Stumbling Towards Growth

Date: October 16th, 2011

Speaker: Pastor Kevin Snyder

Title: Stumbling Towards Growth

Biographical: Peter

Intro

My name is Peter. No doubt you don’t recognize me dressed like this…but you have more than likely heard of me…at least of my stumbles and falls. You find me mentioned often in the Gospels and Acts….and there is also a couple of my letters in here as well.

You see, my life is much like your Pastor’s golf game. We were talking this week & he shared…

Golf

- struggle with consistency

- 1 good shot followed by 2 bad shots

- know a better game than he plays

-dread hitting ball when lose confidence

Transition:

Well, that describes quite well my life. My life since meeting Jesus is the story of 2 steps forward, 1 step back. In fact, if you went through the Gospels you quickly would discover 6 publicly known stumbles in a span of 3 years… that’s about as many interceptions as a SK Roughrider quarterback in a game

Let me share those stumbles with you because maybe you can relate and together we learn to stumble forward.

1. STUMBLE 1: LOW CEILINGS

Luke 5:8,9

When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”

Ever tried jumping up & down when you have a low ceiling. If you keep jumping… you get hurt enough that you decide to quit jumping so high. You lower your expectations of self, & who we could be because it doesn’t hurt so much.

I started out to be a man who aspired to be good. I wanted to please God. I wanted to do well with my life. But it seemed the more I tried the more I saw I failed. I kept stumbling. And after awhile I just gave up hope. I lowered my expectations and came to believe I would never be more than just a sinful man.

And so when I met Jesus I felt compelled to tell him that I wasn’t the man for him. I would be just a disappointment. I looked at my past and my wake of failures at being good and thought I couldn’t meet expectations.

But somehow Jesus communicated in his words a different way “I will make you “ he said. It wasn’t just my effort…but his power that raised the banner of hope. Maybe this time could be different.

2. STUMBLE #2: FEAR OF FAILURE

Matt 14: 28

“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

29 “Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

One day Jesus came out to us while we were caught in a boat on the lake in a storm. He came walking on the water. He invited me to step out of the boat. To learn to walk on water, so to speak, to trust Jesus to hold me up in the overwhelming storms of life. I succeeded for a few steps. But then reality hit me. “I can’t walk on water” I saw the fierceness of the waves. I knew I didn’t have a life jacket. I’m not a very good swimmer…and suddenly fear and doubt gripped my heart. What if Jesus isn’t enough? What if I heard him wrong? What if …and I began to look around and started to sink. I lost my eyes of faith and looked at the situation through my old eyes of fear, doubt,…I looked at the “reality” of the situation and began to sink.

But in case you feel kind of smug and want to laugh at me cuz I got wet…ask yourself: “Have you ever stepped out of the safety and security of your “Boat”?

Why not?

As one of your popular writers said in his book, “It’s hard to walk on water if you never get out of the boat?” or “Better to try and fail than to never try at all.”

And so even though I stumbled there are many who have never stumbled because they play too close to shore. Which stumble is worse? With each stumble I grew….in this I grew in faith and trust.

3. STUMBLE #3: PRESUMPTION

Matt 16:16 – 24

From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”

23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”

My 3rd stumble is most embarrassing. Have you ever meant well but found yourself on the wrong side?

Jesus was telling us that he was going to Jerusalem and that he would be killed. I couldn’t believe. Who would kill the most loving man who spoke life-giving words? I said “Never Lord!”

I presumed in that statement that I knew better God’s will better than Jesus did. I spoke from a human point of view that could see no value in Jesus death….what could be served from that?

And Jesus said some things that stopped me in my tracks. He told me that I spoke the words not of God but of Satan. He said “Get behind me Satan.”

Only after his death did I understand that the cross was nota defeat of God’s plan but the point of it. Only later did I understand that the cross was the victory of Jesus. His death was what paid the price for my and your sin. He substituted himself and took upon himself the penalty of sin and death.

But as foolhardy as this stumble was…again I learned. I learned later as God spoke to the servant Job “My ways are not your ways.” And Job spoke the right words “Surely I have spoken of things I do not understand.”

I learned that sometimes as sincere as I might be my heart can be off-base. I can be warped and twisted by my self-interest, and ignorance, and speak things that are not the will and plan of God.

4. STUMBLE #4: SLOTH

Matt 26:33-35,40

He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and distressed. 38 He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

39 He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”

40 Then he returned to the disciples and found them asleep. He said to Peter, “Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour? 41 Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!”

Many years ago some medieval fathers identified a list of 7 deadly sins. One they called “Sloth”. Sloth could be defined as that tendency to do what is physically comfortable over that which is spiritually right.

It is to sleep when the spiritual need was to pray.
It is to fail to have that difficult conversation with a friend who is going astray because it is comfortable.
It is too sleep in and excuse yourself from coming to church because you’d rather watch football.
It is to not take that group or class that will help you grow because it means you have to sacrifice and change some priorities.
It is wanting spiritual power and growth without putting anything into it. It is wanting God’s blessing on your church without committing to pray.
It is wanting new people to be added but without expanding my circle or including them.
It’s wanting God to break in but on my 60 minute timeframe.

You get the idea…it whenever in the battle between the flesh and the spirit that the flesh wins out.

Again I stumbled and slept when my need in that hour was prayer.

What would have happened in the hours that followed had I prayed?

Would I have not reacted with my sword? Would I had the strength to not deny my Lord 3X?

I stumbled and discovered my need of prayer and it’s power.

5. STUMBLE #5: ANGRY REACTIONS

John 18: 10

Then Simon Peter drew a sword and slashed off the right ear of Malchus, the high priest’s slave. 11 But Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back into its sheath. Shall I not drink from the cup of suffering the Father has given me?”

My friend Paul wrote by the Spirit’s hand in Ephesians:

"in your anger don't sin"

In another letter he advised us not to revert to the weapons of this world in our spiritual battle …for our battle is not against flesh & blood but principalities and powers, and rulers of this dark world.”

I wish I had been prayed up and remembered that. But I stumbled. I let my emotions dictate my actions. I reacted with anger, and ended up causing more harm than good. As if violence would have solved anything?

Have you been there?

In your home – with your spouse? With your kids? At work?

You reacted. Your temper flared and you lashed out? Sinned in your anger? Words you didn’t mean? Actions you regret? Decisions that brought immense hurt?

I’ve been there.

Good news is Jesus can heal the damage we cause. I am so thankful for that. For I have been a ear-lopper.

6. STUMBLE #6: COWARDICE

Matt 26: 69-75

Meanwhile, Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. A servant girl came over and said to him, “You were one of those with Jesus the Galilean.”

70 But Peter denied it in front of everyone. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said. …

72 Again Peter denied it, this time with an oath. “I don’t even know the man,” he said…

74 Peter swore, “A curse on me if I’m lying—I don’t know the man!” And immediately the rooster crowed.

75 Suddenly, Jesus’ words flashed through Peter’s mind: “Before the rooster crows, you will deny three times that you even know me.” And he went away, weeping bitterly.

My biggest failure came in Game 7, bottom of the 9th with the bases loaded…I struck out BIG TIME….3 strikes.

3 opportunities and I failed everytime.

You might ask me 1000x “Why?”

I have few answers other than – cowardice.

Perhaps the same reasons …

You deny that you are a Christian…that you go to church…that you pretend at school or work that you don’t know Jesus…that you drink those extra beers…that participate in some things you know you shouldn’t…

Perhaps you stumble too because when the pressure is on you fear rejection…reprisal…consequences. Maybe the yellow strip runs down your back too…

But nothing is worse in those critical, defining moments than to stumble and fall… it’s hard to recover from. You tend to define yourself by those moments.

Judas is an example. He and I both stumbled horribly. He chose to believe his sin was irrepairable….there was no hope of ever being restored. He succumbed to the darkness and took his life.

But I in contrast hung to some words Jesus spoke to me”Satan has asked to sift you like wheat, Peter. , but I have prayed for you. And when you are restored…”

Somehow I chose to believe that even though I had let go of Christ in those moments he didn’t let go of me….

It was the hope of grace that enabled me to stumble forward.

Summary

So folks I stand before you a man with bleeding and bruised knees… I have stumbled some many times…I’ve stumbled my way towards growth. I am like a little child learning to walk…2 steps…fall…2 steps …fall…

But maybe that’s the faith of a little child that Jesus raised before us…the faith that kept believing that if I keep getting up one day I will walk….

I’ll come back in a few minutes and share with you some lessons I learned that I might help you to stumble forward.

The 1st step is to come to grips with your stumbles…to admit them…not hide them.

PART 2

What can you learn from my failures?

I would hope you would learn these 4 things:

1. THERE IS GRACE

One day I was talking to Jesus. I was wrestling with this forgiving thing. I asked him “How many times do I need to forgive someone who keeps wronging me? I thought I was being generous and capturing the Spirit of Jesus when I offered my answer “7X”.

I was at first troubled by his answer “Not 7X but 70X7 times.”

That troubled me until my 7th stumble….then I was glad to know that in God’s economy there is no limit on forgiveness and grace.

The prophet wrote some powerful words. Words that have become life-verses to me.

Lamen. 3: 22,23

22 The faithful love of the Lord never ends!?*?

His mercies never cease.

23 Great is his faithfulness;

his mercies begin afresh each morning.

How great it is to know that his grace begins afresh every morning….

And so have you stumbled lots…I dare say the only faith…only person where you will find grace is with Christ. No other religion abounds with grace.

I have a friend who says it so well:

"I rejected the church for a time after I came to Swift Current because I found so little grace there. I returned to it because I found grace no where else. “

No matter how many times you have fallen…let me remind you as one who knows…there is grace.

2. JESUS SEES MORE IN YOU THAN YOU SEE

In a conversation I had with Jesus in the middle of all these stumbles he said to me these words:

Matthew 16: 18

18 Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’),?*? and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell?*? will not conquer it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven

Jesus calls me the "rock"( like a WWF fighter) when I was anything but that.

I hung to those words. Jesus saw strength and stability. Jesus was willing to entrust the keys of his kingdom into my hands. He believed in me. He saw more in me than I saw I in myself.

I guess I want you to know that Jesus sees a seed of greatness in you. He sees something in you that no one else perhaps sees…something you don’t see….

I am living testimony of that. That this low ceiling sinful man….could become a leader in Christ’s church….Who knew?

3. LOVING JESUS IS KEY

John 21: 15

15 After breakfast Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these??*?”

“Yes, Lord,” Peter replied, “you know I love you.”

“Then feed my lambs,” Jesus told him.

After Jesus’ resurrection he took me for a walk on the beach. I was fearful. I dreaded what he might say after my colossal failure.

Would he chew me out?

Would he fire me for failing the test?

Would rub my nose in my guilt a little further?

To my surprise he asked but one question:

“Peter , do you love me?”

That’s what mattered to Jesus. It wasn’t how many times I stumbled? It wasn’t how big were those stumbles? What Jesus looks at isn’t your track record…it’s your heart.

“ Peter, do you love me.” “That’s all I need to rebuild you. That’s all I need to make you into a fisher of men. “

Friend, when you stripaway all the guilt, all the shame, all the ….at the core of you can you still answer “Friend, do you love Jesus?”

How can you help but love when he offers that grace…that believing in you….

Can you sing …?

“When the music fades…and all is stripped away…

I’m coming back to the heart of worship…and it’s all about you…It’s all about you Jesus.”

Can you tell him that today….”Lord, I know I’ve stumbled…I know my actions haven’t shown it…but I want you to know at the very heart of me I love you and I truly want to follow you.”

4. KNOW WITH GOD'S HELP YOU CAN GROW

My life did improve. I still stumbled…but the frequency and depth diminished. As I walked with Jesus more and more his character became formed in me. Let me close with these words I wrote in my 2nd letter to Cns. It really is my call to you given all this grace…

2 Peter 1:3

3 By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.

Today, we come to the communion table.

A table that reminds us of God’s unending grace…
A table that reminds us that though we are unworthy we are not worthless. Even while we were yet sinners Christ died for us (Romans 5:8)
A table that asks a simple question “Do you love me?”

As stumbling people seeking to follow Christ, I invite you to this table….may you be reminded of his grace. Reminded of his love.

Reminded of his cleansing and redeeming power that can transform you.

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The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Lk 5:8

The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Mt 14:28-31

The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Mt 16:21-23

Tyndale House Publishers: Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 2nd ed. Wheaton, Ill. : Tyndale House Publishers, 2004, S. Mt 26:37-41

Tyndale House Publishers: Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 2nd ed. Wheaton, Ill. : Tyndale House Publishers, 2004, S. Jn 18:10-11

Tyndale House Publishers: Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 2nd ed. Wheaton, Ill. : Tyndale House Publishers, 2004, S. Mt 26:69-75

* As in Syriac version; Hebrew reads of the Lord keeps us from destruction.

Tyndale House Publishers: Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 2nd ed. Wheaton, Ill. : Tyndale House Publishers, 2004, S. La 3:22-23

* Greek that you are Peter.

* Greek and the gates of Hades.

Tyndale House Publishers: Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 2nd ed. Wheaton, Ill. : Tyndale House Publishers, 2004, S. Mt 16:13-20

* Or more than these others do?

Tyndale House Publishers: Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 2nd ed. Wheaton, Ill. : Tyndale House Publishers, 2004, S. Jn 21:15