Go Get Peter - (Are You the Gardener? Pt. 1)

John 20:11-15 NLT

Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. 12 She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. 13 "Dear woman, why are you crying?" the angels asked her.  "Because they have taken away my Lord," she replied, "and I don't know where they have put him."

14 She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn't recognize him. 15 "Dear woman, why are you crying?" Jesus asked her. "Who are you looking for?"  She thought he was the gardener. "Sir," she said, "if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him." 

Mark 16:6-7 NLT

The angel said, "Don't be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He isn't here! He is risen from the dead! Look, this is where they laid his body. 7 Now go and tell his disciples, including Peter, that Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you before he died." 

Go Get Peter!  Tell him to meet me in Galilee – where it all began

 You remember Peter, one of Jesus’ 12 Apostles

Incredible experiences in his relationship with Jesus

1. Starting with the miracle of the fish
2. Became part of Jesus’ inner circle
3. Witnessed Jesus’ Transfiguration – saw His form change
4. Had the Spiritual Revelation that Jesus was the Christ
5. Walked on water

Then Jesus predicted Peter would deny Him

“Lord, I am ready to go with You to prison and to death." – Lk 22:33

"Even if everyone else deserts you, I will never desert you." – Matt 26:33

But when the moment of truth came…

Peter denied any knowledge of Jesus, let alone any relationship

– 3X, publically, with cursing

Then the rooster crowed, he remembered what Jesus said and ‘cried like a baby’

 He failed – horribly & publically

 Left destiny – walked away from it all and went back to his old life – to fishing

What caused Peter to throw in the towel?  SHAME

Guilt says there’s something wrong with what I did

Shame says there’s something wrong with who I am

Some experience attaches to your soul & makes you feel defective

This eats at your self-image & self-worth

          Self-consciousness

Contradiction of Shame:

It’s such a private feeling that we don’t like to acknowledge

There’s the concern of what others think – how they see us

Shame makes you hide

DISQUALIFIED – “Condemnation”

          You don’t have what it takes to get it done

DISCONNECT – not involved – they would pick me anyway

Gone back to old life – either in isolation or place of acceptance

The angel said “Include Peter”

When Peter heard that Jesus was alive and wanted to see him…

          How did Peter feel?  What did he think?  More shame

This was going to be an “I told you so” moment

Jesus comes to restore his soul

          Move him back to Path of Destiny

JESUS REMINDS HIM 

Notice, when Peter went back to his old life of fishing, he didn’t catch anything

You won’t have success without Jesus

“Cast down your nets” – don’t do this without me

JESUS RE-STORES HIM

Put back in Peter what he had lost

He came to where Peter was – fishing

               Jesus stepped down to Peter’s level

                              “I’m not there yet”

JESUS RECLAIMS DESTINY IN HIM

“Feed my sheep”

“No condemnation to those in Christ”

                    Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost

Today, Jesus is sending for you by name

You’re not excluded because of your failing, or history, or experiences

We all have a past, and that’s just what it is – PAST

Jesus wants to restore your present

And He wants you to reclaim your future

You can’t worry about what people are going to say or how they receive you

These are the same people who wouldn’t have let Peter preach on Pentecost

          But Jesus does

Peter knew what it was like to fail – publically

To struggle with shame & need his destiny reclaimed

Whatever your shame is, it’s not who you are

It’s something that happened TO you     

You don’t have to live in shame

God has not written you off

Stop living on the fringes

Experience the GRACE of God 

Grace sees your shortcomings, your failures, knows your shame

Yet, GRACE reaches for the destiny in you

No matter where you are

GRACE says “Come Home”