The church where I pastor (Haughton Methodist Church) is reading the Bible through in a year. I made the commitment to the congregation that if they would read the Bible through in a year, then I would preach from one of the passages they read over the previous week. So far, except for one week, I’ve kept that commitment. The weekly readings have become my lectionary for the year.

This week, we read Matthew’s account (Matthew 26: 69-75) of Peter’s denials of Jesus. I love the Apostle Peter. One reason I do is because Peter’s journey through life (and faith) so greatly reflects my own. Peter’s is a life that experienced many transformations, and I believe there is something for all of us to learn, even in Peter’s (seeming) failure. I think Peter’s life reminds us that transformation is an on-going thing. It’s never a one-time event. That’s kind of what the whole “sanctifying” grace idea is about.

Sanctifying Grace

Let me focus on sanctifying grace here just a moment because I believe I see it at work in Peter’s life in these moments. In John Wesley’s understanding, God’s grace is real (primarily) in three distinct ways—prevenient grace, justifying grace and sanctifying grace.

Let me try to illustrate: I went to the heart doctor this week. Whoopee! The price of getting old, I suppose. The doctor informed me that I did, in fact, have a heart problem. Prevenient grace is like going to the heart doctor and finding out there is something wrong with your heart. There is a dawning awareness that something has to change…that transformation is needed.

Justifying grace is that moment when we come to embrace the reality that something is wrong with our heart, and that we’ll embrace the prescription offered by the doctor. A better analogy would be discovering you need a heart transplant (prevenient grace), and actually submitting to the surgery necessary to get a new heart (justifying grace), but hey, I don’t need a heart transplant so…

Sanctifying grace is learning how to live with your new heart condition. The diet has to change. The exercise routine has to change. There may even be a few medications involved (there is!). If we’re going to honor the gift we’ve been given, we have to stop doing the things we did before and start doing new, healthier things.

What does any of that have to do with Peter? I’m glad you asked.

Peter’s Tale

Peter’s life was filled with transformative moments. He walked on water (Matthew 14). That is a transformative moment. Yet, Peter had such small faith that he couldn’t sustain it.

Another transformative moment came when Jesus changed Peter’s name and called him “the Rock” (sorry, Dwayne Johnson), yet almost immediately after, Jesus rebukes him and calls him satan (Matthew 16: 21 – 23). Talk about whiplash!

Still another transformative moment for Peter came on Mount Herman when he witnessed Jesus transfigured, and Peter wanted to build three shrines for Moses, Elijah and Jesus (Matthew 17: 1 – 13).

Perhaps the most transformative experience of Peter’s life was his denial of Jesus. It’s interesting that the most transformative event is also considered Peter’s greatest failure.

Peter, who was ready to die for Christ, had a change of heart (a transformation?) when confronted by a young lady around a campfire.

His world had been turned upside-down when Christ was arrested…and yes, this same Peter who would deny Jesus three times was the same Peter, who at the time of Jesus’ arrest, cut off the ear of one of the Roman guards. Brash, daring, adventuresome…yet, humbled under a colossal failure.

God would, however, use Peter’s colossal failure to transform him into a disciple who would change the world. There is hope for me yet! Failure doesn’t have to define us. Failure doesn’t have to be final!

Let me share three brief lessons I learn as I survey Peter’s failure.

Temptation

First, temptation gets us all sooner or later. Peter, who walked on water, saw Jesus transfigured and even had his mother-in-law healed from her sick bed (wonder what he thought about that?) gave in to the temptation he faced.

Call it fear, call it peer pressure, call it whatever you’d like to call it–he was tempted and he succumbed. What’s worse, Jesus had warned him that it was going to happen. Peter, in his brashness, said, “Never, Lord!”

Never say never. Temptation will get even the best of us. Temptation will get us when we least expect it in the most subtle ways.

What a stark contrast between this Peter, cowering before a servant girl in a courtyard, and the Peter who would grab the sword and cut off a soldier’s ear.

It’s a good reminder that battlefields (spiritual ones) are everywhere, even in the most mundane places. There are battlefields even in the quiet, routine moments of life.

Lying

A second lesson I learn is lying gets easier with time. Peter denies Jesus not once, or twice, but three times, and with each denial he takes one step further away from the Truth.

Lie #1–“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Lie #2–“I don’t know the man!”

Lie #3–“Dad-gum it, people (I didn’t want to use the language Peter probably used), I told you I don’t know that man!”

This is a moral failure in the worst sort of way. Seriously, lying to protect your own skin? How low can you go? Wait! Don’t ask. You might get the chance to find out. Friends, the truth matters. It always matters.

From Failure to Faith

One final lesson I learn (perhaps the most important one) is that faith comes after failure. Look it up in Merriam-Webster. Faith comes after failure (cute, huh?).

Peter heard the rooster crow and he was immediately reminded of Jesus’ previous warning. Matthew tells us that Peter wept bitterly. Peter could have chosen to wallow in this shame and his failure would continue to define him for subsequent generations, but we know that is not what happened.

Peter’s journey defines for us our response to our own failures. This moment of bitter weeping is significant. It marks the beginning of Peter’s repentance. Regret is a painful emotion, but it can also be a catalyst for transformation. When we are confronted with our own failures, we have two choices: we can either sink into despair or allow our brokenness to drive us back to God.

In Peter’s tears, we see a heart that is broken but not hardened. Unlike Judas, who also experienced regret but fell into hopelessness (Matthew 27: 1 – 10), Peter’s sorrow leads him toward restoration.

Restoration

Remorse, repentance, restoration. That’s God’s plan for our failures (moral or otherwise). All of it is a gift of God’s sanctifying grace. I’m reminded of the words to the old hymn of the Church “Grace Greater Than Our Sin:”

“Grace, grace, God’s grace; grace that will pardon and cleanse within. Grace, grace, God’s grace; grace that is greater than all our sin.“

Peter, this Peter, who failed so greatly would go on to become the great leader of the early church, and would eventually give his life for the cause of Christ. His failure did not define him. Neither should ours.

Step Into Your Calling

One final point I would make…and it gets sticky here…our failures do not disqualify us from God’s service. Many would argue that point, depending on the particular failure, but I would say, either we believe in grace, or we don’t. We either believe in forgiveness, or we don’t. We either believe in restoration, or we don’t (ask the Prodigal Son).

Yes, one can be restored to ministry, but remorse and repentance are requisite. Peter wasn’t restored immediately. In Mark’s gospel, Jesus was intentional in alerting Peter of His resurrection. Jesus told the women at the tomb, “Go tell the disciples AND PETER…(Mark 16).

And, in John’s gospel, we find Jesus coming to Peter and the other disciples after His resurrection to fully restore Peter (John 21: 15 – 19) to leadership among the disciples.

This is a hard one to swallow, for sure, and it needs its own blog to unpack, but the reality is that Christian discipleship is hard work. It’s ugly work. It is, however, necessary work. And, there is no greater work that needs to be done.

This is a hurting world full of hurting people, both inside and outside the Church. This hurting world needs the message of grace in Jesus Christ. This hurting world and these hurting people need the message that failure doesn’t have to be final…now…or ever!

Until next time, keep looking up…