IDENTIFICATION, DENIAL, ACCEPTANCE: BUILDING A GOSPEL RESOLVE
Luke 22:54-62: LIFEWAY SPRING QUARTERLY 2021 SESSION 10
Have you ever heard the phrase: “He or she is a real ‘Shrinking Violet!” Shrinking Violet has come to mean someone who is awkwardly shy, coy and timid to the detriment of their own social well being. It is definitely not a new phrase but neither is it “ancient” nor is its origins lost to us. During the Romantic period of English writers and poets there was a famous literary group/gang called The Hunt Circle. Not to be confused with Hollywood’s concoction of The Dead Poets’ Society (great movie by the way) and much more “rural” and reclusive, the Hunt Circle was made up of such literary greats as founder- Leigh Hunt, Keats, Shelley, Browning, Hazlitt, and Lord Tennyson. These poets were known for their long woodland sojourns where they would “retreat” for inspiration to fall like rain from the sky. In the 1850’s Western Europe was unfamiliar with the vibrant and bright African violet or the many hybrids of violets and pansies from the Viola family Europe and America have today. The Hunt Circle was obsessed with “wooing” the hearts of their English girlfriends but was frustrated with their coyness and “putting off” behavior. One day, they noticed a patch of English “wood/scrub violets” that always seemed to hide their beauty under painful stickers, briars and brush. One of the poets coined the phrase- our girlfriends are like those “shrinking violets” and it stuck!
In our lesson today, Simon Peter is behaving like a “shrinking violet” instead of the bold Apostle he would become. When he is accosted and accused of being one of Jesus’ Disciples and followers he denies Christ three times. We will see as we examine the lesson the six stages that Peter, as a maturing Disciple and future leader of the early church had to go (“grow”) through in his Faith: Identification, Denial, Forgiveness, Acceptance, Proclamation and Resolve. These are temptations and stages that we all face as believers, and like Peter when we trust in God and turn to Him, even when we fail miserably, He is always there to grow us further than we were before, making us stronger, better, bold and more like Jesus if we will let Him! Remember our interpretive framework for Luke: Jesus and the Gospel is a gift from Heaven, Jesus and the Gospel is a gift received, and Jesus and the Gospel is a gift proclaimed… Let’s take a look!
Identification:
In Luke 22:31-37 we have the end of Jesus’ establishment of the LORD’s Supper and the New Covenant established through His blood and brokenness by which the Disciples and all believers identify with Jesus. Think what that must have been like… The solemnity and intimacy of fellowship between Lord and servant, God and man, the shared fellowship of the cup of suffering and reward the Disciples by grace and God’s choosing were allowed to partake and be combined with in the very ministry of Christ not just as servants but as friends (John 15:15)! But, as we discussed far from being a “tender” and defining moment for the Disciples it became an immature and carnal argument over greatness and pecking order capitalized by an emphasis on betrayal! Jesus knew the Disciples would eventually identify with Him in His sufferings by growth, grace and their own convinced and resolved emulations but they definitely weren’t there yet- Peter especially. Peter makes bold assertions that he would die or go to prison for Jesus (v. 33) but Jesus knows better. Peter will deny Him three times, but Jesus has prayed for Him-that his faith may not fail, and that when Peter has turned back he will strengthen others (v.32)! One cannot read Luke 22 without clearly seeing Jesus’ foreknowledge of events, and His great patience and vision of who He and the Holy Spirit is shaping these men to be through and on account of these divine providences disguised through tragic, and unjust circumstances… So what causes Peter who has with great zeal to this point identified himself with Christ as one brought from death to life, from lost to found, from worthless to treasured to deny Jesus?
Denial
Last week we looked at Gethsemane (v.39-53) and the Disciples prayerlessness. This week that prayerlessness bears bitter fruit for Peter… Jesus is arrested and taken to the house of the High Priest and true to his oath- to stick by Jesus, Peter (and John) follow at a distance (Jn 18:15). Yet Peter’s “boldness” is more “brashness” in disguise. There are many things in life that can cause us to wander step by step away from God and not only deny Him but deny our own weaknesses apart from Him. Our denials come from fear, to doubt, to prayerlessness, to misplaced and foolish confidences in ourselves and our own abilities. . Have you ever been like Peter and abused the Third Commandment? (Exodus 20:7, Mt 5:33-37) Sure, you practice good “Baptist etiquette” taught to you at Hardin-Simmons, Howard Payne and Baylor: “Don’t drink, dip, smoke, fuss n cuss or chew or go with girls/guys that do!” we don’t dare break the letter but as Jesus claims in His Sermon on the Mount, we are oblivious to the intent. Like William Ernest Henley’s Poem Invictus our misplaced resolve in our own righteousness can hurt us spiritually. “It matters not how straight the gate, how charged with punishment the scroll. I am the master of my fate I am the Captain of my soul!” And we headlong ourselves with the brashness of our oaths and self-confidences towards a shipwreck of our faith! In our pride, in leaning on our own understanding (Prov 3:5-6) of things instead of trusting, listening, obeying, and following Jesus in humility we find ourselves slowly adrift… Peter’s moorings partially cut we find him at the end of the Gospel of John (Jn 21) gone back with the other disciples (“taking a break” from missions) and “fishing” like he was when he was lost. All of us need rest each week- we all need a weekly Sabbath, but if you find yourself stepping away more than stepping forward. If you’re distancing yourself from your faith and in your fellowship with other Christians, if you’re not delighting in the Word and serving others like you used to- investigate the reasons why and before you just go ahead and attempt to reconnect pray, consider Psalm 51 and 139:23-24- find out what’s the problem and take it to Jesus. Confess the truth and ask forgiveness if needed…
Forgiveness & Acceptance
Our material focuses only on the immediate context of Luke but let’s look a little further by considering Peter’s forgiveness and reinstatement in John 21. Peter is filled with regret, possibly doubt- not in Jesus’ power and love for others but Jesus’ power and love for him (Jn 21:17); his confidence is shattered and so is his belief that Jesus could ever or even want to use Peter for the Son of Man’s glory ever again- especially after failing so miserably! Peter’s dwelled on Lk 22:31, his brashness in v. 33 and his sinful fulfillment in v. 34 but he’s forgotten the grace of verse 32! The good news is Jesus not only offers Peter Mercy, but Grace through His forgiveness! And Jesus offers us that same mercy and grace today! When we repent and come to our senses over our sin and spiritual foolishness we are tempted to go to the opposite extreme and have no confidence whatsoever that God could use us again! How often we forget that our faith in Jesus is not just an exhortation to Trust in Him but to realize that because of Jesus we can do all things through Him! When we have faith in Jesus we realize He has confidence in us because His presence is with us! 3 times Peter denied Christ, 3 times Jesus encourages Peter to confess his love for Him. Twice Peter and the disciples run away- (from the garden and from Jerusalem to Galilee to fish) but Jesus finds them, Jesus encourages them, Jesus believes in them, and Jesus commands Peter and reinstates him 3 times to the holy mission of the Gospel! And Peter accepts- bringing glory to God- even in his death!
Dear friends, Jesus doesn’t just forgive us and leave us as lesser Christians shamed by our past failures left in limbo and quasi-service (Jesus doesn’t but we know many a person and even a few churches that have!) No, Jesus does more than forgive- HE REDEEMS! He washes us clean- “white as snow” (Isa 1:18) and reinstates us to His good purposes and work (Mt 28:18-20, Lk 24:47-49, Acts 1:8). The strongest part of our repentance is not just asking for forgiveness but accepting it and knowing more fully the grace of God in it! It made all the difference for Peter and it makes all the difference for us. There is no sin, or pit of our own failures so deep that the love of God and His forgiveness in Christ Jesus our Lord cannot overcome and supersede to His glory! Peter is convinced, and moved to proclaim by the holy fire of the Spirit and the resolve that comes from the Name! We truly cannot say we have experienced the full loveliness of Christ until we see His love firsthand in the grace of His forgiveness and redemption offered to us from and in the ugliness and ungodliness of our sin thru Faith in His name.
Proclamation & Resolve
The transformation of our thinking, beliefs, and understandings of our experiences should lead to action. Peter’s acceptance of Christ’s forgiveness was a “game changer” for him. The best example of this in scripture is found when we include one other further scriptural context connected to our passage… 1 Peter 1:3-9 which is the hallmark of Peter’s Gospel ministry. Peter the “brash” disciple has become Peter the bold Apostle! No longer is he afraid to proclaim the Gospel, to share the love he has for Jesus, nor is he afraid to face opposition. Peter was ordained for such a task but he wasn’t born that way- it was through his successes and failures, his trusting, his denying and his reinstating that he truly came to know the grace of God found in Christ Jesus His Lord. Peter’s life reminds me of Abraham Lincoln and the first Lincoln Memorial (the one on the back of the penny) in Hodgenville, Kentucky; the memorial harmonizes the seeming contrast between “greatness” and “humility”. The outer monument is structured in marble pillars and opulent Greek Revival architecture like the District of Columbia but inside the massive crypt is a crude mud caked log cabin that represents the humble beginnings of Lincoln. The message is clear: “great leaders are not born but made.” God is shaping all of us believers more and more into the image of His Son for His glory. The question is will we let Him? Will we stay close to Him in our failures as well as our successes- we can learn and grow from both just as Peter did. Peter knew through faith that he “was shielded by God’s Power” (v. 5) and he didn’t have to be afraid anymore. He could speak up, he could live out and he could serve Jesus with unswerving resolve as he trusted in Him.
So many believers struggle with proclaiming the Gospel and their resolve to stay the course of ministry in spite of great difficulty wavers- why is that? Perhaps it is because the grace of God claimed to be known is more of an afterthought in our lives than the game changer the defining experience it is meant to be that COMPELS us to action (see Phil 1:29-2:10) like it did for Peter. As James says, we’ve looked in the mirror and forgotten our reflection (James 1:23-25); we can’t proclaim what we don’t know and we can’t testify to what we have not experienced and carry with us on a daily basis. This is why worship is so dynamic for us and not for others. Non-Christians find Christian worship dull, boring, and repetitive. We say the same things a thousand different ways to proclaim the same holiness, love, forgiveness, and grace of God through the Gospel. This should excite us because the Gospel is EVERYTHING to us and defines our life! But it does not define anyone until they personally experience God through the conviction of the Holy Spirit and accept God’s forgiveness. Christian Doctrine is more than Universal Truth in belief, it is personal- God not only “so loved the world” He so loved me and this is how I know!
If you’re having trouble proclaiming the Gospel, if you waver in your resolve- go back and reflect on what you personally have been saved from then reflect on what you have been saved to personally and praise God. If you can’t see that clearly in your life- if it’s strictly academic and not experiential, if you can believe in “words” but not in the Living Word that is to be transforming you, me, us personally and daily then ask God to make Himself known to you and seek Him, and let other believers know so they can pray and petition with you! Work out your salvation with fear and trembling like Peter and the result of that will be a proclamation and resolve of God at work in and thru your life that no one can deny! God is faithful! Love in Christ to you all! Darrin.