The Art of Surviving Failure
Luke 5:1-11
-Pastor A. L. Torrence, Cross of Life Lutheran Church
I have heard one preacher say that, “to laugh is to risk appearing the fool. To weep is to risk appearing sentimental. To reach out for another is to risk involvement. To expose feelings is to risk exposing our true self. To place your ideas, your dreams before the crowd, is to risk loss. To love is to risk not being loved in return. To live is to risk dying. To hope is to risk despair. To try at all is to risk failure. But to risk we must, because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.”(Pastor Erin Cole, First Baptist Church, www.sermoncentral.com)
The man who risks nothing in life will die having lost all. The woman who takes no chances will always hope for a second chance. Many of us have nothing because we risked nothing. We have no hope because we live constantly discouraged. We have no joy because pain has made us bitter. We have no love because trials have soured our ability to trust. Our dreams have been deferred. We have fallen and fail to get back up. We’ve compounded one mistake by allowing the fear of failure to swallow up our vision. We have failed at the art of surviving failure. We have aborted an opportunity to birth a great achievement.
Some think that failure and surrender is synonymous with the will of God. We think that failure is defined as making a mistake or error in judgment. But, failure is not determined by the mistake you made. Failure is based upon how you respond to that mistake. Failure is determined if and when you give up on something you’ve been attempting to accomplish. Being a teenage or unwed parent does not make you a failure. No failure is determined in how you will now care for that child. Getting hooked on drugs or alcohol doesn’t classify you as a loser. But refusing to get help or treatment can cause you to lose our on reality. Your failed marriage is no reflection on your ability to love. No failure is determined on how you now used that love to reach others. Your response to failure determines your level of success and accomplishment.
Successful people know how to handle failure. Those who left significant strokes on the canvas of time knew how to deal with major disappointments. Come on now, it took Albert Einstein to fail at math before he realized e=mc2. Isaac Newton had to endure the falling of an apple on his head before discovering the theory of gravity. Josephine Baker had to fail at being a success in segregated America before going to Paris and claiming her fame. Michael Jordan had to fail at making his high school basketball team before making the NBA. It is your response to failure that determines your destiny. One can play it safe and never attempt to score. You can follow all the rules and never run after your vision. You can color your life within the boundaries of society and never leave behind a masterpiece that will change your community. But, in the end when death comes knocking at your door, you may find yourself frustrated, angry, and upset because of opportunities never taken; doors never opened, and dreams never pursued. In the words of President Roosevelt, “No man is worth his salt who is not ready at all times to risk his body, to risk his well-being, to risk his life for a great cause.”
And that’s the message of today’s text. We, as a people, need to know how to handle risk and failure. We need to understand that our God would want us to take a risk in order to achieve. (Tell some someone –take a risk) God continually challenges every believer to cast his bread upon the waters, so that it may be found after many days. Let go of that which you depend on and watch God return much more. (Tell someone to let it go). We need to understand that in order to mount up on wings as an eagle – we have to leave the comforts of the nest. And God is like a papa eagle that pushes his young eagle off its nest in order to teach it to soar; and I don’t know about you but I made up my mind that I am ready to soar. I’ve being walking with some people who are ready to faint. I’ve been running with some folk who are getting weary. I’ve made up my mind that it’s time for me to get above the crowd and begin to fly. (Ask your neighbor-Are you ready to fly?)
Let’s look at the text. Once again we find the guardian of heaven using one of life’s ordinary routines to give a people in need a relevant word. We find him meeting up with some fishermen who have failed at catching some fish. And Jesus, being the problem-fixer that he is, simply told them to put out a little from the land so he can teach a lesson from their boat. He begins to give them a demonstrative lesson in surviving failures and taking risks. And the amazing thing about it saints is that these brothers were willing to learn. In spite of the fact that they were professional fishermen and didn’t know Jesus from Adam – they were willing to be taught. That’s were many of us have a problem. We feel that nobody can tell us about our situation unless they’ve been were we are. Unless you’ve walked a mile in my shoes, don’t tell me anything. “Can no single man tell me about my marriage.” “Pastor, you do not have children so don’t tell me how to raise mine.” We use the “just like me principle” when it comes to the things of God. You have to be just like me in order to teach me.” Yet, we never require our physician to have cancer in order to tell us how to deal with it. We never tell our lawyers that they have a jail record in order to handle our case. Yet when it comes to “What thus says the Lord,” – we should realize that it’s exactly just that – “What God says.” Not what I say- I’m just repeating the word.
In order to survive our failures and take risks we need to learn. In order to make it into this 21st Century, we need to know how to get up when we fall down. We need to know how to regroup when we come apart, and gain control when everything around us seems to be spinning out of control. We need to know how to survive. If we knew how to survive HIV infections among Black Americans would not be increasing while decreasing nationality. If we knew how to survive more marriages would survive the staggering divorce rates. If we knew the weapons for our survive, more of our children would be picking up books to read rather than taking up guns to knock each other off. Only if we knew how to survive, more than 70% of our children who entered college would not drop out at some point during their college years. If we knew how to survive, more of our people would see the necessity to rebuild urban communities rather than to struggling to cross the tracks into white suburbia. Only if we knew how to survive, we too could turn the world upside down. We too could leave behind a legacy that would map a future for generations to come.
If we knew only how to survive, then we could leave our footprints in the sands our history. If we could live fully so that we could die effectively, then our lives would write the epitaphs of our deaths.
And the good news this morning is that Jesus teaches us how to survive our failures and take risks. Jesus shows us how to get up when we fall down. For Jesus, failure and disappointment were only preludes to achievement. Where people saw failure, Jesus saw the potential for faith. When folk perceived tragedy Jesus saw triumph. When it seemed that all had fail and folk had done all that they could do, Jesus saw opportunity for God to step in, to take over, and get the job done. So the relevant question for today is how do we survive our failures and take more risks? How do we repent from our past mistakes and walk by faith into our future? What is it that the master of the seas can teach us today about facing our obstacles and making some achievement?
Well, Jesus gives us three imperatives to survival and taking risks: outwit, outlast, and outplay. We need to know how to outwit the enemy, outlast his destructive attempts to abort our future, and outplay his strategic tactics to disturb our lives.
Outwit: The first question I asked myself when reading today’s text was why were these fishermen out fishing at night. From my experience and knowledge most fishing was done early morning. Yet, Simon peter explains to Jesus that they had toiled all night and took nothing. We need to understand that fishing is done at night in the Sea of Galilee. What happens is that the fish go deep into the center of lake during the day and come up to surface along the shores during the night hours. So the fishermen go out during the night because the fish are closer to shore. These men were use to just catching fish that were near them. There were comfortable in staying safe near the shores rather than risk than stormy winds that usually hit in the middle of the sea. They were use to fishing according to one particular paradigm (at night – near the shore). And many of us are just like that. When it comes to fishing for people and bringing them to Christ – we like to do it under the coat of darkness – in secret and only approach people we are comfortable around. We are use to staying within our comfort zones. We don’t want to venture out into deep waters. But in order to survive failure you will have to task some risks and go deeper. (Tell somebody, “let’s go deeper”). Christ tells them – we are going where the fish are – put out into the deep. In order for us make an effective change in Plainfield we have to be willing to go into deep. That’s mean going where other folk don’t like to go. Go deep into community – the projects and housing communities. Deep. That’s where the unsaved are. Go deep into the hospital wards: AIDS wards, methadone units, and terminally ill. That’s where the fish are. Deep. Go deep into the schools: special Ed classes and vocational schools. Yea, tell somebody deep. We’ve been fishing too long here close to the shores. There are no more fish close to home. We are not going find any more people like us. We have to launch out and go deep. And the farther out we go – the deeper in our worship and praise we have get. Oh, yea – this is not fishing for chumps. You got to be prayed up for fish like these. We are getting ready to bring in all manner of fish. And see that the key for many of us who are still trying to get those souls in homes – you have to go deeper in your worship, prayer, and praise. That’s how you learn to outwit your enemy. Wisdom begins with the reverence of God.
Outlast: Next we need to learn how to outlast the enemy. Perseverance. In order to survive failure, you must persevere. What I like about Peter is his willing to persevere. Regardless of how many times his failed – how many disappointments he encounter – he never gave up. He toiled all night and took nothing but he was willing to obey the word of Jesus. And that is the story of Peter’s life. When he toiled over Jesus’ announcement that he would be killed, Peter responded, "Not so, Lord. You will never be killed." Jesus called him Satan; yet Peter still persevered with Jesus. When he toiled to walk upon the water with Jesus, and found himself sinking; he still persevered to call out, "Lord! Save me." When he toiled all night long after the Romans took Jesus away to kill him and Peter found himself denying Jesus not once but three times, Peter still persevered. If we are to survive our failures we must persevere. Oh, I know that you toiled all those years in marriage and still there’s no happiness. I know what it is like to toil years with a company and still have nothing to show for it. I know what it is to toil with children and they go up and it seems that all your teaching and prayers have yielded nothing. But don’t give up. Outlast the enemy. Persevere.
Outplay: Can we go a little deeper? Once we learned to outwit and outlast the enemy, we need to learn how to outplay him. When I first look at this text, I thought Simon peter outplay the enemy when Jesus told them to drop their nets and they did it. They used what they had in order to survive. Their nets were homemade and weak; yet they used them to bring in these fish. And we have to use what we have in order to bring them. Use our talents, use our tithes, and use our time in order to bring in the lost. I first thought that using the nets was the key to outplaying the enemy. But the Holy Ghost said, "No. That’s not it. Go deeper." Then I said, "I know." It’s when he called the competition – the other fishermen to help him bring in these fish. Because in order to reach the lost, we will have to work with other churches and organizations to get the job done. We will have to ask people who may not agree with us in doctrine or dogma to help us bring in the lost. I thought the key to outplaying the enemy was Christian and global cooperation. But the Holy Ghost again, said. "That’s not it. Go deeper." It was until I saw Jesus’ response to Peter when he fell at his feet and what peter and his men did following that statement. It wasn’t until I heard Jesus tell Peter “Fear not, for now on you shall be fisher of men” that I realized that the key to outplaying the enemy is faith. (Tell somebody, got to have faith.) Here it is, Peter and his men toiled all night for fish. Then went into overtime with Jesus looking for fish. When they caught the fish, it was largest bounty of fish caught within their careers. One would think that they would have expanding their operations. After all Jesus just showed them the key to catching these night time fish during the day hours. One would have thought that they would have celebrated all night and day. But then they did something unexpected. They left everything and followed Jesus. I began to ask myself why work all your life to get something and then when you get it – leave it behind? Why toil through rough times, and tight times to finally obtain success and leave it? Why gain all the riches in the world – houses and lands – to only leave it all behind?
You see many of us can’t take risks because we would get caught up into the material things. Oh we’ll thank god for it. We’ll probably even tithe also. But God often calls us from a level of obedience to one of faith. (Tell somebody you got to have faith.) Faith is the final solution to failure. When Peter was following the instructions of Jesus, he was doing it out of obedience. But Now Jesus gave him a promise – “For now on you will be fishers of men.” Peter at that instance got a look at his destiny. Jesus was telling him that he thought catching a multitude of was successful, follow me and I’ll give you real success. Church we have been obedient over a lot of things – but now God is calling to be faithful over many things. Every goal set before us, it was met. Every challenge place in front of us was achieved. But now in this year Jesus wants to make us fishers of men. He is saying to us, “if you think putting in a air-condition system was successful follow me and I’ll make you fishers of men. If you think raising 8,000 for missions was a success, follow me and I’ll make you fishers of men.”
Peter step out of is comfort zone as an ordinary fisherman, forsook all, and follow Jesus. That’s why he was so concern when Jesus told them that it was harder for a rich man to get into heaven than a camel to get through the eye of a needle. Peter said to Jesus, “We have left all we had to follow you.” Jesus reassured him that there was no man that hath left house, or parent, or brethren, or wife or children for the kingdom of God’s sake, who shall not receive manifold more in this present time and the in the world to come. And good news is that because Peter outplayed the enemy with faith when the day of Pentecost had fully come and they were all with one accord in one place, there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. For the first time in his life Peter began to speak to the masses with boldness like an expert fisher of men attempting to cast out of net for a great bounty of fish. And just as he was able to bring in an overflowing net of fish when he first meant Jesus, Peter ushers into the church some three thousand souls. And like Peter who gave up everything, so did these new souls who sold their possession and goods and gave them to all who had need. And because of their faith the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. When you learn to outwit, out last, and outplay the enemy, the issues of failure and taking risk are no longer a concern. Your only concern is following Jesus. Your only issue is trusting in him. And God rewards that trust with prosperity. My question to you this morning is:
”Are you rather to trust him? Are you ready to put what you have on the line for him, saints? Are you ready to outwit, outlast, and outplay the enemy of failure?
