What Do I Do When I Fail?

There is a situation that all of us who follow Christ will face eventually, if we haven’t already.

At some point in our walk with Jesus, we will decide to listen to our pride instead of listening to Christ, and we will get off track and fail to do what he has called us to do.

There will come a time when we go for a week and realize we haven’t spent any time with him or barely even thought of him.

There may be a time when we sin in a way that has more visible consequences—something that damages a relationship with someone else or impacts us in a bigger way.

What do we do when we realized we have failed?

As we look at John 21 together this morning, we are going to what happened to Peter after he failed.

Peter’s one of Jesus’s closest disciples, and yet, when Jesus was arrested, Peter denied three times that he even knew Jesus.

We saw that back in chapter 18.

Jesus went on to be crucified and rise from the dead, and he has appeared to the disciples, but there hasn’t been any mention of what happened with Peter that night.

Let’s set the scene a bit and fill in some of the gaps John doesn’t explain.

Remember, John wrote his gospel last, so he knew you already had the other three and didn’t need him to give you all the details that they contained.

When we line up John’s account with what we find in the other gospels, we see that at some point, Jesus told the disciples to go back to a mountain in Galilee and wait for him there.

We don’t know the exact passage of time, but judging by where we find Peter and the others, it seems like the are in Galilee and waiting for Jesus when we pick up in verse 1.

Also, John had already said in 6:1 that the Sea of Galilee was also known as the Sea of Tiberius.

So, then, we find the disciples back in their home region of Galilee, and they are back near the same waters that at least Peter, Andrew, James, and John had been fishing when Jesus first called them.

They are there, and they are waiting on Jesus. Now, let’s pick up with the account we have in front of us. Start in 21:1-3...

We need to be careful here, because the Bible doesn’t tell us exactly why Peter and the guys went fishing that day.

He may have been bored and tired of waiting for Jesus, he may have become disillusioned with the whole thing, or it may have just been something they did in the downtime while they waited for Jesus to meet them on the mountain.

We don’t know whether it was right or wrong for them to do this, so we have to be careful when we go to assign meaning to it.

Whatever their motive, it sure wasn’t a great night.

At least three of these men had been professional fishermen when Jesus called them to follow him. Don’t think of a professional bass fisherman here—think more like Wicked Tuna or someone else who tries to catch lots of fish to sell.

Now, a few years later, they are out all night and can’t catch a single thing.

Whether or not they were frustrated when they started, I can only imagine they were pretty unhappy at this point.

Keep in mind what has happened with Peter—remember, he denied Jesus three times before his crucifixion.

Although he was one of the first into the tomb and was there when Jesus appeared to the rest of the disciples, it seems like there would have to be a tinge of shame in the back of his mind at least. He had abandoned Jesus at the worst possible moment.

Now, not only that, he can’t even catch a fish anymore.

This moment, with its combination of Peter’s failure and the disciples’ frustration with fishing sets the stage for a beautiful moment of restoration.

When we fail like Peter did, we need to begin by...

1) Remember God’s faithfulness.

Pick up in verses 4-6...

Is there anyone in here who actually likes it when someone tells you how to do your job?

I mean, think about it…you are exhausted, been fishing all night, with nothing to show for it, and suddenly, some jerk from the bank starts yelling at you.

The CSB translates the first part of verse 5 as “Friends”, but more accurately, the term is “Children,” and it was often used between a leader and his followers. One commentator says it could be rendered as something like “my boys”.

Not only does he point out that they don’t have any fish, he starts telling them what to do! Look at verse 6.

They didn’t know it was Jesus at this point, but they did it anyway.

Immediately, they pulled in such a great haul of fish that they couldn’t pull the nets back into the boat.

In that moment, something clicked.

You see, this had happened before.

In Luke 5, we read about the day Jesus called Peter to follow him.

Jesus borrowed Peter’s boat, and they went out into the lake a little ways so he could sit in the boat and address the crowd on the shore.

Then, we see this:

Luke 5:4–6 CSB

When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” “Master,” Simon replied, “we’ve worked hard all night long and caught nothing. But if you say so, I’ll let down the nets.” When they did this, they caught a great number of fish, and their nets began to tear.

After that moment, Jesus told Peter that he wouldn’t be fishing for fish anymore. Rather, he was going to be joining Jesus in throwing out the net of the gospel message and seeing God draw people into his kingdom as a fisher of people.

Here is Peter, having failed Jesus some time before and now a failure at fishing.

Yet, in the midst of his failure, he sees the faithfulness of God again.

Look at what unfolds in verses 7-14

Peter puts on his proper attire, dives in, and swims to Jesus as soon as he recognizes him.

There, they meet Jesus on the beach and find he has already prepared breakfast for them.

There are these incredible eyewitness details that John includes, even the exact number of the fish (153).

In spite of Peter’s failure, Jesus was still faithful. He knew they would fish all night and catch nothing, and he knew he would be able to call them back to the start by providing the catch in the same way he did when he called them.

He even provided them with a warm breakfast after a long, difficult night.

It reminds me of Elijah, one of the great prophets of the Old Testament.

He had seen God work in an incredibly miraculous way, but a wicked queen threatened to kill him. Elijah ran away scared, sat down under a tree, and wished he would die. Exhausted, he laid down and slept.

The angel of the Lord, who is likely Jesus, woke him up, and next to where he slept, he found a loaf of bread and a jug of water. He slept again, and the angel repeated this same thing before he sent him on the next phase of his journey.

Isn’t it interesting to see that one of the ways God demonstrates his faithfulness to his people is fixing them something to eat?

Doesn’t that seem like such a small thing? Yet it is the very way God chose to strengthen Elijah, and it is part of the process of restoring Peter.

When we fail, it is easy to forget the faithfulness of God, especially when we are caught up in the consequences of our actions.

We get caught in our own heads and can’t see a way out.

Can I challenge you this morning that, when you fail, remember God’s faithfulness in all the details of your life.

We sang the song “Goodness of God” last week. Let your heart echo the chorus, which says:

And all my life You have been faithful And all my life You have been so, so good With every breath that I am able Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God

In spite of your failure, look back at the times you know God has used his word to comfort or challenge you. Think about the times when he has made you uniquely aware of his presence as you are praying. Remember the times he has encouraged you through an unexpected call from a friend or a gift you didn’t think you would receive.

By the way, a great way to be ready to remember his faithfulness is to write these things down as they occur! When you see God move in your life in a unique way, write it down so you can go back and remember all he has done.

Maybe you are just starting out in your walk with Christ or your failure seems so overwhelming that you can’t think of anything God has done for you.

Let me point you back to the greatest way God has demonstrated his faithfulness:

Romans 5:8 CSB

But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

God loved you so much that he would die for you!

He has been faithful to love you by taking your sins, even the one you are wrestling with right now, and die on the cross to pay the penalty for that and be raised from the dead to offer you life!

When you and I fail, we have to get back on track by remembering the faithfulness of God.

That’s what Jesus was doing in working through their rough night of fishing.

It isn’t the end, though. For Peter and for us, there is more that needs to happen to get us back on track.

We must also...

2) Rest in his restoration.

The breakfast was certainly a beautiful symbol of God’s faithfulness.

However, there was a painful point there as well.

Look back at verse 9 - “They saw a charcoal fire there...”

This is more than just a helpful detail. You see, there is only one other time this word is used in the entire New Testament:

John 18:18 CSB

Now the servants and the officials had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold. They were standing there warming themselves, and Peter was standing with them, warming himself.

You see, the last time Peter was next to a charcoal fire with Jesus nearby, he had failed him miserably.

Researchers say that scent may be the strongest sense tied to memory [1], so the smell of that fire may have triggered the painful memory of his denial.

Isn’t it interesting how Jesus is taking Peter back through the memory of his calling and the memory of his denial as a part of the restoration process?

At some point, Jesus and Peter begin a conversation.

In an incredibly tender way, Jesus begins to restore Peter back into a right relationship with himself.

Read it with me in 15-17...

Who started the conversation? Jesus, right?

We are seeing another marker of God’s faithfulness here—Jesus was pursuing Peter, even though Peter was the one who sinned!

Jesus didn’t stand off to the side and make Peter grovel, although he would have had every right to do so.

Instead, Jesus took the initiative to seek restoration.

That’s how God has always worked. Remember, he said that no one comes to him unless the Father draws him. We saw last week that God showed us his love by sending his son to us, loving us first.

So, if you have failed, know that Jesus is ready and willing to take you back. He’s there if you will just respond to the offer of forgiveness he has made to you.

There is a lot of debate about the specific words Jesus and Peter use here, but one thing is clear: Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved him, just like Peter denied him three times.

It seems like it took that third time before it finally clicked with Peter what Jesus was doing.

However, tenderly, Jesus called Peter to confirm his love for Christ for every time he had denied him.

With each confirmation, Jesus calls Peter to obedience - “Feed my lambs,” “Shepherd my sheep,” and “Feed my sheep.”

He doesn’t beat Peter over the head with his failure, he doesn’t make him do some kind of penance.

Why? Because Jesus had already been beaten for Peter’s failure, and he had already paid the price for Peter’s sin.

Now, as Peter’s heart is broken by his sin and he responds in repentance, Jesus meets him there with grace and mercy and compassion.

Is this difficult for you to believe? Perhaps you have never had anyone in your life love you for who you are or show you this kind of grace.

This almost feels wrong because shouldn’t he have to do something? I mean, he swore an oath that he had never met Jesus!

As Jesus confronted Peter in the gentlest way possible, Peter’s heart was grieved for his sin. All he could do was rest in the restoration that Jesus offered.

He couldn’t earn his way back into good graces with God, but he didn’t have to, because Jesus had already done that for him.

All he could do was rest in the work of Christ on his behalf and receive the grace he extended.

The same it true for you and I today.

When we fail and we sin, that same grace is available to us.

Let your heart grieve, and then let that grief turn your heart from sin and allow you to rest in his forgiveness.

1 John 1:9 CSB

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Confessing means “saying the same thing as,” so we are acknowledging that what God says is right—we have sinned in this area.

Acknowledging that opens the door to his forgiveness and restoration.

Rest in the fact that he forgives sin and cleanses us from unrighteousness.

With that taken care of, though, in light of his faithfulness and his grace in restoring us, there is one last step in getting back on track after we fail:

3) Return to his purpose.

As Jesus worked to get Peter back on track, he brought him back to his past and reminded Peter of God’s faithfulness. He met him in his present shame and brought reconciliation, and now, he calls Peter to look forward to the future.

Pick up in verse 18-19.

God gave Peter a unique glimpse into his future that he doesn’t typically give everyone.

However, he did give a command that he does give to all those who are getting back on track: “Follow me”.

He was calling Peter to return to the purpose Jesus had for his life.

We saw that during the restoration conversation as well. With each question, Jesus gave Peter an instruction.

Now, he hears that he is going to one day be arrested and die for Jesus.

God was going to so transform Peter that the man who denied Jesus at his arrest would one day be arrested and die for teaching and preaching about Jesus.

Listen: if you have failed in your walk with Christ today, I want to remind you that as long as you have a pulse, you have a purpose.

God restored Peter and allowed him to be one of the most influential followers of Christ in history.

Let me be clear on this, though, just so we have the right expectations: God has a purpose for you, but that does not mean that he will always remove all of the practical consequences of the sins you and I commit.

There are times when opportunities are lost that we don’t get back, relationships are broken in ways that never fully get mended, and other consequences that remain even though we are forgiven.

That does not mean that God doesn’t have a purpose for your life. You still have life, so live it for Christ!

There is one more lesson Jesus gives us through Peter this morning: Remember that God’s purpose for your life won’t look like someone else’s.

Pick up in verse 20-23...

It’s easy to look around and compare our lives to other people.

Why do they have more money or more influence or a better family or this or that.

When we start doing that, I would remind you of verse 22 - “What is that to you? As for you, follow me.”

God’s plan for you is different than God’s plan for me. His goal is that we are both shaped to look like Jesus more and more, to grow to understand him and obey him better. However, he works through our unique gifts and abilities and personalities and opportunities to accomplish that.

You need to follow Jesus, and that may look different for you than it does for me.

He hasn’t called all of us to be pastors, and he hasn’t called all of us to be school teachers or architects or engineers or medical professionals or missionaries or first-responders.

In the same way, following Jesus looked different for John than it did for Peter. John didn’t see 3,000 saved in one day on the day of Pentecost. He didn’t get to lead the first Gentiles to faith in Christ. In fact, John is the only one of the apostles who died a natural death.

So, when you get back on track with Christ, don’t spend too much time saying, “If only I was here” or “I wish I could be doing this.”

What is that to you? You follow Jesus in the place he has given you to live and go to school and work and raise a family, and you do that with the talents he has given you and the abilities he has helped you develop.

What do we do when we fail?

We look back and remember the faithfulness of God.

We look at Christ and rest in the reconciliation he gives us.

We look forward to becoming and doing whatever he calls us to do as we return to his purpose.

Endnotes:

[1] https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/02/how-scent-emotion-and-memory-are-intertwined-and-exploited/