Simon Peter – sifted, sustained, serving.
I recently went to a Men’s Shed Ministry where they were interviewing different men. One man told the story of his life. Which went like this:-
Married – divorced.
Married – divorce
Married – divorce
Found God
Married first wife
The end result is so great but … wow what a journey.
That is what discipleship is as well. A journey. And one of disciples in the Bible who we know quite a bit about their journey is Peter. Peter is one of the key disciples – he is part of the inner circle – some people call him “Saint Peter”. But this is a saint who see-saws in his commitment.
• One moment he is climbing out of the boat and walking on water – the next he is swimming with the fish.
• One moment he is saying Jesus you are the Christ, the Son of the living God … the next moment Jesus is tell Peter – you remind me a lot of Satan.
• One moment he is faithfully declaring Even if everyone falls away, I will not … the next he is denying Jesus three times.
That’s Peter. He is a disciple on a journey.
Today we are going to look at three passages of Scripture and see how that journey unfolds and what it means for us.
Reading:- Luke 22:31-34; 54-62
It is easy to idolise people isn’t it. Think about Tiger Woods. He was a golfing superstar and the man of the hour. Now … we see the real person and the shine comes off. He is just an ordinary man. Sometimes we can do the same with the disciples. We see them as some sort of spiritual superstars. But – at heart – they are just ordinary men. Men with faults.
Peter is an ordinary man who is sifted by Satan.
Peter was so sure wasn’t he.
Lord I am ready to go with You to prison and to death (Lk.22:33)
Even if all fall away on account of You, I never will (Mt.26:33)
Even if I have to die with You, I will never disown You (Mk.14:31)
No way was he going to let Jesus down. Unfortunately Peter hasn’t recognised the big picture.
We want to stand for Jesus.
We are firm that we won’t let Him down.
But there is another – another who is very determined – to see us fail. Simon, Simon Satan has asked to sift you as wheat.
Who is Satan? Satan makes us question. Satan prods and pushes and frustrates. Satan encourages us to make big claims which we can’t always back-up. Satan is after our soul. There is this cosmic battle. We stand in the middle. And we get caught. One moment we can be so confident - it seems that nothing will be able to knock the wind out of our sails. And then down we go.
Spiritual strength sapped.
Confidence smashed.
It happens … it happens all the time.
I distinctly remember a discussion we had at college … it was during a “Pastoral Care” lecture. How we got onto the topic I don’t really know … but the discussion was about all the Christian Reformed Church Ministers who were no longer in ministry or who were in another denomination. As students we were all pretty critical and determined:-
"That will never happen to us”.
“You just have to be committed".
Admittedly I was one of the students – but you never know what happens in life.
Satan is sifting. When Satan sifts a lot of damage can be done. But in the middle of it all we need to remember the words of Jesus I have prayed that your faith may not fail.
Peter wasn’t on his own in this challenge.
Peter had all the resources he needed to meet this challenge.
The road of denial was only one of two options.
Jesus was not deliberately setting up Peter. God never deliberately sets us up for failure. The words of 1 Corinthians 10:13 are remarkably clear on the point.
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
Yet despite the prayers … despite the promise … despite the encouragement of Jesus … Peter fails. Early in the evening, perhaps around 7 or 8pm, Peter was adamant about his commitment to the Lord. Less than 10 hours later all is so different. Woman I don’t know Him. Man, I am not one of them. Man I don’t know what you are talking about.
Why does it happen? Because we don’t effectively use the spiritual equipment Jesus gave us to stand firm.
We fail because of lack of prayer.
We sin because of lack of motivation.
We are tempted because of lack of watchfulness.
It’s not God’s fault for making life too hard … it is our fault for not trusting that He will also bring us through. And the roster crows.
How do you think Peter is feeling now? It’s got to be a bit awkward doesn’t it? Let’s find out.
Bible Reading – give a quick context.
John 21:15-19.
This is still the same Peter. He is still an ordinary man. But now we see that
Peter is an ordinary man who is sustained by Jesus.
Let’s go back to the courtyard for a moment. Peter has just denied Jesus three times – at that moment Jesus turned and looked straight at Peter. What was the look on Jesus’ face?
Was it an “I told you so” look?
Was it an “I’m disappointed” look?
Was it, “you’re just a failure” look?
No it wasn’t. It had to be the “I-have-prayed-for-you-so-that-your-faith-will-not-fail” look. Through that look Jesus is reminding His disciple; “You may have failed Me – but I will never fail you”.
As a result of this look Peter is able to get through the shame of his failures.
In John 21 we read about seven of the disciples who are out fishing … they have caught nothing all night. A man on the shore tells them to cast their nets on the other side of the boat resulting in a miraculous catch. Suddenly the penny drops – it is the Lord. And there is Peter, so excited that he swims fully clothed to shore. He is not ashamed to stand before His Saviour again, for He has seen the gaze of the Lord – the gaze which said "I will never fail you".
Yet, there is an unresolved tension. Peter denied Jesus three times. He has lost a bit of credibility even among the other disciples. So Jesus asks him three times. Simon son of John do you truly love Me more than these? What is Jesus asking Peter?
Let’s remember that there are seven disciples out fishing on this morning.
And let’s remember that not so long ago Peter had declared quite adamantly Even if all fall away on account of You, I never will.
And let’s remember that Peter has denied his Saviour despite this adamant claim.
What is Jesus doing? Jesus is trying to determine if Peter has learnt his lesson. "Do you love Me with a greater love and commitment then these other disciples? Do you still see yourself as being more faithful then the rest?"
Jeremiah 17:9 says The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? Peter knows he can’t understand his own heart.
He can’t understand how, at the beginning of the evening he was so sure, but by the end of the night he was so afraid.
He can’t understand where the recipe for failure came from.
And so he turns to the only thing which is secure – the knowledge of Christ. Yes, Lord, you know that I love You. You know how bitterly I wept when the crow of the roster brought Your words flooding back to my mind. You know the tears which flooded from my eyes as each dreadful moment flashed before me again and again.
Congregation the Lord knows.
The Lord knows our frailties.
He sees the times when good intentions become mist.
He realises how much you love Him and how you want to serve Him and how you wish you could be better.
He has observed the times you cried when you realised that in the process of disciplining the child you love you went too far.
He appreciates the disappointment you have when that sin you have been struggling with for so long takes hold of you again.
He shares your heartache when life just seems to go all wrong.
The Lord knows all of these things – that’s why He went to the cross. On the very day that Peter denied his Lord the Lord went to the cross.
Silent in the face of false accusations.
Taking the beatings.
Enduring the humiliation.
Letting Himself be condemned by the Roman courts.
Carrying His cross to death.
Enduring the nails.
Surrendering to the wrath of God – anger so intense being poured out on the only One who didn’t deserve it.
Jesus did it all because He knows what we are like.
Jesus knows we will be sifted.
Jesus knows that we need to be sustained.
Jesus does this because He has a bigger plan in mind. Let’s find out what that plan is.
Reading – give a quick context.
Acts 4:8-13; 18-20
We may be weak, and ignorant, and unstable and failing in many things – but we can still be real and sincere.
We may not feel justified.
We may not feel sanctified.
There may even be a sense where grace seems to be far from us.
But ask us if we love Christ, and we can say "Yes Lord, You know that we do".
That is Peter
Peter is an ordinary man who now serves Jesus.
No longer does he allow the thoughts and reactions of others to rule his commitment to God. No longer does he care if others accept him or not. The Lord now was His only focus.
In Acts 4 has Peter standing before Annas and Caiaphas – the two men most responsible for having Jesus condemned by the Jewish courts.
Is he afraid?
Is he silent?
Does he deny Christ?
Never. Instead we see him condemning those who rejected Jesus. And Peter will go on from this point to serve Jesus for another three decades. Service which would end when Peter is crucified upside-down.
Sifted. Sustained. Serving. That is the progression of events. For all of the disciples of Jesus. Which is just the way God wants it to be. God is the Master of bringing faithfulness out of failure.
So let’s ask ourselves the obvious question.
Have we ever fallen? Of course we have!
Have we also seen God’s grace raise us to newness of life? Of course we have.
Then surely we are able to be disciple-making disciples.
We are the ones who come and tell from our own experience what an evil and bitter thing sin is.
We are the ones who should be cautioning against enticing temptation.
We should be the ones who warn against the pride of self-belief.
But, more importantly, we are the ones who can tell of Christ’s grace and compassion. We are the ones who can deal humbly and meekly with those who have fallen, remembering what we ourselves have gone through.
Why did God bring Peter through this ordeal?
Why does God allow such testing to occur?
In some cases we will never get answers to questions like this – and the answers are not even the most important thing. The most important thing is to ask, “What are we going to do now?” Will we allow our failure to kill-off our faith? Or will we accept that God can work even through failure.
As disciples called by the Lord we can be confident in the times of sifting. Confident that God will use this time to bring us closer to Himself …
… whether we fail and need to be upheld by God’s grace.
… or whether we allow the grace of the Lord to help us succeed.
Prayer
