Beloved Failure

Our sermon passage for September 3 was Luke 22:54-62. It tells the part of the Gospel story in which Jesus has just been arrested and Peter denies his relationship with Jesus three times, which results in Peter being overcome with guilt and grief. What ray of hope can we possibly find in this? The story is such a downer when read by itself that I imagine most readers just skim through it on the way to other things. There is grace here, however. Jesus knew exactly how badly Peter would fail him in His time of need, and yet their relationship did not end. Most of us would have just moved on from Peter after being hurt that badly, but that’s not Jesus’ way. Jesus used Peter in amazing ways throughout the rest of his life. In the same way he knows just how badly we fall short but He saves us and uses us out of sheer love and grace.

So, what did God accomplish through Peter in spite of his failures? I often poke fun at Peter when I preach for being slow on the uptake and prone to saying dumb things, but he had some considerable achievements. He was shown to be a leader among Jesus’ disciples when He selected him along with James and John to get a glimpse of Jesus’ glorified state in Matthew chapter 17. He preached the first Christian sermon on the day of Pentecost and saw 3,000 people come to faith (Acts 2:1-41). He wrote two letters that became part of our New Testament. Finally, he was martyred after many fruitful years as a missionary and pastor. Not bad for a knucklehead who was too cowardly to admit he was Jesus’ follower!

We are all like Peter in one way or another. All of us fall short of what we ought to be. Sometimes it’s obvious and sometimes it’s hidden from others, but it never is from God. Maybe you are right in the middle of a huge failure, like divorce, or addiction, or criminal charges. Jesus didn’t give up on Peter and he won’t give up on you! When we are total failures, Jesus says, “Come, follow me.” Maybe you were a follower for a while but something happened and you have been wandering lately. That’s a cold and dangerous place to be, but Jesus still says, “Come, follow me.” Maybe you have never heard him call to you at all. He STILL says, “Come, follow me!”