New Hope Notes
Peter: The Man Who Gave Up
Making Things Right
Pastor Wayne Cordeiro
May 2, 2004 - W0418
On location: Sea of Galilee, Israel
There is so much that happened in this area and it was here in the Galilean region that Jesus began his ministry. It was here that he called James and John when they were in their boats with their father Zebedee mending their nets. When Jesus saw Simon Peter and his brother Andrew, he said: "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men" (Matthew 4:19). It was here where Jesus fed the five thousand. In fact, many came to this area to hear Jesus not only because of the miracles that took place but to listen to his words, which rang true in their hearts. After some time, Jesus traveled all the way down to Jerusalem to continue his ministry.
It was in Jerusalem that Peter became one of the leading disciples. At first, things were going great. People were hailing Jesus as Messiah, miracles occurred, and many more we added to Jesus’ followers. However, things began to slide for Peter when Jesus was taken before an angry court mob and sentenced to death. Peter was outside the whole time. He was trying to keep his distance for fear of being identified with the Lord when a servant girl approached him and said, “ ‘...You also were with Jesus of Galilee...’ But he denied it before them all.” (Matthew 26:69b-70a). Peter denied Jesus two more times and, if you’ll remember with me:
“Immediately a rooster crowed. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: ‘before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.’ And he went outside and wept bitterly.” (Matthew 26:75)
As we all know, Jesus went to the cross for your sins and mine. It was a time just after this when Peter decided he was going to leave Jerusalem. He walked the 80 miles back to these very shores (the Sea of Galilee) and decided he had had enough, he was going to go back fishing.
We’re going to talk about Peter, the man that quit. Every single one of us possesses tendencies to quit in our marriages, in our ministry, or in our relationships. These “quitting points” can be triggered by a number of different things. It could be a death of a loved one, unmet expectations, or a failure of some sort.
Q. 1: In what areas of your life have you experienced “quitting points”? What were the “triggers”?
As for Peter, his quitting point was triggered, perhaps, by an emotional let down. When Jesus was crucified, he probably felt defeated. Everything he had expected was taken away and his hopes were dashed.
WHY DID PETER QUIT?
I often wondered why Peter would quit after such a successful ministry. I was thinking about three things and I think it can apply to all of us too. The first reason why Peter might have quit is that...
- PETER WAS TIRED.
He had been going strong for a long time, but an event came along that wipes him out; Peter was tired. In a recent movie, someone once said that: “Tired men make mistakes” and it’s true isn’t it? Sometimes the most spiritual thing we can do is just to rest, just get away and take a Sabbath. Jesus used to go to the garden of Gethsemane up on the Mount of Olives and there he would pray, spend time with the Father. In our fast moving society, often times, we think resting is wrong. We might be tempted to think we’re not valuable if we take a break to rest. God says to come away.
Q. 2: Are you finding it hard to physically rest yourself? Are you guilty of thinking that physical rest is “wrong”? Why?
Another reason why Peter might have quit is because:
- PETER’S SOUL WAS DRAINED.
Due to all the events that had taken place and after the emotional drain of crucifixion, Peter had no soul left. Many times, it’s the same with us. We may do the same ministries five times, ten times, twenty times. We keep doing them and before long, we realize that we’ve lost our souls for it and then our hearts shrink. Jesus reminds us to:
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ...”
Not just a physical rest either but...
“...Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Some of the greatest burdens we bear is that we don’t have any heart left for what God has called us to do.
Q.3: Times of refreshing our souls is key to ministry of any kind, but the key is time. Will you make a commitment to set aside time to go to Him to be have our hearts renewed? How can you make it more of a priority?
Another reason why Peter wanted to quit was because...
- PETER HAD FAILED.
Oh, it’s so easy to quit when we fail. Peter denied Jesus, he also denied the Lord, and even in front of other disciples. When it’s a major failure in life, we have a tendency to just beat ourselves to death about it instead of just repenting, learning, and being resilient. Repent. Learn. Be resilient. I think if we can catch those three things it would help us put a lot better mileage into our lives instead of losing them. Peter just began beating himself up over his failure(s). It was then; after his failure, that he left Jerusalem, left his calling and came all the way back here, to Galilee to return to fishing. It was here though, that Peter was about to have another encounter with the risen Lord.
Several days after Jesus had risen, Peter was out fishing with some of the other disciples. They had not caught anything all night long. The next day they heard a voice call from the shore to throw their nets over the other side. When they did this, they caught a draft of large fish. It was then that Peter began to recognize that it was Jesus who had called from the shore.
Then the Bible says that Peter: “...jumped [out of the boat] into the water” (John 21:7) and swam to shore. It’s funny: sometimes Jesus comes walking to us on water but sometimes he’s going to call us from the shore. Wouldn’t it be nice if the Lord always came where we were at, especially in our “pity-modes” or pools of sorrow? Sometimes, though, Jesus stands on the shore and says: come out of yourself!
It was an act of faith to let down the nets, it was an act of faith to come ashore and Jesus is still waiting for people to take risks at His word. When Peter came to shore, Jesus asked Peter to bring some of his fish and the account of the Bible says:
“It was full of large fish...but even with so many the net was not torn” (Matthew 21:11)
Sometimes we think: Lord, what You’re giving me is going to tear me apart. But the Bible reminds us “the net was not torn”. God is a God who knows exactly what you and I can handle; He knows what we can take and yet our lives will not be torn.
Then Jesus asks Peter a very interesting series questions:
“...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.’
Again Jesus said, ‘...do you truly love me?’
He answered, ‘Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.’
Jesus said, ‘Take care of my sheep.’
The third time he said to him, ‘...do you love me?’
Peter was hurt ...‘...you know that I love you.’
Jesus said, ‘Feed my sheep. ... ” (John 21: 15b-17)
In other words, Jesus confronted Peter with his heart. Jesus could have confronted Peter with his behavior. He could have said: “Peter! I’ve been wanting to ask you for some time now. Why did you deny me three times, you turkey?!” The Lord was essentially asking Peter to get back to the basics of all things. In fact, the Bible says that the greatest commandment of all is to:
“Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength”(Mark12:30).
Sometimes we get so distracted with the work of God or the tasks we have to do, and then the world starts to revolve around “us”. Jesus made another interesting point when he was asking Peter if he loved him. Speaking of John, the other disciple next to Jesus:
“If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me” (John 21: 22).
In other words, it was time for Peter to focus back on what was most important. A lot of times when we quit it’s because we get too distracted and the world starts to revolve around “me”. Some people have said that the reason for so much depression in America is that we think too much of ourselves. We, for example, start comparing ourselves to others and God says not to worry, but to follow Him. What Jesus had asked of Peter, Jesus asks of us, and it is the remedy for us wanting to quit.
Q.3: In regards to failures (past/present), how have or haven’t the ideas of repenting, learning, and being resilient been incorporated? What have been the results (for past failures)?
Essentially, our quitting points are a result of things such as physical exhaustion. Sometimes the most spiritual things we can do is just to rest. Another quitting point can caused by emotional/ spiritual soul drain. When our souls get weary, our ministries do too. Jesus invites us to leave our burdens with Him and just spend time refreshing our souls, whether that be through prayer, worship, devotions, etc. Failures also cause us to want to give up. Instead of beating ourselves up, repent, learn and then be resilient. Jesus reminds us that when we experience serious failures to focus in again on what’s most important.
Q. 4: Do you love God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind?