January 25, 2009 #1 Stay In the Game 1 - 2009
Stay In the Game
John 21:1-21
Anyone who has heard me preach more than a few times knows that I love a good comeback story. I love to read stories or watch movies or witness real-life situations in which someone is out on a limb, with their back to the wall, behind the eight ball (adversity does have a way of causing us to mix metaphors, does it not?)—and yet this person, in spite of overwhelming obstacles, manages somehow to turn things around and come out on top. I love that kind of story.
I love to watch a comeback.
That's the name of the series we're beginning today. "Comeback STORIES."
It is for those of you who feel like you're losing the game and need to turn things around. For the next three service we will learn some biblical principles for creating change in your life from one of the Bible's most colorful characters, the Apostle Peter. To say that Peter made a comeback is an understatement. In a very short period of time he went from the depths of despair and failure and hopelessness to the heights of faith and power and success.
How did he get there? I'm going to give away the ending right now and tell you this much: He couldn't have done it without God's help AND God wouldn't have done it without Peter's participation. When it comes to a comeback, we tend to make two mistakes.
One, we think, I've got to fight this battle alone.
Two, we think, I can't do it so someone else will have to do it for me.
Now, the fact is that God will do it for you; he just won't do it without you. You have to remain engaged in the process.
I. We feel like "one step forward and two steps back."
Let's look at the Apostle Peter. This is why I like his story. He made more than one mistake along the way. We know the big one: at the time of the crucifixion he denied Christ, he abandoned him, and he left him to die alone. But before that happened, Peter had already established a pattern of hits and misses. I'll give you a couple of examples.
A. Matthew 16:15-16. Jesus and his disciples are talking about what the crowds think of him, and he asks, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter is the one who speaks up. He says, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God." Peter was the first one to get it. Jesus said, in effect, "Well spoken, Peter. You are a rock and on this rock I will build my church."
Theologians have debated for centuries exactly what Jesus meant by that phrase, but Peter didn't take time to debate it—he apparently let it go straight to his head. A few minutes later, when Jesus told his disciples that he must eventually die, Peter—thinking that he and Jesus were now co-captains—pulled him aside and said, "Never, Lord. This will never happen to you!" And do you know what Jesus said to Peter? "Get behind me, Satan!" He called him Satan! So much for the co-captain theory.
Peter had a minor success here. He said something brilliant, he received the highest praise from Christ, and then Peter's ego went into overdrive: the next thing you know he has messed up and Jesus had to correct him.
That wasn't the first time. A little earlier, in Matthew 14, the disciples had taken a boat across the Sea of Galilee, while Jesus stayed behind to pray. Later that night the disciples looked out onto the sea, and in the distance they saw a figure approaching. At first they were afraid—they thought it was a ghost—but it was Jesus. He called out to them, "It is I! Don't be afraid!" Peter, in a bold step of faith, said "Lord, if it is you, tell me to come to you on the water." Jesus said, "Come." Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water. But then he noticed the wind, he became afraid, and he began to sink. He cried out, "Jesus save me!" and Jesus saved him. Here we see again that Peter has a taste of success, he loses focus, and he falls down.
We see it again and again in Peter's life. At the Mount of Transfiguration, he says the wrong thing. In the Garden of Gethsemane, he strikes out violently toward a Roman soldier. Peter had this pattern of near success and failure throughout his life.
Many of us struggle with the same kind of setbacks. Every time we taste a little victory, we fall down. Every time we say the right thing, it seems like we turn right around and say the wrong thing. As soon as things begin to go our way, we sabotage it.
When we take one step forward, we take two steps back. If this is you, you're not alone. We're in the same boat (no pun intended) that Peter was in.
II. What leads to our fall?
A. Impulsiveness It is quite clear that Peter was a spur-of-the-moment kind of guy. He said things quickly, he did things quickly, and he didn't seem to let things like "considering the consequences" slow him down.
I can relate to this, because I tend to be the same way. Being decisive is good, being impulsive is not so good. If you, like the Apostle Peter, tend to move too fast, get in the habit of slowing down. Get in the habit of taking a little longer to make a decision. Get in the habit of getting advice first. It will help you overcome impulsiveness.
B. Over-confidence . Another attitude that leads to a downfall is believing in ourselves too much. At the Last Supper, Jesus said to Peter...
"This very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times."
Do you remember how Peter answered him?
"Even if I have to die with you, I will not deny you." (Matthew 26:35)
Peter had a lot of faith, but unfortunately it wasn't in Jesus, it was in himself. It wasn't a case of confidence; it was a case of over-confidence. Paul warned us,
If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! (1 Corinthians 10:12) “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.”
What's he saying?
He's saying, "Don't put too much faith in yourself." You've seen what happens when a highly favored team becomes overconfident. They get beat. And so will you. We need to remind ourselves everyday: I am nothing without God's grace, and I can do nothing without him. I am weak, he is strong.
C. Fatigue. Something else that led to Peter's downfall was fatigue. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus asked Peter, James, and John to stay awake with him and pray...but they were just too tired. Instead, they fell asleep. Fatigue will do that to you. When you should be praying, you fall asleep. When you should be watching, you just can't keep your eyes open. When you're facing danger, your mind is too cloudy to think straight.
Usually, when I talk about the disciples experience in the Garden of Gethsemane, I refer to the dangers of prayerlessness. But think about it. What was behind their prayerlessness? Was it rebellion? Was it lack of faith? Was it apathy? No, it was fatigue. Peter didn't pray that night in the Garden of Gethsemane because he was just too tired.
Vince Lombardi said, "Fatigue makes cowards of us all." It also makes failures of us all. I am telling you that if you are burning the candle at both ends and pushing yourself to the limit physically day after day after day, you are setting yourself up for a fall.
Finally, Peter's fatigue, his ego, and his impulsiveness caught up with him, and on the night Jesus was arrested, Peter hit rock bottom.
We know what happened. As Jesus was taken away to be tried for blasphemy, Peter followed behind, watching from a distance. While he warmed himself by the fire, someone asked him, "Weren't you with Jesus?" "No," Peter said, "I don't know him." A moment later someone else said, "You were with him, your accent gives you away." Again Peter insisted that it wasn't him. And then he was asked a third time, "Are you one of them?" Peter began to call down curses on himself and said, "I don't know what you are talking about!" Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. And from the across the courtyard, Jesus turned and looked straight at Peter. Peter remembered that Jesus had told him this very thing would happen, and he went outside and wept bitterly. [Luke 22]
III. How can we turn it around?
Growing up in the church, I was familiar with the story of Peter's denial. So, when I became a Christian and I began to read the New Testament, I could not believe that the Peter in the book of Acts was the same Peter in the Gospels. They seemed like two different people.
He didn't seem to be a man overcome with guilt. Instead he spoke with authority and confidence. He told his readers to practice self-control, to be holy, to avoid hypocrisy, and to live for God. I wondered: How can he write with such boldness when he failed so publicly?
And in the book of Acts he did some amazing things. Only days after he denied Christ, he stood before a huge crowd and preached a sermon!
Soon afterwards he pulled a crippled man to his feet and told him to rise and walk in the name of Jesus—and the man was healed! And when the Jewish authorities told him to stop preaching in the name of Jesus, he stood courageously and said, "I will not be silent!" And later he was miraculously freed from prison.
Can this be the same man who earlier had denied Jesus and had found himself alone, weeping bitterly over his own failure? Is such a comeback possible? In a word, yes. By God's grace, yes. By his mercy, yes. By his power, yes. Peter made a comeback and so can you.
There are some of you here today who believe that it is too late. You believe that you have fallen too far and too often to ever turn things around. It's not true. The game isn't over. There is still time on the clock. You can turn things around.
But you cannot do it without God. God will turn things around, but he will not do it without you.
You do your part—the possible—by faith; he does his part—the impossible—by his mighty power.
The first step in making a comeback is making a decision to stay in the game as long as there is time on the clock.
Too many people will never experience a comeback because they quit too soon. Do you want to make a comeback? Stay in the game. Stay in the game and wait for the miracles to begin.
I've given you some warning signs to look for this week.
Be careful about making impulsive decisions.
Get your ego in check and don't allow yourself to be overconfident.
And don't let fatigue get the best of you.
These can only make matters worse. So keep an eye out. And most of all, stay in the game.
A comeback is possible. You can do it through God's power. And he will do it, if you stay in the game.