Investigating Easter: The Miracle after the Miracle with Pastor Clayton Tyner

Welcome to the MetaCurch Podcast.

My name's Clayton.

I'm the pastor here at MetaCurch.

And my hope is that today's podcast finds you at the perfect time in your life that God uses it to inspire and enlighten you.

I hope that you enjoy today's message.

My name is Clayton.

I'm the lead pastor here at MetaCurch.

And we are closing up our series called Investigating Easter.

Now, if you have not been here over the last four weeks, we have made an argument for the faith that we have.

We're not called to a blind faith in Jesus.

We actually believe that having faith in a God of creation and in his life and resurrection is reasonable.

And we laid that out across the last four weeks.

If you missed it and you're curious, maybe you're kind of wired a little more skeptically, and you'd like to hear some reasons for the faith that we hold.

Really encourage you to go online, youtube.com slash metachurch and check that out.

Last week we looked at the resurrection, the moment that changed everything.

Today, my message is the miracle after the miracle.

Would you pray with me?

Jesus, we love you.

We thank you for your great love for us.

We thank you that we get to celebrate baptisms today and all the evidence of what you're doing in us and through us here at MetaCurch.

We're so excited to celebrate.

And I pray that you would just speak to us through your word.

We love you.

We pray all these things in Jesus' name.

And if you're ready for the miracle after the miracle, say amen.

Amen.

We are celebrating baptism today.

I want to say one thing quickly about that.

We've got a lot of people signed up.

Uh at this point, over 60 people signed up today to get baptized.

Yeah.

So praise God for that.

If you grew up in church, then you probably know how unique that is.

60 people going through the waters in one day.

It's just evidence of the Holy Spirit's movement here.

Now, uh, there are others of you who have put your faith in Jesus.

Maybe some of you who are gonna put your faith in Jesus today and you haven't been baptized, but you didn't sign up and you didn't show up ready to get baptized.

I just need you to know we are ready for you.

We have clothes for you, we have a towel for you to dry off.

And so if during this service at any point the Holy Spirit impresses on your heart that today is the day to get baptized, I want you to act in obedience to that calling.

It's not weird.

I think some people are like, that'd be crazy, man.

I showed up in my street clothes and like, that'd be crazy.

It wouldn't be crazy.

Like the water's here, we have clothes for you, the Holy Spirit's calling you to do it.

What would be crazy is not following the Holy Spirit in obedience, right?

So if the if the Holy Spirit calls you, then let's get up.

I want to give you a slightly different perspective on the resurrection for the people who actually experienced it.

You know, we we celebrated Easter last week, and we should, right?

Jesus defeating death, which is a guarantee that he can also promise us eternal life.

We celebrate that.

And I think in our minds, everyone who knew him, it was just jubilation.

Everybody was just on cloud nine.

Um, but I'm gonna make the case that there were mixed emotions.

We have to first understand the tension before the resurrection and before the cross, because the first thing that happened is Jesus was arrested.

The mob came and they took him, and everyone closest to him deserted him.

In Mark 14, 50, it says, then they all, and they all, that's his disciples, they all deserted him and ran away.

Not only were they like kind of motivated to get away from the danger, they were desperate to abandon Jesus.

It says, then they all deserted him and ran away.

Now, a certain young man wearing nothing but a linen cloth, which was normal back in the day, was following him and they caught hold of him, but he left the linen cloth behind and ran away naked.

That's how badly he wanted to get away from the danger represented by the arrest of Jesus.

And in the ancient East, being naked in public was like the height of shame, but they didn't care.

They were cowards, they ran away.

And it wasn't like they shouldn't be ready for this.

Jesus had begun speaking plainly about what was gonna happen if they went to Jerusalem.

He told them before they headed to town in Matthew's gospel, from then on, Jesus began to point out to his disciples it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes.

It was necessary for him to be killed and to be raised on the third day.

Now, if you remember this part of Matthew 16, this is when Peter steps up to Jesus and is like, Not on my watch, bro, like you will not die.

I whatever I have to do, I'll put my own life on the line.

Well, Jesus rebukes him and uses this moment to teach his disciples the cost of following Jesus.

In verse 24, Jesus said, If anyone wants to follow me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and then follow.

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it.

But whoever loses his life because of me will find it.

This is in the third year of Jesus' ministry.

He's like, Look, guys, you've seen the miracles and the crowds and the sermons, they've all been great.

But it is about to get real.

And if you want to follow me, you have to prepare to give up everything, maybe even your own lives.

The disciples had been warned, and still, when the testing came, they ran away in shame.

Of course, none of the disciples fall from grace is as heartbreaking and carefully documented as Peter's.

Not only was Peter one of the closest disciples to Jesus, but he's the one who always took the big swings.

Peter's the one who said, Jesus, I will never let them kill you.

And he's the one who initially said, Jesus, I would never let you wash my feet.

And on the night before Jesus' death, Peter is the one who swears he will never, ever deny his leader.

In Mark 14, Peter told Jesus, even if everyone else falls away, I will not.

Peter's like, I can't speak for these other fools at the table.

Honestly, some of them, they might not be as brave as me, you know.

But if everyone else runs, I will stay.

Jesus said, Truly, I tell you, today, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.

But Peter doubles down.

If I have to die with you, I will never deny you.

And all the disciples said the same thing.

And you probably know the story, once Jesus was arrested, the heartbreaking reality of the situation hit Peter.

Just like everyone else, Peter took off, but he stayed at a distance, observing what was happening.

In verse 66, while Peter was in the courtyard below, one of the high priest's maidservants came.

And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, You also were with Jesus, the man from Nazareth.

But Peter denied it.

I don't know or even understand what you're talking about.

And then he went out to the entryway, a little further from Jesus, and a rooster crowed.

And a maidservant saw him again, and she began to tell those standing nearby, This man is one of them.

But again, he denied it.

And after a little while, those standing there next to Peter again said, You certainly are one of them.

You're even from Galilee.

And then Peter started to curse and swear.

He's like, You think I'm hanging out with Jesus?

I'm behaving in a way that Jesus would never condone.

I'm swearing and cursing on this.

I'm swearing all up and down.

And then he says, I don't know this man.

This man.

Jesus?

His rabbi?

His leader?

His savior, Jesus, who Peter had confessed as God?

Jesus?

Peter's closest friend?

This man?

And then, of course, immediately a rooster crowed a second time, and Peter remembered when Jesus had spoken the word to him before the rooster crows twice, he'll deny me three times.

And he broke down and he wept.

He's so desperate to be distanced from Jesus that he begins to curse and swear oaths.

If this was modern day, he'd be like, I swear to God.

I swear, I don't know who this dude is.

I swear to God.

Just like Jesus said.

That is Peter's last interaction with Jesus.

That is Peter's final moment with the Lord.

Jesus is crucified.

Three days go by.

And then Jesus comes back to life.

Now I imagine that the very first reaction from everyone, including the disciples, was just absolute joy.

He's back.

He said he was gonna do it and he did it.

We didn't think it was real, but it's real.

He's back, and they're on cloud nine.

But at some point, the reality begins to sink in.

He's back.

And the last thing we did was abandon him.

He's back.

And the last thing I did was deny him.

He's back.

And our last moment with him, we betrayed him.

So we know how this works.

Let's let's just talk about reality.

We all live in reality.

What does a political leader do if all his closest allies abandon him during political unrest?

He finds new allies.

What does a business leader do if the executives betray the mission of the company?

He fires them and hires new executives.

What does a head coach do if during the most important playoff game his assistant coach just decides not to show up?

He finds a new assistant coach.

That's how life works.

The ultimate test came, and after three years of experiencing the supernatural with Jesus, they all fail the test spectacularly.

And so I want us to look at the end of John's gospel and see where the disciples are at post-resurrection.

In John 21, it says, Simon Peter, Thomas, called the twin, Nathaniel from Cana, Galilee, Zebedee sons, that's James and John, and two other of his disciples were together, and Peter says, I'm going fishing.

Now, why is this significant?

I want us to go back to the moment Peter first met Jesus.

This is way back in the beginning of the Gospels.

In Luke 5, as the crowd was pressing in on Jesus to hear God's word, he was standing by the lake and he saw two boats at the edge of the lake, and the fishermen, that's their identity, the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets.

And he got into one of the boats, which belonged to Simon Peter, and asked him to put out a little from the land, and he sat down and taught the crowds.

When Jesus met Peter, he was a fisherman.

That was his identity.

That was all he knew.

That was how he understood himself in the fabric of his society.

That is how he resourced his life and the lives of the people connected to him.

He was a fisherman, he caught fish, that's his identity.

In verse 4, when Jesus finished speaking, he said to Simon Peter, Put out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch.

Master Simon replied, We've worked hard all night long, and we've caught nothing, but if you say so, I'll let down the nets.

And when they did this, they caught a great number of fish, and their nets began to tear.

And so they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full, both boats began to sink.

Now remember this miracle that we'll come back shortly.

In verse 8, when Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, Go away from me.

Because I am a sinful man.

That's called shame.

Shame is where Jesus met Peter.

This interesting thing happens when you first really experience Jesus.

And it's like his perfection draws a contrast to our brokenness.

His perfection draws a contrast to my sin.

And it's easy to move into shame.

Not I've done some bad things, that's guilt, but I'm a bad person.

That's shame.

Go away from me, Lord.

I am a sinful man.

In a real sense, shame is where Jesus meets most of us.

We call the story of Jesus the gospel.

All that means is the good news.

The good news of a God who loved you enough to come down to this earth for you, to live the perfect life you could not live, to die the death that you deserve, to pay the price, to bring you back into relationship with your heavenly Father now and for all of eternity.

It's the good news, as a matter of fact, it's the best news.

But to really understand the good news, we have to be aware of the bad news.

And the bad news is that all have sinned and we've all fallen short of God's glorious standard.

That all of us, like sheep, have gone astray.

We have turned to our own desires.

We've tried to live as our own gods and our own kings and to make our own future and to put our faith in ourselves.

The wages of our sin is death.

And only when we understand the weight of our sin can we understand the sacrifice of Jesus.

And here's the good news that Jesus does not reject us.

He didn't say to Peter, Yeah, bro, you are a sinful man.

You've got some work to do.

You go through some steps and jump through some hoops, clean up your life, and then come find me.

He meets us in our shame and he restores us to a purpose.

He says, Come as you are.

And some of you had a hard time with that.

Because you're like, man, if the people sitting in this service even knew the things that I've done yesterday, you know, like if this pastor knew what I had thought 17 seconds ago, it's like, come as you are.

It's like, yeah, sure, right?

Like church people and good people and people who are kind to their spouses and good parents and you know, people who don't think the crazy thoughts I think, and people who haven't hurt as many people as me, and people who haven't ruined as many relationships, and people who don't have the addictions I have.

Jesus is like, no, no, no, no.

Come exactly as you are, and any idea that I can't cover your sins is questioning the work he did on the cross.

He's saying, You don't think my death was enough?

You need more than the death of God Himself in human flesh?

Come as you are.

Pick yourself up.

My grace is sufficient for you, my blood will cover your sin, my righteousness will clothe you.

What did he say to Simon Peter?

Don't be afraid.

From now on, you won't be catching fish.

From now on, you will be a fisher of men.

This is a statement of an exchange of identity.

You were this, and now you are something else.

And so Peter dropped his nets and he followed Jesus.

He was in Jesus' innermost circle.

He experienced the supernatural, he learned from the words of God Himself, and he was a leader in the growing movement that Jesus was putting together.

Words truly could not describe the adventure that Peter had been on, and then Jesus was arrested, and Peter ran.

Then he got kind of close to the trial and was called out and cursed and swore and denied Jesus.

I don't even know that man.

And then Jesus died.

So where do we find Peter at the end of John's gospel?

John 21, verse 3, Peter said, I'm going fishing.

John 21:3

I'm going fishing for fish.

That's what I do now.

I'm back in my old identity because Peter assumed the exact same thing I would have assumed.

If I was given the privilege of a lifetime to stand alongside Jesus for three years and then ran like a coward in his greatest moment of need, I personally would have been 1 million percent convinced that Jesus would find someone else.

Find someone a little more courageous and a little more talented with a lot more backbone and more of a bright future, that he would have just moved on.

I'd be so ecstatic that my friend was back from the dead, but I would assume Jesus is resurrected, but I am not restored.

He will move on and find a better disciple.

And I think that you might feel the same.

And I know for myself, that's how I would have felt because I have felt like that in my actual life, Your Honor.

See, I knew Jesus since I was really little.

But then I got to about here and decided I wanted to do my own thing.

And I ran from God and I hid.

And I got to a point where I felt so far from God that I was convinced, fully convinced, that even if I wanted to come back, God wouldn't have anything to do with me.

And you see what happens is when you pursue life apart from God, you do learn, given enough time, that the world does not offer fulfillment and purpose, power, or impact.

You will end up emptier than you began if you try to pursue hope and faith without God.

You get to a place where it's like, I'm not even willing to turn around because I don't want to face the harsh reality that I've gone too far and done too much and God doesn't want anything to do with me.

And what changed my life forever, and the reason that I'm standing here on this stage today, is because when I finally got desperate enough to take the smallest peek behind me, what I found is that Jesus had been pursuing me the entire time.

Here's verse four.

When daybreak came, Jesus stood on the shore.

But the disciples did not know it was Jesus.

And they didn't know it was Jesus because the disciples were out fishing.

It was daybreak, you know, that time of day where it's really hard to see anything.

It's not really dark, but it's not really bright.

They're way out at sea, and there's just a guy on the shore.

How amazing, though, that Peter didn't have to go find Jesus.

Jesus came and found Peter.

And some of you came here to watch a friend get baptized, and you're like, I guess I'll step foot into a Sunday service for the first time in a very long time, but this isn't really for me because I'm doing my own thing and it's not working for me.

All my relationships are terrible and all my addictions are growing out of control, and I'm drowning in debt and I have no hope in my life, and the future is bleak.

I guess I will show up.

You didn't come looking for Jesus, but Jesus came looking for you today.

Jesus has shown up.

The Holy Spirit of God is gripping your heart right now, and you know it.

And I promise you, it's not because of this building.

You leave here today, God is going to keep showing up in your life until you finally bow a knee.

Take off your own crown and give it to Jesus, who it actually belongs to.

Jesus came looking for Peter.

Jesus came looking for the disciples who had abandoned him.

Friends, Jesus called to them, you don't have any fish, do you?

They don't know it's Jesus.

They're like, no.

Thanks for reminding us, you know.

And the guy on the shore says, cast it on the right side of the boat, you'll find some.

And so they did.

And they were unable to haul it in because of the large number of fish.

Jesus shows up to restore Peter with the exact same miracle that he performed when he showed up to call Peter for the first time.

It's like Jesus is reminding him I'm the same guy.

And as a matter of fact, we're in the same situation.

I met you in this same situation three years ago, and I met you in your shame.

Go away from me, Lord.

I'm a sinful man.

And Jesus shows up on the shore, and Peter, who's denied his Lord, is fishing in shame.

In verse 7, the disciple, the one Jesus loves, said to Peter, It's gotta be him.

It's gotta be the Lord.

And when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he tied his outer clothing around him and he plunged into the sea.

Peter's so anxious to see where he stands with Jesus that he doesn't even wait for the boat.

He jumps in and swims to shore.

And he never, if you gave him a million guesses, would have been able to guess what was happening on the shore.

He got to shore after Jesus had started a fire and was cooking him breakfast.

And that's normal for us, but in the ancient East, sharing a meal was a deep sign of relationship.

And sharing a meal with an enemy was a sign of reconciliation.

So Peter sits down, and when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus asked Simon, Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?

Yes, Lord, Peter said, You know that I love you.

Jesus said, Feed my lambs.

And a second time he asked him, Simon, son of John, do you love me?

Yes, Lord, he said, You know that I love you.

Shepherd my sheep, Jesus told him.

And then Jesus asked him a third time, Simon.

Son of John, do you love me?

And Peter was grieved that he had asked him a third time, Do you love me?

He said, Lord, you know everything.

You know that I love you.

And Jesus said, feed my sheep.

Jesus was resurrected, but Peter and the disciples were not restored.

Jesus restores Peter, but he asks him three times.

Maybe that feels odd to you.

It was breaking Peter's heart.

But what he allowed was full restoration.

One confession of his love and service to Jesus for every time that he had denied him.

Peter once again became a fisher of men.

He stepped back into the identity that Jesus had given him, and he wasn't alone.

The other disciples became the apostles, the sent ones, who went out and started the movement of Jesus around the world.

Most people recognize that these disciples, who were absolute cowards the night that Jesus was arrested, became these courageous, wise men who changed the world as we know it.

But most people miss the miracle after the miracle.

We shortchange the story when we say they were scared and Jesus rose again and they were brave, because that's not true.

They were scared and Jesus rose again and they went fishing.

And the miracle after the miracle is that Jesus chooses broken, jacked up, flawed, imperfect, often failing people like me, and like you.

To be his ambassadors on the earth and to push the movement forward that he gave his life to start.

I think there are two different kinds of people here.

There are those who have never put their faith in Jesus, and for some of you, you just believe you're too far gone.

You've hurt too many people, done too much too much damage, broken too many relationships, disappointed too many people, just sinned way too much, way too often.

Your habits are too toxic, your relationships too flawed.

See, the miracle is that Jesus walked out of a grave and he did it for you, and he went to a cross for you, and he took all the sin you will ever commit and did ever commit, and he nailed it to that cross and he forgave it, and all you have to do is put your faith in him.

And the miracle after the miracle is that even though you're still broken and flawed, he calls you to come exactly as you are.

I think there's believers here today who are not living out their God-given identity because you've messed up so many times in your faith walk that you assume at some level God is too mad at you to use you.

And the only way you can actually waste the life that God has given you is if you step out of your identity and back to who you were before you came to Christ and forfeit the opportunity to move with Jesus.

Jesus does not just want to use you in spite of your brokenness and in spite of your sin.

He wants to use you because of it.

You have a role to play, you have people to reach, you have people that you can minister to with your life and your failings and your shortcomings that someone else may not be able to get to.

Someone else is living your story, waiting for someone who looks like them and sounds like them and has lived like them to say that's where I was, and then I met Jesus, and now I've been made whole.

And if we live that out, the miracle after the miracle is that Jesus will use jacked up people just like you and me to change the world.

So we're gonna baptize today, and when we baptize you, you go in the water, and this is like a metaphor for a grave.

And what we say is buried with Christ.

That's your old life, that's your old identity.

And we put you fully under, and then we bring you up and say you are raised to walk a new life.

You will walk that new life imperfectly.

You will have seasons of power and impact and missional clarity, and you will have seasons of suffering, desperation, and worst ways.

And Jesus will be there for both of them.

Meeting you in your success and meeting you in your shame and reminding you who you are and setting you back on the path to your purpose.

Would you pray with me right where you're at?

Just close your eyes and bow your heads, just give yourself and those around you some space to reflect.

And I do wonder if there's some of you, believer or not, who have counted yourself out on what God wants to do with your life.

You just have bought the lie that you've done too much, you've gone too far, you have too many skeletons in your closet.

You've decided the best I can do with life is probably just go fishing.

Go back to your old identity, go back to who you were, go back to your old patterns, go back to what's familiar.

Jesus is here and he's calling you into something that is brand new.

A life of purpose and power and fulfillment that he created you to live.

I wonder if there's anyone here who has never had a moment in their life where they have put their faith in Jesus.

Jesus, while he was on earth, said this is how much God loves you, that he gave his one and only Son Jesus the perfect sacrifice to pay for our sins, so that everyone who simply believes in Jesus will never die, but will be given eternal life.

If you've never had a moment in your life where you've put your faith in Jesus and you're ready to take that step of faith today, I want to ask you, if everyone's eyes closed for a moment of courage right now, to lift your hand up in the air where I can see you.

This is an acknowledgement today.

I am putting my faith in Jesus.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Praise God.

For those who lifted a hand, I want you to know this Jesus sees your faith and he accepts it.

You are now clothed in the righteousness of Christ, your sins have been forgiven, and your relationship with God has been restored.

I want to help you acknowledge this moment of faith with a simple prayer.

So here's what we're gonna do.

Everyone with a lifted hand, as well as all the believers in the room, I want you to pray this simple prayer with me.

Let's pray this.

Jesus, today I choose to put my faith in you.

I believe you are God, that you died for my sins, and I believe you rose again.

I thank you for loving me, forgiving my sins.

I thank you for a new eternal life.

Now let me pray over you, Jesus.

We continue to celebrate what you're doing here in this local body, what you're doing here in our city, what you're doing in our families, what you're doing in our lives.

The dead coming to life, eternal life, eternal relationship with you.

I pray today is another just next step in the right direction.

And that anyone who you have brought into your family would stand up, get in the waters, and make it public today.

We love you, and we pray these things in Jesus' name.

And everyone said, Amen.

Thanks so much for listening to the message today.

If this was helpful to you and you want to help us get the word out, you can subscribe to this podcast.

You can rate and review or share it with your friends.

If you want to get connected further with what MetaCurch is doing, you can go online to metachurch.tv.

There you can learn how to take next steps.

You can learn where our different venues are at if you ever wanted to visit, and you can also give financially to help push this movement forward.

Man, I love you guys, and I hope you have a great rest of your day.