No More Heroes

"Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."
But he replied, "Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death."
Jesus answered, "I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me." Luke 22:31-34

First of all, it is worth noting that it is a good thing to be zealous for the Lord. It is a good thing to believe God will do great things in our time, and even honorable to seek God to use us to accomplish those great things. Greatness in God requires great refinement by God.

Peter has never shrunk back from an opportunity to be bold: he walked on water with Jesus while the rest were dieing from fear. Peter is impetuous but he is also a leader. He is not reckless. The others look to him for leadership so what we have here is not the folly of a naive youngster, we have a grown man who wants to be a hero. "I am ready to die!" Peter meant every word. Shortly after this very conversation, Peter proved he was serious, and Jesus was re-connecting the ear of a soldier who Peter had attacked with his sword. Peter wanted to do something great, more than that he wanted to be great.

How heart breaking it must have been for Peter to hear the cock crow. Peter was warming himself by a fire, denying he knew the Lord, and in Luke 22:61 "The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter". Then these words that Jesus spoke crashed in on Peter, "and he went outside and wept bitterly." What else could a good man do? Peter was crushed. Not only was his Lord being beaten and he could not help; but his own sense of who he was being crushed. Some Hero Peter was, crying helplessly, alone when the heat was hottest.

After he cried his eyes out, after Jesus was entombed there must have come a time when Peter rejoined the group. There with the others Peter must have been sullen, empty, hurting and ashamed. How could he have done it? How is that he denied the Lord he loved? Oh, the sifting of satan, scorching him must have been intense. The man who wanted to lead a revolution and usher in the kingdom of God now saw himself as a pathetic failure whose better days had long ago past.

After the Resurrection, Jesus appeared to Peter and asked him one question, "do you love me?"

Here is the point of this stage of Peter's life, Jesus knew all along that Peter was much weaker than he or the others knew. Jesus was not shaken by it. Peter was the one who was shaken and surprised by his own weakness. Jesus did not give up on Peter and we should not be surprised that he does not give up on anyone.

Failure is the mother of success. Before you succeed in any endeavor you fail. That is just how it is. In God we tend to put to much stock in what we fail to do. God is unmoved by our failures. He already knows us better than we know ourselves.

Peter thought that Jesus was on earth recruiting heroes for battle, heroes need shining armor and white horses. But in God there is only room for one hero. His armor was stripped away, and he died naked on a cross and God raised him from the dead so that he could be the first born from the dead. God is not looking for heroes. He is looking for common folk whose faith remains true through all that life, and satan throw at them.

No more heroes. Has your image of yourself fallen? Do you see yourself as weaker now than when you first came to know Christ? Good.

The young man who once drew his sword to fight for Jesus, the man Peter so filled with self-confidence and fight became the Apostle who wrote:

But how is it to your credit if your receive a beating for doing wrong and
endure it? but if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is
commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you,
leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. "He committed no
sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth". When they hurled their insults at
him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he
trusted himself to him who judges justly.

After the sifting Peter did turn to strengthen his brethren. Just as Jesus said. The sifting knocked the fight out of Peter and all that was left was Jesus. This is great news, you don't have to be a hero. You don't have to be perfect, you have to be willing to be perfected.