No illustration of grace in failure can be
imagined greater than when Jesus ‘turned and looked at Peter’ as Peter denied
him for the third time. “Immediately,
while Peter was still speaking, a rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked at
Peter.” Luke 22:60,61 I suppose we cannot know for sure what Jesus communicated
in that look but Peter ‘went out and wept bitterly.’ Later Jesus would deliberately reinstate Peter
and he would go on and be a shining example of faith. But Peter was never the same. I guess sometimes our shining moments of
shame can be a new beginning.
But remember, Judas went out and committed
suicide. Suicide is nothing to be spoken
lightly of. Nobody really wants to kill
themselves. It is an act of desperation.
If you can get your friend through that dark time they will look back in
horror at how close they came to the precipice and be grateful. (sideline: we must resist this ‘culture of
death’ that ‘assisted suicide’ opens the gate to). I believe Judas could have repented, like
Peter did, but chose a different path. Our greatest failures often open the
floodgates of grace to overwhelm our souls with God’s goodness if we let it. There is nothing quite so bad as believers
carrying the burden of guilt that Jesus died for. ‘There is now no condemnation
for those who are in Christ Jesus.’ Rom.8:1
1.
You and
I are a flubbing, bungling, botching, blundering sinners. (Incidentally, so is
everyone you know.) There is no magic
button to make yourself perfect. Own it.
2.
Jesus knows. (I know you know that J) Like Peter denying Jesus in the same place where Jesus was being
beaten. Everything we are and do is in plain sight before him. Don’t hide in
the shadows or hang out at the fringes of the world. Hanging with worse sinners
than yourself doesn’t make anyone a better person! Confess
it.
3.
Jesus didn’t fail. He is Prophet, Messiah,
Son of Man, Son of God who stood tall in our place. (Luke
22:67-70) His character and sacrifice are accepted by the Father in place of
our lack of character and failure. It is
good at the first, in the middle and to the end! We are overwhelmed with his
grace. Take it to the bank.
There you have it. You are equipped to be a conduit of
grace.
