Resurrection in Our Failure

Good morning. Happy Easter.

It's traditional on Easter morning to say a little refrain.

I say Jesus is risen and you say he is risen indeed.

So let's try this.

Jesus is risen.

That's pretty good. Pretty good.

Well done.

Welcome. My name is Chris.

If you are here for the first time, if you're here for the baptism,

you're just really, really welcome.

We're going to be having a great time down at the beach afterwards.

Make sure you come and join us.

You don't want to miss out on the fun.

So that means we're going to be a shorter service this morning,

which some of you will be pleased about.

And I'm going to try and do this in 15 minutes.

So you can time me if you want to.

But we just really want to look at this passage

and think a little bit about what Easter really means for us,

Resurrection Sunday.

So I don't know this week if you've been watching the news,

but it's been a great week for United Airlines.

Their CEO had just been announced by PR Week

as Communicator of the Year.

United Airlines' image and profits have been increasing.

And then there was that unfortunate incident

that happened during the week.

And their CEO was taken from praise to ridicule

in just a matter of minutes.

You know, he spent the last few days

trying to apologize to everybody

to try and cover the damage done to his reputation

and the reputation of the company.

Somebody once said,

it takes 20 years to build a reputation

and five minutes to ruin it, right?

And you don't have to be a CEO of a company

to realize that.

Because this story that we're going to look at today,

we're going to be looking at the Easter story

through the lens of Peter,

is very much a story of failure and resurrection.

Okay?

Failure and resurrection.

And we see in the story of the cross

the ultimate failure,

but the ultimate resurrection.

And as the kids showed us,

Jesus dying on the cross

to every one of his disciples

looked like the utter greatest failure

they could have been.

They couldn't have imagined that three days later

their whole lives would be changed and turned around.

And so this morning,

I'm not here to kind of prove to you

the literal resurrection of Jesus,

even though I think the evidence is strong

and that is something that we as a church

really believe.

But I want to show you the impact

that Jesus' resurrection and death

can have on you by looking through Peter.

Peter, who's a guy who,

like some of the big banks,

he thought he was too big to fail.

And so Simon Peter,

we're going to look at him,

he was a rough fisherman.

He's been hanging around with Jesus

for quite a while,

and he's gone through so much with him,

and you get to the night

where Jesus is about to be arrested and killed,

and Jesus says,

I'm going to die,

and you guys, my friends,

you're going to run away and leave me.

And Peter looks around at all the other guys

who are with him and says,

yeah, they may leave you,

but I'm not going to,

because you know I'm Peter,

and I know how to do this thing.

I'm the special one.

You see, even if they fall away,

I'm not going to,

because you've just got to know what I'm like.

And Jesus doesn't say,

well, thanks, mate.

At least I can count on you, Peter.

He says, Peter,

you don't know yourself.

You're going to deny me three times

before the rooster crows.

And Peter's in denial.

He says, no, Jesus,

don't underestimate me here.

He says, you're looking at Commando Pete here.

He says, I'll die with you.

You know, I'm tougher than a seal.

I'm more loyal than a Mac user.

He, some of you are Mac users out there.

But he's like many of us,

even as Christians,

we think we can make it ourselves.

Maybe just have a little bit of Jesus help,

a bit of religion on the way,

but actually basically, fundamentally,

I can rely on myself to get through life.

24 hours later,

Jesus is arrested.

Peter follows him into enemy territory.

The high priest's courtyard.

And there's a fire burning.

And Peter, great Peter, gets scared.

And a little servant girl comes up to him

and challenges him.

And in his fear, he denies Jesus.

Not just once, not just twice,

but three times.

To somebody who, in Peter's mind,

would have been the lowest of the low,

a little servant girl.

And big Peter can't even defend

and stand up for Jesus then.

The rooster crows.

And at that moment,

I can just imagine how Peter felt.

He's like,

what have I done?

How could I be so stupid?

You complete wombat, Peter.

Couldn't even stand up to a little servant girl.

And he breaks down

and he cries.

I don't know if any of you

have ever been there.

Like, anyone ever said things

which afterwards you think,

why on earth did I say that?

That was not going to get anywhere.

Or have you,

anyone ever wanted to be brave

and then found yourself a coward

in the heat of the moment?

Anyone ever got angry

when you wanted just to hold your tongue

and be patient?

Anyone like that?

Anyone like me like that?

You know,

maybe you'd even promised

that you'd diet or exercise

or read your Bible regularly

and suddenly,

you had so many great plans

and in the moment,

you failed.

Because you see,

this story is not just about Peter.

Every one of us is like Peter

because secretly,

we all live deep down

with a sense

that we're not fully

the person we should be.

And when we rely on ourselves,

it's a bit like trying to balance

an elephant on an egg.

Sooner or later,

you're going to crack.

And Bill Gates,

Microsoft,

we're getting Mac and Microsoft in here,

so it's okay for all of you.

Bill Gates said,

success is a lousy teacher.

It makes smart people

think they can't lose.

But failure is God's way

of putting a mirror before you,

showing you yourself,

showing you that you're weaker

than you thought you were.

You may be more sinful

than you realized.

You're more in need of mercy

and grace

than you could understand.

Failure is the gateway to reality,

the pathway to humility,

and the doorway to receiving grace.

You get that?

Failure is the gateway to reality,

the pathway to humility,

and the doorway to receiving grace.

When you see it.

You see,

what we need

in our failure,

in the things that we know

that we mess up in,

we need forgiveness for our guilt,

we need honor for our shame.

And I don't know how you try

and deal with things.

You know,

I do a number of different things

to deal with my guilt

and my shame

in different areas.

Sometimes it's denial.

It wasn't me.

Sometimes I just blame everybody else.

You know,

you started it.

But what Peter does here

is another thing that I do,

which is he goes into avoidance mode.

Really interesting.

When Peter's right

at the lowest point,

do you know what he does?

He goes off fishing.

You know why he goes fishing?

He goes fishing

because that's the one thing

he thinks he can do really well.

You know,

he's a good fisherman.

And so,

that's very much like many of us.

You know,

when you have failings

in your family life

or failings in your spiritual life

or failings in your relationships,

many of us then

run into our work

or run into our studies

to try and excel there,

to cover up,

to hide from the shame of failure

in other areas of our lives.

That's what Peter's doing.

And the thing is,

for Peter,

if Jesus died

but didn't resurrect,

then Peter was left by himself

to deal with all his guilt

and shame by himself.

He'd have to prove himself

by working hard,

trying to remove it,

hiding from it.

Because if there's no resurrection,

your sin against God

can never be forgiven.

Because it's just you

left by yourself

trying to make amends.

But the amazing thing

of Easter Sunday,

of Resurrection Sunday,

is that Jesus has risen.

He did rise.

On the cross,

he was shamed

and declared guilty

so that you

could be to go free.

You know,

guilt for a crime

has a punishment

and the punishment

for our unkindness

was death.

But Jesus took it

for you

and for me.

You see,

he gives you forgiveness

for your guilt,

which nobody else

can give you.

You can't remove it

by yourself.

You need to have forgiveness

from outside

and Jesus offers that.

But it's not just forgiveness

for your guilt,

it's also honour

for your shame.

Because you know,

you can be forgiven

by someone,

but the shame remains

because they just

don't quite trust you

again with anything.

Anyone been there?

But at that night,

really interesting,

Peter's going fishing.

Do you know what happens?

Peter can't even

catch a fish.

The one thing

he thought he was good at,

he can't even do that.

What a loser.

And then Jesus turns up

at Peter's lowest point

and do you know what?

He's by a fire

cooking fish,

which is really interesting

because Peter's

failed at fishing

and Jesus provides the fish.

Peter failed at faith

by a fire

and Jesus lights

another fire.

And the risen Jesus

comes to Peter,

puts his arm around him

and says,

hey, let's go for a chat,

shall we?

And you know,

I don't know if anyone

has ever done that with you,

but at that moment,

knowing what's happened to me,

I'd be thinking,

okay, what's the lecture

that's coming?

Okay.

What other words

you're going to give me now?

Okay.

You're going to tell me,

I told you so, Peter.

Is that what he's going to say?

Well,

he asks him three questions.

Three devastating questions.

He says,

Simon,

do you love me?

Ooh,

there's a bit of history

to that question.

Do you love me?

Now,

that kind of question

is the kind of question

like saying to your son

who's playing video games

all evening,

have you done your homework?

It's not asking for the answer,

it's exposing you,

right?

It's exposing you.

And Peter says,

you know that I love you.

And Jesus asks him again,

Peter,

do you love me?

And Peter replies the same.

And the third time

Jesus asks him,

Peter's grieved

because Jesus is exposing

the fact that Peter

actually wasn't as great

as he thought he was.

And Jesus brings him

to the point of confessing,

I want to follow you,

I want to love you,

but I'm weak.

There's no more

Mr. Big Guy Peter now.

He's like,

you know everything.

You know what's happened

over these last 24 hours.

You know what's happened.

You know everything.

You know the stuff I've done.

There's no hiding.

And you know,

that's an unpleasant place to be.

But Jesus says,

he says three times,

feed my sheep,

tend my sheep,

feed my lambs.

What he's saying

is Jesus saying,

okay,

you've seen my need of me

and now I can use you.

Now I can use you.

Because if you think

you can be okay with God

by trying hard,

by being good,

by helping grannies

across the road occasionally

just to make yourself

feel good about yourself,

Jesus knows everything.

He knows everything.

You know,

it's like a giant TV screen

plastered across the wall of heaven.

He's watching your every thought,

your every action,

your every word,

every time you interact

with your parents,

every time you interact

with your kids,

with your spouse,

with your colleagues,

what you actually think about them,

not what you really say to them.

It's all taped.

And at the end of time,

he'll play back that tape

on the screen

with the whole of heaven watching.

And I wonder how you'll feel

at that point.

I know how I'd feel.

I'd be going,

I hope this doesn't go onto Netflix.

because there's no hiding.

But in that shame of exposure,

the only way out of shame

is if someone with greater honor

gives you honor

to remove your shame.

You know,

if in your work

you make a mistake

and the boss shows your mistakes

in front of all your colleagues

and you feel about that big,

you can work really hard

to try and make up for the mistake,

to try and prove

that you're not as bad as that.

But nothing can actually

remove your shame

until your boss comes

and honors you

and praises you

in front of everybody else

and entrusts

the most valuable task to you.

Right?

Jesus doesn't just forgive Peter.

He entrusts him.

He honors him

by entrusting him

with the most important task

that he had,

which was the task

of looking after his followers,

his sheep.

You see,

what Peter feared from God,

from Jesus,

was rejection and condemnation.

What Jesus gave him

was forgiveness and honor.

In the resurrection,

in the resurrection,

Jesus is honored

as the victor over death,

as the name above

every other name,

the one before whom

every knee will bow

in the whole world.

God,

and yet that one

with great honor

comes to you

and comes to me

and says,

if you recognize your need,

like Peter,

say,

I can't rely on myself.

I need to turn to you.

He not only forgives your guilt,

he not only removes your shame,

and he honors you

and says,

now you're in the place

I can use you.

Now I can entrust you

with my mission.

The Bible says

he gives you a new name,

he gives you a new identity,

and he calls you his child.

And that's what the baptism

is going to be about.

That's what baptism is about,

people with a new identity

and a new name.

So let me just finish

with asking a couple of questions.

words,

where does your honor come from?

Where does your honor come from?

Does it come from your job?

From your achievements?

From what other people

think about you?

Because if it's anything

other than a risen Jesus

who is honored,

sooner or later,

in five minutes,

your honor could be destroyed

by one foolish action

that you do.

And you'll be left

trying to prove yourself

again and again.

But the amazing message

of Easter

is that Jesus

not only died

for your sin,

he rose again

to give you

a new hope,

a new future,

and your failure

is the beginning

of victory.

If you face it honestly,

if you turn to Christ

and say,

I need you.

Forgive me.

And receive grace

in your time of need.

Many people say

that Christianity

is a crutch.

It's true.

Christianity is a crutch.

But if you've got

a broken leg,

having a crutch

is a pretty good idea.

The problem is

if you have a broken leg

and say,

I don't need a crutch,

you're going to have

to lean on something

and you're going to look

pretty stupid

just hopping around

everywhere by yourself.

Because you're not going

to be able to get on

in life.

Because guilt

and shame

will hold you.

But the celebration

of Easter

is no guilt,

no shame.

There is a resurrected Lord

who honors us.

And when you come

and see your utter need

of him,

he says,

I'm going to use you.

Your failure

is not defeat.

I will turn it

into victory.

I am the one

who is risen.

Let me pray.

Father,

I pray for those

of us here

who don't know you.

Who don't know

how amazing it is

to be honored

and given

a new identity,

a new start

with you.

I pray that they

would see

that relying

on ourselves

really

is just

such an empty

way to live.

I pray for those

of us

who are Christians.

So often

we think

we have to be

so strong

to try

and do everything

by ourselves

and we forget

that you

work in our weakness.

I pray

that you'd help

us to see

the beauty

of your honor,

to see

that a resurrected

Jesus

has the power

to change

all of our

failures

into joy

and into

new life.

Lord,

thank you

that you took

Peter from

the pit

and you then

used him

so powerfully

and he knew

that it was

nothing to do

with himself.

Help us

to be people

who realize

that you want

to use us

and it's not

to do with

how great

we are

but it's

how great

our risen

saviour is.

In Jesus'

name.

Amen.