Failure IS An Option
A reading for Friday, June 26, 2015: Luke 22:31-38.
Perhaps the greatest reason most of us don't live the Christian life more fully is due to our fear of failure...
Luke 10 describes the sending of the seventy. "Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals." It was the same just a chapter before for the early disciples. The Christian life is a journey in search of peace!
Yet, today's lesson declares that even Peter, the leader of the early disciples and certainly the whole church, was an utter failure. As soon as Peter declares that he is "ready to go to prison and to death" in honoring the Lord, Jesus calls him out and prophesies that he would deny even knowing him. We know from the rest of the story that this is to be true. Then the lesson references even the failure of Luke 10 to be fulfilled in Peter and the others. "But now, the one who has a purse must take it, and likewise a bag."
If Peter and the other earliest disciples could fail in such a profound way in their search for peace, then what hope is there for us...
Truth is, failure is part of the journey and the good news is that it always has been. Don't set out on the journey called the Christian life with an ethic of perfection, because you will very soon be found wanting. Truth is, we are dependent on the righteousness of Jesus Christ and not our own. Peter is redeemed in the end, even after he fails, because he stays in relationship with Christ. Jesus Christ is the only way to peace. When we fail too, our best hope is to confess our faults and throw ourselves on the mercy of the Lord where there if forgiveness and ultimately peace. Just like Peter.
Don't let our fear of failure keep us from living the life God intends as our best life!
Perhaps the greatest reason most of us don't live the Christian life more fully is due to our fear of failure...
Luke 10 describes the sending of the seventy. "Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals." It was the same just a chapter before for the early disciples. The Christian life is a journey in search of peace!
Yet, today's lesson declares that even Peter, the leader of the early disciples and certainly the whole church, was an utter failure. As soon as Peter declares that he is "ready to go to prison and to death" in honoring the Lord, Jesus calls him out and prophesies that he would deny even knowing him. We know from the rest of the story that this is to be true. Then the lesson references even the failure of Luke 10 to be fulfilled in Peter and the others. "But now, the one who has a purse must take it, and likewise a bag."
If Peter and the other earliest disciples could fail in such a profound way in their search for peace, then what hope is there for us...
Truth is, failure is part of the journey and the good news is that it always has been. Don't set out on the journey called the Christian life with an ethic of perfection, because you will very soon be found wanting. Truth is, we are dependent on the righteousness of Jesus Christ and not our own. Peter is redeemed in the end, even after he fails, because he stays in relationship with Christ. Jesus Christ is the only way to peace. When we fail too, our best hope is to confess our faults and throw ourselves on the mercy of the Lord where there if forgiveness and ultimately peace. Just like Peter.
Don't let our fear of failure keep us from living the life God intends as our best life!
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