This morning I want to talk to you about how to fail without becoming a failure. What’s the difference?
Everybody fails. People fail in school—maybe in a specific subject like math or history--- maybe an entire grade. People fail at business. People fail in marriage, fail in parenting, fail in their careers….people fail the Lord. In that last category the Bible says we have all failed.
Romans 3:12 They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.
As hard as it is to admit, you and I and every one of us have all failed. But just because you fail doesn’t mean you are a failure. There is a big difference. A really good example is the difference between two of Jesus’ disciples: Simon Peter and Judas Iscariot. Both men failed Christ—Peter by denying his Lord, Judas by betraying his Lord. But Judas ends up a failure, drowning so deep in regret and despair he commits suicide. Peter, on the other hand, seems to get past his failure and becomes one of the most important leaders of the early church. What made the difference between failing and being a failure? I think you can get some clues from a conversation between Jesus and Simon Peter recorded in Luke 22:31-34. The words of Jesus are an encouragement to Peter---an encouragement for everybody who fails---about how to handle failure, to get past your failing to become the person God created you to be.
PRAYER
Jesus’ words to Peter give us 3 truths to encourage us when we fail:
I. SATAN WANTS TO USE FAILURE TO DRAG YOU DOWN. (v. 31)
Jesus’ words are spoken after the Last Supper, after Judas has left to betray the Lord to his enemies. after the disciples have argued over who is the greatest in Christ’s kingdom. Jesus’ love for Peter overcomes Him, and I believe it’s with tears in His eyes He looks at Peter, and says Simon! Simon! Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat…!
The you here is plural= ya’ll. Jesus isn’t just speaking to Peter—He’s saying all of you will be sifted. Stop for a moment and ask yourself: What if Jesus looked at you with love in His heart and tears in His eyes and said those words to you? I know what I would’ve said. Lord, You didn’t tell him he could touch me, did you? After all, you and I are close, and I’m your main man! You did tell him no, didn’t you Jesus…?
Jesus doesn’t directly answer that question, but we know what the answer is, don’t we? Jesus goes on to say after you’ve come back to me…In plain words, Jesus is letting Peter know I have given Satan permission to sift you as wheat…
You know what it means to sift don’t you? It means to separate. Farmers use to sift grain to separate the wheat from the chaff. My mom used to have a flour sifter, to separate the soft flour from the lumps. This kind of separation takes a lot of stirring up and shaking around, which is exactly what’s going to happen to Peter (see vs. 34).
Peter, my Friend, the man I nicknamed Rocky---you’re going to fail Me. Satan asked to shake you up, and I’ve give him permission to do his worst. His plans are to use your failure to drag you away from Me, to pull you down so deep into discouragement and low in despair you never come out alive.
That’s Satan’s plan for you, too. He wants to shake you up, to use your failures to drag you so low that you give in and give up. You need to remember that.
Something else you need to remember is that even though Satan hates you, Jesus loves you. He loves you just as much as He loved Peter, yet He allows the devil to sift Peter, and He allows the devil to sift you. Why? I think Peter himself gives us the answer in
1 Peter 1:6-7 6In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,
The testing of your faith is precious to the Lord, because it is through testing and even failure, your faith is purified and you bring Him praise, honor, and glory. Do you get up after your failure and keep going, or do you give up and turn back? The devil is betting you give up; the Lord is counting on you to keep persevering, keep believing even when you fail.
Radio personality Paul Harvey gives us this piece of advice: :
Someday, I hope to enjoy enough of what the world calls success so that if somebody asks me, ’What’s the secret of it?’ I shall say this: ’I get up when I fall down.’
Satan wants to use your failures to knock you down and keep you down. Will you let him? Will you let the devil use your failures to keep you down in the dumps, eyes on the ground, and wallowing in hopelessness? Or will you keep on trusting Christ? That’s one difference between failing and becoming a failure. Another important truth to remember is
II. JESUS CAN USE FAILURE TO LIFT YOU UP. (v. 32a)
I find it very encouraging that Peter’s failure doesn’t cause Jesus to write him off. Peter, you will fail Me, but I’m not giving up on you. In fact, Jesus says: I have prayed for you that your faith should not fail, and when you have returned to Me…
Peter, I know you are going to fail Me by denying Me, but I’m asking my Father to strengthen you---so that your faith in Me will not end up totally ruined. Peter will fail, but he will not end up a failure because Jesus is praying for Peter. When you have returned to Me…
Not if but when. Do you suppose Peter ever replayed this conversation in his mind? He said when, not if…Jesus looks beyond Peter’s failure, as if to say Peter, you will get past your failure. In fact, it will be through this failure you will return to me a different man, a humbled man, a man who understands that failure teaches you to depend more on Jesus. Let me show you how this works by comparing a couple of other passages.
First, look in Matt. 26:31-35 (read). Jesus tells His disciples they will all be made to stumble= ashamed of Him. Peter says Lord, that’s just not going to happen! Everybody else may fail You, but not me! I love you more than all of these other guys put together!
Now fast-forward past Peter’s denial, past Jesus’ death and resurrection to the scene on the shore of Galilee, with Jesus, Peter, and the other disciples sitting around eating breakfast in John 21:15-17 (read). Do you notice any difference in Peter? Before it was Lord, I will never deny You! Now it’s Lord, You know all things! Lord You know that I love You!
Peter’s failure draws him closer to Christ. It has shown him his own weakness, but more importantly but failure taught him to depend more on Jesus than himself!
That’s what Jesus wants your failures to do for you—to draw you closer to Him, to make you more dependent on Him. But here’s the problem: our failures make us want to run from the Lord and stop depending on Him. Too often when we fail the Lord, we quit praying, we quit trying, we quit trusting Him. How can we come back to Him when we’ve failed Him so badly? Why would He want us back when we’ve made such a royal mess?
But here’s the key: Jesus can take even your failures and use them to draw you closer to Him. That doesn’t mean Peter’s failure didn’t matter. Denying the Lord was wrong, it was a sinful and cowardly act. But by God’s grace even our worst failures can drive us to depend on Him more. Jesus is not pleased when you and I fail, but He’s also not surprised. He knows what you’re really like, what I’m really like. Yet still He prays for us.
Romans 8:34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
Do you need to repent and confess your sins to Him? Absolutely. But your failure doesn’t have to ruin your faith in Him. He still has plans for you on the other side of your failure. He can use your failure draw you closer to Him, to help you learn to depend on Him more, to give you another chance to get it right.
Somebody once asked the great British statesman Winston Churchill, "What most prepared you to lead Britain through World War II?" Churchill’s response: "It was the time I repeated a class in grade school." The questioner said, "You mean you flunked a grade?"
Churchill said, "I never flunked in my life. I was given a second opportunity to get it right."
That’s what Jesus wants you to see your failure as—another chance to get it right, another chance to draw near to Him, another chance to depend more on Him. That’s the difference between a person who fails and a person who is a failure. But Jesus has one more encouraging word for Peter and for you and I:
III. JESUS CALLS US TO LIFT UP OTHERS WHO FAIL (v.32b)
…when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brothers…
One of the most amazing things about your failures is that Jesus calls people who fail to help others who fail. Jesus commands Peter to strengthen, to encourage the other disciples after he has gotten past his own failure. Can you imagine Peter saying Lord, I’m so unworthy! Look what I’ve done! Me—the one who bragged about my love for You the loudest used my bog mouth to deny I even knew You! Lord, how can somebody as weak as I am strengthen anybody else?
I think that’s Jesus’ point here: Peter, you can strengthen them because you know what it’s like to fail. Doesn’t that make sense? When you’ve blown it, who will encourage you more—somebody shaking their head saying I cannot believe you did that! Or somebody with eyes of mercy who says I’ve been where you are. I know how you feel. Let me help you get past this. This is what Jesus calls Peter to do. Your brothers will also fail me---but after you get past your failing, help them get past theirs, too.
Maybe you’re tempted to look back on your failures and say, “Lord, how can somebody who has failed as much as I have, who is as weak as I am strengthen anybody else?” Yet I believe Jesus calls us who have failed to reach out to others who fail because we know what it’s like.
It’s people who have failed who are more merciful and gracious to others who struggle with sin and failure. I wonder if sometimes the people who are struggling, the people who fall and who fail need somebody who has been there to say, “I’ve been where you are. I know how you feel. Let me help you get past this.”
A young employee secretly embezzled several hundred dollars of his business firm’s money. When his failure was discovered the young man was told to report to the office of the senior partner of the firm.
On his arrival in the office the CEO questioned him. Did you take the money? Did you know it was wrong? Do you realize this company could take you to court? The answer came back Yes. Then the executive asked: "If I keep you in your present position, can I trust you in the future?" The young worker looked up for the first time and said, "Oh yes, sir, you surely can. I’ve learned my lesson." The executive responded, "I’m not going to press charges, and you can continue in your present responsibility. I think you ought to know, however, that you are the second man in this firm who succumbed to temptation and was shown leniency. I was the first. What you have done, I did. The mercy you are receiving, I received.”
Somebody you know needs you to show them that mercy. They need to know you’ve been where they are, that you know how they feel, and that by God’s grace you can help them get past their failure. You can do that, not because you’re better than they are, but because you, too, have failed. Will you reach out to them?
You can be discouraged by failure, or you can learn from it. So go ahead and make mistakes…Because, remember that’s where you’ll find success: on the far side of failure. --Thomas J Watson Sr.
What will you do with your failure. Will you try to ignore it, forget it? Will you let the devil drag you down with guilt and shame because you failed? Why not try another approach—why not bring your failures to Jesus? Confess your failure to Him. Ask Him to forgive you, and help you do better. Then watch Him use you, in spite of all your failures, to help somebody else get past their failures. That is what separates people who fail from people who are failures. Won’t you bring your failures to the Lord this morning?
