Those familiar with the New Testament often refer to Peter as the disciple who opened his mouth to change feet.  We think of Peter denying Jesus. Peter, the one who said what we all would like to say, “Jesus, how many times do I really have to forgive this person before I can say ‘That’s it. I have fulfilled my quota. I don’t have to forgive you anymore.’”  Peter, who told Jesus,“You’ll never wash MY feet!”  Sounds ridiculous now, but how would you have felt at that moment? We think of Peter cutting off Malchus’ ear. We think of his rash statement to Jesus, “I’ll never deny you!”

The first time we are introduced to Peter is when his brother Andrew brings him to Jesus.  Immediately Jesus looks at Peter and begins to tell Peter about himself. Jesus said, “You are Simon, the son of Jonah, but you will be called Cephas.”  Ever wonder what it felt like to be inside Peter’s skin at that moment? His brother, Andrew, told him that they had found  the Messiah, the One they had lived all their lives learning about; the One who would rescue the Jewish nation; the One who would fulfill the prophesies. Perhaps Peter is skeptical at that first moment but also hopeful. Could this man be the One? And Peter begins his experiences with Jesus with an identity encounter.  Jesus basically says, “Peter, I know you, and I know who you will become. You are going to change.”

I imagine that Peter looked back to that moment many times during his life. I believe it was a moment that he “hung his hat on”. A Hallmark moment.  A moment that Peter could look back upon and be grateful for. A moment that Peter could cherish as he reflected upon the fact that Jesus knew all about him from the very first moment.  I believe that moment was a gift to Peter.

We all long for someone to know us intimately. Someone to understand us. Someone to believe in our future. That was the beginning moment of Peter’s walk with Jesus. 

Last night I pondered why Jesus made such a concerted effort to minister to Peter after Peter denied Him. Hadn’t all the disciples run away? They all deserted Jesus. Yes, Peter verbally said, “I don’t know the man”, but hadn’t they all basically asserted the same thing by their actions?  And of course, I understand that Peter had a great destiny. God was going to use him mightily on the Day of Pentecost and beyond. But as I meditated on this last night, I had a feeling that there was more to it than that. Not that those factors were not important. Of course they were. But maybe another reason the Scripture is so purposeful in tracing Peter’s walk with Jesus is that it so adequately pictures all our lives.

We are up; then we are down. We have a success; then we fail. We say something profound; we say something stupid. We are bold; we are afraid.

But if God could use Peter whose journey with Jesus encompassed such extreme ends of life’s spectrum, perhaps the message to us is that our lives are also redeemable. Perhaps the message is that if Jesus intimately knew Peter right from the beginning – He knew that Peter would fail miserably – and yet he chose Peter, then maybe he also could also use us.

Peter was with Jesus right from the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry. He was there when the water was turned into wine. He was there when the loaves and fishes multiplied.  He saw people dramatically healed. He ate with Jesus. He was there when the disciples argued about who was the greatest. He was at the Transfiguration and got a glimpse of Jesus’ heavenly glory. He was at the Last Supper. He heard the prophecies. Yet during Jesus most difficult days, Peter failed. He couldn’t stay awake when Jesus’ heart was  anguishing  in the Garden of Gethsemane. He denied Jesus to a servant girl. He denied him again. And not only did Peter fall asleep while he was supposed to be praying with Jesus, now he denies even being there!  Then he denied Jesus to a man who was a relative of the Malchus.  Malchus was with the crowd  who came to arrest Jesus in the Garden. Peter drew his sword, cut off Malchus’ ear. Jesus rebukes Peter, again, and heals Malchus.  Do you get that? Peter had been rash, reactive, and cut off the servant’s ear. Jesus fixes Peter’s mistake, and now Peter denies Jesus to Malchus’ relative.  

But once again, Jesus had spoken  beforehand to Peter. He had told him, “Peter, you will deny me three times but I have prayed for you already. Again Jesus knows Peter’s failure ahead of time. And he says, “I have prayed for you that your faith wouldn’t fail.” Notice that Jesus didn’t say that he prayed Peter wouldn’t fail. Of course, he didn’t want Peter to fail, yet he said he prayed that Peter’s faith wouldn’t fail.  Ahead of time, Jesus tells Peter “When you have returned…”  Do you think that Peter might have heard those words over and over after he denied Jesus? “When you have returned…When you have returned…”  In his darkest moments, I imagine that these words resonated in Peter’s spirit and blew on the embers of his faith.  Jesus knew I would fail, but he said I would return.  Jesus understood that God would use Peter’s failure. It was not unredeemable. But he prayed that Peter would not lose his faith. I don’t think that Jesus was saying he was worried about Peter losing his salvation. I think he was saying that he was concerned that Peter’s failure not destroy him, but be used by God to strengthen others. “When you have returned, strengthen your brothers.”

I guess what I am saying in part is that it is easy to sanitize the Gospel. It is easy to only view the disciples through their glorious moments. But God’s Word takes pains to show us the fullness of human experience so that we can identify with what we would call the “great” men and women of God.  Was Peter great? Yes, he was, but he was also a man. Flawed in ways. Weak at times.  He had his moments when perhaps we would have said to him, “Duh, stupid.” Oh, we could never imagine that now because it would be less than reverent.  But have we stripped away one of the aspects of humanness of God’s servants that God never meant us to? If we sanitize the Gospel so that only great, perfect people are the heroes, then the message to the world is that the Gospel is not for you. It is only for the strong. Oh, I know we would never actually say that, but is that in fact what we are saying to lost humanity when what God is trying to say is that the Gospel is for the weak, the foolish, the fallen.  Please don’t misunderstand me. I am not excusing sin at all. I am not saying that there are excuses for our sinfulness. I am saying that there is provision for our humanness.

Oh, we might say that this was all prior to the crucifixion and that afterwards Peter was different.  I beg to differ with you.  What about after Jesus resurrection when he has breakfast with Peter.  We still find Peter being Peter. Jesus tells him that there are some tough times ahead for Peter and then Peter basically says, “Well, Lord, if I am going to suffer, what about John?”  to which Jesus replies, “That is none of your business, Peter. That is up to me.”  Peter still has some things to learn.

Just a matter of days later, Peter is there when the Holy Spirit is poured out and with boldness he begins again to lead the disciples. He preaches on the Day of Pentecost.  He proclaims to the lame man that there is a way to be healed. It is Jesus. Then after Pentecost, Paul has to correct Peter for shying away from the Gentiles when the Jews were around. 

From failure to fullness. Peter, just an ordinary man, finds Jesus.  He begins to follow him. And  still today the Gospel message is preached through Peter’s life. God uses imperfect people.  It is the message I have long loved. From the first moment I was captured by the idea that God could use me, I have been in awe of this message because I know my own heart.  And just like Peter, I hang my hat on the revelation that God knows me intimately and yet loves me and works in and through my life. 

Perhaps the words to the old hymn “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” say it best of all. Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.

You have a wonderful way of…

You really have a gift of …

You are a gift to me…

I believe in you!

Words of encouragement.  Words of faith in another. Words of affirmation.

We all need them. As a matter of fact, our soul wilts without them. I’m not speaking of flattery which we might give or receive with the end in mind of manipulating someone for some purpose of our own.  I am speaking of true encouragement.

God created us to give and receive it. In the beginning moments of time, Adam named his wife “Eve” which meant “life – the mother of all living.”  Is that a big deal?  You bet!  She had just fallen.  She was draped in discouragement and disappointment.  When her husband looked at her and called her Eve, he was saying, “You are life to me and to the purposes of God in the earth”. He was fulfilling one of his purposes as her husband – to cover her with love and encouragement.  He was also affirming his agreement with what God had decreed after her failure – “Satan, through this woman’s seed, your head will be bruised – crushed. You have brought destruction, but you and your purposes will ultimately be destroyed and cast down – through the very one you have attacked.  Her seed will topple you.”  Adam’s agreement with God was a shift from his earlier statement which indicated that he wanted to blame his wife for his own fall. After hearing God’s perspective, he now was able to speak life over his wife – instead of accusation.

I believe we are all created with a deep longing to be significant. To impact our world.  Our world at home. Our world at work. Our world – wherever we are living it out.

That is not a wicked thing.  It is the image of God within us.  We can make it wicked if we live out of selfish desires, or we can make it deeply meaningful when we fulfill our purpose as it connects with God’s design for our lives and the lives of those we touch. 

When we are bowed low with condemnation as the first woman certainly was, how beautiful it is when someone else can see beyond our failure and say, “You have purpose!  I believe in you!” 

It is part of our connectedness to humankind.  We need each other. 

Sometimes we find ourselves so empty. We often look wrongly to others to fill that emptiness.  No one else can fill us as can God’s Spirit. Yet I believe that God’s gentle loving Holy Spirit often fills us through our relationships with others. Now give me time to explain that! I believe that Satan often offers us a cheap imitation of what God really wants us to have. I don’t believe it is wrong to need others’ affirmation.  We really do need each other!  Adam needed someone to come alongside him.  That’s what the word “helpmeet” means in Genesis. It is offensive to women if they don’t understand what God is saying.  He is not saying that a woman is just on the planet to be man’s helper.  He is saying that woman is to give man what he does not have without her.  She completes him. The same word is used for the Holy Spirit.  He is our helper – he gives us what we do not have so that we can complete God’s purposes. 

Man needs woman.  Woman needs man.  Truthfully, we ALL need each other. 

When another human can see the image of God within us …when someone else can see the purposes of God on our lives…when someone can recognize the ways that the enemy of our souls has bruised us and speak life over our very being, they are acting in a way which is consistent with God’s character and a way that helps to open our hearts and spirits to receive what God longs to pour in. 

We were created to be fully human and full of God’s Spirit – just as Jesus was. We can’t really experience what it means to be fully alive until we become humans full of the Spirit of God. 

I remember a time in my early twenties when I first realized that God might actually want to use me – me – a young woman who had a desperate need to feel loved and significant. I spent days in a sort of deep pleasure. My heart had been touched by a missionary whom God used to awaken my soul to the world of humanity. I thought I must also surely be called to be a missionary. I was overtaken with joy to think God could really use me. That may sound ridiculously religious but it was truly revelation to me. I devoured the Word of God. It was breathing and living. That season began an important part of my journey with God. 

Years later, I again experienced God’ Spirit bathing me with His love. I literally felt His warmth for eight days. I remember thinking, “I’ve always loved God” – (even from a young child of five, I remember praying beside my bed – begging for God’s help. I always believed.)  “But now, (I thought) I am in love with Him.” Food meant nothing. Nothing was important but being with Him. He soaked me in His presence. The Word of God was my food.  God began a process of dealing with my need to understand Him as my Father – and my need to understand what a father was meant to be. 

I began to hear God’s voice just as Adam and Eve did in the beginning. I began to hear His voice in my spirit. And I began – in a new way -  to hear His voice through others. 

I timidly began to walk in the purposes of God for my life that were just too amazing for me to believe before.  Slowly. Baby steps. Fearfully. And just as a mother or father might encourage a child who is beginning to walk, others encouraged me. “Take that step.  You can do it.  I believe in you.  I’ll hold your hands.  I’ll catch you if you fall.” 

That was ten years ago. The revelation continues to come together for me. In the last few months, I have understood, in a new way, my life story. The threads God has been weaving into my tapestry. I heard Beth Moore say that we can’t divorce our destiny from our history. So often, we want to do that. We’d love to forget all the imperfect parts of our lives. All the failures and struggles. We’d like to prune our family trees of all imperfect people.  Problem is – that would include us! 

I have found that when my husband speaks life over me, I find encouragement to fulfill my destiny. I have found that when others speak life over me – when they believe in me, I find encouragement to believe that God, also, sees me and knows me. 

Jesus certainly did this in his ministry.  Although he saw the woman at the well in her sin, he also spoke to her in a way that said, “Things can be different. You don’t have to be empty. I can fill you.” And then he used her to touch a city. 

Sometimes we hesitate to give encouragement because we don’t want others to misunderstand it, but Jesus was constantly speaking life and destiny over people. In their failure. In their sicknesses. In their hopelessness. In their grief. 

God spoke encouragement over Jesus. “You are my beloved son.  I am really pleased with you.”  As a matter of fact, God said this more than once to his son. 

Sometimes Jesus spoke about a person’s sin or something difficult that would happen in their future, but he consistently also gave hope and encouragement. 

I thought this morning about the words of a song Tin Man that a folk-rock group named America recorded in the seventies. 

Sometimes late when things are real
And people share the gift of gab between themselves
Some are quick to take the bait
And catch the perfect prize that waits among the shelves

But Oz never did give nothing to the Tin Man
That he didn’t, didn’t already have …
So please believe in me 

In one way, the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz already had within him everything he needed.  But yet he needed someone else to affirm that – someone to give him the keys to unlock that part of himself. He needed someone to believe in him. 

And so we all are as believers.  We have a destiny known by God from the beginning of time. It is already inside us – through the plans of God stamped on our humanness – and through the Spirit of God filling our spirits. But when someone else sees that and believes in us, it strengthens us.  It encourages us to take another step – even when we’ve failed – even when we’re tired.  The Body of Christ in the earth is just that – a Body. One piece connected to another.  So when Jesus said that we are to love one another as we love ourselves, perhaps one part of that love is the ministry of encouragement. 

It waters my soul.  

So please believe in me…