Speaker 1: 0:13

Hey guys, I'm Steven. I'm an 8th grader here at Northgate. Thanks guys, I'm an 8th grader here at Northgate. I've been coming here for about like 6 years now. Today we got a pretty short reading from Matthew 26, 31. Then Jesus told them this very night you will all fall away on the count of me. But it is written I will strike this shepherd and all the sheep of the flock will be scattered, but after I have risen I will go ahead of you into Galilee. Peter replied Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will. Truly I tell you. Jesus answered this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times. But Peter declared Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you. And all the other disciples said the same. This is the word of the Lord.

Speaker 2: 1:24

Thank you, stephen. Well, good morning. I'd like to start with a question, or maybe a series of questions, for you. Have you ever felt like you are just kind of stumbling through your spiritual journey, that you're not really spiritual enough or don't pray enough or don't read your Bible enough or you're not devoted enough? You ever feel like you're too spiritually inconsistent or inadequate or incompetent, or maybe that you finally feel like you're making progress and you kind of get in the hang of this thing, only to fall flat on your face. Anybody ever feel like that? Okay, yeah, ever feel like that? Okay, yeah, the rest of you are in denial. Because the truth is, I think every one of us in this room are stumbling in our spirituality, stumbling in our walk with God. The good news is you're not alone, but the better news is that you're not beyond hope.

Speaker 2: 2:16

We are, in this series, going through Matthew's gospel, the life and ministry of Jesus, and we're coming actually close to the end. We have, just the last couple of weeks, gone through Jesus' last supper with the disciples, where he celebrated the Passover meal with them and gave it a whole new meaning, talking about this is my body and this is my blood, and then now they've celebrated that Passover meal, they sang a hymn and they're on their way to Gethsemane. So it's about a 45-minute walk. They are walking from Jerusalem, where they celebrated the Passover, and they're walking down the Kidron Valley and then back up the other side to the Mount of Olives, which is where Gethsemane Garden is, and so that's where they're going and this passage that we looked at, it almost seems like it's just kind of a throw in there. It's kind of a transitional thing. It's like, well, you know, on their way they're talking, but what Jesus is doing here is this is some of the last words he is sharing with his disciples, and as they're walking from Jerusalem down through the valley and on the way up the hill up to the garden, I want to read it to you again. Jesus told them this very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered, but after I have risen I will go ahead of you into Galilee. Peter replied even if all fall away on account of you, I never will. Truly, I tell you. Jesus answered this very night, before the rooster crows. You will disown me three times, peter declared even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you. And all the other disciples said the same. It's a short passage, it's only five sentences, and it's easy to kind of just think okay, well, that's a transition from there to there and we're just on the way.

Speaker 2: 4:10

But I think there are some really deep truths here, some really significant truths that can help every one of us in our stumbling through our spiritual lives. And I want to start with this idea, first of all, that our flaws and our failings are no surprise to God. We all have them. Whatever you want to call them flaws, failings, character defects, weaknesses, whatever you might want to call it none of us is perfect. In fact, if there's one thing that we are perfect at, is that we are perfect at being imperfect people. But none of that catches God by surprise, none of it catches him off guard. I mean, think about it. You think Jesus or God the Father, just sits there, looks at something you've done and says really, you? I mean, if I had known that about you. All bets are off. He knows, he knows beforehand, and this is just. He warns them. Jesus told them this very night you will all fall away on account of me. He knows, he knows beforehand, and yet we still try to hide it. We all have these weaknesses, we all have these flaws, we all have these character defects or whatever you want to call them, but we're really good at covering them up. We're really good at hiding them. And the crazy thing is we even try to hide them from God, and that goes all the way back, by the way, to the Garden of Eden, adam and Eve. When they sin and the first time they sin in the garden, what is the first thing they do? They cover up. They sew fig leaves together to cover up their nakedness. And then, because we're told in Genesis that God used to come and walk through them, through the garden, in the cool of the day, and yet God comes to meet with them and they're nowhere to be found, not only are they covered up, they've gone into hiding. Now I want you to just kind of think about that, because this is a little strange, but it's the same thing that we do they're trying to hide from God in the garden that he created. It's like he knows that like the back of his hand. You're not going to be able to hide from him. He knows you better than you know yourself and, with all of our flaws and our failings, it's hard to believe he still loves us A book I picked up a number of years ago.

Speaker 2: 6:37

It's called Messy Spirituality. The author is Mike Iaconelli. He writes these words I don't want to be Saint John of the Cross or Billy Graham. I just want to be remembered as a person who loved God, who served others more than he served himself, who was trying to grow in maturity and stability. I want to have more victories than defeats.

Speaker 2: 6:58

Yet here I am almost 60, and I failed on a regular basis. I often dream that I'm tagging along behind Jesus, longing for him to choose me as one of his disciples. Without warning, he turns around, looks straight into my eyes and says follow me. My heart races. I begin to run toward him and then he interrupts with oh, not you, I was talking to the guy behind you, sorry. Says.

Speaker 2: 7:22

I have been trying to follow Christ most of my life. The best I can do is a stumbling, bumbling, clumsy kind of following. I wake up most days with the humiliating awareness that I have no clue where Jesus is, even though I am a minister, even though I think about Jesus every day. My following is meandering God knows your failings long before you fail. In fact, when he tells him that they're going to fail, he says it is written I will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered. Now he is quoting a passage from the prophet Zechariah. Zechariah wrote those words 500 years before that, so 500 years before these guys are going to fail. God knew Before they were even born. He knew they were going to fail that night.

Speaker 2: 8:16

It doesn't mean that he causes us to fail. It doesn't mean that he causes us to fail. It doesn't mean that he intends for us to fail or destines us to fail. He just knows we will. Why do you think jesus tells him this? To warn them, certainly, to prepare them, to caution them.

Speaker 2: 8:33

But I think there's something else going on here. I think part of it is he wants to encourage them, because what he's saying is I know the truth about you, I know you're going to fail, but I'm not going to give up on you. He doesn't chastise them, he doesn't belittle them, he doesn't condemn them. In fact, as I think about this and maybe you haven't done this, but you think about it what do you think the tone of voice was when Jesus says this Do you think he says this very night before, you will all fall away because of me. This very night, you're all going to fall away because of me. Or do you think he said it more in a tone like tonight, guys, you're all going to fall away on me, you're all going to fall away on me? I think it's more the latter.

Speaker 2: 9:20

I think he was not in a critical way, but in a loving way, telling them the truth, because we all need truth tellers in our lives. We need people who will tell us the things that we don't want to hear, because our pride can blind us to our flaws. We all have blind spots, if you will, we all have them. An example if you're in a gathering around a group of people, you're all standing around having a group conversation. Who is the one person in that group that doesn't realize they are talking too much and dominating the conversation? The one person who's talking too much and dominating the conversation. The one person who's talking too much and dominating the conversation. See, the truth is and it's ironic, but our strengths can actually be our greatest weakness, because it gives us a false sense of security, a false sense of confidence. We are overly confident in our own abilities. We think we've got it enough together to be able to handle it. We don't.

Speaker 2: 10:33

No-transcript. By the way, a pretty good indicator if you're struggling with the issue of pride is you comparing yourself to everybody else. See, that's Peter's line. Everybody else might give up on you, lord, but not me. Everybody else might deny, everybody else might scatter, not me. I'm here with you. I'm here till the end. And, by the way, if you don't think that you are prideful, it's a pretty good indicator that you are. Cs Lewis puts it this way the man who does not think he has a problem with pride very much has a problem with pride, because it's a blind spot.

Speaker 2: 11:10

I read a survey a number of years ago. It's from a book entitled how we Know what Isn't so the Fallibility of Human Reason in Everyday Life, written by a guy named Thomas Gilovich. And what he did was he surveyed over a million high schoolers and here's what he found 70% of them thought they were above average in leadership ability. 60% thought they were at the top 10% of likable people. Now, if you know anything about how average works, if 70% think they're above average, there's something wrong there. Most high schoolers rate themselves in the top 25% and 25% of those people say they are in the top 1%. The other thing he found is that 94% of college professors say they are above average in their teaching. Somebody doesn't understand math. National Institute of Health did a 2018 survey 65% of Americans overall believe they are above average in intelligence. See, we always think we're better than we are. We're certainly better than the next guy, and if we can compare ourselves with somebody else, that gives us this self-seeking attitude.

Speaker 2: 12:25

I think Peter really meant it. I think he truly believed, I mean, and he had reason to. By the way, peter was one of the first disciples ever called. Peter and Andrew. They were the first two. He and his brother. They were the first two that Jesus called. He had been with Jesus from the very beginning of his ministry. All the other guys came later, but Peter he was there at the top and Peter was part of a group that was kind of an inner circle, if you will Peter, james and John. Often Jesus kind of took them aside for some teaching. Or when he went up to the Mount Transfiguration, it was Peter, james and John that were up there with him. It was Peter who first declared that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, the Holy One of God. It was Peter, by the way, the only disciple who actually did walk on water. Yeah, he sunk, but he walked on water.

Speaker 2: 13:17

You go all the way back through the Gospel of Matthew that we've been studying the last couple of years and you see, over and over again, peter is like he's like the shining star. He's the guy that's got it all together. He's the spokesman for the whole group. He had all kinds of reasons to believe. I can handle this and I think he meant it and I think he truly believed it, but he didn't know the truth about himself. I tell you truly.

Speaker 2: 13:43

Jesus answered this very night before the rooster crows you will disown me three times, and that's getting pretty specific. It's not like y'all are gonna scatter because of me. It's like no, you, peter, especially three times before it's even morning. Now, remember, these are some of the last words that Jesus has with these guys. Peter, of course, doubles down on his claim, but Peter declared even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you. Here's the thing. Trying to live up to your best intentions on your own is just setting yourself up for failure. Peter does remain faithful. As far as his strengths allowed, he does his very, very best.

Speaker 2: 14:32

Jesus is betrayed there in the garden. He is arrested. He is taken into the city and brought to before the high priest. He's going to court here and it says all the disciples verse 58, all the disciples deserted him and fled, but Peter followed him at a distance. Now catch this right up to the courtyard of the high priest. The trial is going on inside. He's staying there in the court, right up into the courtyard, and entered and sat down with the guards to see what would come about. That's a pretty gutsy move. I mean, if there's anybody that's showing some real strength in this thing, real strength of character, real devotion, real. I'm hanging with you to the very, very end, jesus. It's Peter.

Speaker 2: 15:20

But as he's sitting there in the courtyard verse 69, a servant girl came up to him. You also were with Jesus of Galilee. She said. But he denied it before them all. I don't know what you're talking about. He said Things are a little hot in the courtyard. It's like okay, maybe I got to step back a little bit into the shadow. So it goes on in verse 71.

Speaker 2: 15:40

It says then he went out to the gateway. So he's like, okay, this is a little too intense. Here in the courtyard he backs out, gets right to the gateway there in the shadows. But there another servant girl saw him and said to the people there this fellow went with Jesus of Nazareth and he denied it again with an oath. I don't know the man, but his accent gives him away. We're told he's a Galilean, he's a country bumpkin, he speaks with a y'all in everything okay. And so they recognize he's not part. You know, he's with this guy, he's with this guy, jesus. His accent gives him away.

Speaker 2: 16:21

So a third time he's accused of being with Jesus. And it says then he began to call down curses and swore to them I don't know the man and immediately a rooster crow. Rooster crow can only mean one thing Everything. Jesus told you you were going to do. You did and he warned you and he cautioned you and he tried to prepare you. But the rooster crow means you failed. It's what happens in our own strength, because our own strength will only carry us so far.

Speaker 2: 17:02

But here's the thing about failure and here's what you really need to get in all of this. Your failings don't have to define you Because you will fail. They don't have to define you, but how you respond in them that will. And it starts with honesty Honesty with myself, honesty before God. It says immediately.

Speaker 2: 17:33

A rooster crowed in verse 76. Then Peter remembered the word that Jesus had spoken Before the rooster crows you will disown me three times. And he went outside and wept bitterly. That rooster crow meant no more hiding, no more boasting, no more pride, no more of doing this on my own strength Comes face to face with the realization as dedicated, as devoted, as committed as I might be, as strong and forthright as I can possibly be, it's not going to be enough.

Speaker 2: 18:07

In 12-step programs, anybody dealing with an addiction or a compulsive disorder, the very first step is this I admit that I am powerless and that my life has become unmanageable. The problem is we go through most of our lives thinking we are in control, I've got things pretty well managed. Well, yeah, I slip sometimes and I mess up sometimes, but I got this under control. And the only real answer is when we come to the realization that we are powerless, that our lives are not as manageable as we think they are, and all it takes is a diagnosis or dissolution of a marriage or cutbacks at work or a child that goes its own way. And all of a sudden you begin to realize I'm not in control as much as I think.

Speaker 2: 19:09

And in his honesty it says he went and wept bitterly. That word is a word of remorse, a true sorrow for having failed. Remorse is not my bad, by the way. My wife hates that saying. I never do it, but when she hears other people do it, that's what it is. But my bad. That's not remorse, that's like whatever you know. Okay, I'll own it Big deal. It says he wept bitterly. He wept bitterly. Something so struck him deep in his soul that he wept bitterly.

Speaker 2: 19:49

Now let me also say remorse is not self-condemnation. They are two different things. Remorse is a sorrow, a deep enough sorrow that says I want to change. I don't want to keep doing it this way. I don't want to keep failing like this. Self-condemnation is I will never change. One, by the way is incredibly selfish, because self-condemnation is still about self. Remorse is about the damage that I've done and not wanting to do it again. So the first step is that honesty, that remorse, but don't wallow in the remorse. Let it lead you to a restoration.

Speaker 2: 20:33

Now I don't know if you caught it in that reading originally, but Jesus left them with a little bit. He said you're all going to wig out on me, okay, you're all going to stumble, you're all going to scatter because of me, I know it, it's going to happen. Okay. But he left them with this Says this very night, you will all fall away on account of me, but after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee. Now that little sentence there says I'm not giving up on you. Yeah, you're all going to fail, but I'm going to meet you again. I'm not going to abandon you, even though you might abandon me. I'm going to meet you again in Galilee. And you read through to the end of Matthew's gospel and he does indeed meet them back in Galilee. But Matthew doesn't give us all the details that John does. If you read in John's gospel, you find out what that meeting was like.

Speaker 2: 21:32

When Jesus first meets the disciples Because what happens is after the death, crucifixion, resurrection they're like okay, now I don't know what to do, and most of these guys had been fishermen. So it's like well, we're just going to go back and do what we used to do. And Peter says I'm going fishing and they all went fishing together and they go out there, they fish all night. They don't catch anything. They're coming on their way back in and there's a guy on the seashore and he says hey guys, have you caught any fish? He says no, not tonight. He says, well, do this instead. And so they do it. And it says the boat was so full of fish they couldn't get the nets in. And Peter immediately realizes it's the Lord, because this is what happened when Peter first met Jesus. So it's almost a recreating of the original calling. He sees it, he jumps out of the boat, he runs up to the shore, the rest of the disciples, they sit down, they have breakfast together with Jesus, because this is what he said I'm going to meet you in Galilee.

Speaker 2: 22:32

And after they had finished eating, in John's gospel it says Jesus said to Simon Peter Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? Yes, lord, he said you know that I love you. Jesus said feed my lambs. Again, jesus said Simon, son of John, do you love me? And he answered yes, lord, you know that I love you. Jesus said take care of my sheep. And then, a third time, he said to them Simon, son of John, do you love me?

Speaker 2: 23:06

Peter was hurt because Jesus had asked him the third time do you love me? And he said Lord, you know all things, you know that I love you. And Jesus said feed my sheep. Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time. You know what's going on here. See, jesus had told him before the rooster crows you're going to deny me three times. And he did. But for every denial, jesus is giving him the opportunity to affirm his love. And when he asked a third time and Peter is hurt, peter knows what's going on. All of a sudden it dawns on him Three denials, three affirmations of his love for Jesus. But there's a third thing there, three commissionings Feed my lambs, care for my sheep, feed my sheep Because, see, peter is going to be a huge figure in the birth of the church. It's Peter who is going to stand up on the day of Pentecost and make that first gospel message known in Jerusalem. It's Peter who's going to be one of the founding fathers of the Christian faith. And so Jesus is letting him know. I know you messed up, I know you still love me and I still have something for you to do, and that's the restoration process, it starts with that openness and honesty to admit I can't do this on my own and when we fail, to come back and say I did it again, but you know, lord, that I still love you and it breaks my heart that I keep messing up. Jesus says I know you love me and I still have something for you to do. I know you love me and I still have something for you to do. See, greatness in the kingdom of God comes through humility. Now I want to leave you with one more thought.

Speaker 2: 25:13

The account of Peter's denial, the three times he denied, is in all four of the gospel writings. Matthew wrote about it, mark wrote about it, luke wrote about it. Mark wrote about it, luke wrote about it, john wrote about it, but only Peter was there when it happened. So how did these other guys know about it? To write about it? There's only one person that could have told them that was Peter. Only one person that could have told him that was Peter. It's hard to admit your failures. It's hard to admit them around your friends, but Peter did that and I think it was the true breaking of his own self-will and self-confidence that he began to discover where his true source of strength was Read to you again from Mike Iaconelli's book.

Speaker 2: 26:21

He writes spirituality is anything but a straight line. It is a mix-up, topsy-turvy, helter-skelter godliness that turns our lives into an upside-down toboggan ride full of unexpected turns, surprise bumps and bone-shattering crashes In other words, messy. Spirituality is the delirious consequence of a life ruined by a Jesus who will love us right into his arms. And he goes on. Jesus is not repelled by us, no matter how messy we are, regardless of how incomplete we are. When we recognize that Jesus is not discouraged by our humanity, is not turned off by our messiness, and simply doggedly pursues us in the face of it all, what else can we do but give in to this outrageous, indiscriminate love?

Speaker 2: 27:10

Would you bow your heads with me? All too often it takes a rooster crow to get us to realize that our strength is not enough. But if I could say anything to you this morning, don't wait for the rooster to crow. You may be here this morning and you are a longtime follower, but there are areas of your life that you just keep stumbling over and you're pretty much getting to the point where you're so discouraged you think it's never going to change, or you're keeping it so well hidden that nobody else knows about it. But maybe a rooster crow is coming in your future. Don't wait for the rooster.

Speaker 2: 27:55

This morning, take that first step and admit I'm not in control. My life is pretty unmanageable and I can't do this on my own. The truth is, most aspects of our lives are beyond our control, and it's not just what's outside us that we can't control, it's also what's within us, because we were never intended to do life on our own. We were intended to do a life with God and true, authentic spirituality. That journey depends on the recognition that we are weak and we are not in control, and I think that the failure that Peter experienced was that was the very reason Jesus went to the cross. So, whatever your struggle, whatever your messiness, admit it. Let him restore, let him forgive. And if you're here for maybe the very first time, the first time in a long time, maybe this is your first beginning step in a spiritual journey you don't even know where to start.

Speaker 2: 29:11

It starts with that very first confession. I can't do this on my own. My failures and my mistakes are known to you. You know me better than myself. I need your forgiveness, I need your restoration. I need the life that you want for me. So, wherever you're at this morning, whatever area of struggle, whether it's a first time decision or reconnection, can I just lead us in this prayer? Lord, you know me better than I know myself and I try to hide it and I get pretty good at it, and I know there's areas of my life that my pride won't let me admit.

Speaker 2: 29:52

But the truth is, my life's a mess. May not be as messy as the next person, it might be way messy than the other, but that doesn't matter. It's you that I come to to bring this mess. It's to you that I ask your forgiveness, your restoration. Tired of doing life on my own, I want to do a life with you. Take it now and live in me, and through me I pray Jesus' name, amen. Take it now and live in me, and through me I pray Jesus name, amen. Come on, can you stand to your feet as we respond to this message in worship?