I. Called into Destiny 00:00
…this morning, that you speak a better word in our life, Lord; that your word defines and identifies us in this life, and that we follow it instead of our own thoughts, our own opinions. Lord, even as we look at the words you’ve given us this morning, I do see you rewriting our history, calling us into destiny. Lord, you’re doing all of these things to bring us into your purposes. In Jesus’ name, amen.
So this weekend we had a lot of fun. All the ladies went to the ladies’ retreat, and for those of you who don’t know, I have five children under the age of seven. And it was fun. “Fun” is the word I am approved to say by my PR manager. But no, it was great. It really is a joy to spend that time with your kids, just like Jesus, who for the joy set before him endured the cross (Heb 12.2). I had a lot of joy this weekend. No, it was great. It really was fun.
But it was even better to hear all the great testimonies already coming out of the retreat. God showed up. There was fellowship, there was impact, there was teaching, learning. One of the highlights I heard was that Hannah got up and spoke, which is awesome. I’ve never heard Hannah getting up and teaching in a church gathering. She does it every day. No wonder she’s so good. So I already heard some people calling out her teaching. I have to mention my mom’s teaching, because she’s my mom. You know, she was talking about parenting. So if you don’t like me and how I turned out, yeah, maybe don’t listen too close. No, I’m just kidding. Either way, it sounds like it was fantastic, and that God really showed up in a powerful and important way. So let’s just continue to walk that out in our midst.
And what’s great is that the overarching word or theme of the retreat had to do with shema: hearing what God is calling you into, and walking into your destiny, walking into your calling. And today we’re going to be talking about what that looks like in the lives of two of those who are called the pillars of the Church, Peter and Paul.
II. The Pillars of the Church 02:16
In fact, you can see in this icon back there (it might be a little small for some of you) Peter on the left, Paul on the right, holding the Church between them. And it’s this image that the early church fathers and the entire Church recognize: that yes, Peter was the rock that Jesus said he would found his Church upon. And he did. And Paul came alongside him, and between the two of them they were the launch point for what God was doing in the body of Christ on earth. You can see their impact. They’re such heroes of the faith, and you read their words almost every Sunday, because they wrote books in the New Testament. Paul wrote almost the entire New Testament. We love Peter and Paul. We love their impact. We celebrate them. We honor them. We paint pictures of them.
And yet today we got a glimpse of how they were called into that ministry. And so we’re going to start by talking about this: every one of us this morning has a destiny in Christ, a calling, a purpose, a vocation. And at the same time, the enemy, who seeks to kill, steal, and destroy (John 10.10), is looking to rob you of the impact God has called you into. Now, what the enemy doesn’t ever seem to realize is that God already paid the price, and he wrote your story. So he has no power over you.
III. The Enemy's Playbook 03:45
The only thing he can do is tempt you to participate in his plans instead of God’s. That’s all he can do. He can lie to you, and he can make it sound like his idea is better than God’s. Well, spoiler here: it is not ever better than God’s.
So when you look at the playbook (I’m just going to give it to you this morning), this is what the enemy wants to do. He’s going to tempt you to sin. When you sin, he’s going to slam you with shame: “You’re not good enough.” And eventually he’s going to vent to you: “You can’t do the things you’ve been called to do. God would never use you. Look at how awful you are.” And then what you’re going to do is look to distract yourself from your shame, and you’re going to sin again. It’s a cycle the enemy has set up. It’s the fallenness cycle, and it’s contrary to everything God does in your life. And so we have all these people wandering around filling their lives with distraction and pleasure, because they don’t want to feel the pain of shame.
And I’m here today to tell you: you don’t need to feel the pain of shame ever again. Jesus calls you out of shame and into sonship. He calls you out of where you’re at and into your identity. The problem I’m setting up here, and we’ll see it play out in Peter’s and Paul’s lives, is that we sideline ourselves from what God has for us through this thing. We mess up, or we don’t fulfill our bargain. We have all these reasons. We build this list of ways why God can’t possibly use me in that way: “I can’t be called to do that. I’m not good enough to do that. Don’t you see how many times I’ve failed? Don’t you see how I’m not qualified?” And God says, “No, no, no. I pick not those who are qualified, but those who have a broken and contrite heart” (Ps 51.17). That’s it. Those who are willing to hear and obey.
So we’re going to start with the story of Peter, and we’re going to see what happens. Because when you look at these things, you have to remember that verse Paul himself wrote: it’s in our weakness that Christ is made strong in us (2 Cor 12.9). It’s not in spite of our weakness. God doesn’t pick us up with his fingers, holding his nose so he doesn’t have to deal with our stuff: “And then I can kind of use him over here.” No. Actually, God pushes through and redeems every part of our life.
IV. Peter's Denial 05:55
Let’s talk about that today with Peter, because I think with Peter we get caught up in what he did wrong and what he did right, but we don’t see that God knew what Peter was going to do ahead of time. So here’s the story we might think in our mind. Peter has this great revelation with Jesus: “You are the Messiah, the Son of God.” He’s following Jesus. Jesus is asking, “Who do they say I am?” Jesus says this thing, and he goes, “On this rock I will build my Church” (Matt 16.18). Then Peter denies Christ three times during the crucifixion. You guys remember that? And God goes, “Well, shoot. What am I going to do now? My rock is cracked. What am I going to do? How can I build on that foundation?”
Actually, what happened is that God called him the rock on which he would build his Church in full knowledge of what was going to come. He didn’t want a perfect vessel, because there are none. There are only people who delude themselves into thinking they’re good enough. If you’re here today and you don’t think you’re worthy of the calling, you’re exactly where you need to be, because it’s not your ability but his, right? He is worthy, and he calls us into that.
So when we look at this, right, Peter has got it all figured out as we enter our story today. In the garden, what happens? Jesus had told them, “Look, they’re going to beat me. They’re going to kill me. I’ll rise on the third day.” So the gang of robbers comes around, the chief priests and the soldiers, the people who are coming in the night to steal Jesus away and crucify him. What does Peter do? He cuts off the ear of one of the guys. He goes, “Don’t worry, Jesus, I’ve got this. I know that this is not the way it’s supposed to go. What God is doing is, he’s going to install you as the king, the ruler. He’s going to make everything right. I know what God wants to do. And so I’m going to cut off this guy’s ear. I’m going to defend you.” And Jesus goes, “Peter, those who live by the sword will die by the sword” (Matt 26.52). “That’s not how I came.” And he heals the guy’s ear.
And what does Peter do at that point? He runs. He cannot comprehend that the plan of God would include Jesus’ humiliation and death on the cross. He thought they were just going to Rome: “Let’s go take over the world,” or at least take over Jerusalem. He thought the new order would be established like King David’s of old. And he couldn’t comprehend it, and so he ran.
But you know what? He had this thought: “Maybe there’s a secret plan. Maybe Jesus has a better plan. I’m going to follow along.” So he follows at a distance, right? And he sees Jesus be wrongfully convicted, step after step. The writing’s on the wall. It’s going as badly as it can. And somebody says, “Don’t you know him?” “No. What? I just got here. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The next person: “Don’t you sound like a… You’re a Galilean, aren’t you? You were following him.” “No, I don’t know what you’re doing.” And then he’s warming himself by the charcoal fire, and then they say, “Don’t you know him?” And he starts cursing: “Hell no!” (Probably said something worse than that. He’s a sailor. He has a good vocabulary, guys.) He curses and says, “No, I don’t know that man.” And at that moment the cock crows, and Jesus looks at him.
And the game the enemy has played, he has won. He tempted Peter with fear to sin and deny the Christ. And then Peter, as soon as he does it, feels the shame. That’s the one-two punch: the enemy, the shame. “Now you are disqualified. You no longer belong because of your sin, because you’re just not good enough.”
V. The Disciples and Peter 10:06
All of that happens, and then Easter comes. We’re in Easter season; let’s get to Easter, right? Easter comes, and what does the angel tell the women at the tomb? “Go and tell the disciples and Peter” (Mark 16.7). So the angel’s announcing the resurrection. He’s telling the women to go tell the disciples that Jesus is not there, because he’s alive. And he specifies “the disciples and Peter.” Because guess what? Peter had gone to all those disciples and said, “I don’t belong anymore. I denied him. I’m out. I gave up on him.”
And you can just imagine: not only did he give up on him, but you heard the trial. If anybody had stood up and said, “This man’s innocent, and this is why,” he could easily have been cleared of all charges. It was a trumped-up trial. It was just so fake and flimsy. Yet no one stood up for Jesus. And so he’s got to be thinking, before the resurrection, “If I had just said something, maybe my Savior would still be alive.”
And so in that moment (I’m trying to bring us into the moment of where Peter is), Jesus shows up, and he gets to celebrate the joy of the resurrection, with an asterisk. He still doesn’t think he is a part of the plan anymore. He’s happy. He’s happy that Jesus rose from the dead. But he knows that God has to get another rock: “This rock is broken. He can’t use me anymore.”
VI. I Am Going Fishing 11:27
How do I know that? Because in our Gospel today (he’s appeared to the disciples, he’s appeared to Thomas, all of that’s happened), what does he say in John 21:3?
3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” John 21.3
Now, to us, we think he’s getting his fishing pole and he’s going to go on a little trip. He needs to get away and clear his head. He’s going to go fishing, and then he’ll come back and be a part of what God’s doing. No, no, no. It’d be like if I, former Cheesecake Factory manager, told you that I’m going to the Cheesecake Factory. Okay, it doesn’t really land as well. But he’s a career fisherman. He’s telling them, “I’m going back to my old job. I’ve got no prospects here. I ruined my ministry. God can’t use me.” When he went out on the boat, he brought nets to catch like a hundred fish. Now, he ended up catching even more than that, but he brought his commercial nets. This is not a pleasure trip. He’s going back to his old life. What else is he going to do? He betrayed Jesus.
So in that moment, he’s fishing all night long, and at, you know, 4 in the morning, it’s cold, it’s dark. He’s out on the lake. They’ve caught nothing, and he goes, “I can’t even do this,” right? That’s where Peter is: shame-filled. “I gave it up. I did it wrong. I betrayed him. He rose from the dead. He told me, and I missed it. I’m out.”
VII. Cast the Net on the Right Side 12:48
And at that moment the dawn starts to break, and they look out:
4 Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” John 21.4–5
“Children,” or it’s more like “little brothers.” “You have no fish? Like, what’s going on here? I see you fishing, but you’ve got no fish.”
They answered him, “No.” 6 He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. John 21.5–6
And of course, we all know our Bibles. We’ve heard this story before. The beauty of this moment is that Peter, when he was called to follow Jesus, was called in the exact same way. Jesus is recreating the moment where Peter was first called, re-emphasizing: no matter what’s happened, the call is the same on your life. So in this moment they’re pulling it all up. And you remember, the first time this happened, Jesus is in the boat with Peter as they’re hoisting the fish on, and Peter turns to him and falls to his knees and says, “Depart from me, I’m a sinful man” (Luke 5.8).
And so Peter has come back to that moment. He’s re-realized that the core of his beginning is as a sinful man, that he needs Jesus. That is actually why God’s able to use him as the rock upon which he can build his Church. That’s my proposal to you this morning: that God chose Peter not in spite of his weakness, but because of his weakness. And not, let’s say, because he denied Christ, but because in his weakness he turned back to Christ.
Because what does he do? That disciple whom Jesus loved (John’s telling the story, and he always describes himself this way) goes, “It’s Jesus!” And what does Peter do? Like the crazy man he is, he puts on his coat and dives into the water to swim to shore (John 21.7). But John can’t leave it there. As he’s telling this story, he goes, “The other disciples came in the boat. They were only about a hundred yards away, and they brought the fish” (John 21.8). So Peter’s just like… I don’t know if you’ve ever swum fully clothed. It’s not easy. And he’s just going, and the disciples are like, “Okay, good job, Peter. Proud of you.”
But imagine: he had that shame, and he’s at that moment where he’s like, “I’ve lost it all.” And then Jesus shows up. That change, that moment of hope: “Oh my gosh, maybe he could still use me. Maybe I didn’t ruin it all.” So he dives into the water, and it’s like the water of baptism, right? He’s getting reintroduced to his calling, renamed, re-identified. All of that stuff is happening in the imagery of this story.
VIII. The Charcoal Fire 15:57
And then in verse 9:
9 When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. John 21.9
Now, there are two really important things about this verse. Number one, it’s a charcoal fire. And the only other place in all of Scripture where it says “a charcoal fire” is when Peter was standing outside the courtyard warming himself at a charcoal fire, and he denied Jesus, and the rooster crowed. So Jesus is recreating… That word is only used in those places. Fire is mentioned a bunch, but not charcoal fire. He’s recreating the moment of rejection to be the moment of reconciliation.
And he has the fish and the bread on the fire, guys. Where did Jesus get the fish and the bread? Because then he says, “Go bring those other fish. Add those to the pile.” Jesus didn’t need their provision. Peter was going out to provide for himself, because he couldn’t do it Jesus’ way anymore. And yet Jesus shows up to feed him and says, “No, no, no, no. I’m still here. I’m still the source. Yeah, bring your stuff. I want everything I’ve put in you to be fulfilled. I want all your work, all your talents, all your giftings. Bring them to me. But don’t think that you’re the provider. I’m the provider.” And so he invites them to a meal, and they talk about finishing up their breakfast.
IX. Do You Love Me? 17:20
So in verse 15 (skipping a couple of verses here):
15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” John 21.15
And in that moment Peter hears accusation. He hears Jesus ask that question, and he’s like… because what is Jesus saying? “Do you love me more than these other disciples?” This whole thing started when Peter said to Jesus, the night he was going to be betrayed, “If everyone else leaves you, I won’t leave you.” This whole thing started with a boast: “I love you more than them. They might abandon you, those hooligans, but I’m going to stick with you.” And then he denies him three times. And so Jesus pulls that out, and Peter’s cut to the heart: “Do you love me more than these?”
And he uses the word agape. Really fascinating in here, right? Jesus uses the word for the divine, self-sacrificial love, best characterized by his death on the cross. That type of love, the one who would die for you unconditionally, without repayment: “Do you love me like that, Peter, more than these other people?” And Peter says, “I phileo you. I love you like a brother. I love you the best I can.” And he says, “Feed my lambs.”
Then he said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you agape me? Do you perfectly love me the way I love you?” And Peter says to him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I phileo you. I love you as best I can, with all my affection, as a brother.” And he said to him, “Tend my sheep.”
Then he said to him a third time, “Simon, son of John, do you phileo me? Okay, do you really love me, even with this imperfect, best-you-can-do, affectionate type of love?” And Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you phileo me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.” And Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep” (John 21.15–17).
And I think what happened at that moment for Peter is that all the accusation he heard in Jesus’ words was lifted from him. I think something clicked there, where all of a sudden it’s like, “Oh. I denied him three times. Now I just declared my love for him three times, and I was accepted.” Because who is supposed to feed Jesus’ sheep? The shepherds, the pastors, the leaders. Jesus talked again and again about how there are going to be false prophets and false leaders and wolves and all this stuff. “But my sheep know my voice” (John 10.27).
And so he’s telling Peter in this moment (and it gets unraveled in the course of his life; it gets walked out day by day as they’re persecuted and as they’re starting the Church): “Peter, you’re the one I’ve called to speak to my sheep, to be my voice in the Church.” He’s reaffirming his identity and his calling. All that other stuff is recreated, remade. He’s recalling him to do all these things.
X. The Call of Paul 21:08
And maybe you’re sitting here this morning thinking, “Yeah, but I did really bad stuff. I’m really not good. Peter denied Jesus three times; I’ve denied him every day for twenty years,” or whatever it is: whatever burden you have on your heart, whatever sin, whatever doubt, whatever thing is going on, whatever weakness you have. Well, for a second, let’s talk about Paul.
In our story today, we start with Paul in the same problem that Peter had. Peter knew what God was going to do in Jesus, and so he was unprepared when Jesus went to the cross, and he denied Jesus in that moment. Paul knows how God is going to work on earth, and so he knows, just like Peter, that he could not have a crucified Messiah. He knows. He’s certain that the crucifixion is proof that Jesus couldn’t have been the Messiah. He’s in the same mental framework Peter was: “You can’t be crucified as the Messiah. It’s not how it works.” Paul has taken that and said, “Cursed is the man who hangs on a tree” (Gal 3.13). “I therefore need to snuff out this movement of blasphemers, the early Christians.”
It’s almost impossible for us to get into that mindset, because of the society and the culture and the two thousand years of Christianity we’ve been through. Thank God that it’s hard for us to imagine wanting to kill somebody for believing differently than us. But it’s kind of like “those filthy Democrats,” or “those wicked Republicans,” or “those God-awful hippies,” or whoever it is you don’t like, because you’re certain you know how it should go and they’re doing it wrong. That still resounds within us. It’s Cain and Abel. It’s the hostile brothers. It’s that thing that says we are right, they are wrong, and therefore we don’t have to care about them, or we don’t want them around, or, God forbid, we want them gone.
All of that is happening in Paul, but he’s righteously going after these people. He is convinced. He is a zealot: “I’m doing God’s work.” It’s a cautionary tale for all of us. I remember my dad used to tell stories. He used to be the youth group leader here, many moons ago. And he would tell stories about how we used to have a Wednesday night service, where they would meet in what used to be the adventure room, and they had this whole thing. And he would get so frustrated, because during church they wouldn’t be lifting their hands and singing, or they’d be walking in and out, or they’d have bad attitudes, or whatever it was. And he was certain he would be doing the Lord’s work if he walked into that room and told the youth group what’s what: “That is not how you enter the house of the Lord. What are you wearing? What are you doing? Why aren’t you singing?” He’d have this whole argumentation. He’d have the Scriptures in mind. He knew what he needed to do. And in between his pew (probably he sat in the same spot, like we like to sit in our seats) and that adventure room over there, God would speak to him and say, “That’s not what I want you to tell them. I want you to talk about how much I love them, how delighted I am that they’re here tonight.” And God would just change the whole mindset, because he was open to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
When you get into that self-righteous mindset, the cautionary note is: just ask God to help you, because you never know until he leads you and guides you. Paul never had the moment, up until this point, where he heard God. I guarantee God was trying to get his attention before. God doesn’t just let you run your own way thinking you’re doing his work. He’ll give you a sign. It’s like Bruce Almighty, right? “God, give me a sign.” And there’s a truck in front of him that’s like, “Stop. Don’t go. Don’t proceed.” All these street signs on this truck in front of him, and he’s like, “Ah!” And he spins around, goes around, and falls off the bridge. Don’t be him. He did get to meet Morgan Freeman, God, though. That was kind of cool. But all of this to say, God will give you a sign if you’re going the wrong way. Remain open here. Shema: listen.
And at this moment, finally, God knocks him on his butt. He shows up and knocks him over, because he needed a change in perspective. Paul needed to fall over and look up. The imagery is so clear. He’s dead set. He set his face like flint to destroy the Christians. God knocks him on his back, and he looks up: “Oh, what have I done? Who are you?” “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting” (Acts 9.5). He’s killing people for following Jesus. And Jesus doesn’t say, “I’m Jesus. All those people who are following me, you’re persecuting them. That’s a problem.” No. He says, “You’re persecuting me.”
You think you have pain in this life, suffering? Jesus is embracing everything you go through. It’s so comforting that Jesus is right there embracing our suffering with us. But it’s also, again, a cautionary note: what you do to the least of these, you’ve done unto me (Matt 25.40). How do you treat people?
So in this moment, Saul, Paul, has this magnificent awakening, and he walks away blind and feeble and broken. But within a few years he’s this Paul holding up the Church, bringing the Gospel to the Gentiles. Most of the people in this room can trace our spiritual history directly to Paul, because we’re not Jews. They were only talking to the Jews at that point. God quickly changed these things. But he used Paul to bring the Gospel to the whole world. Billions of Christians. How amazing is that? And he was a murderous psycho zealot religious fundamentalist freak, whatever you want to call him. He says himself, “I’m the chief of all sinners” (1 Tim 1.15). All my good works are like nothing, rubbish (Phil 3.8).
All of that to say: you think you don’t have a call in Jesus because of your past, the things you’ve done or haven’t done? That is not true. That is the language of the liar, the father of all lies (John 8.44). That’s the enemy trying to derail you. God has so much for you today. That’s the resurrection story.
So as we end today, we’ll complete the story of Peter. Peter’s gone through this thing where he swam through, he had the meal, he said, “I love you,” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.” And then Jesus ends it, and it’s a perfect imitation, a perfect mirror image, a perfect recreation of the call in the first part. Jesus, after saying this to him, said, “Follow me” (John 21.19). It’s so beautiful, the way he tenderly welcomes Peter back into his destiny. It’s just as beautiful, the way he knocks Saul on his butt and invites him to see the truth in reality, and he sends Ananias to him. I mean, what a cool story, right? Ananias is like, “You’re sending me to who? The guy who’s killing us, who has the authority to take me to the government and have me executed?” “Yeah. He needs your help. He needs to know who I am. You’re going to call him into a destiny you can’t imagine. And I’ll tell him all the things he needs to suffer for that.”
So today, the call of Jesus in the resurrection is: wherever you’re at, come just as you are, and follow me. Amen.