Peter's Failure and Our Hope
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“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” Peter said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.” Jesus said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me.”
Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest’s house, and Peter was following at a distance. And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them. Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, “This man also was with him.” But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” And a little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not.” And after an interval of about an hour still another insisted, saying, “Certainly this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean.” But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.
INTRO
INTRO
In 2005 I was a freshman at Oklahoma State University. This was before I became a Christian and so while I was there I joined a fraternity. One of the worst decisions I’ve made, but as you’ll see I didn’t always make wise decisions back then. As I joined the fraternity all I wanted to do was impress the older guys in the house. I wanted them to think that I was amazing, awesome, and great. Every year, each house would have to make these giant floats for homecoming. These floats were probably 15 to 20 feet tall, and there would be a huge competition between the houses to whose looked the best. So the guys came to the freshman in the house and began asking for volunteers to help build the float. They asked can anyone weld? Now, truth be told, up to this point in my life, I had never welded a single thing. But because I was pretty self confident and I wanted to prove myself, I raised my hand and said, “yeah I can”. So me and a couple of other guys walked outside and there was someone there who would run through how the equipment go, but assuming we had some prior experience. He gave us some rebar to do some practice welds on the ground, but after a short bit I was feeling pretty confident. So I said I was ready to climb up on the float and begin doing some welds up there. So me and one other guy, climbed about 10 feet in the air, and we had to weld pieces of rebar that went from this point to this point if you can imagine. As we are sitting 10 feet in the air welding a piece a rebar my buddy is asking me how it’s going. I’m like oh yeah looks good, my beads look awesome, we can move on to the next one. As soon as we scooted over, we began to hear a crack, and my amazing welding job, wasn’t so awesome and this piece of rebar 6 or 7 feet long began to fall down to the ground. Now that’s pretty bad, but, wouldn’t you know at the same time, another one of my friends who we called Jericho, was walking underneath us at that exact time, and you can guess what happened. This piece of rebar landed directly on his head. We rushed down and I could see the grooves of the rebar on the top of his head. And as we drove him to the hospital to get stichtes, all that self confidence, all that arrogance that I had, the desire to impress began to vanish, and I was left with my failure. No surprise they never asked me to weld again.
We are terrified of failure. IF you ask people what is one of your greatest fears, one of the top answers will be failure. In California they did a survey that found that people were more afraid of failure than the idea of ghosts.
We struggle to admit out weaknesses we struggle to admit our failures. We live in a culture and an age where the thought of failure crushes us. So many of us we try to do whatever we can, to control situations where we won’t fail, or people won’t see our weaknesses. BUT I believe the story of Peter’s denial shows us that one of the greatest gifts God can give us, IS an awareness of our weakness.
Today the main point of the sermon is this: the more aware we are of our weakness, the more aware we are of our need for Jesus.
3 things we are going to pull out from Peter’s denial that I hope will help us become more aware of our weakness so that we might become more aware of our need for Jesus.
1)Your Pride will blind you from your weakness
2)Your Failures Reveal Your Weakness
3)Your Savior Will Restore You Despite Your Weakness
1. Pride blinds you to how much you need Jesus
1. Pride blinds you to how much you need Jesus
“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” Peter said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.” Jesus said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me.”
Jesus says to Peter, “Satan has demanded to sift you like wheat.” This word sift means to “separate by passing through a sieve or other straining device to separate out coarser elements”. After you sift something you find out what is really there. Many of us here might be thinking, I don’t have a theological box for this statement. Satan demanded to have Peter, to be sifted? Yeah. While it may sound strange, all throughout the bible there is a clear theme that we live in a spiritual battle, and Peter’s response to this statement is?
“Lord I am ready”
Pride blinds us to how much we need Jesus by placing our confidence in the wrong thing.
Just before Peter has this interaction with Jesus, disciples arguing
passover meal pwtty argument(happened to anyone?)
.who’s the greatest, who stands out? Who is really impressive?
Peter has this same attitude and his response to Jesus is shows that his confidence is not in Jesus, Jesus’ prayer, but rather in himself. His confidence is in the wrong thing.
Before we get too hard on the disciples don’t we do the same thing?
We begin to say (our church is better, our walk with Jesus is better)
Pride would love nothing better than to inflate you self ego.
Then all the sudden this attitude creeps in where we begin to believe that we are so great and so awesome, that Jesus really NEEDS US, we don’t really NEED HIM THAT MUCH. Jesus is lucky to have us on His team, not aware of how much we really need Him.
Pride blinds us by having our confidence in ourselves and not in Jesus.
Pride blinds us by causing us to doubt or disbelieve God’s word.
Jesus tells Peter, he is going to go through something very difficult, it will be hard. Then I love how Jesus is very unimpressed with Peter’s passion and zeal. Peter is......!!! But Jesus says, well this day, you are going to fail.
Yet even though Jesus tells Peter this is going to happen, Peter’s response is, “no not me Jesus.” I know myself better than you do. Your word says this, but I know myself better than you.
In Matthews Gospel .....even if other lazy disciples do it, I won’t.
Pride causes us to have this attitude where we begin to say, “even though this happened to these other people, it won’t happen to me” I’m stronger, I have more will power.
Even though God’s word tells us to be on guard and to guard against certain things, we begin to say, “oh not me.” That would never happen to me. Even though these other people can’t watch these things, or do these certain things, I am strong enough, I’ll be fine. And just like Peter we are setting ourselves up for disaster.
Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
If we cannot admit our weaknesses we are in danger. If we can not admit our failures we are in danger. In essence we are saying the same thing Peter is, God I know your word says to confess sin, to boast in my weakness, but I know better than you. I know that if I don’t confess sin, or I don’t share my weaknesses, it’s going to work out better for me.
One pastor says this “Humility makes us pray for the thing that pride would make us believe we already have.”
In Nascar I was told that racers can only see with this much vision. They have these massive blind spots to their right and left and behind. They trust on their team telling them hey watch out for this, or be careful out here, because they can’t see that. It’s vital, because it very well could be life or death. But could you imagine a driver saying, I don’t need you guys, I’m going to go out and drive blindly by myself. That’s what pride does to us. It blinds us from our weaknesses, and how much we actually need Jesus.
Failures expose our need for Jesus
Failures expose our need for Jesus
Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest’s house, and Peter was following at a distance. And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them. Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, “This man also was with him.” But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” And a little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not.” And after an interval of about an hour still another insisted, saying, “Certainly this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean.” But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.
As we move through the story, picking it up in verse 54, Luke tells us that now Peter was following Jesus at a distance. The once zealous, self-confident disciple is now following Jesus at a distance. And we can tell how the story is moving. Now granted he is one of the only disciples who is with Jesus, but he is no longer the over confident zealous disciple, he’s following Jesus at a distance. What we will see here in Peter’s lowest moment is that our failures reveal our weakness. Some of us might be asking, why did Jesus allow this to happen? Before when Jesus told Peter Satan demanded to have him. Notice Jesus tells Peter that He is going to pray for him. Not that he would be freed from this testing, but that he would endure and his faith would not fail! Why would Jesus allow this? I want to put before you that Jesus allowed this to happen not because he doesn’t love Peter, but because of his great love for Peter. Failures and testing don’t destroy our faith, they reveal our faith for what it really is. Failures reveal and expose how weak we really are. How much we truly need Jesus. And I know there are some of you here this morning that you were once the zealous passionate, do anything for Jesus kind of Christian, but something has happened, and now you find yourself like Peter, following Jesus at a distance. And we become angry at God, discouraged at God, questioning His goodness, when it could be, not always, could it be that all that has happened is that this testing has exposed your faith for what it really is? That’s what happened to Peter. Peter was confident in his confidence, Peter had faith, in his own faith. Jesus needed Peter to see, that Jesus didn’t Peter to die for Him, but instead wanted Peter to see that Jesus needed to die Peter.
3 times in this text Peter has an opportunity to prove to himself that he really won’t fail and every time it gets worse. The first is a servant girl, then a man, and in each of these interactions it just gets more intense. Peter just keeps saying, no” I think you’ve got the wrong guy.” Then someone would say, “didn’t I see with him.’ Peter is like nope. Even to the point in the Gospel of John, where one guy says, “hey aren’t you the guy that cut off Malchus’ ear in the garden.” Now not many people would forget something like that or what that would person would like, but Peter still says, “nope must be someone else.” And here the great zealous disciple, over the course of an hour, what the text says, comes undone and all that self confidence, that arrogance crumbles under the fear of man. Failure. Ever had this experience? Where it seems like in one moment, you just ruined everything? We can ask the question why did the Holy Spirit include this story in the bible for us to read? I think it’s because to show us, that all of us, no matter how great we might think we are, even here, the great Peter, the lead disciple, in reality are weak and in great need of Jesus. Without Jesus we can do nothing.
Some of you might be new here, but I want be a little vulnerable with you all and hopefully expel this myth that pastor’s are not like you. That somehow because we preach on Sunday’s that we don’t struggle through the week. Most of you know this, but your pastoral staff is just as in need of Jesus as you are. Not too long ago I was pulling out of my driveway(story of neighbor)
Your failures are not meant to destroy you or to crush you, but to remind you of how much you need Jesus.
“The Lord wounds only that He may heal.”
Hear this, the solution to our weakness is not TRY HARDER. Peter doesn’t go back and try again does he? It says when he out and he wept. He was broken. Your solution to your brokenness and neediness is not TRY HARDER, it is COME TO JESUS. COME TO JESUS.
But why don’t we come to Jesus in our weakness? Why don’t we run to Jesus when we fail? Could it be that many of us think that God is just waiting for us to fail so he can punish us, or He’s waiting there with a look of disappointment? Some of us here this morning we are afraid to approach God because of things we’ve done. Mistakes we’ve made.
But here’s the truth, and our third point
For Our Greatest Failures We Have a Greater Savior
For Our Greatest Failures We Have a Greater Savior
And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.
We a Greater Savior who is compassionate towards our failure.
Looks at Peter
In Jesus’ own moment of need He looks at Peter.
the same look at Gospel of John, a look of compassion, not of anger.
How do you think God looks at you right now? If you are a follow of Jesus? What is His countenance like?
To say, even in this moment even though you disowned me, I haven’t disowned you, even though you have failed me, I will never fail you. Peter’s denial is different than Judas’
We Have a Greater Savior who already knows we will fail
Jesus said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me.”
Jesus was not surprised that Peter would fail. He even told him this very day it will happen. Jesus called Peter in the very beginning knowing that Peter would fail. Jesus is not surprised by your weakness or your failures. Jesus already knows that we will fail Him, and yet He calls us to follow Him anyway.
How Do we Respond?
Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea.
We throw ourselves at the mercy of Jesus. The only thing that is keeping us from experiencing the mercy and compassion of God is not our failures, or our sin, it is our pride and our unwillingness to come to Jesus.
When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He said to him 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, “Tend my sheep.” 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 everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.
Notice how Jesus doesn’t ask Peter, “okay, now are you ready to die for me?” “Okay now are you ready to go to prison for me?” He gives Peter an opportunity to express his love for Jesus as many times as he failed to do earlier. Jesus fully restores Peter.
Peter does become a bold disciple who eventually does die for Jesus. But as he is nearing the end of his life Peter is writing to a church and he says this, 1 Peter 5:5
Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
When you fail this week, because it will happen. Be reminded that Jesus is not surprised by your failure. Instead of running away from God when we fail, our response should be to throw ourselves at the mercy of Jesus.
Lego illustration
Really draw this out
APPLICATION
Where is pride keeping you from admitting your weakness? Where are you hiding sin, or not being honest about failures? Do you really know you need Jesus a lot?
Maybe you are here and you’ve failed miserably. Jesus wants to minister to you today. Come to Him. Sometimes in our biggest failures become our biggest opportunities for ministry.