Here is a copy of my sermon that I spoke at MRWC... let me know what you think
Cast of characters, Part III
“Peter”
Sunday, January 29th, 2017- MRWC
We’re in week three in our sermon series called Cast of Characters, based on the book of the same name by Max Lucado.
I may have said this before, but, Max is one of my favourite authors and everything he writes I tend to read… and this book was no exception.
This book is a reminder of who exactly it is that God uses.
God does not use the person who is super-skilled, although He could.
God does not use the person who is high on themselves, although He could.
God does not use the extraordinary people in our world, although He could.
God can use whomever He wants to use.
The people that God tends to use more often than not are the everyday, ordinary, people; the everyday, ordinary people who are surrendered to His will.
Believe it or not, God will even use the people who have messed up again and again.
In fact, God is in the business of using messed up and broken people.
I know this to be true because of two small words found in the Resurrection account.
I must tell you the comfort I found in those two small words when I read them for the first time, and the comfort I still find in those two small words when I read them again.
I want to share them with you today, with the hope that you will find comfort in these 2 small words as well.
If you have a Bible with you, I invite you to turn to Mark chapter 16.
“When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of
James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body.
2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb
3 and they asked each other, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?"
4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.
5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.
6 "Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.
7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.'"
8 Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.” (Mark 16:1-8, NIV84)
Would you dare to take a guess at the two words that I have underlined in my Bible?
Would you dare to take a guess at the two words that I have found—that I still am finding—solace in?
Go for it, take a guess!
The words that I have underlined in my Bible are the words in the middle of verse 7. The words are: “…and Peter…” (Mark 16:7, NIV)
I think that each one of you should underline those words in your Bible, because those words are words that you and I can relate to— or will need to relate to at one point in time our in our lives.
Included in the account of Jesus’ Resurrection are these 2 small but very significant words. But why are they there?
Why did Mark include these two small words, while the other Gospel writers left them out?
I’m not completely sure. But I’m sure glad that he included them.
Now maybe you are asking yourself “What had Peter done to warrant this kind of attention from the Heavenly Messenger that day”?
Well, let’s look back into the last week of Jesus and see if we can put all the
pieces of this puzzle together.
Look first of all at Mark 14 verses 27-31. Immediately after Jesus and His disciples had shared in the Last Supper, Jesus said this to each of them:
“You will all fall away,”…”for it is written: "'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.'
28 But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee."
29 Peter declared, "Even if all fall away, I will not."
30 "I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "today-- yes, tonight-- before the rooster crows twice you yourself will disown me three times."
31 But Peter insisted emphatically, "Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you." And all the others said the same. (Mark 14:27-31, NIV84)
Jesus was telling His disciples that they would all flee from His side when things got a little hot; but Peter jumped in and said: “Even if everyone else deserts you, I never will.” (Mark 14:29, NLT2)
‘I promise Jesus, I won’t leave you! I’m your man! You can count on me, I’ll never leave!
Jesus, knowing Peter’s heart, said “I tell you the truth, Peter—this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny three times that you even know me.” (Mark 14:30, NLT2)
After hearing this, Peter again says: “No!”… “Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you!” (Mark 14:31, NLT2)
It seems to me that Peter was arguing with Jesus… was Peter really so brazen to insist that he knew better than Jesus?
We sometimes do the same thing don’t we? When the Holy Spirit tells us not to do something because it’s wrong, we justify it and say it’s not wrong; or a little bit won’t hurt.
It seems that we are more like Peter than we first thought!
Peter said with certainty that he would be by Jesus’ side. He would go with Jesus all the way. In fact, all the disciples said they would stay with Jesus, and would go with Him all the way.
Well, let’s fast forward just a bit and look at Mark 14:50: “…everyone deserted him (Jesus) and fled.” (Mark 14:50, NIV84)
All the disciples, Peter included, had left Jesus’ side. (Maybe God does know more that we think!)
Let’s look ahead just a little more, this time look at Mark 14:66 and on: while Jesus was “on trial”, “…Peter was in the courtyard below. One of the servant girls who worked for the high priest came by 67 and noticed Peter warming himself at the fire.
She looked at him closely and said, “You were one of those with Jesus of Nazareth.”
68 But Peter denied it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said, and he went out into the entryway. Just then, a rooster crowed.
69 When the servant girl saw him standing there, she began telling the others, “This man is definitely one of them!”
70 But Peter denied it again.
A little later some of the other bystanders confronted Peter and said, “You must be one of them, because you are a Galilean.”
71 Peter swore, “A curse on me if I’m lying—I don’t know this man you’re talking about!”
72 And immediately the rooster crowed the second time.
Suddenly, Jesus’ words flashed through Peter’s mind: “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny three times that you even know me.” And he broke down and wept.” (Mark 14:66-72, NLT2)
The very thing that Peter swore he’d never do, he just did.
Not once, not twice, but three times Peter had denied that he knew Jesus.
If you study this passage just a little deeper, you will notice that each denial was a little bit worse than the one before it, with the final one being equivalent to: “I swear to God that I don’t know that man!”
Here, now, is Peter, broken and abandoned. He just denied the Man who changed his life, the Man with whom he had spent the last 3 ½ years of his life with. He had denied Jesus, and he knew it.
How would you feel? A better question to answer is how do you feel when you do what God forbids?
How do you feel when you watch the show that you know that you shouldn’t watch?
How do you feel when you say the word that you know you shouldn’t say?
How do you feel when you do the thing that you know that you shouldn’t do?
If you have any love for God at all, hopefully you feel just like Peter did when he denied Jesus: broken.
The Bible is quick to remind us that Peter, after he had denied Jesus,“…broke down and wept.” (Mark 14:72, NLT2)
And this is, I imagine, how Peter is still feeling on Resurrection morning.
The One he loved was dead. The One he rejected was dead.
So when we arrive back to the events that on that Sunday morning, that are recorded for us in Mark 16 and when we read again verse 7 which says: “But go, tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee...'" (Mark 16:7, NIV) It’s actually Good News!
It’s Good News because Jesus is alive, and it’s Good News because God is a God of second chances!
I believe that the Heavenly messenger was told by God himself to tell the women at the tomb that day to seek out Peter specifically and tell Him that Jesus is alive, because God wanted Peter.
God wanted Peter to know that He is a God of second chances.
Even though Peter had rejected Jesus, Jesus was still ready to welcome Peter back again. And John chapter 21 records that event for us:
“Later, Jesus appeared again to the disciples beside the Sea of Galilee. This is how it happened.
2 Several of the disciples were there—Simon Peter, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples.
3 Simon Peter said, “I’m going fishing.” (What else was he going to do… the last three years had been spent with Jesus, but that was over now, so He was going back fishing)
“We’ll come, too,” they all said. So they went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night.
4 At dawn Jesus was standing on the beach, but the disciples couldn’t see who he was. 5 He called out, “Fellows, have you caught any fish?” “No,” they replied.
6 Then he said, “Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you’ll get some!” So they did, and they couldn’t haul in the net because there were so many fish in it.
7 Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, “It’s the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his tunic (for he had stripped for work), jumped into the water, and headed to shore.
8 The others stayed with the boat and pulled the loaded net to the shore, for they were only about a hundred yards from shore.
9 When they got there, they found breakfast waiting for them—fish cooking over a charcoal fire, and some bread.
Let’s jump down to verse 15 of this same chapter:
15 After breakfast Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”
“Yes, Lord,” Peter replied, “you know I love you.”
“Then feed my lambs,” Jesus told him.
16 Jesus repeated the question: “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
“Yes, Lord,” Peter said, “you know I love you.” “Then take care of my sheep,” Jesus said.
17 A third time he asked him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Then feed my sheep.” (John 21:1-17 NLT2)
Three times Peter had denied Jesus, and three times Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him, and 3 times Peter responded by saying that he did love Jesus.
In this instance, Jesus had restored Peter, because God is a God of second chances.
Friends, this is good news for all of us! God gave Peter another chance and He is willing to give you another chance and He is willing to give me another chance.
God is a God of second chances. God is a God of 3rd chances, of 4th, of 5th, of 6th chances…
Now, because this is true, it does not give us the right to live any old way that we want to live…
Paul wrote in Romans 6 “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?
2 By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” (NIV)
While we don’t have a license to sin, if we do happen to blow up at our spouse, if we do happen to say something that should not have been said, if we do happen to do something that we shouldn’t have done, God is a God who will welcome us back home.
“My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense-- Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.” (1John 2:1, NIV84)
If we do mess up, if we do sin, if we do deny Jesus as Peter did, we can still be welcomed back into God’s arms, because God is a God of second chances.
Peter never forgot the second chance that God gave Him. In fact, the book of Acts records for us the second chance Peter. He went everywhere boldly proclaiming the Truth of Jesus Christ.
Peter needed and Peter received and Peter made use of the Second chance that he’d been given.
“It’s not everyday that you find someone who will give you a second chance—much less someone who will give you a second chance everyday. But in Jesus, Peter found both” (Max. CoC. 217)
Friends; (and this is the what do I want you to do with this message) if you’ve blown it this week, this month or this year, know that you can come back to God for a second chance; you can come back to God and start over one more time.
If you need a second chance, or a millionth chance, God is waiting for you to come back to Him. And He wants you to come now!
The invitation is given to us in Isaiah 55: “Seek the LORD while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near.
7Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the LORD that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously.”(Is. 55: 6-7, NT2)
God is offering each and every one of us a Second or 400th chance, and that chance is to come back to Him and let Him fix our brokenness.
“Come to me, Jesus said, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30, NIV84)
Will you come— either for the first time, for the second time or for the 400th time—back to God and receive His forgiveness?
I believe the words “and Peter” (Mark 16:7, NIV) are in the Bible to remind us that God uses all kinds of people in His Cast of Characters, especially those of us who need second chances!
If you need a second chance, or even a first chance to make a second chance possible, we’re going to sing something in just a moment, and this is your moment to act.
Some of you have been waiting for a long time to make some sort of decision… well, this is the time and this is the place to receive a second chance from God.
The words ‘and Peter” were recorded in the Resurrection account for you, for me, for all of us who need a second chance.
Remember loved one: Our God is a God of second chances!
No comments:
Post a Comment