Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at something that doesn't really matter

Coming Back from Failure

John 21:1-19 (NIV)

¹Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Tiberias. It happened this way: ²Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. ³"I'm going out to fish," Simon Peter told them, and they said, "We'll go with you." So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

⁴Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. ⁵He called out to them, "Friends [lit. Children], haven't you any fish?" "No," they answered. ⁶He said, "Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some." When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.

⁷Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, "It is the Lord," he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. ⁸The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. ⁹When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.

¹⁰Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish you have just caught."

¹¹Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. ¹²Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." None of the disciples dared ask him, "Who are you?" They knew it was the Lord. ¹³Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. ¹⁴This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.

¹⁵When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?"
"Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."

¹⁶Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?"
He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep."

¹⁷The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?"
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you."

¹⁸Jesus said, "Feed my sheep. I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." ¹⁹Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, "Follow me!"

Good Morning. Bob wasn’t able to be here this morning. My name is John – I am one of the followers of Jesus – You may have read some of my books – They have even made a movie or two from one of them. But I would recommend that you stick with the books.

Anyway, I want to tell you a story about a good friend of mine, Peter, as he is now called. I have had the privilege of knowing Peter for many years. I knew him when he first met Jesus. O I wish you could have seen it. He made such a fuss – He even told Jesus to get lost – because he didn’t think that he was good enough to be with Jesus.[1]

I was going to begin this story with one of those St. Peter at the pearly gates stories – you know like the one about the preacher and the New York taxi cab driver – where the taxi cab driver gets honored because people prayed while he drove whereas they slept when the preacher preached. But Peter hates those jokes. He says that heaven is nothing like that. And he is so right.

By the way – Peter sends his greetings. He’s really pleased that you looked for a man who is a real shepherd – because as you’ll hear in this story, feeding the lambs and tending the sheep is near and dear to Peter’s heart.

Most of you know about the boasts of Peter right before Jesus’ death.[2] He, as always was the first to do anything – first to confess Jesus as the Messiah,[3] first to boast that he would stick with Jesus until the very end. Of course we all did the same[4] – but Jesus always seemed to hold Peter to higher standard. As if to say “to whom much is given, much will be required.” Kind of makes you glad that you don’t have that many gifts. But Jesus picked up on Peter’s boasts and warned Him that they were empty boasts.[5] Pie crust promises as Mary Poppins says. Easily made and easily broken. What – didn’t you know that I know Mary? How many of you were listening last week when Bob talked about that the dead in Christ live on? I am part of those who are the great cloud of witnesses watching what’s going on here. You’re surrounded by us.[6] You think we got blind folds on? We see your movies and read your books. Of course I know Mary.

So anyway, I’m getting side tracked. As you know Peter was standing around a charcoal fire[7] on the night that Jesus was betrayed and proceeded to deny Jesus three times.[8] You know, only Peter and one other[9] followed Jesus to his trial – the rest of us ran scared and hid. Peter put himself in the midst of trouble and then got himself into trouble. I sometimes wonder whose denial was worse – Peter’s or ours? So when the cock crowed three times – Peter was beside himself. Really – he came to his real self and realized what he had done. Do you ever do that? Get into a kick about something and then all of a sudden find yourself doing or saying things completely out of character. I have seen a lot of arguments between husbands and wives when that happens. Sometimes they never come to themselves. That probably doesn’t happen to any of you, right? But Peter did come to himself.

For the next couple days, Peter was miserable. You couldn’t talk to him. I tried to tell him that we had all betrayed him – but Peter said that he did it out loud.

Of course who can forget that morning when the women came to us and told us the news the Jesus had risen. Most of us didn’t believe them[10] – just overly spiritual women[11] – you know how women can sometimes get? What – you men think women in my day were any different. Hey – women are much more spiritually sensitive then us guys. Its both a blessing and a curse they have. A blessing because they get to see Jesus while us men are trying to figure things out.

But Mary said that Jesus had specifically singled out Peter. “Go tell the disciples and Peter.”[12] Peter was off like a flash to the tomb.[13] That was just like him. Always impetuous. I followed but then out ran him to the tomb. When I saw the empty tomb, I stopped. At that moment I knew it was all true – what he had said. But Peter ran right into the tomb. When he came out – he wasn’t so sure. Neither of us saw Jesus that morning. Only the empty tomb.

That Sunday was a long day. Our thoughts and emotions went crazy. Alternating between believing and disbelieving. That night, Jesus appeared to us. Even though he rebuked us for our unbelief – we were overjoyed. But you know something. Even though Jesus appeared to us twice – he never said anything to Peter about his denial until the third time we saw him. And that’s the story I want to tell you.

You see, we were pretty depressed after the resurrection. What? Hard to imagine? Put yourselves in our shoes – what we had been through. And then Jesus just kind of appeared here and there. Telling us to wait for the Holy Spirit.[14] We didn’t even know how to wait. And we weren’t too sure what it was going to mean. So Peter, who still doesn’t know how to wait, told a bunch of us that he was going fishing.[15]

I know that some of you thought that when the Lord told the rich young ruler that he was to sell everything he had[16] that we the disciples sold everything. Nope. We still kept all of our fishing gear and boats. We left everything we had.[17] You really had to know that rich young ruler to understand his story and why Jesus said what he did. He was a piece of work.

So we got in Peter’s boat and fished all night and caught nothing.[18] Did you ever notice when we try to do things outside of His plan, that we come up with nothing? Well that’s where we were, early in the morning, when this guy from shore started calling to us. He called to us: “Children.” Hey we’re fishermen – with wives and families. Children? Who was this guy? Oh by the way – your NIV translates that word as “friends”[19] – but that’s not the way I wrote it. Most of the translators got it right but not the NIV. You know its real frustrating when you write something down – and the translators don’t get it. But don’t get me going about the NIV.

Anyway this guy tells us to try fishing on the other side of the boat. As first Peter said – “Who does he think he…” But then he stopped. At that moment I knew that Peter knew something was up. He was remembering the first time Jesus showed us where to fish.[20] So we did what He said. Before the net hit the water, the water started bubbling just like it was starting to boil. Exactly as before. And did we make a catch. I cried out to Peter – “It’s the Lord.” But he knew. He knew. And I’m sure it wouldn’t surprise you to know that Peter jumped right in the water and swam as fast as he could towards shore.

When Peter got to shore – it was funny – there was no embrace or greeting - he didn’t say anything to Jesus after he saw the charcoal fire. It looked a lot like the fire that was burning the night Peter betrayed Jesus. I think Jesus did that on purpose. Peter was pretty subdued through most of the breakfast. But even when the rest of us got to shore – just like a bunch of men – we didn’t say anything.

You know that is just like us men. A lot of times we just don’t speak up. I know it drives you women crazy. Why didn’t we greet Jesus? It goes all the way back to Adam. He was silent while Eve was being tempted. By the way, Larry Crabb has written a great book for men about how we don’t speak up at the right times – called The Silence of Adam. Hey – like I said before, we read your books.

I am getting off track again. Jesus was cooking us breakfast. Of course he already had some fish cooking. Again – Jesus never misses a trick. There we were – the great fishermen – and Jesus – the carpenter – and you know carpenters are lousy fishermen – already with some fish. So characteristic of Jesus – he asked us to put some of our fish on the fire. He didn’t need more fish – but it made us feel as if we were contributing. Have you ever noticed when Jesus does that with you? He did it all the time when we walked with him. Never trumping us. Always including what little we have to bring in with what He was doing. All ministry is like that. He gives us the privilege of bringing our fish – even though He has already done it all.

Well, after breakfast, Jesus and Peter went for a walk. I followed a ways back – and tried not to be seen – but that’s pretty silly with Jesus. I mean, it’s not like he has eyes in the back of his head. He just knows everything. But looking back, I realized He let me follow them because He wanted me to tell you this story.

So this is the really amazing part – as if appearing alive after you were crucified isn’t amazing enough. Remember that Peter denied Jesus three times. Well Jesus asked Peter to affirm his love for Him three times. And it was even more amazing the way Jesus asked him.

The first thing Jesus asked Peter was if he “loved Him more than these.” Now some people think Jesus was asking Peter if he loved Him more than these other disciples. But I was there and Jesus was pointing at the fishing gear. The tug on Peter’s heart was pretty strong while we were fishing. It was the first time we had been out in the boat fishing since Jesus first called us. It felt good. Peter is a fisherman at heart. He loves being on the water. Peter was telling me that fishing is concrete and you control your destiny. You do things with your hands. You control where you go. If you work hard you’ll succeed. But doing the work Jesus calls us to is not concrete. You have to rely on the Holy Spirit – and He sometimes takes you places you don’t want to go. And a lot of times you don’t get to see the results. It’s intangible. Peter hates that part of following Jesus. Most men hate that part of following Jesus. That’s why it is so powerful when a real man like Peter does follow Jesus. When a man is able to deal with the intangibles and the ambiguity of walking with Jesus. So there was a real tug on Peter’s heart while we were out there. Jesus was asking Peter which he loved better – the concrete and tangible hands-on work of fishing or the intangible, never knowing for sure what your doing, work of shepherding God’s people.

The other thing that was real interesting about the way Jesus addressed Peter was the words He used. Some of you can’t read the Greek the way I wrote it – even Bob can’t. But I heard that Jason can – a little. But I tried to convey it in my book exactly the way Jesus asked Peter these questions. Your NIV does a good job here to capture it by using the words “truly love” – but you’ve got to hear it in the Greek to “truly” get it.

The first time Jesus asked Peter if he truly loved him, I used a word (αγαπας agapao) that conveyed the kind of love God has for us. Peter knew that he couldn’t live up to that kind of love and replied by telling Jesus that he loved Him with a brotherly love (φιλω - phileo) or had affection for Him. The second time Jesus did the same thing and Peter responded the same way. Finally Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him using the word Peter used (φιλω - phileo). Well Peter lost it. He said: “Lord it’s not fair. You know everything. Why are you asking me this? You know I love you (brotherly φιλω – phileo).”

Peter hates to fail. He hates to appear like a failure. Probably not unlike some of you. Especially us men. The way Jesus was asking the question was making Peter face his failure. Jesus was restoring his dignity and his calling - while at the same time helping him to see his inability to really love Him. The way Jesus responded was like:

Simon, do you love Me with your whole heart? Lord I have affection for you – but I failed you.

Simon, do you have affection for Me?

Peter wanted to be called to love with his whole heart. But Peter felt completely un-worthy of serving Jesus because of his failure. Don’t you feel unworthy of service to God when you have failed Him. It is one of Satan’s primary weapons. Satan had sifted Peter like wheat.[21] Satan told Peter that he could never serve Jesus again. But Jesus was trying to show him that even though he was going to continue to fail – He was still calling him to serve him. He still wanted Peter on His team.

One of the wonderful privileges I had of walking with Jesus while He walked the earth was to watch the way He built people up. Some people think you build up people’s self esteem by telling them how great they are even when they’re not. Why I was at little league game one time – Hey - don’t laugh - somebody 2000 years old can like baseball – anyway, these kids were swinging at balls way out of the strike zone and the parents were yelling “Good cut Johnny.” And “Way to rip Jeremy.” That’s not the way to build up someone’s self esteem when they mess up.

Jesus is the master at building up people when they fail. And Jesus knows that the way to come back from failure is to get back in the race and run. Each time Peter affirmed his incomplete love for Jesus, Jesus told him to do the work: Feed my lambs, tend my sheep, feed my sheep. That is the way to come back after failures. We all fail. All the time. And Jesus is so wonderfully affirming in that. “Son, I know that you’ve failed in the past – but get back in the race and run. I am entrusting my lambs and my sheep to you.”

Some of you may be like Peter and have failed Jesus a lot. Better to fail doing something that matters than to succeed at something that doesn't. Jesus set the priorities for Peter. Fishing wasn’t what he loved anymore – it was catching men and then shepherding them. That’s work that matters. That’s the way to come back after failures with God – present obedience. Feed my lambs. Tend my sheep. Feed my sheep.

The amazing thing about the way Jesus handles people when they fail, is that He also redeems the situation. You know He is The redeemer. He takes what is worthless and makes it good and full of worth. He did that with Peter. He took Peter’s denial and used that so many times in Peter’s ministry – both in Peter’s life – keeping him humble – but also encouraging others who fail. God doesn’t waste anything.

Another thing he does is to take our failure and uses it for His glory. We drop the ball and He picks it up and scores and then honors us for carry the ball initially. Bob’s not here so this week I am going to tell you a story about one of his failures where this happened.

A number of years ago, right before Bob’s pastor, (his name was John too) left, he asked Bob to shepherd this one particular man. This man was a powerful leader in the community and in the church. He was some 20 years older than Bob. John told Bob about how he had been praying that this man would experience Jesus in more intimacy and power. John asked Bob to do this. Bob agreed.

Well the years went on – and Bob never did anything about it. He was afraid. He was intimidated. But he never forgot it. It was one of those many times that fear wins the day.

Then just this past Christmas, this man came up to Bob on Christmas Eve and shared about how a little booklet that Bob had written on Listening Prayer had helped him. With tears in his eyes, he told Bob how he was hearing Jesus speak to him for the first time. That he was enjoying a new intimacy with His savior and experience the power of God in his life.

Well that was one of those Jesus moments for Bob. Jesus was saying to him – “I know you’ve failed because of your fears. Fear not. But if you love me, feed my lambs and tend my sheep. See, I am bigger than your failures. And even in your failures and with your failures and in your fears and with your fears, if you love me, I will use you. Don’t you see? Even in your failure I still used you.” That was a divine moment and Jesus set Bob free to lead in new ways.

Thanks for letting me share my story about Peter. Before I go, I want to ask about you. What are the areas in which you have failed Jesus – left things undone that He gave you to do? Done things that you ought not to have done? Has Jesus come to you the way He came to Peter? I know He wants to. He plans to use each of us to feed His lambs, tend His sheep, feed His sheep.

Hebrews 12:1 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Remember that a whole host of us, including the Lord Himself, are looking on and testifying to you God’s faithfulness in fulfilling His promises.

Let’s invite God to speak to our hearts for a minute or two in silence.