I was having a really rough day on Friday when I wrote this. It all started when my dog bit someone. I know, I know, this is really bad. This made me feel horrible. I was really shaken, because I felt like a complete failure as a dog owner. And from there I started to think of all the other parts of my life where I feel like a failure. I have a nagging suspicion that if only I were a better Pastor, we wouldn't have to sell the building. And I am a terrible housekeeper. And this tapped into a huge well of emotions that have been building up for the last 60 years. I am a failure. I am inadequate. I am just not good enough.
This was how Peter must have felt. He felt it was his duty to protect Jesus, and he was a complete failure at it. When he should have been keeping watch in the garden, he fell asleep. He tried again. He struck out at the people who came to arrest Jesus, but his attempt was pathetic. Then when he followed him to court, and people accused him of being his friend, he denied him. No wonder he broke down and wept.
While Jesus I'm sure understood Peter's clumsy attempts to protect him, he also didn't appreciate it. Because Jesus knew that his destiny was to die, he didn't need well-meaning friends trying to talk him out of it. That made it only harder. And it was hard enough, as we can see from his agony in the garden of Gethsemane. Jesus had his fair share of the normal human instinct of self-preservation. But he had to overcome it in order to do what he had to do.
I wonder if it was only when God became human that God fully understood just how weak and flawed humans are. God had been struggling with his humans ever since God had created them. God had tried various ways of getting us to be obedient and faithful, and everything had either backfired or failed. So God became human, and realized the depth of our inadequacy. We honestly just can't help it, we were born this way. We don't want to be this way, but how can we do otherwise? We are always beating ourselves up because of our failures. And if we can't stand to beat ourselves up, we beat each other up, and that's even worse. And here we are, trapped in our human nature, longing for God but stuck in the mire.
So God did the only thing God could do to release us from this trap that God had unwittingly placed us in by creating us. God took the blame. Yes, God in Jesus took the blame for all the sins that we as humans have committed. Jesus allowed himself to be taken, and blamed, and tortured, and killed. This was God showing humans that God takes all the responsibility for our failures. They are nailed to the cross along with Jesus.
So, if Jesus has taken all the blame, I cannot and must not blame myself. I must not take my anger with myself and turn it outwards against my neighbours. Jesus knows our every weakness. Jesus knows how hard we try. Jesus knows how disappointed we are in ourselves when we fail. And God says, “My child, my own dear child, I love you and I will never leave you. No matter how you fail, I will never fail you. Allow me to help you. Allow me to lift you. Come to me, and I will give you rest.”
God never writes people off; God never gives up on people. Jesus didn't write Peter off, even after all his failures. After his resurrection, Jesus appeared to Peter especially. And when Peter didn't know what to do next, Jesus gave him instructions: “Feed my sheep.”
So, in all our failures, through all our sin, we hear the voice of the prophet Isaiah: “The Lord God helps me, therefore I have not been disgraced... It is the Lord God who helps me, who will declare me guilty?” Our sins and failures have been gently lifted from us by our Saviour, Jesus. His body given, and his blood shed, to take upon himself our sins, that body and blood now nourishes us and strengthens us for all our struggles. Thanks be to God! Amen.
This was how Peter must have felt. He felt it was his duty to protect Jesus, and he was a complete failure at it. When he should have been keeping watch in the garden, he fell asleep. He tried again. He struck out at the people who came to arrest Jesus, but his attempt was pathetic. Then when he followed him to court, and people accused him of being his friend, he denied him. No wonder he broke down and wept.
While Jesus I'm sure understood Peter's clumsy attempts to protect him, he also didn't appreciate it. Because Jesus knew that his destiny was to die, he didn't need well-meaning friends trying to talk him out of it. That made it only harder. And it was hard enough, as we can see from his agony in the garden of Gethsemane. Jesus had his fair share of the normal human instinct of self-preservation. But he had to overcome it in order to do what he had to do.
I wonder if it was only when God became human that God fully understood just how weak and flawed humans are. God had been struggling with his humans ever since God had created them. God had tried various ways of getting us to be obedient and faithful, and everything had either backfired or failed. So God became human, and realized the depth of our inadequacy. We honestly just can't help it, we were born this way. We don't want to be this way, but how can we do otherwise? We are always beating ourselves up because of our failures. And if we can't stand to beat ourselves up, we beat each other up, and that's even worse. And here we are, trapped in our human nature, longing for God but stuck in the mire.
So God did the only thing God could do to release us from this trap that God had unwittingly placed us in by creating us. God took the blame. Yes, God in Jesus took the blame for all the sins that we as humans have committed. Jesus allowed himself to be taken, and blamed, and tortured, and killed. This was God showing humans that God takes all the responsibility for our failures. They are nailed to the cross along with Jesus.
So, if Jesus has taken all the blame, I cannot and must not blame myself. I must not take my anger with myself and turn it outwards against my neighbours. Jesus knows our every weakness. Jesus knows how hard we try. Jesus knows how disappointed we are in ourselves when we fail. And God says, “My child, my own dear child, I love you and I will never leave you. No matter how you fail, I will never fail you. Allow me to help you. Allow me to lift you. Come to me, and I will give you rest.”
God never writes people off; God never gives up on people. Jesus didn't write Peter off, even after all his failures. After his resurrection, Jesus appeared to Peter especially. And when Peter didn't know what to do next, Jesus gave him instructions: “Feed my sheep.”
So, in all our failures, through all our sin, we hear the voice of the prophet Isaiah: “The Lord God helps me, therefore I have not been disgraced... It is the Lord God who helps me, who will declare me guilty?” Our sins and failures have been gently lifted from us by our Saviour, Jesus. His body given, and his blood shed, to take upon himself our sins, that body and blood now nourishes us and strengthens us for all our struggles. Thanks be to God! Amen.
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