Peter...Peter...Peter.

Everyone always wants to point to Peter and make the case that even Peter...who spent three years walking as close to Jesus as anyone could ever hope to do... and he still fell flat on his face in the end and denied knowing Jesus in his most epic failure that left him broken and ashamed. (Luke 22:55-62)

Could someone please tell me why it’s ...‘that Peter’ we always want to look to and draw from... when we fall flat on our faces and ‘fail God’? Because clearly...something happened to Peter on the Day of Pentecost that forever changed him until he was put to death for boldly proclaiming the gospel of our beloved Savior, Jesus Christ.

This is why I have said on more than one occasion that the modern day ‘church’ has become the biggest ‘enabler’ for ‘sinners’, because we continue to console and comfort ‘sin’ as we remind and ‘indoctrinate’ sinners that they will always be ‘sinners’ and fall short and fail God.

Now that’s not to suggest we should be ‘casting stones’ and hurling shame and condemnation on those who sin either. There’s plenty of ‘religious folks’ out there who have made that their calling in life. I’m just suggesting we rethink, reexamine, and then reconsider sharing the gospel that Jesus came preaching as opposed to the plethora of those other ‘watered-down’ versions that are out there today (2 Cor. 11:3-4; Gal. 1:6-9; 2 Tim. 4:3-4).

Oh, but ‘your church preaches the truth’, you say. Well, I guess I would want to know why you still attend there if you believed otherwise. But there is an interesting lesson we can glean from looking at what happened to Peter... who thought he had it all figured out and ‘knew better’.

In fact his first recorded encounter with Jesus took place near the shores by the Lake of Gennesaret, where apparently he had been fishing all night and came up empty. (Luke 5:1-8). It happens, you know...to the best of them. We all have good days and bad days, and despite all the ‘toiling’ Peter had spent that night doing...there simply were no fish to be caught in that area on that day. That is, until Jesus told him to try again, and to “launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” (5:4)

Peter heard His voice...and despite whatever doubts he may have harbored in his heart/mind, this ‘trained, professional fisherman’ yielded to the Rabbi and said...”Nevertheless...at Your word I will let down the net...” (5). And the rest, they say...is history’ (6-7). That was the day when Peter first became a ‘believer’. But oh...so much ....did Peter have to learn as to what it means to walk with Jesus.

The first thing that Peter’s eyes were opened to was his wretched, sinful condition when he fell at the knees of Jesus, even begging Jesus to depart from him {8}. We all ought to have that heart confessing moment of realization when we see ourselves in the light of the One who came to ‘save’ us (and hearing/understanding 'the law' goes a long way in bringing us to that place). This is our ‘starting place’ , our ‘square one’ as I like to refer to it. But God did not call us to remain...on square one, as He then extended the invite to Peter (and others) to ‘follow Him’ (Matt. 4:19; Luke 5:10). We then read there in Luke’s account that “they brought their boats to land...’and forsook all’... and followed Him’ (11). In Matthew’s account, we read: “they immediately left their nets and followed Him” (Matt. 4:20).

Can I just tell you here and now- It’s one thing to ‘lay your nets down’ to follow Jesus; but it’s another thing altogether to ‘lay down your life’ for Him. And friends...this is what we’ve been called to do (1 John 3:16), and it’s the one lesson most of us have the hardest time learning...let alone ever truly ‘doing’. We like to ‘think’...we’ve done that at one time or another, but the ‘fruit’ that keeps popping up in our lives would suggest otherwise (Titus 1:16). It boils down to us saying lots of sincere, well-meaning things, but our hearts have not quite ‘got the memo’ on what it means to truly ‘lay down one’s life’. And I only have to point to Peter, once again...to make the case.

In John 13:36-38, Jesus indicates that He will be going to a ‘place’ shortly where they won’t be able to follow, and Peter speaks up saying...”Lord...I will lay my life down for Your sake!” To which Jesus responds (already knowing what is going to happen) and asks: “Will you Peter? Will you lay down your life for My sake?” And where, or what... was this place that Jesus was referring to, that He would first have to go to? It was the cross at Calvary.

Take a look at Matt. 16:21-22 where Jesus spells it out in more detail for His disciples, how He’s about to be arrested , will suffer many things and be killed...( and then raised on the third day). This is when Peter pops off again...”Lord...I won’t let that happen to you!” He’s essentially telling Jesus...”You don’t have to die and I will do everything in my power to prevent this from happening!” That is when Jesus rebukes ‘Satan’ who is clearly trying to get to Him...through those who are closest to Him. And yes, there is another ‘sermon’ in that point alone, but we can touch on that one another day.

Peter still did not ‘get it’. Unless Jesus dies...we all are doomed. So...Jesus came to lead by example and we are admonished to “let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus...who made Himself of no reputation...who took on the form of a bondservant...and He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death on the cross.” (Phil. 2:5-8).

Folks...Jesus wasn’t the only One who has a cross to bear and a death to face; so we too...have been called, and if we try to ‘save our life, we will lose it’ (Luke 9:23-24). It just takes some of us longer than others...to ‘get this’. We think we have this all understood and figured out, based on all those years we spent ‘going to church’ and what we’ve learned. You know...sort of like someone who was raised to be a fisherman and knows the trade well; and what more could anyone possibly tell us that we don’t know already? And how many folks out there have ‘toiled all night long-for years’ trying to be a ‘better Christian’ and to work harder at ‘being more like Jesus’, and still our nets come up empty.

Then one day, we hear the voice of the Master who suggest we try doing this one more time, from the start. Yeah, yeah, yeah...Peter mumbled...we’ll toss the nets one more time; and yes, they pulled in quite a haul...as their seasoned nets began to tear and break. Why, the abundance in which God provided caused their boats to sink (Luke 5:5-7)

Fast-forward now, three years and guess what we find? Peter, back out on the water...fishing. Much has transpired since that first encounter with Jesus. And Peter was right there in the thick of it...as he has seen it all and heard it all. Healings, deliverances...saw the dead raised and even witnessed the crucifixion of Jesus. And yes, he knew all about the resurrection as well; but gosh...how the memory of his epic fail of his must have lingered. So he went fishing ...again. Now here’s where it gets interesting. Peter is back to doing what he’s always done...and still coming up empty (John 21:3-4). Enter Jesus, once again, and this time something is about to change. Join me tomorrow? :- )