Have you ever made a mistake? Welcome to the human race. It just means you’re alive.
Everyone wants to succeed. The society wants us to succeed. It puts undue pressure on us. People will do anything – lie, cheat, steal – in order to succeed.
Striving for success is good. There is nothing wrong with it, but the stress for success can often put failure in a very bad light – failure is unacceptable. Failure is fatal. We end up with an over-exaggerated view of failure.
We have to remind ourselves again, from Peter’s experience, that failure isn’t the end of the world. You fail, you pick yourself up, and you go on. We need to redefine failure today.
Peter failed. The one who was chosen to be one of those in the inner circle with Jesus failed Him. He was chosen to be the privilege one among three, to be close to Jesus. He was taught personally by the Master, and probably endowed with leadership skills, since Jesus asked him to head the church. He was the first to openly declare that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matt 16:16). And this man failed Him!
People fail, no matter who they are. There will be winners at every game, but remember, over 90% of them WILL NOT win any medals. Like them, many of us tried our best, but never win. Things do not always turn out the way we expect them. Nobody is immune from failures.
The Bible records failures because it records life as it is. The Bible is about real people.
Take a look, and we’ll probably appreciate Peter as a great disciple.
Jesus has been betrayed by Judas and arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was taken to the high priest, and in v.54 “Peter followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest.”
Don’t be too hard on Peter. Notice something. What happens at the Garden of Gethsemane shows that Peter is a man of courage. John tells us in John 18:10 that Peter, “who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear.” Peter was the only one who reacted and defended Jesus.
And then we were told that he followed Jesus at a distance. Even that must have taken courage. He could just as well have fled like the other disciples but he did not. He went after Jesus. At a distance maybe, but he is still there. And he followed all the way into the courtyard of the high priest.
And the Bible says in v.54 “There he sat with the guards and warmed himself at the fire.”
It’s really hard to say that Peter is a coward. There was no more dangerous place that he could have been at that moment than the courtyard, among the soldiers and where Peter could have easily been identified as a disciple of Jesus. It’s like sending himself into the lion’s den.
A servant girl spotted him, and he denied knowing Jesus. Sometime later, he was noticed and again he denied it. And then v.70 tells us “after a little while” he was again identified, and he denied it for the third time. They recognised him to be a Galilean. Matthew’s account (Matt 26:73) adds the detail that it was Peter’s accent that gave him away.
Luke tells us this final denial happened about an hour later (Luke 22:59). In order words, he was there at the courtyard for a long time. It is amazing that Peter stayed on even after being spotted and identified two times.
Can you see his love for Jesus? No wonder he broke down and wept. For a man as impulsive and bold as Peter, this wasn’t a sign of weakness. In fact, the willingness to admit failure is the mark of a great man.
How you respond to failure in life is critical. John Maxwell points out that the difference between average people and achieving people is their perception of failure and their response to it.
1. Failure is not fatal if we remember that everyone fails
Nobody is perfect and everyone fails. You may be among those in the inner circle specially taught by Jesus. You may be the one with courage and leadership. You can still fail.
Just a couple of hours before this, Peter boasted of his loyalty to Jesus - Mark 14:29-30
29 Peter declared, "Even if all fall away, I will not." 30"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "today - yes, tonight - before the rooster crows twice you yourself will disown me three times." 31But Peter insisted emphatically, "Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you." And all the others said the same.
Peter was very sure that he would never fail Jesus on a point of loyalty and courage. But Peter faltered in just a few hours. Three times he denies Jesus before a few nameless people of no particular significance. Peter failed.
Verse 31b: And all the others said the same. In fact, ALL FAILED. Not just Peter.
We learn something here – great men can fail. Just because you fail at one thing does not make you a failure. Peter broke down and wept. He realised his mistake and acknowledged it. Great men admit their mistakes. Don’t put confidence upon the flesh. Unless the Lord enables us, no one can stand.
2. Failure is not fatal if we remember that God’s love is not dependent on your success
God’s love is not dependent on your performance or success. No matter how you have failed, no matter what sin you have allowed into your life, the Saviour who died for you still loves you.
The story of Christianity is the story of failed men and women who found new futures. When Peter broke down and wept, that was his turning point. You see, all the disciples failed. Peter failed. Judas failed. But what made Peter different from Judas was his awareness of the Lord’s love for him, and therefore he wept in repentance.
Both Peter and Judas were remorseful, but Peter repented and Judas killed himself.
In fact, in Luke’s account when Jesus tells Peter that he will deny knowing Him three times, He said something before that - Luke 22:31-34
31 "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, Simon that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers." 33 But he replied, "Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death."
34 Jesus answered, "I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me."
Jesus said, “…when you have turned back.” That’s the key. God expects us to turn back, to learn from our mistakes and stand up again. God do not want us to condemn ourselves. He knows that we will fail. He is not looking for successful Christians but obedient ones.
King David wrote in Ps 51:17 “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart,
O God, you will not despise.” This was his psalm of repentance, after the prophet Nathan came to reprimand him for committing adultery with Bathsheba. You see, God does not come to condemn – only the devil does that - but to restore. He comes to call you to repentance.
3. Failure is not fatal if we remember the lessons learnt – there are BENEFITS
When confronted by his contemporaries and encouraged to quit his pursuit of a suitable element for his electric light bulb, Thomas Edison did not give up. (Thank God for that, or we might still be fumbling around in the light of gas lamps.) On the occasion of his 5000th attempt to invent the incandescent light bulb, Edison said words to this effect, "I am not a failure. Rather I have successfully identified and eliminated 5000 ways that do not work, which brings me 5000 steps closer to discovering the one way that will work."
Take advantage of your failure; don’t waste it. Learn all you can from it; every bitter experience can teach us something. We must never use failure as an excuse for not trying again.
God will go to great lengths to help you, but He can do nothing for you if you just lie there!
If you accept your failure as final, then you’re finally a failure.
The best part of Peter’s story is not written here. Look at what happened later on –
• Mark 16:6-7 "Don’t be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples AND PETER, `He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’"
• Peter’s last encounter with Jesus, in John 21:15-18. The resurrected Jesus reinstated Peter and asked him to “feed My sheep” – that is, be the leader of His church. His credentials were that great – impulsive, boastful, betrayed his master – yet the Lord uses him.
Can you see the recognition the Lord gives to Peter? Amazing!
Look at Moses - an interrupted childhood, a foster family, a violent temper, a stammering tongue and a criminal record. What a resumé! He could have given up before he even started! Yet God used him to lead the greatest migration of people in the history of the world.
Failing does not make you a failure; quitting does. Get up and try again. Next time, with God’s help, you’ll make it! Prov 24:16 “…for though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again.”
Everyone fails, but what we need to remember is that we do not have to stay down.
Oliver Goldsmith: “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising each time we fall.”
One day a young man sat on a park bench watching a squirrel in a tree. It was aiming for a limb so far above it that it looked like "a leap of suicide." Suddenly it jumped, missed, and landed on a branch several feet lower down. Immediately, it steadied itself, and got ready to jump again.
An old man sitting on the same bench said to him, "Funny, I’ve seen hundreds of ’em jump like that, even with dogs barking at them from the ground. And a lot of them miss. But I’ve never seen one get hurt trying." Then he added. "I guess they must think it’s better to take a risk, than spend your whole life where you don’t want to be."
You want to do something great for God? You want to influence your friends to Christ?
Go ahead, use your faith, take the leap, do whatever you need to do. If it fails, try again. Or try something else. God will catch you if you fall!
Otherwise, where you are today is as far as you’re ever going to get.
THE FERN AND BAMBOO STORY
One day I decided to quit...I quit my job, my relationship, my spirituality... I wanted to quit my life. I went to the woods to have one last talk with God. "God", I said. "Can you give me one good reason not to quit?"
His answer surprised me..."Look around", He said. "Do you see the fern and the bamboo?"
"Yes", I replied.
"When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took very good care of them. I gave them light. I gave them water. The fern quickly grew from the earth. Its brilliant green covered the floor. Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo. In the second year the Fern grew more vibrant and plentiful. And again, nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo."
He said. "In year three there was still nothing from the bamboo seed. But I would not quit. In year four, again, there was nothing from the bamboo seed. I would not quit."
He said. "Then in the fifth year a tiny sprout emerged from the earth. Compared to the fern it was seemingly small and insignificant...But just 6 months later the bamboo rose to over 100 feet tall. It had spent the five years growing roots. Those roots made it strong and gave it what it needed to survive. I would not give any of my creations a challenge it could not handle."
He said to me. "Did you know, my child, that all this time you have been struggling, you have actually been growing roots?"
"I would not quit on the bamboo. I will never quit on you."
"Don’t compare yourself to others."
He said, "The bamboo had a different purpose than the fern. Yet they both make the forest beautiful."
"Your time will come", God said to me. "You will rise high"
"How high should I rise?" I asked.
"How high will the bamboo rise?" He asked in return.
"As high as it can?" I questioned
"Yes." He said, "Give me glory by rising as high as you can."
John Maxwell:
"Failing doesn’t mean I’m a failure; it just means I have not yet succeeded. It doesn’t mean I’ve accomplished nothing; it just means I’ve learned something. It doesn’t mean I’ve been a fool; it just means I’ve had the courage to take a risk. It doesn’t mean I’m inferior; it just means I’m not perfect. It doesn’t mean I’ve wasted my time; it just means I have a reason to start over again. It doesn’t mean I should give up; it just means I have to try harder. It doesn’t mean I’ll never make it; it just means I need more patience. It doesn’t mean God has abandoned me; it just means He has a better idea!"
