This time of year we're bombarded with people's thoughts on the year past, what's important and what's not.  And in light of the terrible tsunami tragedy in Indonesia, most of our lists no longer are important, not that they ever were.

          Still, one of the more interesting articles I've read on this topic recently in U.S. News and World Report, was titled "50 Ways to Improve Your Life in 2005".  I really thought there might be something of value in it, that is, until I read the first ten things.  Here they are:  #1) Set Your Priorities, #2) Learn to Meditate, #3) Clear Your Closets, #4) Donate Your Phone, #5) Save Your Snapshots, #6) Organize Your Closets, #7) Put Your Shoes in Bags, #8) Move to Bismarck, ND, #9)?? - I couldn't find it.  #9 on the top ten list was missing!  And, #10) Quit Your Job.  Amazing!

          Now there were some somewhat important things on this list:  Read More Books (#15), Quit Smoking (#28), and Volunteer (#48).  But some things on the list were puzzling, "important" things as, #37 Buy a Paper Shredder, #25 Learn to File Really Well, #44 Wear the Right Size Shoe, and #45 Breathe - (Wait - what's the alternative?)  But a few important things seemed last:  Get Married #34 - at least it made it that high.  And #50 - Forgive - wow!  The author put forgiving people last, an afterthought, something to do if you have time left over.  Put Your Shoes in Bags, and -oh yes - forgive!  Get a Paper Shredder, and - oh yes - forgive!

          How easily we lose track of what's important!  Nowhere in the top 50 list were Helping the Needy, or Repenting of Sin, or Following God, or even Praying.  No, the only one in that category was "Forgive," and it was dead last, #50.

          In today's Gospel Lesson, Jesus is forgiving Peter.  They are together for the first time since Peter's denial.  Three times Jesus asks, "Peter, do you love me?" and three times Peter says, "Yes, Lord!"  Then three times Jesus tells Peter, "Feed my sheep."  This passage is often referred to as Peter's reinstatement.  He had abandoned Christ in His hour of need, and now Christ takes him back.  This is God at His best with a sinner.  It is forgiveness, and it is pure Gospel.

          The passage reminds me of a poignant scene in the musical "Fiddler on the Roof," where old Tevia asks his wife Hulda, "Do you love me?"  Hulda's first reaction is "Why are you asking me now?"  He asks her again and she says, "What do you think? - I feed you, I sew your clothes, I raise your daughters."  Her actions prove her love!  But Tevia wants her to say it out loud, that she loves him.  That's what Jesus is seeking from Peter also, to admit openly his love for Christ, and thus to be forgiven, especially in the face of his cowardly denial.

          Then comes a fascinating and overlooked section.  The Bible says, "Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them.  (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, "Lord, who is going to betray you?")  When Peter saw him, he asked, "Lord, what about him?"  Jesus answered, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?  You must follow me."

          It's those last words I'd like us to consider, "What is that to you?  You must follow me."  Or the King James version, "What is that to thee?  Follow thou me."  Peter has just gotten his orders from Jesus - "Feed my sheep," and Peter wants to know about the others.  "What about him, Lord?"  How like you and me!  We aren't content to know what God asks of us; we also want to know what He asks of others.  We want to make sure God is being fair.  We want to make sure we're not asked to do more than the others.  If God tells us, "Serve Me," we want to make sure He's asking the same of everyone else.

          But God's measure of fairness is not always ours.  God doesn't always give equally.  He asks more of some than He asks of others.  He knows what we need.  He knows what is best for each of us.  He knows what's best for all people in the world.  Even in the deaths of hundreds of thousands through a tidal wave, God knows what's best for each of us.  We do not know, but He does.

          We can never know the statistics, but it's safe to say one third to one half of those who lost their lives in that tsunami were Christian, followers of Christ.  God did not use this event as punishment as some Christians will say.  And He certainly did not send the tsunami to kill infidels as some Islamo-fascists will say.  Earthquakes happen because we live in a fallen world.  Sin causes cracks in the crust of our earth as well as in the fabric of human society.  Some of those cracks periodically open up to tear the world apart.

          Perhaps Jesus today is telling us, "What is that to thee?  Follow thou me."  If so, it sounds like God doesn't care.  You and I cannot fix the whole world.  We can't even fix ourselves.  God has to do all that.  But He still calls on us to feed the hungry and visit the sick.  He tells us, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." (James 1:27)   James meant that faith shows itself in deeds of love.  There is no substitute for putting faith into action.  Without action, there is no faith.

          Though we cannot fix the world, we still must do our best, to help in ways that we can.  Following Jesus in 2005 means doing His will.  It means giving ourselves for others, even unto death.  Jesus told His disciples, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13)   We have heard stories of heroism in Indonesia, in some cases people losing their lives while helping others.  It's what Christians are often called to do.  In this self-centered world, we must ever honor those willing to give their lives for others.  No matter what we may think of the Iraqi war, we must ever honor our men and women who have given life and limb in the cause of bringing freedom to others.  That, too, is following Christ.

          A better life in 2005 begins with our relationship to God.  It means following Jesus in worship, in prayer, and in listening to Him speak in God's Word.  A better life in 2005 means looking to the interests of others before the interests of self.  A better life in 2005 means self-denial, not self-indulgence.  It means sharing the hope you have in Christ with others.

          Not every one has hope right now.  Some are so hopeless they find nothing to live for.  I wonder how many in the metro area took their lives this holiday season.  I know of one, and I grieve for those he left behind.  None of us can do enough, and all we do is never enough.  All the warning systems would not have stopped such loss of life in the tsunami.  Locking up a suicidal person will not stop him from taking his life.  We must let God into our lives if we are to survive.

          John recorded the story of a woman who broke a jar of precious ointment on Jesus' feet, to honor Him.  Some people around Him were offended.  "Why was this not given to the poor?" they said.  Jesus replied, "You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me." (John 12:6-8)   Jesus meant to put faith first.  He did not mean to neglect the poor, but to trust the One who loves rich and poor.  He was not seeking self-glory, but directing us to trust with all our hearts the One who gave His life for the poor and the rich, the One who in love takes His faithful people to heaven's glory.

          A better life in 2005 begins with Jesus Christ.  He will give us all we need.  He will show us a better life, one without death and tears, without mourning or illness, a life without sin, a better life with Himself.  God grant us this, amen.

Copyright © 2005 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.