For a moment, let's bow our heads in prayer.
Father, we ask that you would gently but powerfully pour out the Holy Spirit upon us this morning.
Father, once again, we ask that as you make us more aware of who Jesus is and what he did for us,
that, Father, gripped by that, more and more gripped by that,
you would help us to understand who we are, who each of us are,
and how it is that you desire to shape us and form us and prepare us, Father, for an eternity in the new heaven and the new earth.
And, Father, that is a work that only your Holy Spirit can do.
And so we ask that you would be the one who would do that wonderful work in our hearts and our minds this morning.
And we ask this in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen.
Please be seated.
So, you know, we've all had situations, and maybe we've been guilty of ourselves,
where, you know, we say to somebody, you know, go ahead and tell me what you really think.
Like, I won't be upset. Like, I won't be mad. I won't hold it against you.
And sometimes when people say that to us, they really mean it.
They will accept it. They will hear it.
They won't hold it against us.
But as we all know, sometimes that's not true.
We mistakenly or erroneously go ahead and tell them what we actually think about something or what we've done,
and they do hold against us.
A hundred million years ago, when I was...
In the old Diocese of Ottawa that I was part of, there was a discernment process,
a big process that you went through to discern whether or not you were called to be an Anglican minister,
an Anglican presbyter.
And sort of the culmination of that discernment on one level was going away for these two days, three days.
You'd go off to... We went to a motel, and there was, you know, people from a variety of all over the province.
And basically, from the time you arrived until lunchtime on Saturday, and you had to arrive on Thursday,
you were assessed by all of these different people.
But you also had specific times of assessment.
And in my specific time of assessment, the guy was... He was an Anglican minister, and he just was... It was just odd.
He kept asking me things like,
What do you feel good about?
I don't... Like, I don't know. How do you answer a question like that?
I don't know. Like, I feel good that it's sunny outside?
I don't know. I like...
You know, what do you feel bad about?
Like, what makes you happy? What makes you...
He's asking me all these vague questions.
And then he... And I'm sort of giving him some type of lame answer, probably.
Because, yeah, I mean, the fact of the matter is,
everybody at it, including me, are unbelievably tense, right?
You're under whatever that is, like 48 hours, not counting sleep,
of intensive scrutiny that helps to determine your future.
So, yeah, there's no stress here amongst me or any of the other people.
It was really dumb questions.
Anyway, finally, after about 10 minutes, he said to me,
Well, tell me, what is it you really don't like about the Anglican Church?
Well, I'm not going to answer that question.
And then he presses me and presses me and presses me.
And he kept saying, Listen, I'm not going to hold it against you.
I'm just curious. Like, you know, I'm just curious.
So, kid you not, at that time at a university that I was still connected with,
which will go nameless in case you can trace back who I'm referring to,
there was an Anglican minister who was a chaplain.
And I'd heard him speak several times.
And that Anglican minister didn't believe that Jesus had risen from the dead,
didn't believe in the incarnation or the virgin birth,
didn't believe most things in the New Testament actually happened.
Like, you just name any core doctrine.
He didn't even hide that he didn't believe it.
He boasted and tried to encourage everybody else to stop believing in these things.
So, I just said, You know, there's this Anglican minister there,
and he says all of these things.
And as far as I'm concerned, if he believes those things,
he shouldn't be an Anglican minister.
Well, that's when I discovered he was going to hold it against me,
and he was going to make a big deal of it.
And rather than assessing me for the next 30 minutes,
he gave me a 30-minute lecture about how maybe I was just not well-read enough.
Maybe this other minister is more spiritually and intellectually and academically advanced,
and on and on and on.
And then in my third assessment, it turned out that I had to answer the question.
I was narrow-minded and prejudiced because there were some concerns about it.
Now, just as an aside, how on earth did I pass that, you're wondering?
In those days, I had hair down to my belt and a beard,
and I think that's the only reason I passed.
Because they wanted younger people,
and I just didn't look like somebody would hold those views.
So, I think they gave me a pass,
and they probably have been regretting it ever since,
but that's a separate story.
But the problem is, as we all know,
that sometimes, you know, people say that,
they say they're not going to hold it against you,
they say certain things, but they just don't mean it.
They just don't mean what we say.
And this very, very, very sad text that we're looking at today,
and for some of these sermons I've been saying,
imagine that they were taking the Gospel of Mark,
and they were turning it into like a Netflix series,
or something like that,
or an Amazon Prime series,
or Crave, or whatever, HBO.
And, you know, every week there was a bit of an episode.
And this would be an episode that is just frankly sad.
It ends in sorrow.
It ends in almost inconsolable, heartbreaking sorrow.
And the question arises from the text,
it's like, why is it that there would be such a sad story?
Like, why would this be in the Bible?
Why would this be in the Gospel?
A story which is so sad,
a story about failure,
a story about guilt,
a story about doing wrong.
But it really enters into a very, very profound topic
in terms of whether or not,
well,
the older you are,
the more that you understand,
I think wise people understand,
that what we need is not,
we need justice always, of course.
I'm not denying that we need justice.
But more than justice,
we need forgiveness.
And is Jesus serious
when he talks about forgiveness?
Like, is the Bible serious about it?
Does it have some wise things to say
about one of the deepest needs
that human beings have,
which is a need for forgiveness?
So let's look.
If you have your Bibles,
it's Mark chapter 14,
verses 66 to 72.
And just in terms of,
you know,
if this was Netflix or Amazon Prime
or whatever,
there'd be a little recap at the beginning.
And rather than just pushing
the skip recap button,
just sort of just before that,
there's been lots of very sad things.
We're sort of almost halfway through
the 24 hours that changed the world.
It's all the first day of the Passover
because Jewish people at that time,
still actually,
the day begins at sunset
and ends the next sunset.
That's how the day works.
So there's 24 hours that changed the world.
Jesus has predicted to his disciples
and his other friends
he's going to be betrayed.
Judas has, in fact, betrayed him.
Jesus has been just throwing himself
on the ground in sorrow,
calling out to the Father
to answer a prayer with yes,
and the Father says no.
And Jesus is seized,
and Judas,
Jesus has just been through
a kangaroo court,
a show trial,
and at the end of it,
like on,
given that his life depends
upon how he answers it,
he goes in,
he gives the honest answer
that he is the Messiah,
he is God,
the Son of God,
and his enemies have got
what they need
to put him to death.
And so while that's going on,
this story happens.
Okay?
And here's how it begins,
verse 66.
And as Peter was below
in the courtyard,
one of the servant girls
of the high priest came
and seeing Peter warming himself,
she looked at him and said,
you also were with the Nazarene,
Jesus.
But he denied it,
saying,
I neither know nor understand
what you mean.
And he went out,
Peter went out into the gateway
and the rooster crowed.
Now just a couple of things
about this.
First of all,
it's very interesting.
We talked about this last week
to show that the whole,
that his enemies attacking Jesus
is the examination of Jesus
doesn't take place
in any official place
like where the Sanhedrin meets
or the official court,
but in a high priest's house
where there's guards
in the courtyard.
And here we see that
while Peter is speaking below,
Jesus, we now know,
is on the second floor.
That's where his enemies
are going after him
on the second floor
and Peter is outside below him.
And he has a,
Jesus is put down
by a servant girl.
You know, here it is.
Jesus, as we looked at last week,
you can go back
and read it later,
he makes,
in the presence of his enemies
on trial for his life,
he makes this momentous declaration
that he, in fact,
is the Messiah,
that he is, in fact,
God, the Son of God.
He actually confesses to this
in the presence of his enemies
in a capital trial
where he knows
they want to have him
put to death.
And while he's making
these momentous claims,
and if you're here
as a seeker
or you're not quite sure
what you think of,
that's,
we'll talk about that,
not necessarily today,
but why that's a good thing
to believe,
but later on,
we will talk about
why those,
why it is,
it's reasonable
to believe that,
and we'll say something
in a moment,
but while this is going on,
the woman has just
a casual put down
of Jesus,
the Nazarene Jesus.
Some of you have heard
me explain it before.
If I was to bring
somebody up front
and I was to introduce
the person as,
you know,
this is,
this is an Oxford guy,
Oxford gal,
or Cambridge,
MIT,
you know,
it's,
that's who this person is,
or if I was to say this,
you know,
John here is from
Apple headquarters,
you'd all go,
oh,
this person's a somebody,
you know,
this person here
has just come,
he's,
he or she is with
the Prime Minister's office,
the Chief of Staff,
they're here to address you,
I'm trying to impress you
with their credentials,
but Nazarene is
nowheresville,
it would be as if
and today,
if I was to invite
Steve up to speak
and said,
this is Steve
from Brudenell,
and Brudenell,
as I've said to you before,
if you look in a big
empty spot
of eastern Ontario
and you're trying to go
from one empty spot
to another empty spot,
you pass through Brudenell,
it's nowhereville,
and,
and so this is just
a casual put down
of Jesus,
the Nazarene,
the guy from nowhere,
the guy from
unimportantville,
like we're no,
like we're only
hicks live
and nothing is ever
of great value,
but then Peter
gives this really
weird answer,
look,
look at it again,
and by the way,
verse 68 says,
but he denied it,
saying,
I neither know
nor understand
what you mean,
although then he goes
out farther
from the light,
like farther off
into the darkness,
but here's the thing,
it's weird,
in the original language,
he says,
there are two separate
words for knowledge,
the first knowledge,
type of knowledge,
is theoretical
or abstract knowledge,
it's E equals MC squared
type of knowledge,
okay,
it's like going
to university
and taking a,
you know,
a theory of numbers,
or,
you know,
the theory,
the high level,
and the other one
is practical knowledge,
and this is just
like a weird answer,
like she just says,
hey,
you're with the
Nazarene Jesus,
and he said,
I neither have
the theoretical knowledge
or the practical knowledge
to understand
what that means,
like what?
Like privately,
she probably said to later,
there's this jerk
over there,
like he gave me
this really stupid answer,
and I bet that Peter
at the time
didn't think
he denied Jesus,
I thought,
I think he thought
he was being clever,
what exactly do you mean
by Jesus,
it's a common name,
like I,
you know,
what about Nazarene,
what does from mean,
like,
I don't know,
like it's just,
here,
if you could put up
the first point,
just a little
off the side point,
but important,
beware of using cleverness
to try and cover up
your unfaithfulness,
beware of using cleverness
to try to cover up
your unfaithfulness,
actually,
the book of common prayer
has a really,
if you use morning
and evening prayer,
it's called
dissembling and cloaking
your sin,
it's a beautiful phrase,
dissembling means
you try to confuse people
with what you've actually said
or you try to hide it
and that's what Peter's
trying to do
and I bet you actually
that at the time,
Peter probably thought
that he,
I didn't deny her,
he sort of got out of it
somehow with,
I mean,
the servant girl
probably thought
he was a jerk,
he probably thought
he hadn't denied it
because technically,
technically,
it might not sound like
to him that it's a denial,
but it was,
it was a denial.
In fact,
actually,
you'll notice
that the text nails it,
but he denied it
saying,
I neither know,
so that the text,
just one of the things
you need to know
about the text here,
which is really interesting
at this point,
so first of all,
how would anybody know
about this encounter
unless Peter told them
about it,
unless afterwards
Peter told them
what had happened
and that Peter
actually shared
with people
that I thought
I was being clever,
but I was really
just being a jerk
and I,
you know,
for that brief moment,
I thought I'd avoided it,
but in hindsight,
what it was
is actually,
it was a denial.
It's not just,
and one of the,
and one of the things
in particular
is that most modern scholars
and following
the testimony
of the early church
believe that Peter,
this is ultimately
Peter's gospel,
even though it has
Mark's name on it.
In other words,
that Mark wrote down
how Peter
remembered Jesus
and what Peter saw
and did with Jesus
and Mark wrote it down.
And,
and so it's very interesting
that not only
later on
for posterity
does Peter label it
a denial,
but as we'll see
in a moment,
by the end of the story,
Peter has had
a change of heart,
a deep sorrow
that he now understands
that this first thing
that he did
wasn't clever,
but was in fact
a denial.
We'll see that.
Look at verse,
look at verse 69.
And the servant girl
saw Peter
and he goes off
into the darkness.
She saw Peter
and began again
to say to the bystanders,
this man is,
is one of them.
But again,
Peter denied it.
And,
and actually
just sort of pause here.
You can't know this
unless you know
the original language,
but in the original language,
what it really is saying
is Peter
not just denied,
he didn't just say no,
he went on and on
and on and on
and on about it.
Right?
You know how sometimes,
so if one thing
what we try to do
sometimes to cover up
when we've been unfaithful,
we,
we think we're being clever
with fine distinctions
or something like that.
The other way that we do,
we try to get out of
taking responsibility
for a certain thing
or denying something
is we,
we talk a lot about it.
Right?
You know,
I'm not picking sides
in part,
but one of the things
politicians do
when somebody tries
to,
to pin them
on whether they've done
something,
they give a long
convoluted answer,
hoping that by the end
of the answer,
which isn't an answer,
you've forgotten
what you've asked.
Right?
And,
and so that's what Peter does.
He goes on and on
and on and on about it.
But it actually ends up
backfiring on him.
Look again at verse 70.
But again,
he denied it.
And after a little while,
the bystanders again said
to Peter,
certainly you're one of them,
for you are a Galilean.
In other words,
the more he talked,
his Galilean accent
came out.
His Galilean
isms
came out.
But he,
Peter,
began to invoke
a curse
on himself
and to swear,
I do not know
this man
of whom you speak.
Now,
just sort of
pause here for a second.
Some of you,
especially if you're looking
in your own Bibles,
you might see that
it's worded a little bit
differently.
Some of the,
the versions of the Bible
says,
he began to invoke
a curse on them
and,
and to swear.
So,
what's happening there,
it's,
one of the things
about this,
the language of the time,
in the original language,
you can't actually tell.
The way the words are,
it could mean either one.
It could either mean
that he
curses himself
or curses another person.
And it might even just be
that he did both,
by the way.
And I'll explain
what he means
when I,
what this is.
So,
here's what it is.
And we all,
maybe none of us do this.
Maybe we know people
who talk this way,
but it's definitely
a thing of books
and movies.
You know,
the first thing is,
he said,
may God,
in a sense,
okay,
just,
may God strike me dead.
I swear to you
on my mother's grave,
I'm telling you the truth.
That's invoking a curse
on himself
and taking an oath
that he's telling the truth.
Right?
The,
the other way is,
you know,
to be mad at the other person
and,
and just pardon my language
to say in a sense
to somebody who's challenging,
you know,
God damn you.
I swear,
I swear on my children's lives
when I'm telling you the truth.
And you can see that,
in a sense,
it might even be
that he did both
and it's just interesting
because,
you know,
nowadays when we,
you know,
we can type on the computer
and you just type
and type
and it just goes on forever.
But back then,
things to write on
were very precious
and expensive
and you just had
a certain number of words
that you could do
and that just one of the things
that in the original language
it could be
that he did both.
But it's more likely,
but people,
translators,
because of English,
you can't do it.
Translators have to figure out
which one's most likely
and it's probably more likely
that he's not trying
to intimidate people
because he's,
he's frightened
and so he does the first thing,
you know,
like,
you know,
God,
strike me dead.
You know,
may God curse me forever.
Strike me dead.
I swear on my mother's grave
or I swear by the temple
that I am telling you the truth.
I am telling you the truth.
I do not know this man
of whom you speak.
If you could put up
just the second point.
Some of you might be familiar
with the Bible
and in Matthew chapter 5,
Jesus warns us
against taking oaths
and that's because
it is far too common
to invoke a curse
or make an oath
to try and cover up wrongdoing.
Right?
Like,
if you see in a movie
somebody saying like that,
like,
I swear on my mother's grave
or whatever,
they're lying usually,
right?
When they say something like that,
it usually means they're lying
and they're trying
to get out of it
and it's not,
not that every time
it happens,
but often that's what happens.
You try to up everything,
you know,
to cover up the fact
that what you're doing
is shady at the best,
but often just downright despicable.
And it's a human problem
and Jesus nails it.
And actually,
you know,
by the way,
one of the arguments
for why this
is so trustworthy,
like,
occasionally you'll come
across skeptics
who'll say,
you know,
that most of these things
in the New Testament,
like,
in these ancient eyewitness
biographies
aren't ancient eyewitness
biographies.
They were written much later
and they were sort of
written in secret
and they're really trying
to serve the power
of the church
and the church's agenda
or some community's agenda.
And one of the arguments
as to why that isn't true
is the fact that Peter
records
his
despicableness.
Like,
how does this serve
propping up the power
structures of the church
if in,
you know,
James and John
and Peter
all are shown
to be failures
and doubters
and deniers
and fleers
and cowards
and liars?
Like,
that's why the text
has the,
has the feel
and the shape
of integrity.
Because this isn't
something you'd make up
if you're trying to make
the Peter party
or the,
the more and more strong
and why everybody
should listen to him
by having Peter
make sure that it's
written down
just how,
how much of a sinner
he was and is.
Well,
remember I said
that it's very
interesting that
Peter has to be
the source of this
and the first denial
he might have at the time
thought it wasn't
really a denial
but now when we're
reading about it
it's nailed
that it's a denial.
Look how
we,
we see that
even in that time
that Peter understood
that what that first
instant was
was actually a denial.
Look at verse 72.
And immediately
the rooster
crowed a second time
and Peter remembered
how Jesus had said
to him
before the rooster
crows twice
you will deny me
three times
and Peter
broke down
and wept.
And in the original
language that broke down
that means broke down
like that means
that means
convulsive sobbing.
that means
hardly able to stand
sorrow.
Barely able to stand
heart-wrenching
sobs
of sorrow.
And it's really interesting
I, you know
it's really interesting
that
it's a rooster
that serves
as the sign
because what is it
about roosters?
Roosters are an image
of strutting
pride.
And so
an image
of strutting
pride
is what brings
Peter
to understand
that he
has nothing
to be proud about
and break him down
in sobs.
So why such a sad
story in the Bible
in the gospel?
It's here I think
because
it's going to say
something to us
very profound
and important
about forgiveness
about patience
about prayer
and about personal
change.
Actually
it's interesting
and if
by the way
one of the people
that I talked to
yesterday
in the coffee shop
or here
shout out to you
you guys do
a great job
it's a wonderful
coffee shop
to go to
so a shout out
to you
if you're watching
one of the
baristas
asked me
as I'm getting
my refill
what I was going
to like
first of all
she said
anyway
she asked me
what I was going
to talk about
tomorrow
which is now
today
and
she said
asked me
if I was ready
yet
and I said
no
that's what
I'm working
on right now
and she said
what are you
going to talk
about
and I said
um
I didn't have
the deer in the
headlight moment
but I said
um
I'm going to
talk about
why forgiving
yourself
doesn't work
and in fact
only makes
things worse
and she goes
whoa
you talk about
things like that
like that
sounds deep
and then we
had this like
there's nobody
else
and then like
the four of
them
I have this
brief talk
a little bit
about why
it is
that self
forgiveness
doesn't work
so here
just
here's the
thing
we could all
think of
stories
in our own
lives
where we feel
bound by
guilt
where we've
done things
which are
terribly wrong
maybe at the
time we didn't
think they were
very wrong
but afterwards
we realized
just how wrong
they were
and
the feeling
of guilt
can be
very very
powerful
it can bind
us
and sometimes
even after a
person has
forgiven us
for the wrong
that they've
done
we've done
to them
we still feel
bound and
trapped by
that guilt
but often
in life
people don't
forgive us
and sometimes
as you know
even those
who don't
forgive us
they move
away or
they die
and they
died not
forgiving us
at all
and so
sometimes we
can be even
doubly bound
by it
we don't really
know where
to go
with our
guilt
and so
the culture
increasingly
what Canadian
culture
North American
culture
increasingly
recommends
you see it
in books
you see it
in movies
is that we
need to learn
to forgive
ourselves
and on one
hand it's a
very very
it's responding
to this
existential need
that not all
of us feel
all of the
time
everybody will
feel at some
point in time
in their life
and many
of us
can feel
it for
many years
and many
seasons of
our lives
this sense
of guilt
and with it
this sense
of shame
and a sense
of type
of powerlessness
in the face
of it
and it
sort of
beats us
up
it
takes the
oomph out
of our
sails
it makes
it hard
for us
to look
another
person
in the
eye
it makes
it hard
for us
to enter
into a
relationship
or a
friendship
it can
make it
hard for
us to
see other
people
it's very
isolating
and so in
response to
that our
culture does
the best
it can
it says
you need
to forgive
yourself
but here's
the problem
I use this
example with
them
imagine
this
you know
you
manage to
talk these
other three
into lending
you $5,000
and you
didn't tell
any of the
three of
them
that you
were doing
it to
all of
them
and then
after you
got the
$5,000
you left
and you
never came
back
you never
paid
them
and I
can tell
you for
each of
those three
young women
$5,000
is a lot
of money
I mean even
for some
of us
who have
a lot
of money
who could
write a
check
for $5,000
we'd be
pretty
upset
if somebody
stole $5,000
on us
and even
worse
if we
found out
that we
were just
one of
three
and that
in fact
it was
$15,000
and then
later on
in Facebook
or Instagram
like a year
or two
or three
years later
you see
their picture
and you
read this
little testimony
that they've
had in
Facebook
about how
they did
these wrong
things to
their three
friends
and it
involved
money
and it's
really
caused
this
person
grief
and
sadness
but
and then
they write
but now
I've forgiven
myself
and I said
you wouldn't
accept that
you say
you dirty
rat
what do you
mean
you forgave
yourself
like for
those of us
who've been
victims of
abuse
and then
you find
out later
two years
later
that the
person who
abused you
says I
now forgive
myself for
it
like what
that doesn't
make who
made who
died and
made you
God
how dare
you absolve
yourself
how dare
you forgive
yourself
you see
that just
doesn't work
it's it's a
type of
self flattery
and delusion
it's it's
taking
like to
forgive
yourself
it's actually
taking two
or three
more steps
into
narcissism
and the
more
narcissistic
and proud
and self
centered you
are the
more damage
you're going
to make
to others
in your
own life
but then
people might
say what
do you
do George
like there's
no hope
well no but
that's actually
what the
gospel is all
about
you see
because
what's
happening in
that moment
even when
there's the
two situations
because sometimes
we can be
overcome
with sorrow
and guilt
and feel bound
and all of that
when a person
has forgiven us
and sometimes
we feel that
when a person
hasn't forgiven us
and we don't
know where to
go to it
and what
this experience
is opening
the door to
is that in
the real
world
in the real
world
the world
of when we
walk out the
door of
streets and
cars and
sunsets and
bank balances
and math
and in the
real world
you have been
created by
God
and God
still exists
and God
has made you
for himself
and your heart
is restless
until it rests
in him
and every
offense against
another person
is also an
offense against
God
there's this
really wonderful
thing I think
it's in Acts 9
where Paul
before he
becomes a
Christian
has been
persecuting
Christians
and Jesus
appears to
him
and Jesus
says to
him
why have
you been
persecuting
me
because every
act of
violence and
abuse against
another person
is also an
act of abuse
against God
and so on
one hand
what we're
longing for
is to know
God
is to know
that our
creator has
forgiven us
and has
forgiven us
in a way
that is
just
that it's
not just
forgetting
it's not
just giving
me a pass
that it's
an actual
absorbing
into himself
the consequences
of what I've
done
there's that
there must be
some way
that God
can forgive
me
if you could
put up the
point
it's very
interesting
that Peter
probably calls
down a curse
upon himself
and here's
the gospel
the curse
that you
deserved
fell on
him
and the
blessing
he deserved
he put
on you
and in
you
the curse
that I
deserved
fell on
Jesus
and the
blessing
he deserved
in fact
he is
blessing
he put
on me
and in
me
when I
come to
him
and acknowledge
my guilt
and my
separation
from him
and my
inability
to save
myself
and I
call out
to him
for mercy
and grace
that Jesus
would have
mercy on
me
and Jesus
hears that
prayer
and he
has mercy
on me
and in
that moment
as I
call out
to him
for mercy
then what
happened on
the cross
2000 years
ago
is applied
to me
and in
the Bible
is very wise
if you trace
through blessings
and curses
and in a
sense
a blessing
and a curse
are opposite
a blessing
when we
bless something
we're asking
that they
will be
fulfilled
that it
will be
fulfilled
that they'll
be fulfilled
that not
just that
they'll be
fulfilled
but that
there's a
telos
an end
to their
life
a good
end to
their life
a meaning
to their
life
a purpose
to their
life
a place
in God's
universe
and with
God
and we're
asking that
they would
be fulfilled
that they
would come
to that
final resting
place
and move
towards
that end
that they
would thrive
that they
would connect
to creation
and to
God himself
that there
would be
restored
relationships
with God
and with
others
and that
they in a
sense would
walk in
beauty
and that
beauty would
characterize
their life
and what
is a curse
a curse
is that
you will
not find
fulfillment
but that
you will
find
frustration
that you
will not
find that
end and
purpose for
which you
were made
but that
you would
be lost
from it
that you
will not
thrive
in terms
of your
end
but that
you will
wither
it will
not be
that you
connect
with
God
and his
creation
but that
you will
be alienated
further
alienated
it is not
that you
enter into
relationship
but that
you become
more lonely
and it's
not that
you walk
in beauty
but that
you are
bound
by boring
ugliness
and that's
what we
wish
when we
say
you know
that
person
they said
they forgave
themselves
and this
is the wrong
thing they
did for me
and this
is what
I hope
they wither
I hope
everybody
knows how
bad they
are
I hope
that God
and others
have nothing
to do
with them
I hope
that their
life will
be completely
and utterly
miserable
that's what
we do
we curse
and the
wonder of
the gospel
is the
curse that
I deserved
fell on
him
and that's
why he
died on
the cross
and the
blessing that
he is
is offered
to me
and it's
offered to
you
we receive
it by
faith
and as
as you
can see
with this
image of
the curse
and the
blessing
it's
deep
we desire
a deep
disorder
in those
who've done
wrong
and we
desire for
ourselves
a deep
blessing
and that's
what we
see is
happening
in the
cross
if you
could put
up the
next point
it is
real and
true
he does
not weigh
your merits
he pardons
your offenses
we see that
actually in the
text not just
in this story
you don't have
if you have
your it's not
going to be on
the screen
because I
forgot to
ask Claire
to put it
on the
screen
but if
you back
when Jesus
in Mark
chapter 14
verse 48
Mark
chapter
four
sorry 28
Mark
chapter 14
verse 28
when Jesus
has predicted
that they're
all going to
flee and
leave him
alone
he says
this is
before the
cross
he knows
what he's
going to
do on
the cross
he knows
they're
going to
all mess
up and
all deny
him and
all flee
from him
but in
verse 28
he has
this promise
for them
but after
I am
raised up
in other
words after
I have
died on
the cross
all alone
I will
be raised
up and
I will
go before
you to
Galilee
in other
words I'm
looking forward
to seeing
you there
and in
Mark
chapter
16
verse 7
after Jesus
has died
and the
grave is
empty and
he's risen
from the
dead
Jesus
says
or that
the message
comes
but go
tell his
disciples
and
Peter
and
Peter
that he
it's the
angel says
go tell
the disciples
and Peter
Jesus
is going
to Galilee
and he
doesn't say
that so
that Peter
can stay
away from
Galilee
but so
that Peter
can go
to Galilee
and see
Jesus
curse that I
deserve fell
on him
the curse
that Peter
deserved
fell on
him
the blessing
that Peter
did not
deserve
the blessing
that Jesus
deserved
as a gift
of grace
is offered
to Peter
just a
couple of
moments
so why
is it by
the way
why is
there such
a sad
oh yeah
one other
thing
do you know
how
strong
tradition
says that
Peter died
depending on
how you date
this
31 to
34 years
after this
account
Peter died
he died
because he
refused
to deny
that the
grave was
empty
and that
Jesus had
risen from
the dead
and therefore
that he
is Messiah
and Lord
and because
he refused
to deny
that Jesus
had conquered
death
he died
by crucifixion
under Nero
in Rome
in 64
why is
there a
sad
story
in the
gospel
it's
because
the need
for the
forgiveness
and these
other few
things I'll
just say
in closing
we need
this in
the real
world
and the
gospel
is about
the real
world
just very
briefly
first if
you could
put up
the thing
as this
story
and as
the gospel
grips you
it forms
you to be
patient
with each
other
if Peter
the apostle
fell
so will
you
so will
I
so will
your brother
and sister
in Christ
and if
the Lord's
grace was
greater than
Peter's fall
his grace
will be
greater for
you
and for
your brother
and sister
in Christ
as the
gospel becomes
real to us
it should
make us
less
judgmental
and anal
and hard
I know
it's hard
to believe
that this
is actually
what's supposed
to happen
if you
ever look
on Twitter
and see
how unbelievably
nasty
Christians
can be
to each
other
but I
have to be
patient with
them
because I
fall too
and if
you could
put up
the
oh
sorry
there's
no
just by
this
point
doesn't
have
it's
not
up
in the
shade
it
also
this
story
helps
us
in
prayer
as I've
said before
part of
what people
outside the
Christian faith
don't understand
is that once
the gospel
becomes real
to your
heart
it becomes
more real
to your
heart
there's a
profound
beauty
and emotional
resonance
to it
I was
talking to
a fellow
in a
coffee
shop
the
other
day
because
he said
that karma
is better
than whatever
Christianity has to say
I said no
karma has no
mercy
and when you
screw up
there's nothing
you can do
you are
helpless
and all
alone
because karma
is pitiless
but I believe
I have a
savior who
knows my
frailty
and stories
like this
means that
when you
have been
betrayed
when people
have been
wronged
you
you can
pour your
heart
out to
Jesus
who's
experienced
that
himself
and he
knows
your
heart
Allah
is
indifferent
and many
of the
eastern
religions
just tell
you that
you have
to just
get over
it
and
learn
to be
separate
from it
and just
observe
yourself
but
that
doesn't
answer
the deep
sorrow
of our
hearts
and we
can pour
out our
hearts
to a
savior
who knows
our
sorrows
who
experienced
sorrow
himself
and knows
the cursedness
of us
and became
our curse
for us
and finally
if you could
put up the
last point
the grace
of our
Lord Jesus
Christ
grounds
draws
and
I can't
read my
writing
what was
the last
one
and
fuels
that's
the word
honest
self
examination
repentance
and amendment
of life
like the
the irony
the paradox
the mystery
of the gospel
is that as
this story
as we hear
of Peter
in light of
what Jesus
does for us
on the cross
and as we
understand what
Jesus has done
for us on the cross
and who he is
and we look at
these stories
rather than
making us
complacent
about the
wrong things
we do
in our
life
it actually
grounds
us looking
at ourselves
and the wrong
that we do
it actually
draws us
the story
in a sense
draws us
and pulls us
the way a light
in a dark
if you're stuck
in a dark
place
and you need to
see a light
in the distance
and it draws
you to know
you can go
that way
to safety
and it propels
you
it provides
this propelling
and it infuels
you to actually
look at yourself
because you see
no matter
how bad
I have been
and when I
realize some of
the things I've
done that are
very very bad
and I can
understand how
people would
want to curse
me
that curse
fell on him
there's no
aspect of how
cursed I am
that he does
not know
that he didn't
drink in his
cup
and so for
the first
time in your
life you can
begin to have
the emotional
and identity
security
to take
responsibility
for your own
crap
and call out
to Jesus
to help you
to move
forward
and live a
good life
live a life
of beauty
invite you
to stand
I hope
you've
gathered from
this and
from my
talk that
you're
invited
for those
of you who
are really
struggling with
guilt you're
you're invited
to know the
gospel even
more deeply
and you
are invited
there's no
better time
now than in
your prayers
to call out
to Jesus
and ask
forgiveness
and ask that
he would help
you amend
your life
and if
you've never
come to
Christ and
you start
to see the
beauty and
the power of
who he is
and the truth
of who he is
there's no
better time
now than to
call out to
him and ask
him to be
your savior
and for those
of you who are
just struggling
with sorrow
there's no
better time
now than to
pour out your
heart
and one of the
things you can
pray for us
is that we as
a congregation
will not just
share the gospel
and proclaim the
gospel but also
that we will be a
community that's
shaped by the
gospel that we
will be a
community where
where it's that
people can become
more godly more
christ-like and
that through
spiritual and
and practical
friendships and
through small
groups and and
and through men's
and women's
ministry that that
we can do life
together that we
can be learn how
to be patient with
each other that we
can we can cry
together that we
can celebrate
together we can
do everything in
between together all
because of the
gospel and please
pray that that
becomes us more
and more and
more
that christ will
truly rule in the
gospel sense in
our midst let's
bow our heads in
prayer father we
thank you that
jesus would do
such an act of
love and grace and
mercy and justice
for us and we
ask lord that the
holy spirit would
bring this story and
bring the gospel and
uh deeply and
deeply into our
hearts that it
would form us
that it would form
us father to stop
flattering ourselves
and and look at
ourselves with with
with moral clarity
so that we might
repent and and you
would give us help
to amend our lives and
we thank you that you
are so patient with us
and and that our end
father in christ our
end in christ is glory
is welcome from you
not weighing our merits
but pardoning our
offenses that the end
of our story in christ
is you smiling at us
and saying welcome
welcome my son welcome
my daughter father make
christ more real to our
hearts we ask this in
the name of jesus your
son and our savior amen
thank you
okay