Ever felt that cringe-worthy sting of awkwardness when you've dropped the ball? It's a discomfort that follows us into our spiritual lives, especially during times when joy and celebration are expected. This Easter, we tackle the paradox of God's unconditional love in the face of our shame and how this influences our ability to fully embrace occasions of communal joy.
Let's turn to a figure we all can resonate with – Peter. His experiences after the resurrection are a canvas of human error and divine grace, where his journey from disciple to denier to the restored rock of the church encapsulates our own battles with deceitful hearts and the grace that reaches out to us nonetheless. We dissect Peter's emotional roller-coaster and Jesus’ profound methodology of correction, which teaches us the value of godly sorrow over guilt.
Ever felt that cringe-worthy sting of awkwardness when you've dropped the ball? It's a discomfort that follows us into our spiritual lives, especially during times when joy and celebration are expected. This Easter, we tackle the paradox of God's unconditional love in the face of our shame and how this influences our ability to fully embrace occasions of communal joy.
Let's turn to a figure we all can resonate with – Peter. His experiences after the resurrection are a canvas of human error and divine grace, where his journey from disciple to denier to the restored rock of the church encapsulates our own battles with deceitful hearts and the grace that reaches out to us nonetheless. We dissect Peter's emotional roller-coaster and Jesus’ profound methodology of correction, which teaches us the value of godly sorrow over guilt.
Hey, what up? It's Mark Carter. I'm the pastor of Fierce Church. Welcome to our podcast. I'm so pumped that you're able to join us today. I hope this encourages you, inspires you, strengthens you, gives you hope to keep pressing on, and it's my prayer that this sermon gives you a more expansive view of God's love for you. Enjoy the message.
Speaker 1:I was in my freshman year of college and I had failed to turn in two different major projects and they were late. And I was at a party it was kind of like an end of the year party and two of my professors whom I owed a project to were there and I felt I don't know if you ever felt this way I felt awkward, I felt like, uh, like, and I even liked them, okay, so that's it. I'm not like, oh, these crappy professors, these are people that I respected, and it was because I respected them that I felt like I let them down. I felt like, man, I didn't, you know, I had a lot to do and I didn't get to that one Didn't get it turned in yet, and so they're coming around the corner. I'm like, oh my gosh, you know, I'm moving around because I don I'm imagining that's gonna happen, and so I'm a little bit nervous. It's a little bit awkward. Have you ever had a feeling like that, ever had a feeling like something wasn't right between you and somebody? And because it wasn't particularly right, you'd step around the hallway or you'd see them in Meijer and you'd go the entire other you know back way around the store because you don't want to see them, or you actually leave the location you're at because it's just going to be weird. I don't want to have to say anything. We're going to pretend everything's cool, and I know it's not cool.
Speaker 1:Some of you maybe you've experienced this because of something like me that you kind of did wrong or you didn't turn it in. Or maybe you were bullied by somebody and now you don't want to. You run, run into them later and everybody's grown up, but you still don't want to run into them. Maybe you were the one who did a little bit of bullying and now you feel a little bit bad about that. Maybe you see people that you used to know in a former part of life and, honestly, you're not as far along as you thought or maybe even boasted you would be to them, and so it's a little bit awkward. You don't want to run into them, you don't want to have the conversation, you don't want to go to the party because you just thought things would be a little bit different than they are.
Speaker 1:Maybe you're one of the ones who there was just some parenting things that happened under your watch and it wasn't entirely your fault, but it looks like it's your fault, at least to you, and so you're afraid to run into so-and-so because you just your fault, at least to you, and so you're afraid to run into so-and-so because you just you don't want to be judged by them. Or you went through a bad divorce and you were one of the ones who were like, oh, he's so awesome and he's so wonderful. And now it's a couple of years later and he doesn't seem so awesome and everyone's looking at you like what were you doing? And you just don't want to talk to them because you're afraid of how that will make you feel. Okay, now take that feeling. You know that feeling that I want to get away from this. Take that feeling and let's think about what would it be like if everybody is celebrating Easter and you're happy about Easter, but you also feel awkward because you know that the most important person between you and God. It's not all good. You're excited, you're glad the thing happened. Jesus ended up rising from the dead. That's awesome. And yet now you feel a little bit like I don't. We haven't discussed what happened and it wasn't great, and I feel like part of me wants to dodge him and the other one part of me wants to run into his arms. I wanna talk to you today about being fully known and fully loved. I wanna talk to you about today.
Speaker 1:What do you do when everyone is celebrating but you feel a little bit at odds with Jesus? What do you do when everybody seems to be excited about he is risen? He is risen indeed, and for you there's a little bit of like yeah, good, but I don't feel like we're good. So I'm pretending to celebrate with everybody, but I'm only kind of half doing it, because truth is, I'm ashamed. I've got some deep shame and I don't even have just a little bit of shame. Some of you know what this is about. Like I even bring that up and you know there are some things that they even just come to mind. You try not to think about them, but when they come to mind, you're like I feel bad about that I feel every day, like every time that comes to mind. Maybe if you even know like well, you know Jesus forgives me, and maybe that's true, maybe that's you but even still, the thought of it makes you feel sinking in your heart and for some of us, maybe you have never felt that way. Maybe maybe you're a little bit like Peter. Maybe you're a little bit like Peter who started out and went through a long time with Jesus of not really being on the same page about how different his heart was from Jesus.
Speaker 1:We're going to talk about Peter today because we're entering a moment in the Bible where it's actually a week after Easter. Jesus has risen from the dead. We were here last week. Jesus is so excited to see his boys, his disciples, again that he finds them. He cooks some breakfast and they start to hang out just because Jesus wants to be with them. And Peter's there. Peter's excited about it. And yet Peter knows like I did something really bad, though Like I denied you to your face a lot three times and we haven't talked about it, and I feel like I let you down and I feel like maybe I disqualified myself from some things and I'm just a little bit afraid that you're going to reprimand me or something's going to go wrong here. And Peter has realized maybe I'm a little different, maybe I'm a little worse, maybe I'm not quite as awesome as I thought I was, and he might benefit from remembering Jeremiah 17, 9.
Speaker 1:Jeremiah, speaking for God, speaks this about all humankind, and it's important for us to hear. He says the heart is the most deceitful thing there is and desperately wicked. No one can really know how bad it is. It's important to understand this word wicked. Okay, there's an Old Testament scholar named Bruce Waltke, really smart guy. He says if you're trying to understand righteous and wicked in the Bible, one of these you want to do, don't think about he doesn't use this example don't think about Thanos and like Captain America. Okay, there's wicked, and then there's good. Okay, that's not really what it's about. He says the righteous are the ones who will disadvantage themselves so that others can be advantaged, and the wicked are those who will disadvantage others so that they can be advantaged.
Speaker 1:Now, if that's true, then we've probably all been wicked. We've probably like, even without knowing it. There's times where we saw a situation where we're like I can work this for my good, though, and maybe something will happen for them, but I'm going to go ahead and make sure something good happens for me and we disadvantaged other people for the sake of our own prosperity. And Jeremiah says that's wicked. But it's not only that. He says you also don't even really get it, like you don't know. Sometimes you might see it, but often you don't see it, like you're just oblivious to the fact that it's happening. And maybe some of us that's one of the reasons we've never had some of Peter's level of shame, because we just haven't thought about ourselves in that way. But I think as we follow Peter's story, we're going to feel that way a little bit. Today it's important to understand as we think about Peter.
Speaker 1:Remember that Peter he wasn't just one of the 12 apostles, he was one of the three, the three inner circle apostles. These were the guys that were with Jesus. They're like his best friends. He was with them all the time. He showed them like extra stuff. He was extra intentional with mentoring them. It was Peter, john and James. They saw stuff like that. Jesus, you know, change on the Mount of Transfiguration. He showed them all kinds of stuff and Peter bragged. He bragged to everybody. Hey, jesus, just so you know these other schmoes. They'll probably leave you, they'll probably forsake you, but never me. I'll never do it. It might be valuable for us to go back and let's just look at Peter's story entirely, so we can understand how he's responding to the resurrected Christ.
Speaker 1:Okay, it starts with let's go back to day one. Peter has just. He first encounters Jesus. He invites Jesus. Jesus asks can I preach to the people on your boat? Peter just gets in. It's a long night fishing. He's a fisherman, he's a man of the sea, he knows how to fish, but he didn't get you anything. Jesus borrows the boat to do a little teaching. Then he says Peter, I know that you're tired and I just want to show you something. So go ahead and throw your net over there and you'll get a whole bunch of fish. Peter's like eh, I know that's not true, because I'm a fisherman, I know that's not going to work, but just because you say so, I'll do it. He does it. And when he does it, he realizes because the thing gets filled with fish.
Speaker 1:Whoever this is, they have a lot of pull with God. They have so much pull that it reminds me of my own sin. And he gets on his knees. He says Lord, get away from me, for I'm a sinful man. It says right there in Luke sorry is that? Yeah, luke 7, 8, a shout for help brought their partners in the other boat and soon both boats were filled with fish and were on the verge of sinking.
Speaker 1:When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said oh Lord, please leave me. I'm such a sinful man. He starts good. We should all start that way. We should start like Jesus. You're completely other than me. You're not just like a guy, you're something entirely different. And when I'm in your presence, I should follow my knees and say I shouldn't even be around you. You're so awesome.
Speaker 1:And yet, you know, time goes by and, and you know, I don't know, ladies, how you guys do this, but men, men, kind of size each other up all the time. They're like, okay, how, how's this guy at this? And am I any better than that? And guys, I don't know why we do it, we just do it. And I got to imagine Peter is doing that on some level with Jesus. Okay, he's, he's sizing them up next to Jesus. Sometimes he thinks Jesus is going to need my advice. I'm going to lean in. That's probably why I'm on his team, so I can give him some good counsel.
Speaker 1:So the night before Jesus, three years goes by now. They've been close and Peter's been on the inner circle for a long time, and yet the night before Jesus is going to die, peter leans in. Jesus is talking about hey guys, pretty soon, in a couple hours, I'm going to be taken away from you, I'm going to be put to death. And Peter's like no, no, no, no, no, no. Jesus, let me speak to you for a minute. Matthew 16, 22,.
Speaker 1:Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him, saying such things as heaven forbid Lord. He said this will never happen to you. Now Jesus actually rebukes him right there. He says actually you're speaking for Satan. Right now, zip it, because you're getting in the way of what God wants.
Speaker 1:But Peter, you know he's just that kind of. He's got a lot of confidence. He's got a lot of confidence. I bet you what I know, what they need to hear. They need to hear me, and so he opens his mouth. But he's also a soft-hearted individual. He actually does love Jesus.
Speaker 1:It's important to know about Peter. He's not devoted to religion, he's devoted to Jesus. Like he's not. You don't get the impression at all that Peter's overly concerned about how perfectly he's obeying. It never even comes up for him, it seems like. Yet he's very devoted to the person of Jesus. He respects Jesus so much so that he tries to get Jesus. Essentially he's saying Jesus, I don't need you to cover my messes, it's my mess, I don't need you to do it. John 13, four.
Speaker 1:Jesus is beginning to wash the feet of the disciples. I got to understand this is a metaphor. He is demonstrating servanthood, but he's also demonstrating I need to wash you with my blood. I need to wash your sin away. So Jesus is doing this big kind of performance art piece. So he got up from the table and took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples' feet, drying them with a towel he had around him.
Speaker 1:When Jesus came to Simon Peter, peter said Lord, you are going to wash my feet. Jesus replied you don't understand now what I'm doing, but someday you will. No, peter protested you will never, ever wash my feet. Jesus replied. Unless I wash you, you won't belong to me, peter. Peter's heart is kind of right because he's like hey, you didn't make this mess and I respect you too much, jesus, to have you do something a servant would do. It was servants that come in and wash people's feet. Jesus shouldn't have to wash people's feet. And so, on one level, he's giving him props, but he's also misunderstanding. He's misunderstanding his own role in helping him. He really doesn't add anything to what Jesus is doing, and that's he's overconfident in his self, he's overconfident in his performance, he's overconfident in his ability to help Jesus, as though Jesus actually needed his help.
Speaker 1:And you gotta think about Peter man. Think about I mean, if I was Peter, I'd probably be a little bit arrogant too, as I look at all these other dips. They didn't get out of the boat, they didn't even try to walk on water. I did. Jesus brought me up on the Mount of Transfiguration, even though I was blubbering like an idiot. He still included me. And so there's gotta be some level of like, just pride in him, of like I'm the guy, and he's so the guy that, right in front of everybody, as Jesus, is saying y'all are going to leave me. Matthew 26, 33,.
Speaker 1:Peter spoke up and said to Jesus I will never leave you, even though all the rest do? He says Jesus, you don't understand. I'm your guy. I'm more committed, I love you more than other people. I'm the one. I'm devoted to you, master, and I got to tell you. I know these guys are weaklings, but not me. I'll be the guy to press through. I'll be the guy to show my allegiance. And what does Jesus say? John 13, 38. Jesus answered die for me. I tell the truth, peter, before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me. And that's what Peter does. He denies him, he bails man, he gets scared, he gets scared for his life and it all begins to fall apart. And here's what happens. Here's what we do, what Peter probably was tempted to do.
Speaker 1:When you're confronted with you've done something shameful, you can do a few things. One thing you can do is just be in denial about it. You can just be like, no, that didn't happen, that's not what it was, that's not what happened. Now, if you do that, the problem is whoever you're in a relationship that thinks you're wrong. You're going to create distance between those two. You've seen this right. You've had someone that you disagree with, and it's a sharp disagreement, and you're so sharp you can't even like, come together anymore, and so you just start to relationally drift and that can even happen with God, as maybe we're a little bit our conscience is pricked and we're like, no, that's not happening. What is happening right there is you're slowly beginning to drift because you're just you're in denial about it.
Speaker 1:The other version, the other thing that might happen, is maybe just as bad or worse. It's where you begin to carry the weight of like shame so deeply the rest of my life. I've got to be trying, I've got to be getting it right. I'm so ashamed I got to work myself back into God's favor. I got to do like Peter I cleaned myself. God, you didn't make this mess, I made it. And so I don't really know how it works. I don't know if I've ever made up for it. I don't know how you feel about that, but I'm going to keep trying and keep trying and keep trying.
Speaker 1:But Jesus shows us a third way. There's a different way. On Easter, there's a way where he takes Peter and they retrace Peter's steps, this Peter. There's a version where you don't have to be filled with shame and you don't have to live in denial. You just have to embrace the identity of a forgiven sinner. That's what you have to do Now.
Speaker 1:You know that if your mind is playing games with you, it's not necessarily great for your mental health. If you're always trying to live up to something that you never know if you did or not, or if you're in denial, you're really not walking in reality. That's not great for your mental health either. And so, jesus in his mercy, he says let me do some healing. So let's pick it up where we were at last week. Remember last week Jesus was demonstrating his heart. He's with the guys, they're having breakfast together, so they eat and everybody's doing great. And then Jesus pulls Peter off to the side. It's time to talk. They haven't been connecting about it yet.
Speaker 1:Jesus knows the right time. Somebody say Jesus knows the right time. Jesus knows the right time. He says, peter, I know you don't feel buttoned up. I know that your emotions are probably getting the better of you.
Speaker 1:From time to time you might even be thinking, as I would be thinking. I don't know about you if you'd be thinking this. I'd probably be thinking if I was Peter, did I miss my shot? Because? Did I miss my shot? Because, before I denied him, like Jesus was on the way up I thought there's a whole military like new king, everything. I'm going to be the right-hand guy and he's including me. I can't wait. I'm going to be bossing people around, I'm going to tell them what to do, because I'm Jesus's guy and when I denied him, even if he still loves me, did I lose my shot? Did I jack that up so bad that, hey, peter, you can stay alive, but you're not coming with us. You're not going to be able to do anything that you were supposed to be able to do because you screwed it up too bad. You're not disqualified. I would be thinking that if I'm Peter, is Jesus done with me? Good news, my friend, on Easter Sunday, he ain't done with you.
Speaker 1:So when they had finished breakfast, jesus said to Simon Peter Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? Man, it's like every one of these lines is so important. Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? He's pointing to the other disciples. He said remember, peter, when you said if all of them left me, you wouldn't. Do you still think that? Do you still think you love me more than they do? Do you love me more, peter? He said to him yes, lord, you know that I love you. He said to him tend my lambs. He said to him again a second time Simon, son of John, do you love me? He said to him yes, lord, you know I love you. He said to him shepherd my sheep. He said to him a third time Simon, son of John, do you love me? Peter was grieved because he said he had said to him the third time do you love me? That's how many times Peter denied him. Now Jesus is asking three times. And he said to him Lord, you know all things, you know that I love you. Jesus said to him tend my sheep, like Peter.
Speaker 1:Jesus invites us here's number one. Jesus invites us to look at our mistakes. He's taken him through one, two, three, just like you denied one, two, three. Let's look at this for a minute, peter. Let's retrace the steps. Now, jesus, you got to remember right. He's friendly, he's gentle, he's open, he's not slapping them upside the head, he's not like well, you know I'm pretty disappointed with you, but let's talk about what we can do about it. He doesn't do anything like that. He's already demonstrated.
Speaker 1:The context of this entire conversation is relationship. It's kind of like a little breakfast party. It's fellowship. That's where Jesus is pulling him aside. And you know, no matter what you and I have done, the context for Jesus is friendly and open and desiring to be with us, desiring fellowship. He says, peter, let's look at your failures so that we can attempt to bring healing to them.
Speaker 1:But you'll notice what Jesus doesn't say. He doesn't say hey, you know what, peter, it's all good, what are you going to do, man? You know, you didn't know what was coming, and sin's really just not a big deal. So God is just, he just loves everybody and everything. And so these things, they're not just a big deal to God, so it's all good. He doesn't say that because that would be incorrect.
Speaker 1:Think about this You've got a parent. That's a pretty good parent. They take care of their kid well. They make sure that the kid doesn't get drunk while they're away. They make sure the kid eats the right amount of stuff, make sure the kid goes to bed at the right time, and they do that because they love the kid. Those things are a little bit of a big deal because they love the kid. They want the kid to turn out the way that. Would be better than that. Then you bring in a babysitter and the babysitter they don't tell the parents, but they're like I don't care what you do, man, sure Get drunk, sure Eat whatever you want, let's spend money we don't even have. I don't care why. Because the babysitter doesn't care, they don't care what happens to the kid. They're like not my kid, I don't care, they can do whatever they want to do, because they don't really love the kid the way the parent does. If God were to say, hey, man, do whatever you want, I don't care, it's no big deal, sin's not a thing, that it's going to bother me. It would prove to us. So you don't care, you don't care what happens, you don't care what we do. No, god is too good of a father for that. He says oh, I definitely care. That's why the cross is such a big deal, because it was a costly thing to cover costly sin.
Speaker 1:Paul, paul, the apostle guy, happens a little bit later. He talks about the difference between godly sorrow and worldly sorrow. In this particular translation of the Bible, 2 Corinthians 7.10, he says that this way he uses sadness instead of sorrow, but he says for the sadness that is used by God brings a change of heart that leads to salvation and there's no regret in that. But sadness that is merely human causes death. He says there's two kinds of sadnesses. One is human. One is the kind of like beat yourself up kind of sadness. Like man, I'm just disappointed in myself. I'm going to try harder. Or it's very depressed, very discouraged, like I can't believe. I'm just so bad. I'll tell you what. I'll just wallow in my badness for a while. Try to make up for it with feelings of guilt. He says that's worldly sorrow, that's worldly sadness. All that brings about is death, like it doesn't help you, it doesn't progress spiritual power or spiritual life.
Speaker 1:He says there's another kind of sorrow, though it's godly sorrow. It's sorrow that I am sad that there were bad results. I'm sad that this may be hurt other people. But even more I'm sad that this hurt God. My heart is breaking, I'm allowing my heart to break, and Jesus is pointing this out to Peter. Allow your heart to break, peter, not because of the consequences. Allow your heart to break because you hurt me.
Speaker 1:Think about this if you're Jesus man, I mean, how would you feel? You've got somebody that completely invested in you, or somebody you've completely invested in someone? Maybe you raised them. Maybe you put them through college, maybe you've been the best friend that they ever had. You stood up for them when nobody else did. And then they they not only entirely betray you but they go public with it. I mean, that's what Peter was doing. They go public with. They're posting on social media. I hate them. I don't want to ever have anything to do with them. Believe it or not, that is what it was like for Jesus. He's feeling this as this happens. It's a big deal.
Speaker 1:There was curse that Peter was calling down. It says right in Matthew 26, 74. So this is when Peter's denying him. He says then he began to call down curses and he swore to them I don't know the man. And immediately the rooster crowed Richard Baucom. He's a theologian he talks about. He's a commentator on this passage. He says shame and honor.
Speaker 1:Culture is a little bit different than ours. So we might even diss somebody and we're like I didn't mean it, man, don't worry about it. But for them to say I don't know them, loyalty is a way bigger deal in a culture like that in the ancient Near East. To say you don't know somebody, they're like oh, I guess he doesn't. To curse them to say forget about this guy. I hate this guy. I don't have anything to do with that guy. That's Peter proving. See, I'm not connected to him. For Jesus to know that Peter's saying that about them, can you imagine how much that cuts to his heart? Oh dude, it absolutely does. And if we'll consider this, if Peter will consider this, we'll see. We need to avoid the idea of cheap grace. See, cheap grace is where obedience doesn't matter. Cheap grace says hey, man, it's no big deal.
Speaker 1:Dietrich Bonhoeffer, many of you know. He was an executed pastor in Hitler's Germany. He wrote about this thing called cheap grace in his book the Cost of Discipleship. And what he wrote? He was wondering, he was pondering the question how is it that the entire church in Germany threw in with Hitler? How did they do this? Because he opposed Hitler and that's why he was put to death. Why did they do this? And he determined it was because of cheap grace. It was because they believed. You know God so loves everybody that sin just isn't a big deal. He'll just forgive everything. So even if Hitler's wrong, you know what God will just forgive it. I don't like everything that's going on. But you know what? What God will just forgive it. I don't like everything that's going on, but you know what? I'm not going to stick my neck out in case I lose it, so God will forgive me. And Bonhoeffer said it's because of cheap grace that people gave themselves. The pastors signed an agreement, they signed their names to the idea that we support Hitler, no matter what. Is that psycho? A man who was executed in that time in that context says it was because of cheap grace.
Speaker 1:Guys, sin is costly. Sin is a big deal. When we have a low view of sin, we must have a low view of the cross. If my sin is no big deal, then why does Jesus have to die? Can't it just be like oh, it's fine? No, you put the most important person in the universe to death, the most expensive thing there is. You make payment with his blood. Because it's a big deal, because it's the only thing that will work. Nothing else work. I can't use gold, I can't use platinum, I can't use anything. The only thing that will work is the shed blood of the son of God. That's how big a deal it is. It's not cheap grace, it's mocking grace. If we make it cheap, it's not cheap at all.
Speaker 1:And so Peter does this three times and Jesus has got to be like Peter. When that was happening, peter, you don't know who you are yet. You don't know who you are. See, peter, you still think, like, maybe I think sometimes and maybe you think sometimes. Oh, you still think you're the hero, you still think you're the advisor, you still think that you're the strong one, my friend, you've got to get if you really want to understand yourself right, and you want to understand yourself in relation to Jesus. He says you got to realize that you're the traitor, dude, you're Gollum, you're Thanos, fill in the bad guy, like you're that guy. You're not the hero, you're not the one who saves the day. You're the one who needs saved, despite your treachery. When you're the one who said everything that Jesus did for me, it meant nothing and you say it publicly. That hurts Jesus. But Jesus is so awesome, he's so friendly, he's so good that he's the friendly surgeon. He says okay, peter, we're going to walk, we're going to retrace your steps. I need you to hold still because I'm going to cut some stuff out. We're going to show you you and I want you to feel it. So let's review these steps. So, number one Jesus invites us to look at our mistakes. And number two, jesus invites us to genuine remorse. He says, peter, I need you to actually feel this. I need you to think about how this hurt me. I need you to think about what this cost. And I don't. I personally don't think Peter was caught off guard. Here's why he denied Jesus three times.
Speaker 1:I've been in situations maybe you have too where you just kind of react and you didn't. You had nothing planned for that moment. You never thought you'd be in a moment like that. You see something crazy happen at the mall and you're like I don't know what to do, man, I don't know what's going to happen, and you just don't react. And in retrospect you're like, oh, I wish I would have done something different or said something, or why did I let her talk to him like that? Whatever it was, you know that it's just because of surprise. You reacted that way. Okay, maybe if that happens again, you're still just as surprised. But if it happens a third time, authorized. But if it happens a third time, dude, the reason you did that is because that's what's in you. You did it the third time because that's what's in you and that's what comes out when you chose to do it a third time, it wasn't an accident. You've had time to think about it and turn around, and now you do it again.
Speaker 1:Maybe you're like me, maybe you've seen this in your own anger. Sometimes I've let things boil up inside of me and I'm like I'm just gonna be patient with him, I'm just gonna be patient. And then I just blow my top. I was patient long enough, I didn't say anything like I should have, and then blah, and what churns out of me is not the gentleness of Jesus, and it doesn't matter how right I might've thought I was in that moment, because my actions and my heart were very wrong. And Jesus says look at it and feel it, feel what you did there, feel how hurtful that was.
Speaker 1:And he says Simon, son of John. Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? He says Simon son of John. That's really interesting right here, because see, jesus had already given Peter, simon Peter, a new name Peter. He said. I tell you your name is Peter. On this rock I'll build my church. You're understanding that I am the Messiah. Peter, you are strong, you're a warrior man. You're gonna be used of God. Man You're gonna be. You're gonna stand in the gap You're to be. You're going to stand in the gap You're going to be. Oh, and yet here he, he kind of reverts it. He doesn't call him Peter, he says um, simon, remember I used to call you Simon. I'm calling you Simon again. You're not. You're not the rock, you're just the son of John.
Speaker 1:I'm removing the honor that I spoke to you temporarily. I'm removing it. I'm calling you like I know you are. See, sometimes Jesus will even remove honors from us because we're getting trippy man. We're thinking we're more important than we are. I'm not saying this always happens, but sometimes God will have to just touch us for a second to say I gave you that honor and I can take it away, because you're not understanding who you are.
Speaker 1:You think you really are awesome. You really think you are God's advisor, you really think you are the strong one. In the situation, jesus says I'm the strong one, I need no advisor, and so I'll take away your honor so that you can get it. That, sir ma'am, you just need to humble yourself. I know who you really are. I know who you are without all of your defenses up. I know all the things, your insecurities about who you really think you are. Jesus says I know who you are, without all of your defenses up. I know all the things, your insecurities about who you really think you are. Jesus says I know all about those. I know, peter, that you're not strong and I know that you're not really the rock apart from me. I know you don't deserve honors, apart from me.
Speaker 1:He puts his attention on it. And what do we do when Jesus puts our attention on it? We get to the place where we say Jesus, I'm sorry, not that I got caught. I'm sorry, not that this hurt other people, though you might be. I'm sorry for the most part that I hurt you. No-transcript. Jesus is patient.
Speaker 1:Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? And now Peter says he says nothing. He just stands there. He's just like Lord. You know I love you. But he doesn't say more than these. He says Lord, I mean, you know that I love you. I'm not adding any qualifiers to it because it's time for me to be quiet. I've been loud, I'm ashamed of some of the things that I've done and now I'm just going to be a little child.
Speaker 1:Jesus, here's what I know. As Peter, you know all things. I already know that you know how I feel. I already know that I'm not going to try to talk you into anything. I know and we know Jesus knew that Peter would deny him back at the boat when they first caught all the fish. Jesus knew that and Jesus knew your story before it ever began. And Jesus knew where you would stumble and he knew where you would fail. He knew where you would drop the ball. He knew where you weren't going to be enough. And now he's just pointing it out and saying, hey, you're not really all that, but I still love you and I actually still have purposes for you. You don't have to hide. I already know all your hypocrisy. I get it here's number three Jesus invites the deeply ashamed, the Peters of life, whether you are now or you might be later.
Speaker 1:Jesus invites the deeply ashamed to the surprise of grace and honor. I'll tell you guys, as a dude that has been surprised by this when you've done something really bad that you feel real shame about, even when you know Christ and you're forgiven, you can't help but be a little bit surprised. You're like, wow, that's not how I would have judged the situation. Wow, I knew he's forgiving, but I can't believe he forgave me. I can't believe that he's just going to wipe this away and overlook it. It's a surprise. It's a surprise not because Jesus forgave the debt, but that he absorbed the debt. He took the price into himself. It's not that his cheap grace says, well, there just was no price for sin. No, there was a price. Jesus paid the price. It's a surprise, the surprise of grace. Now Peter feels restored, peter feels buttoned up, peter feels like this is behind him and honor. This is what I think is awesome.
Speaker 1:Jesus did not really want to change Peter's personality. He wanted to remove some of the things that shouldn't have been there. He wanted to remove some of the places that needed freedom, but he didn't really want to change them. And sometimes we think, well, I think you know God, just if I trust Christ, I'm just going to change everything. And Jesus, actually I like you the way I made you. I might adjust some things, I might pull you out in some places, you need freedom, but I'm really not trying to change you. I'm only trying to change this. And this is the one thing that was different about Peter. What is the one thing that he knew differently? After this conversation, he knew. It's not about my power, it's not about my advice. It's not about how strong I am. It's not about my advice. It's not about how strong I am. It's all about Jesus.
Speaker 1:Can you imagine what if Peter held back? Like what if he would have been? Like you know, I think I'm just going to stay over here. I'm not going to go see Jesus over at the fire. In fact, I think I'm going to go home now. I just I can't deal with it. I don't want to deal with it.
Speaker 1:He didn't hold back. He ran toward Jesus, and because he ran toward Jesus, peter's life becomes for those of you who know the story becomes very powerful. God uses Peter ginormously. All the things that Peter was hoping for it's way better than that, because he trusted Jesus Christ and ran toward him instead of ran away from him, and I just want to encourage all of us man, there's still. God can still do amazing things.
Speaker 1:Sometimes, though, we've got to. Maybe one of the things he's working on us with is I know what you did, I know that it was wrong, but I need you to know that you're more than everything you've done wrong. I've got a plan for you, and I planned on your failure. I planned on the thing you're ashamed of. John 3, 16, I like the message version says this this is how much God loved the world. He gave his one and only son, and this is why so that no one need be destroyed. By believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. That's what we want, right? That's what we really want a whole and lasting life. That's what we're hoping for. We want joy. We want to be able to look back and be like my time on earth counted. This was meaningful. I didn't just like lie down, I didn't just let wickedness overtake me, I didn't let shame keep me back.
Speaker 1:But it's hard sometimes to trust. It's hard to trust Jesus. It's hard to trust relational things at all, because we're a part of a time when relationships are kind of cheap. Because we're a part of a time when relationships are kind of cheap, they don't necessarily mean a lot. Some of us you came from very broken relationships and so you're like I don't know if that's gonna last. Or you've got a lot of virtual friends and it's not that they're not meaningful, but part of you knows, but this isn't really. I can't really trust them. I don't know if they're gonna hang out. I mean, they might just unfollow me, just like that. I want to encourage you today. For those of you who might have that kind of a background, what is so awesome about Jesus is that, did you notice, he's all about relationship. It is not about religion, and the way I mean religion the contemporary version is things you have to add to yourself, things you have to do to keep yourself in line so that God will accept you. That's not how Jesus rolls.
Speaker 1:This whole context of Peter's conversation was relational the risen son of God. I want to be together so we can talk about all the things we need to talk about. My wife and her friends. She's got three really good. She's got a million good friends, but she's got two that she talks with all the time via voice audio. You ever do this Like I'll send a voice audio when I'm trying to like talk to maybe somebody who works at Fierce or somebody else. I wanna get specific instructions and so I want them to hear voice audio.
Speaker 1:These gals, they just talk about their day, like they just talk about. Well, you know, this happened and this is how I feel about my kid and oh, this is how work went and I think that's great, it's wonderful, it's even. It images God on some level. I'm just saying as a guy, I don't, I don't do that with Pastor Brandon. I'm like, hey, tell me about your day, man, I'll let go, like we might do that when we're together, but we don't send audios about it, okay, but do you know? That's that's really more like how Jesus anywhere Can I tell you you fit with Jesus, that's where you fit. He's the one who always wants to talk with you and it's accessed by faith.
Speaker 1:What did we just learn from Peter? We learned that the thing we need to do, just like he did, is we have to admit Jesus. Yes, I did wrong. Let's trace my path. I need to feel it, jesus, and then I need to trust you and turn to you. John 1.12 says this but whoever did want him Jesus, who believed he was who he claimed and would do what he said he made to be their true selves, their child of God selves. That's just what Peter did. We admit it, we feel it, we turn to Jesus and trust him in the context of relationship.
Speaker 1:I want to do something a little bit different today. Sometimes we'll have everybody bow their heads and we'll say anybody who wants to commit their life to Jesus for the first time go ahead and raise your hand. I want to do that a little backwards today. I want to start with everybody with their eyes open, their heads up, tall and strong, sitting up, and I'm going to pray a prayer and I'm saying whoever wants to run to Jesus and admit that you're one of the ones that needs his mercy, you're one of the ones that needs his surgical cutting sometimes. You're one of the ones who you're just happy to be forgiven, you trust that he loves you and you're ready to move forward with the plan of God. If that ones who you're just happy to be forgiven, you trust that he loves you and you're ready to move forward with the plan of God, if that's who you want to be, if that's what you want to do, we're going to. I'm going to pray that and then I'm going to ask you to just go like this, just physically, just put your head down and bow before your master Jesus Christ, because that's what he is. He comes as a friend, also a master. Bow your head before him and that's a little form of worship for you to say Jesus, this is me. Now I'm the one. I am unashamed in front of all these people. I need you. I'm Peter and I need you. Let's do it right now.
Speaker 1:Father, we pray in Jesus' name that you would help all of us to feel the places that we're trying not to feel, that we're trying to pass by. We pray in Jesus' name that you would burn it into our hearts, even if necessary, that we would be in agreement with you, that we'd not be trying to make up for anything, we'd not be trying to drift from you and get away from you. We just face you, jesus, right here at the fire. We say we are the one, we're the one who did it wrong. But you know we love you and we wanna ask for your greater purposes in our lives. Jesus, would you come, forgive us, restore us and bring about greater plans than we ever thought possible?
Speaker 1:If that is you, if you believe that, if you're praying that this morning, would you just bow your head right now and close, close down, lick with your arms, just bow wherever you are, just bow, bow before him. Don't look at anybody else, look at Jesus. You're at the fire with him. If that's you, jesus, I need your forgiveness. I'm ashamed of what I know, but I'm not ashamed of you and I'm not ashamed of the gospel, and I receive your love and forgiveness. Bow before him. What a friend we have in Jesus. What a friend we have in Jesus, god. This, this is what we want. More of this, please, in Christ's name, amen. Hey, thank you so much for joining us today.
Speaker 1:If you don't have a home church and you're looking for a Bible preaching community that has its heart set on passionately knowing Jesus and being his witness in our generation, check out Fierce Church. We'd love for you to join us, either digitally or in person. Also, if you're looking for leadership development related content, don't forget to check out the Fierce Leadership Podcast, available wherever you get your podcasts from. Special thanks to those of you who give generously to support this ministry. It's because of you that this is possible. You can click on the link in the description to give now, or visit fiercechurch for more information. If you enjoyed this podcast, why not subscribe? Share it with your friends, click on the share button, take a screenshot and share it on social media or wherever you would share such things. Whatever challenges you're facing, I know you can make it. Don't give up. Hang on to Jesus. He won't let go of you. Jesus loves you so much and we love you. I hope someday we get to meet in person. Thanks again for listening.