Facing Failure

How many of you have never done anything wrong in your life? How many of you could stand before Almighty God and say, "I have never made a mistake! I have never failed at anything. I am practically perfect in every way?!!!"

I am glad you didn’t raise your hand. The truth is that we’ve all made mistakes. We’ve all experienced failure in our lives.

A student might say, "I have tried my best to learn algebra. And I can’t do it! It’s way over my head! I wish I wouldn’t even have to take this class. I hate it! It makes me feel like a failure."

Or a mom might say, "I’ve done everything I can think of to raise my kids in a Christian home. I’ve prayed for them. I’ve taught them right from wrong. But they keep making decisions which break my heart. And they seem farther from God than ever before. O Lord, where did I go wrong? Where did I mess up? I feel like a failure."

Or a Christian might say, "I want to live for the Lord with all my heart. There’s no one in the world that I love more than Jesus.

But I struggle with sin in my life. And I keep committing the same ones over and over again. I feel like I have flunked the Christian life! How could Jesus ever use a mess-up like me? Sometimes I feel like a failure."

This morning in Mark 14, we’re going to see that even the apostles of Jesus Christ experienced failure. We will see how Jesus responds to our failures. Then we will see how WE can respond to our failures.

Let me give you a little background first. The whole book of Mark is Jesus demonstrating to the world that He is the Son of God by His deeds and by His death. And the apostles had a front row seat for the whole thing! They were there when Jesus drove out the demons in Mark 1. They were there when Jesus told the wind and the waves to be still in Mark 4. They were there when Jesus healed the sick and raised the dead.

And they were there in Mark 12 when Jesus spoke to the Pharisees like no one had ever spoken to them before.

And in Mark 14, they were there for the Last Supper, one of the most heartfelt moments of our Lord’s ministry.

Yet in spite of all these things the apostles were privileged to see, in spite of all the things that were designed to strengthen their faith, Jesus says in Mark 14:27 that "you will all fall away. You will all mess up. For it is written, "I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered."

And Peter is there when Jesus says this. He’s probably thinking, ’I don’t want to hear this! I left everything to follow Jesus! Yes, there have been times I’ve messed up. Yes, there have been times I’ve put my foot in my mouth. Yes, there have been times when I have failed to understand the finer points of Christian theology. But would I fall away from Jesus Christ? No! It’s unthinkable!’

And so he says in verse 29, "Even if everyone else falls away, I will NEVER fall away! My commitment to you is rock solid!"

And Jesus says in effect, "Oh really? Is that so? Peter, I tell you the truth, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you yourself will disown me three times."

But Peter says, "No! Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you!" And all the others said the same.

When we’re all gathered together in the presence of the Lord, it’s easy to talk big. It’s easy to say, "I praise you, Jesus! I love you more than anyone else in the world! Even if everyone