03.31.2013 Redefining our Failures in Light of the Resurrection

We’re going back to Good Friday a little bit. Psalm 22 – I think Jesus was thinking about this on the cross – uncertainty – and it goes from uncertainty to hope and JOY – and what we have on this Easter weekend – Peter’s Easter begins with uncertainty and fear – but ends in deliverance, hope, and joy.
Psalm 22:1 My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?
Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning.
2 O my God, I cry by day, but You do not answer;
And by night, but I have no rest.
3 Yet You are holy,
O You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel.
4 In You our fathers trusted;
They trusted and You delivered them.
5 To You they cried out and were delivered;
In You they trusted and were not disappointed.
6 But I am a worm and not a man,
A reproach of men and despised by the people.
7 All who see me sneer at me;
They separate with the lip, they wag the head, saying,
8 “Commit yourself to the Lord; let Him deliver him;
Let Him rescue him, because He delights in him.”
9 Yet You are He who brought me forth from the womb;
You made me trust when upon my mother’s breasts.
10 Upon You I was cast from birth;
You have been my God from my mother’s womb.
11 Be not far from me, for trouble is near;
For there is none to help.
12 Many bulls have surrounded me;
Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me.
13 They open wide their mouth at me,
As a ravening and a roaring lion.
14 I am poured out like water,
And all my bones are out of joint;
My heart is like wax;
It is melted within me.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
And my tongue cleaves to my jaws;
And You lay me in the dust of death.
16 For dogs have surrounded me;
A band of evildoers has encompassed me;
They pierced my hands and my feet.
17 I can count all my bones.
They look, they stare at me;
18 They divide my garments among them,
And for my clothing they cast lots.
19 But You, O Lord, be not far off;
O You my help, hasten to my assistance.
20 Deliver my soul from the sword,
My only life from the power of the dog.
21 Save me from the lion’s mouth;
From the horns of the wild oxen You answer me.
22 I will tell of Your name to my brethren;
In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.
23 You who fear the Lord, praise Him;
All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him,
And stand in awe of Him, all you descendants of Israel.
24 For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted;
Nor has He hidden His face from him;
But when he cried to Him for help, He heard.
25 From You comes my praise in the great assembly;
I shall pay my vows before those who fear Him.
26 The afflicted will eat and be satisfied;
Those who seek Him will praise the Lord.
Let your heart live forever!
27 All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord,
And all the families of the nations will worship before You.
28 For the kingdom is the Lord’s
And He rules over the nations.
29 All the prosperous of the earth will eat and worship,
All those who go down to the dust will bow before Him,
Even he who cannot keep his soul alive.
30 Posterity will serve Him;
It will be told of the Lord to the coming generation.
31 They will come and will declare His righteousness
To a people who will be born, that He has performed it.
Almighty God, Lord, Jesus, thank You, father, that through Your Son Jesus Christ – you defeated death and opened the gates to everlasting life. Thank You that we can celebrate Easter – that we have been raised from death, through Your life-giving spirit, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with You forever.
Think about Peter – and his experience of that first Easter morning – Peter had sworn that he would stand with Jesus – and then denied him 3 times. It starts with failure – his courage, his character – He lies and swears – I don’t know Him!
In many ways – we are just like Peter – when you think before the cross and the events of the cross – there is one who is cocky, self-assured, outspoken – the leader of the group after Jesus. Everything that Peter has known and what he thinks has been shattered – that is how he wakes up on Easter morning. There is grief and sorrow – he has lost the best friend he ever had. Friday, he saw him die on the cross. Not only was He his friend, but he lost his hope.
It says a little later – the disciples were in the house, and the doors were locked and the doors were barred – for fear that they would be next to hang on the cross.
I’d like to look at Peter and how that affects our lives. What happens when we stand before the cross? We are failures – we are exposed – our sins are revealed – our true nature comes out. This image we have so carefully crafted dissolves like Peter’s did, if we are honest about who we are.
We make this presentation of ourselves – but before the cross, that presentation doesn’t hold much weight.
We live in an uncertain world in every way: Economic – relational – marriages and families falling apart – health issues – so we approach Easter in many ways – like Peter.
John 20: Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb. 2 So she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.” 3 So Peter and the other disciple went forth, and they were going to the tomb. 4 The two were running together; and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the tomb first;
Another thing we know about Peter: He was slower than John!
5 and stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings lying there; but he did not go in. 6 And so Simon Peter also came, following him, and entered the tomb;
And we also know that Peter is still Peter – just barging right in…
and he saw the linen wrappings lying there, 7 and the face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself. 8 So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed. 9 For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. 10 So the disciples went away again to their own homes.
What he believed – was NOT in the resurrection yet. He believed that someone had stolen the body. They go back; Mary stays. She is the first one to see the Lord after the resurrection – He gives her a commission – Go and tell the disciples that I am alive…
19 So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
This isn’t just like, Peace, Man – but He is pronouncing a blessing of fortune, comfort – restoration – He restores their hope – He restores their joy – and He will lead them from this point of uncertainty to this reality of hope and joy in the resurrection.
Something happens in between Mary seeing Jesus and this event. The Bible doesn’t talk about it – it doesn’t explain it. I WISH it were in the Bible! But for some reason, God chose not to put it there.
In Luke, it says this –
The Lord has risen and appeared to Simon Peter…
Paul knows about this: For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received – that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas (Peter), then to the twelve.
We will look at how Jesus restored Peter after his failure – he has this secret, personal talk – kinda’ like the men’s meetings – what is shared in the men’s meeting stays in the men’s meeting!
They were in Jerusalem – but Jesus had told Mary that He will appear to them in Galilee:
John 21: 3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will also come with you.” They went out and got into the boat; and that night they caught nothing.
The excitement of the resurrection has ended – they return to their old lives – they go back. Like we talked last week about narratives that shape our lives – Peter and the guys – who are they? Up until about Palm Sunday, they thought they would sit with Him in His Kingdom. Now all of a sudden, they go back to the way things were before Christ came. But Jesus would have none of it…
4 But when the day was now breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 So Jesus said to them, “Children, you do not have any fish, do you?” They answered Him, “No.” 6 And He said to them, “Cast the net on the right-hand side of the boat and you will find a catch.” So they cast, and then they were not able to haul it in because of the great number of fish
Jesus returns Peter to his original call – remember the first time this happened, Peter fell on his face and said, depart from me, I am a sinful man – but Jesus told him – Get up – I will make you a fisher of men.
We all need to go back to that first day – when we came to Christ and we need to remember the joy of that time – the excitement – the sense of hope that God gave us – it is still there – it has not left – it is still part of your life.
7 Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord.” So when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put his outer garment on (for he was stripped for work), and threw himself into the sea. 8 But the other disciples came in the little boat, for they were not far from the land, but about one hundred yards away, dragging the net full of fish.
9 So when they got out on the land, they saw a charcoal fire already laid and fish placed on it, and bread. 10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish which you have now caught.” 11 Simon Peter went up and drew the net to land, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not torn.
When Peter denied the Lord, he was standing next to A CHARCOAL FIRE – Jesus brings him back to that place – and Jesus is going to redefine that event – to take a negative and make it a positive.
They have breakfast… then…
15 So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?”
He may be bringing Peter back to the “Even if everyone else denies you, I will not” -
He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My lambs.” 16 He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Shepherd My sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Tend My sheep.
The third thing he is doing – there is a lot that could be said – Jesus gives Peter 3 opportunities to reaffirm his love and allegiance – Peter denied Jesus 3 times – and Jesus gives him 3 chances to reaffirm. That is all in the past – now I simply want you to say, “I love you.” – There is tentativeness with Peter, with the way that it reads… And Jesus is okay with that.
Kinda’ like, I think I love you – yeah…
Jesus is like – I chose you as a leader – nothing has changed. When you fail, you don’t take a couple steps down the ladder – The calling He has called you is still there. That is why I think it is – Easter is the most crowded day in churches. Growing up – I was talking with someone this morning – Christmas and Easter. When I was in Honduras – I was sharing my testimony – I told them – I only went to church on Christmas and Easter – and they laughed and laughed and laughed – What did I say? To their culture – that was so bizarre!
Personally – I think it is good that people come on Christmas and Easter, because it is a chance to start anew – a day to begin – to reignite that relationship with God.
18 Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go.” 19 Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me!”
What the final thing Jesus does for Peter is this: He brings him back to the cross. He is saying – the resurrected life is not a crossless life. It is still Peter’s job – as we looked at earlier – to now take up his cross. Now that the resurrection has happened – it is not time to reign yet – there is a time to take up the cross – you WILL die for me in a terrible way – and I still demand that sense of discipleship.
Peter is transformed by Easter – because in a few weeks, he will stand up before thousands boldly preaching Christ.
Peter still had issues – He was still Peter – but he was daily being transformed.
30 years after this event – he would write these words:
1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, 7 so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
Peter knows this is a life of fear and difficulty – but we have a hope we can hold onto – an anchor for our souls – stabilizing us when everything else is unstable.