Disqualified to be Chosen
Finding God at the End of Your Rope - Part 6
Sunday, April 5, 2020
Luke 22:54-62, Luke 9:18-20, 1 Peter 1:6-9, 1 Peter 5:6-11
You now rejoice in this hope, even if it’s necessary for you to be distressed for a short time by various trials. This is necessary so that your faith may be found genuine.
- 1 Peter 1:6-7a
I find it interesting that the one who writes so boldly about faith, especially in the midst of trials, is the very one who denied even knowing Jesus when the trials came his way.
"What are you talking about, Peter?" we might ask. "If what you're saying is true, your faith wasn't very genuine all those times you challenged Jesus? Where was your faith when he was arrested and needed you the most?" And of course we would not be wrong in such a challenge. We might even begin to feel a bit self-righteous if we have not personally denied Jesus in such a public way.
And yet it is the very moments of weakness and even failure in Peter's life that make his words real. Peter did face many trials, and he knows what it means to fail. Yet it is through those trials that his own faith was purified and made genuine. He thought he "believed" in Jesus before, when he was the first to declare him as the Messiah. But it didn't take long before he started questioning Jesus about the need for his suffering and death. Before the rooster crowed, Peter discovered three times just how little he really believed. And he never forgot it.
I can imagine the other disciples questioning Peter's qualifications for church leadership, especially John. "Why should Peter be in charge?" he might wonder. I was the only one who stuck with Jesus to the end. I stood with him at the cross and cared for his mother Mary after he died. I never denied him. I never abandoned him." I wonder if John ever felt like the older brother in the story of the Prodigal Son, the one who stayed faithful all the way through while others ran away. Surely denying that you even know Jesus should disqualify a person from leadership in the Body of Christ.
Through all of his failures, Peter came to a surprising realization about the Kingdom of God:
We can't be disqualified from serving God because we were never qualified to begin with.
We don't follow Jesus because we are qualified, but because we are chosen!
** Note: This Sermon was recorded at New Hope United Methodist Church on April 9, 2017. In light of the current COVID-19 pandemic, I interrupted this series to address the present fears and concerns in our nation and world. I invite you to continue following our orignal Lent series: “Finding God at the End of Your Rope” with this pre-recorded sermon.
Videos of our current online worship services are available at https://www.craigsefa.org/worship.