love you with brotherly affection. Jesus then tells Peter to "tend My lambs." Literally, to feed, portraying the duty of a Christian teacher to promote in every way the spiritual welfare of the members of the church. A big responsibility placed on the shoulders of someone who didn't even understand the question. Ah. The sovereignty of God showing up, knowing that the power of Christ can bring about the desired ending despite the functional ineptitude of Peter.
Christ asks again, "Peter, do you agape Me?" Peter responds, "Yes, Lord, You know I phileo You." Christ responds, "shepherd My sheep." Literally, the request is for Peter to feed, tend, govern, rule, nourish, cherish, serve. Peter gets it wrong again. He is not in full surrender, and yet Christ asks him to take even more responsibility.
Finally, during this 3rd manifestation of Christ to His disciples after his resurrection, He asks, "Peter, do you phileo Me?" Christ meets Peter where he is. He changes His question from agape to phileo. Peter is grieved that Christ has asked three times if Peter phileo loves. It's there in the text. Christ asks twice if Peter agapes and once if he phileos. Peter heard three questions of phileo. Peter answers, "Yes Lord. You know all things. You know I phileo You." Christ answers as the first, "tend My sheep."
Peter does finally understand. He did as Christ asked, and tradition holds that he considered himself unworthy of the same death as Christ and was crucified upside down.
Christ the Rock and the Conerstone. The prophets and apostles the foundation. Peter the small stone. As are we, being built up a spiritual house. In covenant, agape love, Christ gave His life for the Church. We are to lay down the old self, and put on the new self. Die to our will, and properly acknowledge Him as Lord, having authority over us. We are to die so that He may live in us. We exchange all our plans for walking in faith that His plan may not be our plan, but that His plan is better and He may chose not to disclose the details in advance. We surrender anyway. Plastic pearls for real ones.
Peter was concerned for his own life, 3 times before the cock crowed. He was not fully dead. Once dead, we must decide to die daily. Like Peter experienced, there is a snare laid before us. Paul says it like this in his letter to the Galatians, 'For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God ? Or am I striving to please men ? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.'
Dying is a discipline. It brings glory to God because when we let go of the plastic pearls, it validates the faith that our Father knows how to give good gifts and he will not withhold any good thing from His children.
No comments:
Post a Comment