He Called My Name Simon Luke 22:31-34, 54-62

He Called My Name Simon Peter Page 1 of 8 He Called My Name Simon Luke 22:31-34, 54-62 INTRODUCTION TO THE SERIES Between Jesus entry into Jerusalem and His entry into the Upper Room, it was a busy week for sure. In fact, Jesus had been busy for many weeks leading up to this final week of His earthly ministry. We ve been traveling with Him to the Holy City and we ve discovered something along the way. Jesus rarely called anyone by name but when He did, something very important happened not just for the one whose name He called but for all of us who are listening for Him to call our names as well. At times, the calling of a name came with a host of blessings: Martha was freed from distraction and given a new and right focus, Zacchaeus found freedom and salvation, Lazarus was brought back to life. But a name can be used for other reasons. We discovered that Jesus even confronted Satan by name when he showed up in the guise of faithful Peter. Now, we join Simon Peter once again at the table. This time Jesus calls his name not to confront Peter but to warn him. Could there be a warning at the table for you and me as well? INTRO TO SERMON We are using two passages of Scripture taken from the Gospel of Luke both in chapter 22. The Gospel writer situates this first bit of conversation in the midst of what we call the Last Supper. Jesus and His closest friends are celebrating the Passover meal. Peter, along with John, has been sent to arrange the accommodations for this event. Jesus sits at table with His apostles and redefines the components of the ancient and sacred meal. This is my body which is given for you. The cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. This do in remembering me. Then Jesus reveals that a betrayer is in their midst. And as is so often the case, when something uncomfortable is said, a very inappropriate conversation ensues. The apostles begin to debate as to who among them is the greatest. Jesus interrupts this ridiculous discussion/argument to emphasize in word what He

He Called My Name Simon Peter Page 2 of 8 has demonstrated in action. Real greatness is to be found in service. And then Jesus calls Simon Peter by name. Luke 22:31-34 31 Simon, Simon, listen! Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, 32 but I have prayed for you that your own faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned back, strengthen your brothers. 33 And he said to him, Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death! 34 Jesus said, I tell you, Peter, the cock will not crow this day, until you have denied three times that you know me. Later that night they go out to the Mount of Olives. There, Jesus is arrested and taken away. We pick up Peter s story there. Luke 22:54-62 54 Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest s house. But Peter was following at a distance. 55 When they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them. 56 Then a servant-girl, seeing him in the firelight, stared at him and said, This man also was with him. 57 But he denied it, saying, Woman, I do not know him. 58 A little later someone else, on seeing him, said, You also are one of them. But Peter said, Man, I am not! 59 Then about an hour later still another kept insisting, Surely this man also was with him; for he is a Galilean. 60 But Peter said, Man, I do not know what you are talking about! At that moment, while he was still speaking, the cock crowed. 61 The Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, Before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times. 62 And he went out and wept bitterly. ATTENTION Simon, Simon. Jesus says the name of His most faithful follower says it twice. We most often say a person s name to simply get their attention. That is certainly the case here. You see, there is a tiny little Greek word idou that comes right after the names. Some translations just ignore it. The

He Called My Name Simon Peter Page 3 of 8 translation I use the New Revised Standard Version attempts to capture its presence with the word listen. It could be translated as pay attention or listen closely. In other words, Jesus is giving Simon Peter a heads-up. What I m about to say to you buddy is really, really important. Listen to me. I do the same kind of thing sometimes in a sermon, right? Listen friends. If you hear nothing else I say today, I want you to hear this. That s what Jesus was doing to the big, bold, boisterous Simon Peter. WARNING And what was this important thing that Jesus wanted to make sure Simon Peter heard? Well, it was a warning. A warning that came not as a threat, which is often what we think of when we hear the word warning, but rather as a word of caution. Be careful. Be on your guard. Be vigilant. Such warnings are a good thing in life. And you and I have so many of them. The Scriptures are full of them in proverb and parable, in teaching and in testimony. Here are a few of my favorites: From Jesus Himself: o Judge not lest ye be judged. Matthew 7:1 o Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth but rather store up for yourselves treasures in heaven Matthew 6:19-20 o I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned. Matthew 12:36-37 From the Old Testament Book of Proverbs: o To watch over mouth and tongue is to keep out of trouble. Proverbs 21:23 From the New Testament Letters to the early church: o Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry. James 1:19 o In your anger, do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry. Ephesians 4:26

He Called My Name Simon Peter Page 4 of 8 Just to name a few. These Scriptural warnings may not have our specific names in front but they could. Jan, Jan. Pay attention to me. Be quick to listen and slow to speak. John, John. Hear me. Judge not. Mary, Mary. Store up treasures in Heaven. The warnings are there all given as a word of caution and motivated by love. But like Simon Peter, far too many us pay far too little attention. OVER-CONFIDENT Simon was warned. But still he fails. Why is that? Well, I think at least part of the problem is that Simon Peter is just over-confident. (Charles Barclay Commentary) He was just too sure of himself. He loved Jesus so much. He was a brave man, afraid of nothing. He could not possibly fail to support Jesus, no matter what. History is full of people who made the same mistake. I ll bet some of you have been watching the Netflix series, The Crown. In the second season, Prime Minster Antony Eden is a primary figure. His is a sad story. Certainly in the TV drama, he is portrayed as ignoring the warnings of others, making bad decisions related to Egypt and the Suez Canal, and failing to realize how everything could backfire, leaving the United Kingdom in a far worse situation. When I see things like that on TV, I pull out my phone and start looking up the historical facts. Here s what I found out about that great man at the web site, www.gov.uk. The Sunday Times Washington correspondent Henry Brandon observed, In his mind, Sir Eden s whole proud career had been scarred by a decision which misfired for lack of American cooperation. He attempted to cover up the conspiracy, lied to Parliament and ordered his civil servants to burn the damaging evidence. Isolated, he resigned on 9 January 1957 having shown the world that Britain was no longer the great power it had once been. The Suez crisis, according to one of his official biographers, D.R. Thorpe, was a truly tragic end to his premiership, and one that came to assume a disproportionate importance in any assessment of his career. Lots of great men and women, known and unknown, have ignored warnings to their own demise because they were just too over confident and

He Called My Name Simon Peter Page 5 of 8 self-assured. The truth is friends anyone and everyone can stumble. Even a Simon Peter. LOYAL AND COURAGEOUS But we do Simon Peter a great disservice if we focus only on his failure. Truth be told, Simon Peter demonstrates great courage on that fateful night. When others scattered into the darkness, Simon Peter followed Jesus and His captors right into the very courtyard of the High Priest s house into the vipers den. Yes, he follows at a distance; yes, he tries to remain anonymous, and yes, he denies knowing Jesus. But friends, he is there. And even when he is noticed and the threat to his own welfare becomes greater Peter remains. Despite his fear and his failings, Simon Peter shows great courage. It was actually his courage and faithfulness that put him in the place where he would end up denying his Lord. Behind the safety of locked doors, he would have had no reason to falter and fail. We would do well to remember this odd mix of failure and faithfulness when we rush to judge others who falter or even when we grieve over our own failings. Faith and failure can at times travel hand in hand. How can that be? PRAYER I think we find the answer to that question in the words of Jesus Himself. Let s go back to that: Luke 22:31-32 31 Simon, Simon, listen! Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, 32 but I have prayed for you that your own faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned back, strengthen your brothers. Along with His word of caution, Jesus offers Simon something else the strength of Jesus own prayers. But I have prayed for you. It s amazing really. Jesus knows that Peter will deny Him; He even knows him and yet still He prays. But note: Jesus is no longer praying that Simon will not deny Him. He knows that will happen. Jesus is praying for what happens after the denial. Jesus is praying that even in his failure, Simon Peter s faith will not fail. Now

He Called My Name Simon Peter Page 6 of 8 the word can be translated fail but the meaning would be better conveyed by the word cease or by adding the word completely along with fail. Jesus is praying that, even after his failure, some measure of faith will remain in Peter. And His prayers were answered. Imagine what a comfort that was to Peter later on after his bravado and confidence had been shattered by reality. But, it would of course take a while for those memories to surface. DISAPPOINTMENT AND TEARS Before Simon Peter could draw strength and hope from the prayers Jesus offered on his behalf, he had to endure the shame and pain of seeing the disappointment in Jesus eyes. That s got to be one of the saddest lines in the whole of the Bible. The Lord turned and looked at Peter. Just as Jesus prediction came true, as the crow of the rooster sounded in the early morning, just as Peter himself realized what he had done, the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And in those eyes, there would I believe have been something far more disturbing than anger. There would have been disappointment, yes. But you know friends, I believe Jesus offered Peter something else with that look. I believe He offered Peter that second chance He had referred to in the Upper Room. Strengthen your brothers. In time, Jesus instructions to Peter would be remembered and embraced but not without sorrow and suffering. First, Peter has to come to terms with his failing, his denial, his betrayal. Peter disappoints Jesus and breaks his own heart. The text says that he wept bitterly. That s pretty gripping but the Greek would have been even more stirring. The word translated bitterly described a feeling of mental agony. And the word translated as wept would be more accurately rendered wailed. Its emphasis was on the noise that accompanies the weeping. The great Simon Peter, ready to go to prison or to death with his Lord, now wandered into the night to wail in agony. NOT THE END But that, as we all know, is not the end of the story. Simon Peter wanders. Simon Peter weeps. Simon Peter wails. But somehow, somewhere, sometime Simon Peter lifts his head and remembers. He hears a voice calling

He Called My Name Simon Peter Page 7 of 8 his name. Simon, Simon. Listen. And this time, he does. He remembers that with the warning came not only Jesus prayers but Jesus plan for his future. When once you have turned back, strengthen your brothers. And that s what happens. Now I know that I ve been talking a great deal about what this word or that word in the Greek actually meant. But I ve just got to do that one more time. That word strengthen is loaded with meaning. The Greek word is sterizo (do you hear steroid in there?). It meant to strengthen in the sense of making someone more firm and unchanging in attitude or belief. With those simple instructions when once you have turned back, strengthen your brothers, Jesus does something wonderful for Peter and every other disciple throughout the generations who needs a second chance. He assures Simon Peter that God will use even his failure for good. And that, my friend, can happen for all of us when we give our failures to God. We see this demonstrated in all the addiction support groups. People turn, and then use the bad choices of their past, to strengthen others. God takes something bad, redeems it, and uses it for good. That s resurrection power on this side of the grave. CONCLUSION Simon, Simon. Listen. And so, Beloved, listen very carefully as you come to the Lord s table, tonight. Could Jesus be saying the same thing to you? Calling your name, asking for your attention, giving you a warning? If so, then for goodness sakes, Friend, listen. Maybe He just wants you to know that He has prayed for you. If so, then for goodness sakes, Friend, listen. Maybe He wants to reassure you remind you that faith can be mixed in with failure. If so, then for goodness sakes, Friend, listen. Or maybe just maybe Jesus is asking you to give your past failure to God so that it can be used to strengthen others. If so, then for goodness sake no for God s sake Friend, please, please listen. In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen

He Called My Name Simon Peter Page 8 of 8 Life Application Questions: 1) Jesus warns Peter because He loves him. When have you failed to heed a warning from a person who loves you? When have you listened to a warning and made a change? Which warnings from Scripture might God be sending your way right now? 2) Have you ever failed or made a wrong choice because of being overconfident? How do we find that line between being confident enough and not too confident? 3) The sermon suggests that failure and faithfulness can travel hand in hand. Has that ever been true for you? 4) Have you ever felt the pain of disappointing someone you loved? Have you ever felt that you disappointed God? What happened next? What can we learn about that from Simon Peter s experience? 5) The Gospel records a moment when Jesus prayed for the believers yet to come you and me just as He prayed for Simon Peter. How does that make you feel?