LORD, WHAT ABOUT HIM?

John 21:18-23

Jesus, in another post-resurrection appearance, the last the Apostle John records, is having a conversation with Peter.  He gives Peter a glimpse of his future when He says:

“I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.”

The text goes on to say: 

“Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God.  Then he said to him, ‘Follow me’.”

At that point Peter turned around to see John following them.  Looking at John, Peter asked Jesus:

“Lord, what about him?”

Jesus replied:

“If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? 

You must follow me.”

Now, when I read that, I think Peter is wondering what kind of future is in store for John – not necessarily because he’s not so happy with the death Jesus has described for him – but because he’s wondering what’s in store for this beloved brother in the Lord.

I’m wondering whether you ever think the way I do.  I’ve gone through some pretty tough things in my life, things I would rather have avoided.  Many times, even today, I have asked God why.  I confess that I have looked at the lives of other Christians I know who seem to have been blessed with every good thing – no tragedy, no apparent hardship, all their adult children walking with the Lord – and I have pangs of envy and confusion, during which I ask, “Why them and NOT me?”

I don’t question why the Lord has worked in the way He has in their lives – I’m glad He has, I’m just confused about why He didn’t work that way in mine.  Maybe you feel that way too.

So I was chastened today by this passage, and encouraged as well.  

Here are some things I took away from it:

Looking at the lives of others and wondering why God has worked in a certain way in theirs but not in mine, can distract ME from following Jesus.

• Every time I do this myself I’m effectively saying, “Lord, I think you’ve treated me unfairly.”  That kind of thinking can make me bitter and resentful and it can bring my walk with Jesus to a screeching halt!  

Following Jesus requires a personal commitment.  

• Peter had to determine that he was going to follow Jesus no matter what was in store for him, or what was in store for John.  John had to do the same, and so do you and I.  
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• How Jesus is or isn’t at work in the life of another person can’t be used as an excuse for not following Him myself. 
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• Jesus is saying the same thing to you and me as He said to Peter – “Never mind about that other person.  YOU follow me!”

God’s desire for our life, and even for our death, is that we bring Him glory. 

• I don’t know why I have never been as struck by it before but today it leaped out at me.  John says that Jesus’ words about Peter being carried where he didn’t want to go were an indication of the kind of death “by which he would glorify God”.

• Each of these men had a God given ministry while they lived.  Peter led the church in Jerusalem and wrote books which would be included in the canon of Scripture.  
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• John was also a leader in the church, wrote the Gospel and several New Testament letters that bear his name, and the book of Revelation, written while exiled on the isle of Patmos.  Each one brought God glory with his life.  Every time we read their words today and observe their lives and testimonies in God’s Word and are impacted by them, God continues to be glorified.

• And each one glorified God in his death.  John, the longest living disciple, lived out most of the last years of his life in exile, and died a peaceful death in Ephesus.  Peter, as history and church tradition record it, was crucified, but upside down, out of reverence for his Lord.

The Lord is at work in the lives of all His saints – those whose lives have been relatively trouble free and those whose lives have not.  

The question I need to ask myself when I’m comparing my life with the life of another saint is not, “Why or why not?”, but “HOW.  How can I bring you glory in this, Lord?”

Asking why, or why not, fixes my eyes firmly on THEM.  Asking HOW fixes my eyes on Jesus.

Oswald Chambers in his book, “My Utmost for His Highest”, says this under the reading for today, November 7:

“The circumstances of a saint’s life are ordained of God.  In the life of a saint there is no such thing as chance.”

The life that the Lord gives to you and to me is His gift.  We can surely make a mess of it because of our sinful nature and choices and the resultant consequences.  

But even when we do, our reaction to His choice is all important, and we need to ask:   

 How will I glorify God in this?

Am I going to fix my eyes on the seeming smoothness of some other saint’s life, comparing it always with my own and asking why or why not me?  Or am I going to choose to shift my gaze from them to Jesus, seeing the circumstances ordained for me as an opportunity to bring Him glory?  

When difficulties arise in my life, am I going to continually look at others and ask: “What about them?”, or am I going to say, “Never mind about them.  I need to follow Jesus?"   How willing am I to bring glory to Jesus even when He leads in places I don’t really want to go?

How do I want to face death?  As ONLY the avenue by which I will be translated to glory, or also as the MEANS by which I might glorify God with the last opportunity He gives me in this life to do so?