TEXT: Luke 5:1-11
TITLE: What to do with failure - Peter
SERIES: When Life Gets Messy…
TOPIC: Failure
OCCASION: Burnside Christian Church, October 18, 2009
PROP.:
INTRODUCTION: Good morning! We are currently in a sermon series simply called: When Life Gets Messy.
Because when life gets messy - life gets hard! Life becomes difficult!
ILLUSTRATION: Big Mess
Today I want to talk about FAILURE! And specifically - What to do with failure!
What do you do when your plans don’t quite match up? What do you do when things don’t work as you’ve planned?
And I want to start by giving you three facts about failure: These facts are like DUH! I knew that!
First:
1. Failure is painful. When you fail, a scar will form. Damage is done. Your ego - wiped clean. Your confidence - gone. Your pride - replaced with embarrassment. And with failure comes pain. Emotional pain - spiritual pain - and sometimes even physical pain. And with the pain comes scars.
Some of you are dealing with the scars left over from failure. And that’s because failure is painful!
Fact #2
2. Failure is universal EVERYONE will fail at something! Like Neo in the Matrix jumping from rooftop to rooftop, EVERYONE will fail. It doesn’t matter who you are or how successful you think you are. I mean, Neo was the chosen one and Failure can happen to anyone at anytime!
Why do mid-life crises happen? Because you feel the need to prove to yourself and everyone you know that you’re life isn’t a failure! That you MUST be successful because you drive a fancy little 2 seater sports car that you can’t afford.
And not everyone will experience a midlife crisis, but everyone will experience failure! It’s universal!
Fact #3
3. Failure results in one of two things: Paralysis or Growth.
1. Paralysis - I know there are some who refuse to try something new because they tried it once before and it didn’t work out. So they have made a promise to themselves that they are not going to risk failure ever again. And so they are paralyzed - frozen - unwilling to move or act!
Orrrrr.
2. Growth - Your failure will cause you to learn from your mistakes and grow!
Those are your choices! Learn from your failure and grow! Or allow your failure to paralyze you.
Now which do you suppose Jesus would have us do?
I think this video illustrates perfectly what I’m trying to say and what you believe to be true:
ILLUSTRATION: MICHAEL JORDAN NIKE COMMERCIAL ON FAILURE (see Youtube.com )
Failure happens to everyone! But what you do with that failure will make all the difference in life!
T.S.: Today I want us to focus on the story of Peter -
So what particular failure of Peter’s am I going to focus on?
“Oh I know! You’re going to talk about Peter walking on water, right?” Nope
“Oh…then you’re going to talk about Peter denying Christ, right?” Nope.
You see, that’s what makes the life of Peter so valuable! He was one of Christ’s most faithful followers and yet his life is marred with failure! So let’s learn from Peter’s failure, shall we?
Our story takes place in Luke’s gospel. Chapter 5, the first 11 verses:
Luke 5:1-11
1One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret,[a]with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, 2he saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.
4When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down[b] the nets for a catch."
5Simon answered, "Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets."
6When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.
8When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" 9For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.
Then Jesus said to Simon, "Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men." 11So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.
What does this story teach us about failure? Because there is something to be learned from this miraculous encounter with Jesus! Jesus never performed a miracle without a purpose. He always used his miracles to illustrate principles. And this incident teaches us what to do when our best is not good enough.
Now all of us have experienced failure because we simply didn’t put our best efforts into it! That is not what this sermon is about.
Sometimes we give something our best shot but still come up ten feet short. We study hard for a test and only get a “C”, or we work hard to make our marriage better but still don’t see any progress. Life can be tough at times and it’s tempting to quit trying. We feel like saying, “What’s the point? I’m just going to fail again. Can anything make a difference?”
The interesting thing about our story is the comparison between the two catches. The disciples had worked hard all night, and caught nothing. But later, they went out again for 10 minutes and caught more fish than they had ever caught before!
What was the difference? It was the same lake, the same boat, the same nets, and the same people fishing. So what made the difference?
There are actually three differences between the two fishing expeditions, and these differences give us some guidelines to follow when our best attempts end in failure.
I believe any person who applies these principles will be a genuine success in God’s eyes.
God intended them to be easy to understand, so that everyone could benefit!
Before we begin to learn from these principles, I want to make sure we are all on the same page:
Did you know that God is interested in your success? He’s not interested in seeing you fail. Just as all earthly fathers want their children to succeed in life, so too, our heavenly father desires to see from us, nothing but success!
And so understanding that God wants us to be successful is a good place to start.
Now for the 3 principles we learn from this story on how to defeat failure…
I. Get in the boat with Christ! (appropriate God’s presence in your life)
A clue to the first principle of success is found in
Luke 5:3
3He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.
A. Go Where Jesus Is
Jesus was in the boat with His disciples! Christ’s presence made a BIG difference! This time the disciples weren’t fishing by themselves; God was with them.
Too many times in my life, I’ve tried fishing without God. I’ve gone off by myself on some crazy venture or had an idea that I thought was exactly what I needed to be doing - only to watch that dream, or venture crumble to pieces!
You know why? Because I went off by myself!!! I wanted God to go where I wanted instead of wanting to go where GOD was.
We all want to experience the presence of God. But I want God’s presence on MY terms. God, I’m here…so show up! Instead of realizing where God was working and then go along with Him!
Whose idea was it to get into the boat? Peter’s? No! It’s was Jesus’ idea.
Follow Christ!
B. Give God total access
For Peter, his boat represented his livelihood. When you’re a fisherman, your boat IS your business! It’s significant that Peter made his boat available for Jesus to use. Christ used Peter’s business as a platform for ministry! Peter gave God total access to any and every area of his life!
How about your life? Does God have total access to your social life? Does God go to parties and social engagements with you? Does God have total access to your job?
People like to compartmentalize their lives in such a way, that they don’t want God involved in EVERY aspects of life. What do I mean? Well, I think some people try to keep God out of business or politics or whatever else.
Some want to keep God in church and that’s good enough.
(OPTIONAL: ILLUSTRATION: SKIT of trying to leave Christ behind)
But what would happen if you gave God access to every part of your life that He wanted? Where would He have you go? What would He have you do? What would be the result of that kind of obedience?
There is just something about having Jesus in your boat that eliminates the fear of failure and reduces your worries about the results!
When Peter made Jesus His fishing partner, the results were incredible! He caught more fish than he had ever caught on his own. But don’t miss the sequence…the order is VERY important!
First, Peter used his boat for Christ’s purposes - Jesus took the boat out to so He could preach to the people.
Then, after Christ had used the boat for his own purposes, God took care of Peter’s needs!
ILLUSTRATION: We just sang about - Matthew 6:33 “Seek first the kingdom of God and all these other things that you worry about; God will give you that as well!”
Does that mean that if you submit ALL areas of your life to God and give God access to everything, that He will take care of you? ABSOLUTELY!
MAKE SURE YOU GET IN THE BOAT WITH CHRIST!!!
Second principle to overcoming failure:
II. COOPERATE WITH GOD’S PLAN (vs. 4)
Luke chapter 5:4 says -
4When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down[b] the nets for a catch."
So Jesus just got done preaching his sermon and now he gives Simon an request:
1. Let down your nets
Now keep in mind:
The disciples had been out all night long working hard. Fishing wasn’t as easy as putting some bait on a hook and dropping that hook out in some water somewhere. Fishing was hard work requiring a crew of grown, experienced men. And if they hadn’t caught anything during the cool of the night, did this amateur Jesus really think they were going to be successful in the heat and peak of the day?
Sometimes, God’s asks us to do something that are going to be hard and that don’t seem to make a lot of sense to us. And if you are in the middle of something that God has asked you to do that doesn’t make sense to you; jot this reminder down:
Obedience to God supersedes understanding God
Obey Him!
Peter’s reaction to Christ’s request was truly amazing:
Peter didn’t argue.
He didn’t say - “Woah, wait a minute Jesus. I’m the fisherman. This is what I do. What do you do again? That’s right you’re a carpenter. So why don’t you just stick to making stuff out of wood, and I’ll stick to catching fish.”
Instead, Peter put aside his pride and obediently followed Jesus’ command.
How many times do we argue with God’s plans and resist what God would have us to do?
2nd part to Jesus’ request was:
2. Put out into deep water
It’s no coincidence that Luke records these very words of Christ. Why do you suppose Jesus wanted Peter to launch out into the deep? It’s because the deep is where the large fish are located.
You only catch minnows in shallow water. If you want the rewards of catching a big fish, you have to risk the dangers of the deep water! The deep is where the potential for waves to rock your boat. The deep is where you can’t touch or see the bottom.
Most people live in the shallow waters of life. Shallow water is where it’s safe. There is little risk in the shallow water, near land. Their relationship with God is superficial. Their faith is not deep. True they are in the water, but they never venture very far from shore.
When God works in your life, it always involves risks, because God wants you to live by faith. Many Christians barely get their feet wet because they are afraid of what will happen to them if they truly put their FAITH in God. Will it be uncomfortable? Will it be safe? They think: “If I get really serious about my commitment to the Lord, He’ll turn me into a fanatic.” so They are content to live in the shallows of the Christian walk…showing up on Sunday mornings and not really being involved. And if that describes you, allow me to politely say - YOU ARE MISSING OUT ON SO MUCH!
What would have happened if Peter would have stayed on the shore and not follow Christ?
HE WOULD HAVE MISSED THE MIRACLE! Peter never would have caught that record number of fish. And if you are not obediently following Christ going where He leads, you too might be missing the miracles and blessings that Christ has laid out for you!
(Why should I follow God’s plans?
A. God’s wisdom is greater than mine!
God’s plans don’t always compute with ours. And have you ever noticed, that people who faithfully believed and followed God’s plan EVEN WHEN THAT PLAN ABSOLUTELY made no sense were blessed?)
And the third principle we learn from Peter in overcoming failure is:
III. Anticipate God’s Promises!
Vs. 5
5Simon answered, "Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets."
In the second fishing trip the disciples went on with Christ, they lowered their nets based on the anticipation of catching fish. Now Jesus didn’t specifically say, “Peter, if you go fishing with me, I promise you’ll make a big catch.”
He didn’t need to say that, because Peter realized that when Christ told him to go fishing and also got into the boat and told exactly where to put down the net, it wasn’t going to come up empty! Peter expected God to act. He expected God to keep his promise. Peter wasn’t depending any longer on his own ability he wasn’t afraid of failure. He believed in the promises of God!
Maybe you’re thinking to yourself - “That sounds great, but you don’t know my circumstances, Mark. Right now, I’m defeated by problems in my life that are bigger than me, you or some simple-feel good sermon.”
I have a question: Are your problems bigger than God? Let me answer that one for you - ABSOLUTELY NOT! God is bigger than any problem I have or will face!
I think it’s time we started to rely on the “because you said so” principles of God! If God has said it - it is true! Claim those promises!
TOO MANY PEOPLE ARE LIVING THEIR LIVES BASED ON WHAT OTHERS HAVE SAID OF THEM.
ILLUSTRATION - OPTIONAL - famous failures (see you tube)
And this miracle so astounded Peter that he cried out, “Lord, I don’t deserve this! I’m a sinner. This is too good for me!” And Jesus said to Peter, “Do not be afraid; from now you will catch men instead of fish.” (vs. 10) And so the disciples beached their boats and left everything to follow Jesus!
When you get God’s presence in your boat and when you get God’s plan in your head and when you get God’s promises in your heart, you cannot fail!
I don’t know what life has dealt you this past week, month, year. But I DO KNOW with God - ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!!! So if life has become messy because of failure - cling to the promises of God! He loves you more than you can imagine. He will be there for you when everything and everyone else has abandoned you.
I am going to close with a prayer and then we will have our time of decision…
Heavenly Father, I know all of us struggle in thinking we’ve been defeated because we’ve failed. Maybe a marriage has failed, maybe a job hasn’t worked out like we planned. Perhaps we’re not where we want to be in life. Or maybe their relationship with you isn’t where it needs to be. God help us to believe that this is not the end. Help us to cling to the promises laid forth in your Bible. Allow us to claim victory in your name!
Help us to make sure we are following where YOU lead and forgive us for wanting to take control in that area.
Help us to cooperate with your will even when it doesn’t seem to make sense to us.
In Jesus name we pray…AMEN.
WE COME NOW TO OUR TIME OF DECISION…
