Counted Out, But Received a Second Chance

[podcast]http://www.revkwon.com/podcast/counted_out-but_new_chance.mp3[/podcast]

Good morning. It is Easter and Jesus is Risen.

It is so good seeing everybody this morning. I hope everybody is having a fantastic weekend. I know I am. What an enjoyable weekend. The weather was perfect and we’re alive and free. I’m super excited to conclude our message series titled, “I Deserve It” The title of today’s Easter message is: I Deserved to be Counted Out, but I Got Another Chance.

How many people in this room have ever blown it? I don’t meant mean blown it small, I mean blown it big. You’ve blown a promise you made, or you blown it by sinning against somebody, you’ve blown it by hurting somebody, disappointing somebody, maybe even God. When I think about blowing it, I think about blowing big projects, or blowing job interviews, or blowing big opportunities. Maybe it was a situation with somebody you were in a relationship with. Maybe it was being too hard on the people who admire you and look up to you? You weren’t there for somebody when they needed it most. You wake up in the morning after you’ve blown it, and you ask yourself, how did life turn out this way? You would never have thought it could’ve ended like this. You think to yourself, man, it hit me like a runaway railcar. I see it all the time in movies, and in actual life. When we blow it, there’s almost no way to come back and no chance to get back. That is exactly the type of situation humanity found itself in about 2000 years ago. God’s chosen people had just about blown their opportunity to be the inheritance and kingdom of God. Then God himself intervenes in the form Jesus Christ.

We’ve all blown it at a cataclysmic level. I’ve blown it multiple times this year alone and you can compound that for all of my 33 years of life on this earth and you’ll get the idea that the first time I soiled myself after taking off the diapers wasn’t the last time. All of us have blown it big in our lifetimes. Those who are younger may have blown it less, but it’s still the same, we’re failing and we don’t deserve another chance; but it is Easter and we are still here. We are worshiping God in the highest because we got another chance. The thing about people is that none of us are perfect when standing before a perfect God. We cannot be counted righteous before God, which leads to death; because life without God is death. So, in our sin (that is our imperfections), we flounder and eventually drown ourselves into an eternal sleep, slowly killing ourselves to be counted out from the righteousness that awaited us by the blood of Jesus.

Easter represents a day where despite how incredible it may have been to have “blown it that we are not counted out because Jesus is our wonderful savior that doesn’t hesitate to give us another chance.

Let’s go to Luke 22. This may or may not be a familiar story to you, but this brings us back to the Last Supper in the upper room where Jesus had just finished washing the disciples’ feet and broke bread in the first ever communion. So, if you remember, Peter and Jesus were having a conversation where Peter vehemently states that he would never deny Jesus. Jesus looked Peter in the eyes and said, “buddy, you’re right, you won’t deny me, you’ll do it three times before dawn breaks. Some time passes, they finished dinner and they’re out praying in the garden of Gethsemane.

Actually, Jesus was praying the other disciples were napping. Let’s fast forward, Judas betrays Jesus and he brings Roman soldiers in a not so surprising ambush. The soldiers want to take Jesus because the man praying in the garden right by three sleeping dudes seems to be a potential terrorist to the Roman state. Judas kisses Jesus and the Roman soldiers try to arrest Jesus. In some unbeknownst form of bravery and adrenaline, Peter grabs his sword and chops a soldier’s ear off. Mind you, Peter was probably aiming for the soldier’s head, but he was a fisherman and probably missed. Jesus shakes his head and fixes the soldier’s ear. He gives Peter a head nod and tells Peter to relax and we’re going to pick up the story here after all the other disciples ran away in the middle of the night.

⁵⁴ Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest’s house, and Peter was following at a distance. ⁵⁵ And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them. ⁵⁶ Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, “This man also was with him.⁵⁷ But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him. ⁵⁸ And a little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them. But Peter said, “Man, I am not. ⁵⁹ And after an interval of about an hour still another insisted, saying, “Certainly this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean. ⁶⁰ But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about. And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. ⁶¹ And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him,” Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times. ⁶² And he went out and wept bitterly. (Luke 22:54-62)

I want to talk about the mistakes that Peter made that caused him to own his mistakes, failures, and shortcomings otherwise, why did Peter blow it? Jesus did rename him: the “rock. His first reason and one of the primary causes of his blowing it, was that Peter underestimated his own weakness. Peter thought he was standing firm. Peter blew it because he underestimated his own weakness. He should have known he cared a lot more about what people thought than he gave credit for. Like, have you ever been at the gym working out and then found that the weights that you stacked were way too heavy for you and you overestimated yourself and underestimated how long it’s been since you were last at the gym. When we acknowledge our weaknesses, it is the first step to strength.

In 1 Corinthians 10:12, the Apostle Paul writes, “Therefore let anybody who thinks that he stands take heed, lest he falls. He was saying this in regard to “blowing it. Number two, Peter followed Jesus at a distance. He was in the background. I sometimes think that if Peter wasn’t in the background hanging back, that he would have made less mistakes. You need to be up front, and in the mix of things. Have you ever noticed that when you blow it big, it’s usually because you are way out there and it appears like that nobody is looking and you drop the ball. You totally blow it because it happens when you’re not actively involved. That means, if you’re here at church and you haven’t done anything to lead something, you need to ask yourself, are you following at a distance? If you haven’t taken up your faith and used it as a tool to love people, are you following Jesus at a distance?

What you see in this story is that Peter didn’t fool anybody except himself. He had a problem that he didn’t want to admit. He thought he could quit, whenever he wanted. He thought he was strong, when he was weak. Look at verse 61. Jesus was already beaten and his face was black and blue, his eyes swollen and filled with blood and Jesus looked at Peter. Peter, the rock crumbled three times! We say we’d never do it again, we say we’d never lose our temper again, we won’t doubt again, but it happens again doesn’t it?

When we blow it, we blow it and we don’t think we can ever come back from it. And to be honest with you, without God putting a comma where we put a period, we would be counted out, but we get another chance don’t we? Let’s look at why God puts commas where we put periods. I’ll tell you that it’s not because you did anything to change it.

Go to Luke 24:1-12.

¹But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. ² And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, ³ but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴ While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. ⁵ And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? ⁶ He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, ⁷ that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise. ⁸ And they remembered his words,⁹ and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. ¹⁰ Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, ¹¹ but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. ¹² But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened. (Luke 24:1-12)

Do you know what Peter learned that first Easter Sunday when he ran to the tomb and found it empty? He learned death isn’t the end. He learned that dying on this earth means nothing. Jesus overcame the grave. Everything that Jesus told him to believe, now, he had to believe it because Jesus simply wasn’t dead anymore. Yes, he disappointed Jesus the first time around, but now he had another opportunity because he messed up the first opportunity when Jesus was alive and about to face his death. When Jesus is resurrected, you are given a new chance, a new opportunity.

This is why we celebrate Easter.

This is why we have church on Sundays and sing songs about Jesus’ power.

Peter’s guilt was turned to grace. You see folks, success isn’t final, you can lose it as soon as you get it. Likewise, failure isn’t fatal. Just because you’ve failed doesn’t mean you are a failure. Failure is an event, it’s not a person. God forgives you when you do something to be counted out. He gives you a new opportunity. He does this by allowing His one and only son die for everything you’ve done wrong, everything you are doing wrong, and everything you will do wrong.

Let’s go to John 21 so I can show you exactly what this looks like.

¹⁵ When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ”Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you. He said to him, ”Feed my lambs. ¹⁶ He said to him a second time, ”Simon, son of John, do you love me? He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you. He said to him, “Tend my sheep. ¹⁷ He said to him the third time, ”Simon, son of John, do you love me? Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, ”Do you love me? and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you. Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. ¹⁸ Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go. ¹⁹ (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, Follow me. (John 21:15-19)

I want you to see this passage through the eyes of Peter because when you see it the way he may have saw it, but definitely the way John saw it, you understand that the reason Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved him was not because Jesus was doubtful of Peter’s love. Although, I wouldn’t blame Jesus if he was doubtful. Rather, it is because Jesus wanted to give Peter three specific instructions in regards to the new chance he received despite the fact that he had blown it so completely. Let me tell you what those three specific instructions are.

Verse 15: Jesus says, “Feed my lambs. Jesus turns this phrase to tell Peter that he is responsible for instructing people who don’t know that is the say the “innocent. Now I know that nobody is innocent, but I believe it is Jesus’ intention for Peter to understand that he wants Peter to teach people who haven’t been counted out or blown it, to not blow it. In fact, I believe this message is for some of us here that have blown it and can see other people who haven’t blown it yet, your instructions since God rescues you through Jesus Christ, is to follow his instruction and guide and teach the people who haven’t blown it the same way you have. These are the lambs out there.

Verse 16: Jesus says, “Tend my sheep. Then Jesus uses different vocabulary to Peter. If you’re not careful, and it is apparent that Peter wasn’t paying close attention, because John gives us hints of Peter’s frustrations with Jesus’ repeated questioning; but it is something we also do too often not pay close attention. The word, “tend here is referring to Peter’s new role as a leader. Peter was commanded to lead. But in this verse, he is not commanded to lead “lambs like he was commanded to “feed the lambs. But rather, he was commanded to lead the “sheep. Sheep are people who are accustomed to the things of this world, the broken things in life. These people are jaded by life itself. They go out and eat by grazing and they just eat like they’ve always eaten. Peter is told to lead those people.

Verse 17: Jesus, “Feed my sheep. Now, Peter is asked by Jesus to teach the people who, for all intents and purposes are experienced, old and aged. Jesus intertwines the vocabulary from verses 15 and 16 to give Peter the command to teach and instruct people who are jaded by life. These people are all over the place in our lives and you are here on Easter Sunday to take this message back to them that they are not counted out and through Jesus, they have another chance when nobody else would give them another look.

This is what Jesus is asking of us to follow him in feeding and tending the lamb and sheep that belong to Him. I believe that this is what we all need to take away from services this Easter. We need to take these three commands of Jesus to somebody who’s blown it, and take it to heart.

Peter lost some things in his failure: Pride, Arrogance, Self Confidence, Impulsiveness, Unreliability! But he gained so much more like a deep abiding humility, unshakeable confidence God, unwavering Faithfulness to Christ.

When all I said and done, and you realized you’ve blown your one last shot, your one last opportunity, your one last friendship, your one last bridge, I want you to know that Jesus gives you another chance.

He loves you and me that much. He loves us after we’ve blown it. But now that you have that other chance, I don’t want you to squander it. I want you to take this new opportunity to teach and lead the people around you who are about to blow it themselves, or have blown it and need to get out of the gutter Let’s pray.