“St. Peter” Mark 14:27-31; 66-72
SI: How many times have you heard a joke that starts like this:
A man died and he met St. Peter . . .?
We don’t believe that Peter lets people through the gates of heaven,
we don’t believe he was the first Pope, in Roman Catholic sense.
But would certainly affirm that he was one of the greatest men in church history.
He was not only one of the 12 Apostles, he was their leader.
He was the first among equals.
Paul may have been the greatest theologian but Peter was the greatest leader.
So let’s read about this great Christian and apostolic founder of the church.
INTRO: One of the criticisms of the New Testament in secular academia
is that it was written to consolidate the power of the inner circle.
The argument is that the early church leaders took the teachings of Jesus
which were basically that we need to accept everybody and not judge anybody—
and they changed and distorted his teachings to keep themselves in power.
These disciples and their followers, these oppressive males,
wanted to make themselves look good.
Wanted to make it look like they were the true keepers of Jesus’ legacy.
It’s the typical post-modern idea that the way to get power is to
create a story and then impose that story on people to control them.
If you read the Da Vinci Code when it was published several years ago,
that was the underlying idea. The early church wrote the New Testament
to keep the inner circle in power.
Stories like this blow that theory out of the water.
Because in this story the leader of the inner circle is shown to be first a self-
confident braggart who claims he will die for Christ and then a trembling coward
who denied Jesus with curses, and then a broken, weeping man.
Is this the kind of story the early church would make up?
Is this the way you would consolidate power?
Of course not. That’s ridiculous.
It’s even more ridiculous when you realize that Mark wrote his Gospel
while Peter was still alive, and the most influential leader in the church.
What we have here is the true account of the fall of a great believer.
But it’s more than that—this is much more than a tell-all story of Peter’s failure.
This is a story about all of us.
Peter was the first among the disciples—he represented them all.
They all said they would die for Jesus. And they all ran away.
But Peter’s own actions are held up as representative of all their failures.
In the same way, Peter stands for all Christians.
Have you ever wondered why so much of the Bible is stories?
Why did God choose to communicate with us through stories?
In some parts of the Bible God presents the great truths of the faith by very logical,
methodical arguments. Think of Paul’s letters—Romans, Galatians.
In the Psalms and other places God communicates through poetry.
In the Prophets he communicates through sermons.
But mostly, God communicates through stories.
Huge portions of the Bible are the stories of God’s people as a whole,
and stories of individual people.
Through these stories God presses home the truth in a unique way.
We read the stories and see ourselves in them—
and we learn, from the successes and the failures, what it means to live by faith.
This is the story of a huge, humiliating moral failure by a man who knew better.
And yet this is also a story of God using that failure for good.
How does God use your sins and failures? Three ways.
1. To highlight his grace to you.
2. To humble you.
3. To help you sin no more.
Let’s look at each.
Credit where credit is due: Dr. Robert Rayburn’s sermon on story in Matthew.
MP#1 God uses your sins and failures to highlight
his grace to you.
Throughout the Bible, there is a pattern.
Every time the Lord renews his covenant with his people—
his people almost immediately turn around and violate that covenant,
often in very shameful ways.
Let me give you some examples and you will see what I mean.
The Lord made a covenant with Noah and his family.
No sooner had he done so than Noah got drunk and Ham disrespected father.
The Lord made a covenant with Abraham—bless you, bless all nations through you.
Walk before me and be blameless. No sooner did God make that covenant
than Abraham lied about his wife Sarah being his sister and just watched
as his own wife was taken into Pharaoh’s harem.
While the Lord was making a covenant with the nation of
while Moses was on
was going to have
with the nation of
and the good life he wanted them to lead—
While that was happening, the people were down at the bottom of the mountain
making the golden calf and indulging in a wild orgy.
The Lord made a covenant with David. He said, I will establish your dynasty.
There will always
be a Son of David sitting on the throne of
No sooner had God made that covenant,
than David committed adultery and murder.
And here, in the story of Peter, we have the very same pattern.
Just a few hours after Jesus renewed his covenant with his disciples—
“This cup is the new covenant in my blood, drink from it all of you.”
Before that Passover meal was even digested—
Peter was lying and cursing and denying he ever met his Lord and Savior.
Peter was following
in the footsteps of Noah and Abraham and
Have you ever seen that old bumper sticker: “God is my Co-Pilot”
I just saw one the other day. The co-pilot looked like the man’s wife.
What’s the theology behind that message?
I’m a partner with God in my salvation and in living the Christian life.
I do my part, God does his part, and we make things work.
God does require you to do our part—you have to respond in faith and obedience.
God’s covenant—which is his saving relationship with you—is initiated by him,
and he does make requirements of you.
The Lord made requirement of Noah,
He says: I will save you, now, you trust me and obey me.
That is the same requirement he makes of you.
You have to trust him and walk blamelessly before him.
But we are reminded over and over, throughout biblical history,
that we are not God’s partner, or co-pilot in our salvation because
we cannot keep these covenant requirements.
His covenant stands, not because we are faithful,
but because the Lord remains faithful in spite of our unfaithfulness.
His covenant stands, not because we are loyal,
but because the Lord keeps his promises, in defiance of our disloyalty.
So in Peter’s fall we have this great biblical theme repeated—
Salvation is by grace.
It’s entirely God’s work and God’s gift to undeserving sinners.
As Christians we can look the very worst of sin and moral failure in the face
and know that it is the grace of God that holds us.
On Christ Covenant’s 10th Anniversary, six years ago, we had a picture taken
of the congregation that Sunday. There were about 175 people,
we went outside and a professional photographer took the shot.
That picture hung in the narthex until we remodeled.
I moved it in my study so it wouldn’t get damaged.
It’s been sitting there ever since.
When I look at the faces many make me smile but some cause me pain.
It’s amazing how much good and bad can happen in six years.
There are faces in that picture that remind me of my own sins and pastoral failures.
There are faces of believers in this body who have fallen hard—
like Noah and Abraham and David and Peter.
And yet every face is a story of the grace of God to sinners.
The Lord is faithful when we are unfaithful—
and where sin abounds, his grace abounds that much more.
Hold on to that, cling to it, it’s the heart of our faith.
MP#2 God uses your sins and failures to humble
you.
The early church father Augustine made a profound observation about this story.
He said that Peter was in a healthier condition and was a truer Christian
when he was weeping bitterly after his fall,
than he was in the Upper Room swearing his undying loyalty to Jesus.
He was healthier after his sin than before.
Augustine was right. The healthiest place for a Christian to be is not
confidently declaring, “I will die for you Jesus!”
“Even if everyone else falls away, I never will!”
The healthiest place for a Christian is to be always saying:
“Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
Because when you are in that state of mind—you know you need Jesus.
And that is the best place to be.
That is what the Christian life is—continual dependence on Christ.
And God in his grace uses your sins and failures to bring you to that humble place.
The Bible often calls the Christian life a walk.
What is your understanding of that walk?
Where do you step? Where do you put your feet, spiritually speaking?
Some Christians seem to think that the Christian walk is carefully
stepping from one right behavior to the next.
Do this right, and then do this right—and keep that up—
and you are a good Christian. You step off the path, and you have failed.
Maybe you grew up in a church like that, or a family like that.
The real Christian, the good Christian is the one who always does things right.
And here is the list of what you need to do and not do.
And here is another list to keep you from even getting close to the no-nos.
But don’t blame your nurture—it’s your nature.
We all want to have a part in our own salvation.
We would say that we are saved by grace,
but we think it’s up to us now to do the right thing.
What happens when that is your understanding of the Christian life?
You become either prideful or depressed—and sometimes both at same time.
If you are doing good, taking all the right steps—will judge those who aren’t.
If you aren’t doing good, and have stumbled—you lose all hope.
But the Christian walk is not taking one perfect step after another.
Instead, we sin with one step, and we ask forgiveness with the next one.
And then we step into sin again, and take another step toward Christ.
That is the walk of the Christian life—sin and repentance,
sin and seeking forgiveness from Jesus afresh.
That’s why we always, every Sunday have a time to confess our sins
in the worship service. Because that is the essence of the Christian life.
And we want to model as a congregation united in worship,
the reality of our private lives with God.
The Lord doesn’t want you prideful or depressed—he wants you humbled.
He wants you to see clearly the reality of your sin.
To name it and take full responsibility for it and not sugar coat it—
He wants you to see the depth of it, your attitudes and motives—
and then to come to Jesus with tears and ask forgiveness for it.
The great devotional writer William Barclay tells the story of a Scottish evangelist
named Brownlow
North. One Sunday he was scheduled to
preach in
Before he entered the pulpit, he was handed a letter.
The letter described a shameful incident in Brownlow North’s life
when he was a young man.
The writer of the letter warned him not to preach and said that if he did,
the writer would have no choice but to stand up and publicly denounce him.
So what do you think Brownlow North did?
He took the letter into the pulpit and read it to the congregation.
Then he said: Every word of this letter is true.
And through Jesus Christ I’ve been forgiven.
That’s the humility that God works in us through our sins.
What a wonderful humility it is: To see our sins clearly for what they are,
without excusing them or covering them, and then come to Jesus for forgiveness.
When you sin, when you fail—in little ways but especially in big ones—
let the Lord humble you, and then turn to him. Take heart in knowing that
in your humility and tears, you are closer to Jesus than you were before you fell.
MP#3 God uses your sins and failures to help you
sin no more.
If God’s grace is highlighted in my sins,
and if the Christian walk is a continuing experience of our sin
and Christ’s forgiveness, does that mean that I can live as I please,
and not worry too much about sin?
Unfortunately, many people have reasoned that way.
They’ve said, we all sin. Jesus forgives our sin. So let’s not be too bothered.
But Peter’s fall teaches us the exact opposite—
It shows us that the follower of Christ must resist temptation
and serve the Lord in faithfulness and obedience. Nothing less will do.
Think of all the reasons Peter had for not doing this shameful thing:
That very night, before he arrived at the courtyard of the High Priest,
Peter had been with Jesus in the Upper Room.
He had eaten the Passover with Jesus, heard his words and prayers.
He had heard with his own ears Jesus say that one would betray him.
He had heard the warning that they would all fall away.
In the Garden, maybe just an hour or two before, he had seen Jesus’ agony.
He had heard Jesus say to his disciples:
“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”
Peter ignored that advice, and he fell hard.
And when you look at the circumstances, you see Peter didn’t have anything to fear.
Suppose he had admitted to the servant girl and the others that he was disciple?
What would he have suffered? Some ridicule.
His life was not in danger.
The authorities didn’t care about these fishermen if ringleader disposed of.
None of Christ’s followers came to harm.
But in the hour of temptation, in spite of all of Peter’s advantages,
and in spite of the absence of any real danger, he did not watch and pray,
and he completely collapsed under what amounted to very little pressure.
And what followed? Bitter tears. “He broke down and wept.”
Peter’s conscience, that God had awakened, tormented him.
Peter had no comfort that night by saying—this is just the pattern of our lives—
we sin and then we repent and are forgiven.
He wished with all of his heart that he could go back in time,
and re-live those moments and be a better man—but the deed was done.
He had been tested and he had failed.
His conscience forced the facts on is mind and would not give him rest.
According to tradition, for the rest of Peter’s life,
he wept when he heard a rooster crow.
Whether that legend is true or not, Peter was wounded by his sin,
Sin hurts us. It hurts Christians most because it’s a sin against God’s love.
It’s hurts more because our consciences have been restored and softened.
And our consciences bring to mind the numerous gracious warnings and
helps of God that we have ignored and pushed aside in our sin.
Yes, you can know with certainty that you are forgiven—
but sometimes there is shame and regret that you carry until heaven.
And God in his grace, even uses that pain and regret for good—
as a help for you in your future battles.
The pain helps you say: I’ve been down that road and never again will I do that.
I will fight to be the person God wants me to be.
That’s what happened to Peter after this.
You know the story—he became a brave man.
He preached and stood his ground before all opposition.
He did fall once again, about 15 years later,
and strangely, in that case, there was little reason to do so.
But the story of his life, from this point on, is primarily a story of courage.
Do you have bitter regrets for some past sin or failure?
Is there a rooster that sometimes crows that brings painful things to mind?
Maybe a person’s name who you wronged deeply.
When you hear that name, oh, you still feel the pain in your conscience.
Maybe it’s when somebody jokes about a certain sinful behavior.
And you can’t laugh, because you’ve done that, and know the bitterness of it.
You know you’ve been forgiven. You know Jesus died for you. You know that.
And yet there is that remembrance, that pains your conscience.
That is God’s grace too. Take comfort in it. Allow it to do it’s work.
And know that you won’t bear it forever.
One day all tears will be wiped away.
CONC: There
is a beautiful Catholic church in
site of the High Priest’s house. This was the place Jesus came for trial.
But what is interesting is the name of the church:
St. Peter Gallicantu.
Gallicantu means in Latin, rooster crow.
A church named after the great failure,
the great sin, of a founding Apostle of the Church.
What a marvelous picture of the Gospel—a church named after the sinful failure
of its great Apostle. We understand that because we know that God is the one who upholds
his covenant of salvation—in spite of our unfaithfulness, he is faithful.
And in his grace he uses even our sins to humble us, and strengthen us for the fight against sin.
So take heart, do not be crushed by your sins and failures, but know that even those things
are in the hands of Christ.