07/03/2022
SERMON
GOD’S MERCY AND MY FAILURES
Part 3 – The Miracle of Mercy
Rev. Jean Smith
We are continuing in a sermon series on the Miracle of God’s Mercy. One thing is for sure, we all need God’s mercy because we are all imperfect beings and we live in an imperfect world. Today we’re going to look at Peter’s story of failure and see what we can learn about HOW WE SET OURSELVES UP FOR FAILURE.
FIRST, we set ourselves up for failure when WE OVERESTIMATE OUR STRENGTH. When we think we are stronger than we really are, that’s when we are most vulnerable to experiencing failure. Peter’s story of failure begins in Matthew, chapter 26. “Jesus said, ‘Tonight every one of you will desert me. For the Scripture says that when the shepherd is killed, the sheep will be scattered. But after I’ve been raised from the dead, I will go ahead of you to Galilee and meet you there.’ Then Peter boasted, ‘But Lord, even if everyone else fails you, I will never deny you!’ Jesus replied, ‘Peter, the truth is that before this night is over, and before the rooster crows at dawn, you will deny knowing me three times.’ Peter insisted, ‘Lord, I would never do that! Even if I have to die with you, I’ll never deny knowing you!’ And all the other disciples vowed the same thing” (Matthew 26:31-35).
Peter and the other disciples were over estimating their strengths. A lot of businesses fail because they overestimate their strengths. A lot of battles are lost because armies over estimate their strengths. A lot of students drop out of school because they over estimate their strengths. A lot of marriages fail because couples overestimate their strengths. Beware of thinking, “It could never happen to me.” The Bible says, “If you think, ‘I am strong! I can handle this. I’d never fall for that temptation,’ then be careful! For you could easily fall too!” (1st Corinthians 10:12)
SECOND, we set ourselves up for failure when WE FEAR THE DISAPPROVAL OF OTHERS. When you make decisions based on what other people think of you, you are setting yourself up for failure. Peter’s story continues, “Peter followed Jesus at a distance to the courtyard of the high priest’s palace. He went in and sat down with the guards to see what was going to happen to Jesus… As he was sitting in the courtyard, a servant girl came up to him and said, ‘You were with Jesus of Galilee, weren’t you?’ But standing there in front of everyone Peter denied it. ‘I don’t even know what you’re talking about!’ he said” (Matthew 26:58, 69-70).
This is so remarkable because here’s a man who has just spent the past three and a half years with Jesus, living with him, eating with him, traveling with him, listening to his teachings and witnessing his miracles. He hardly ever left Jesus’ side. And now he’s denying he ever knew Jesus. Peter was more afraid of what others thought of him than about what God thought of him. It made him only willing to follow Jesus at a distance. Let me just ask you—is the fear of what others think making you follow Jesus at a distance? A lot of people who identify as Christians, have settled into following him at a distance because they fear the disapproval of others. They want to keep Jesus close enough to call upon him for help but they don’t want to live differently than everybody else. The Bible warns us, “It is a dangerous trap to be concerned with what others think of you, but if you trust the Lord, you’ll be safe” (Proverbs 29:25).
THIRD, we set ourselves up for failure when WE SPEAK WITHOUT THINKING. This is the most common cause of failure. We speak before thinking of the impact it will have on others. We speak impulsively. We speak hastily and without consideration as to the impact of our words. We let our emotions blind us from seeing the unintended consequences of our speech. We need to ask, “Is what I am about to say what God would want me to say and is this the right time to say it?”
The story of Peter’s failure goes on. The Bible says, “Then Peter went out to the entrance of the courtyard and there another woman saw him and said to those standing there, ‘This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.’ Again, Peter denied it, and this time he swore an oath and said, ‘I don’t even know that man!” But after a while, the men who had been standing there came over to Peter and said, ‘We know that you are one of them because your Galilean accent gives you away.’ Peter lost his temper and started cursing and swearing. He shouted, ‘I don’t know the man!’ Immediately he heard a rooster crow” (Matthew 26:71-74).
Our fear often gets expressed in anger. Fear is a very powerful emotion. It can cause us to lie and cuss and behave irrationally. It can cause us to say things we later regret; hurtful things we later wish we hadn’t said. The Bible says, “The tongue is a small thing, but what enormous damage it can do! Just as a tiny spark can burn up a great forest, the tongue is a flame of fire. That part of your body is full of wickedness and can poison everything else in your life. It is set on fire by hell itself and can turn our whole lives into a blazing flame of destruction and disaster” (James 3:5-6).
What Peter went on to do teaches us WHAT WE SHOULD DO WHEN WE FAIL, when we fall from grace and deny Christ by our behavior.
FIRST, WE SHOULD GRIEVE OUR FAILURE. We should be truly sorry for our behavior. We shouldn’t minimize it or pretend it didn’t happen. We shouldn’t justify it or rationalize it. We shouldn’t make excuses for it. We should grieve when we deny Christ by our behavior. We should feel badly about it and regret it and not brush it off as no big deal so we can feel better. To get past your failure, you’ve got to go through your failure. That’s a Biblical principle to live by or we will never get beyond our failures. Our failures will haunt us and control us and they will disrupt our lives until we grieve over them. The problem is, most people want to avoid the pain of grieving over their failures. It hurts to grieve your failures. The Bible tells us, “When Peter heard the rooster crow, he remembered that Jesus had said, ‘Before the rooster crows, you’ll deny me three times.’ Then Peter went outside and wept bitterly” (Matthew 26:75). He grieved over denying being a follower of Jesus. He let his grief come out. He got away from the crowd and wept for his failure. He didn’t swallow his emotions. When you do that your stomach keeps score. Holding in grief causes all kinds of problems. It disrupts your relationships and can actually lead to physical illness. Peter wept bitterly. Imagine how disappointed he was with himself. He owned up to his failures. Grief was the first step in his healing. God wants us to acknowledge our failure and grieve over it. The Bible says, “The sacrifice God wants is a broken and contrite spirit; God will not reject a humble and repentant heart” (Psalm 51:17).
SECOND, PETER TEACHES US TO SEEK SUPPORT. That’s what he did following his failure. He went to his small group of fellow believers for support. We all need a small group of those who know the Lord that we can turn to for support in our times of failure. And since we never know when failure might strike, we need that small group to be in place before we fall. We need other Christians we can trust to respond to us as Jesus would, with love and concern and yet hold us accountable to go and sin no more. We are not to grieve alone. When Mary and the other Mary went to the tomb to finish preparing Jesus’s body for burial, an angel of the Lord told them Jesus had risen, “He’s alive! Go tell the disciples.” The Bible says, “Mary Magdalene went and found the disciples together, grieving and weeping” (Mark 16:10). When you go through major failure in your life, you must resist the urge to isolate yourself from others. The tendency is to let the shame and guilt keep you from seeking support. The disciples stayed together to grieve. Jesus anticipated that they would need each other’s support and so he commanded them to stay together. The Bible says, “That evening the disciples were [still] together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus appeared in the middle of the group, and said, ‘Peace be with you!’ …The disciples were filled with joy when they saw the Lord!” (John 20:19-20).
What a sweet thing it is to gather together with those who love the Lord and feel his presence and experience his comfort and healing power. Jesus has promised, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I will be there in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20). When you experience a failure, you need to go to a small group of people who love Jesus, and let them reassure you of God’s love and forgiveness. Let them speak God’s truth to you. Here’s the thing: the greater your failure, the greater your inability to think clearly. That’s when you really need others who love Jesus to help you calm down and think clearly.
THIRD, PETER TEACHES US TO RELY UPON GOD’S MERCY. When you deny Christ by your behavior, fall upon God’s mercy. Peter writes, “Because of his great mercy God has given us a new life by raising Jesus Christ from death. This fills us with a living hope…” (1st Peter 1:3). Peter didn’t stay stuck in his grief. He grieved his failure, he sought support from other believers and he relied on God’s mercy. He’s telling us, “I’m not the same person I once was. I have a new life all because of God’s mercy. I rely on God’s mercy.” Peter had a massive failure to deal with when he denied knowing Christ. He emerged on the other side a better person, a deeper person, a more compassionate person, because of God’s mercy. Later in the same letter he writes, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1st Peter 5:7). Peter could say that because he had experienced it.
Now here is HOW JESUS RESPONDS TO US when we grieve our failures, seek support from our small group and rely on his mercy.
FIRST, JESUS SHOWS COMPASSION TO US. He knows we’re sinners. He knows we’re weak. He’s not surprised by our failures. He has compassion on us. The Bible says, “God certainly knows what we are made of. He bears in mind that we are dust” (Psalm 103:14).
SECOND, JESUS PRAYS FOR US. The Bible says, “Jesus is able to save us completely [from all our failures] because [in heaven] he lives to intercede on our behalf. He is always talking to the Father, asking him to help us” (Hebrews 7:25).
THIRD, JESUS BELIEVES IN US. He believes in us because he is able to raise us up and restore us by his mercy. The Bible says, “For even though a righteous man falls seven times, he will rise again!” (Proverbs 24:32). Why? Because the very power that raise Jesus from the dead will raise us up and cleanse us completely from all our failures.
At the tomb on Easter morning, “The angel said [to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary], ‘I know you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. But he is not here—he’s risen from the dead… Now go tell his disciples, and tell Peter, that he’s going ahead of you to Galilee and he’ll see you there, just as he promised!” (Mark 16:6-7). You see, Peter wasn’t feeling much like a disciple after his failure. And yet the angel of the Lord was very clear, don’t leave Peter out. I know he’s not feeling like he’s worthy to be a disciple right now, but don’t leave him out. When we go through failure, we don’t feel worthy to be Christ’s disciple either. I want to assure you, Jesus knows you by name and he will not leave you out because of your failure.
FOURTH, JESUS HAS MERCY ON US. The Bible says that two weeks later the risen Lord, “…appeared again to the disciples beside the Sea of Galilee. [Here’s how it went down.] Seven of the disciples were there [at the Sea of Galilee] and Simon Peter said, ‘I’m going fishing.’ [Sometimes it’s hard to sit still when you feel like a failure.] ‘We’ll come too,’ they all said. [They weren’t going to leave Peter out of their sight.] So they went out in the boat, but even though they fished all night, they caught nothing. [Great, as if they all didn’t feel like failures already. Now they fail at fishing, too.] At dawn the disciples saw a man standing on the shore but they couldn’t see it was Jesus. He called out, ‘Friends, have you caught any fish?’ ‘No, not a thing!’ they replied. Then Jesus said, ‘Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you’ll get plenty of fish!’ So they did what Jesus said to do, and they instantly caught so many fish, they couldn’t even draw in the net because it was so full of fish! Then John said to Peter, ‘It’s the Lord!”
When Peter realized it was Jesus he put on his tunic [for he had stripped down to his underwear to work], jumped into the water, and swam ashore, leaving the others in the boat to pull the loaded net to shore, for they were only out about three hundred feet.
When they finally got to shore, they saw that Jesus was cooking fish and bread over a charcoal fire. Jesus said, ‘Bring some of the fish you just caught.’ So Peter went back aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was filled with 153 large fish, and yet the net had not torn. ‘Now come and have some breakfast!’ Jesus said. Now they were sure it really was the Lord. Then Jesus served them the bread and the fish. This was the third time Jesus had appeared to his disciples since he had risen from the dead” (John 21:1-14). Let me just ask you: if you were betrayed and abandoned by your closest friends, would you show up two weeks later and cook them breakfast? That’s mercy. The Bible says, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23).
FIFTH, JESUS BUILDS HIS CHURCH THROUGH US. He said to Peter, “When you have turned back to me, strengthen and build up your brothers” (Luke 22:32). Peter’s story continues, “After breakfast Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?’ ‘Yes, Lord, you know I love you,” Peter replied. ‘Then feed my sheep,’ Jesus said. Then Jesus repeated the question, ‘Peter, do you love me?” Peter said, ‘Yes, Lord! You know I love you!” ‘Then feed my sheep,’ Jesus said. Then Jesus asked the same question again, ‘Peter, do you love me?’ Now Peter was grieved that Jesus asked the question a third time, so he said, ‘Lord, you know everything! You know I love you!’ And Jesus replied, ‘Then feed my sheep!” (John 21:15-17).
Three times he asked Peter if he loved him. Perhaps Jesus was giving Peter the opportunity to undo the three times he had denied Jesus. He gave Peter an opportunity to get beyond his failures and become the man God could us to build up others. God uses our failures to make us aware of our need for him, our need for his forgiveness, our need for his mercy, our need for his grace. Receiving his forgiveness and mercy is designed to make us more compassionate and forgiving of others. It enables us to point others to Christ and that is how Jesus uses us to build up His church. D. T. Niles put it so well when he said, “Christianity is one beggar telling another beggar where he found bread.”
