Mind Your Own Business

Mind Your Own Business

Hank Williams

St. John, Apostle and Evangelist

Collect: Merciful Lord, we beseech thee to cast thy bright beams of light upon thy Church, that it, being instructed* by the doctrine of thy blessed Apostle and Evangelist Saint John, may so walk in the light of thy truth, that it may at length attain to everlasting life†; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Gospel: St. John 21:19b-25

19b (BCP: Jesus saith unto Peter, Follow me.) And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.

20 Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee?

21 Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do?

22 Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.

23 Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?

24 This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true.

25 And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.

Hank Williams, who died January 1, 1953, wrote a humorous song, titled “Mind Your Own Business.” He says, “If you mind your own business, then you won’t be mindin’ mine,” and “If you mind your own business, you’ll stay busy all the time.”

Jesus gave St. Peter a lesson in minding his own business as they walked together after Jesus’ resurrection along the shore of the Sea of Galilee.

1. Jesus’ Call

1.1 After his Resurrection Jesus appeared to his disciples only a few times. At some point most, if not all, of them left Jerusalem, and went north to Galilee. One day Peter said, “I’m going fishing,” and 6 others joined him. They fished through the night, and the next morning Jesus appeared to them on the shore and called out to ask if they had caught anything. John recognized Jesus by his voice, and when he said, “That’s the Lord!” Peter was so excited he jumped overboard and swam to shore.

1.2. But there was an item of unfinished business between Peter and Jesus. Have you ever let another person down and knew that sooner or later the two of you would have to talk about it?

On the night of his betrayal Jesus told his disciples, “Yet a little while I am with you...Where I am going you cannot come.” In characteristically impulsive fashion, Peter said, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered: “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow me afterward.” Peter did not know when to cut his losses, so he pressed on, “Lord, why can I not follow you? I will lay down my life for you.” We know how that turned out. Before the night was over, Peter three times denied even knowing Jesus.

The moment when Peter would have to talk with Jesus about Peter’s failure came after breakfast. Jesus looked at Peter and asked, “Peter, do you love me more than these other men love me?” Peter replied, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” That happened three times, and, after each affirmation of love, Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” Three times Peter denied the Lord. Three times the Lord asked Peter if he loved him. Three times Peter affirmed his love. And three times Jesus affirmed he still wanted Peter as a shepherd of the church.

1.3. Jesus then told Peter what lay ahead for him. Eventually Peter would lose control of his own comings and goings and die as a martyr in the service of his Lord. Then Jesus summarized Peter’s calling with the command, “Follow me.” That is what Jesus had said to his disciples when he first called them, “Follow me.” He had told them on his last night with them, “You can’t follow me now, but later you will.” Now Jesus says to Peter specifically, “Follow me.”

That command is not just for apostles. It is the essence of what it means for anyone to be a disciple. Following Jesus means we trust him and so entrust ourselves to him as our Savior and then follow him as our Lord.

2. Peter’s Question

2.1. Apparently when Jesus said, “Follow me,” he got up and began to walk along the seashore, and Peter followed literally. As they were walking, Peter looked back and saw another disciple was following them.

“It was “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” In the Upper Room Jesus had said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” Peter motioned to one of the disciples, who was reclining at table very close to Jesus, for that disciple to ask who the betrayer was. Here that disciple identifies himself as the one who had asked, “Lord, who is it who is going to betray you?”

The question we naturally ask, since this disciple does not give his name, is, “Who is the disciple whom Jesus loved and who asked Jesus to identify the betrayer”? The traditional answer, and I believe the right answer, is that it is the Apostle and Evangelist whose feast we observe today, St. John.

St. John and his brother, James, were sons of a man name Zebedee. Both were included among the original 12 disciples whom Jesus appointed Apostles. Jesus gave them the nickname “Sons of Thunder.” They had their faults. When a Samaritan village would not let Jesus enter, they asked him if he wanted them to call down fire of judgment from heaven. Jesus rebuked them. They and their mother were ambitious for their future in the kingdom, wanting them to have the two most prominent positions, one to sit on the right and the other on the left of Jesus. Nevertheless, they, along with Peter, were the three disciples who formed Jesus’ inner circle.

In this Gospel which he wrote, St. John keeps himself in the background by referring to himself only as the disciple Jesus loved. He was used by the Lord to write not only this Gospel but also 3 letters and the Revelation. In later life he lived in Ephesus, and he died an old man in his 90s on the island of Patmos.

2.2. Peter, walking along the shore with Jesus and having just heard he would die as a martyr and charged to follow Jesus, looked back and saw John following. He asked a very human question: “Lord, what about that man? What’s going to happen to him?” Those who have raised children are probably very familiar with this sort of question. You tell one to go clean the kitchen, and he immediately asks, “Well what about my brother? What’s he gonna have to do?” We are tempted to ask the Lord when he gives us some assignment - a particular job, or marital situation, or health condition, or financial circumstances, or task in the church - “What about everybody else? Why don’t they have my situation? Why do they have it better?” It’s a very human question, but, as Jesus shows, it is not a question we ought to ask.

3. Jesus’s Answer

3.1. Jesus gives a frank, straightforward answer: “If it is my will that he remains in this world till I came again, what is that to you?” Jesus tells Peter that it is none of Peter’s business what Jesus plans for John. Peter as an undershepherd will follow the Good Shepherd, and lay down his life for the flock. Jesus alone could die in the place of the flock and for the flock to save it from Satan, sin, and condemnation. But Peter and many others are called to feed and tend the flock, and some of them are called also to die in service as shepherds.

Eventually Peter shared with others what the Lord had said to him about his future and about John’s. As the word was passed on among believers from one to another a misunderstanding developed. Some thought Jesus had said that John would not die but continue living till Christ’s Second Coming: “So the saying spread abroad among the brothers that this disciple was not to die.” John corrects that misunderstanding here: “Yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, ‘If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?’”

3.2. There are important lessons we can learn from Peter and John about our lives as Christian disciples:

3.2.1 What determines our places of service, as well as the whole course of our lives as Christians, is Jesus’ will. He determines the length, circumstances, and places of our lives. For some he wills long lives, for some shorter. He gives some good health and others health troubles. He calls some to marriage and some to singleness. He gives one certain skills and another different skills. He entrusts some with abundant material resources and some live their lives struggling to make ends meet.

He assigns us our places of service in the kingdom. You and I can know he has called us to this parish, and it is in and through this parish he calls us to serve him. This is where he has put us, and this where he calls us to serve him.

The important thing to know is that we are in the Lord’s hands. His will determine our lives. We may not understand why he wills what he wills for us, but he is not a cruel master. He does not look at us as objects to be coldly manipulated. He looks on us as sheep whom he loves and for whom he died. Always remember that. His will determines our lives, but he is the Good Shepherd who feeds the flock, who carries the young lambs in his bosom and gently leads those who are with young.

3.2.2. The Lord’s call to us is constant and unchanging: “Follow me.” You might be in doubt many times about what to do in the changing circumstances of life, but you never need to have any doubt at all about this. Jesus is always saying, “Follow me.” He never says, “Don’t follow me here. I don’t expect you to follow me now. You can take a break for awhile from following me.” If you ever hear that, you can be sure it is the devil not Jesus who is speaking to you.

Practically that means following him as he makes his will known in his written Word. It is Jesus who speaks in and through the Scriptures. Whatever he says to us in the Bible, he calls us to do. Always follow Jesus as he leads you by his Word.

That means also following him as his plan unfolds. He does not tell us as he told Peter, “You are called to follow me into martyrdom,” or as by implication he told John, “You are called to follow me into long life and ministry to the church.” We seldom see more than the next step or few, hardly ever around a corner, but he calls us, saying, “Trust me. Follow me. Do my will. Serve me.”

Mind your own business. What is our business? Following Jesus.