Relentless Pursuit

Our final message in the Encounter Series at Refuge Church took a much needed look at Peter.  You can listen to the audio of the message here.

Peter experienced an epic failure. His was a denial and abandonment of Jesus Christ at the time of Jesus' arrest and crucifixion.  What made Peter's failure even more pronounced was his self-declaration that he, unlike the other disciples, would never fall away.  He stuck out his chest and asserted himself as the courageous and lone, devoted follower of Jesus.

On the same night before the rooster had crowed, Peter had denied Jesus three times. Remembering the words of Jesus, Peter ran away with a heart full of bitter sorrow.

Declaring our allegiance in times of peace is far easier than declaring our allegiance in times of war.  When the heat is turned up, we often turn the allegiance down. This is our act of self-preservation.  Peter boldly confessed his intent to die with Jesus and stand beside him until the end, only to then deny and abandon Jesus a few hours later.

For me and many others, when a friend or family member abandons us like Peter did to Jesus, our last thought and act is to relentlessly pursue them for the purpose of restoring the relationship we had with them.  We find it more convenient to hold them guilty for life, as our hearts seethe with anger toward them.

This was not the way Jesus responded, nor should it be our way either.  Jesus pursued Peter.  At the tomb following His resurrection, an angel instructed the women who first discovered the tomb's emptiness to go tell the disciples and Peter that Jesus was alive and planning to meet them in Galilee.  Then, in John 21, Jesus comes to the shore of the Sea of Tiberias where Peter has returned to his life before following Jesus.  

Here a most beautiful encounter occurs as Jesus demonstrates such amazing affection and grace toward Peter.  

Our past does not determine our future unless we allow it to do so.  Our destiny is not directed by our failures when our lives are surrendered to Jesus Christ.  

Jesus relentlessly pursued Peter for the purpose of restoring their relationship through grace. Peter was never the same again. His love for God would demand his love for others (feed my sheep).  His obedience to Christ would lead him into a situation where he would die for Christ rather than deny Christ as he had done previously.  

Can you see Jesus Christ relentlessly pursuing you over the course of your life?  He has been, He is, and today He wants to encounter you in a way that leaves you forever changed.

Flow

The Encounter Series at Refuge Church continues to look at the lives of regular, ordinary people like us coming face-to-face in a life-changing encounter with an extraordinary, all-surpassing God.  

In the latest message from Isaiah 6, we looked at how Isaiah saw God high and lifted up.  His majesty filled the temple.  His glory floods the earth. His power shakes the foundations and his character is pure and holy.  

When Isaiah encountered the majestic, glorious, all-surpassing, transcendent King, his response was appropriate.  "Woe is me!" Compared to the devil, I'm great. Compared to others, I'm good.  Compared to God, I'm ruined.

Isaiah declared the woe of seeing himself in light of who God is.  Encountering God for who He really is allows us to see ourselves for who we really are. We see His holiness and our wretchedness.  We see His transcendence and our lowliness.  

Seeing himself for who he really was led Isaiah to recognize what he deserved.  "Woe is me, for I am ruined."  I'd paraphrase it this way, "Woe, I'm going to die."  Isaiah's sin in the presence of God's holiness led to a reality check that death was deserved.  There was no reason to try to hide and definitely no reason to try to make himself appear better than he was.

What comes next is just breathtaking! God doesn't recite the list of Isaiah's sin.  God doesn't lecture him for hours about his shortcomings.  Isaiah is already fully aware of his gross disobedience and his deserved death.  Instead, God cleanses him with a coal from the sacrificial altar and declares to him: "Your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven."

The one who deserved death, received life. The one who had committed offenses had them removed.  The one who had failed to meet the standard of God's holiness was forgiven. 

This is powerful but it is the story of the gospel. Christ was sent by the Father, wrapped in human flesh to die the death I deserved. Instead, I who deserved death received life.  And not just any life, but the life of the One who died my death--abundant, eternal, joyful, full life.  My iniquity was taken away and my sin forgiven because Jesus Christ died and rose again in my place.  "This is mercy, this is grace, Jesus in my place."

Immediately God asks: "Whom shall I send and who will go for Us?"  Enter Isaiah, a redeemed man, forgiven of sin and extended life instead of death.  His hand thrusts into the air and he volunteers before he even knows what God is asking, what it will cost.  "Here am I. Send me!"  With passion and eagerness, Isaiah surrenders to go wherever God wants, to do whatever God wills, to whoever God plans because he has received so abundantly and graciously.

We were never meant to be reservoirs. We were meant to be conduits.  We who have received much should give much. We who experience the blessing of God's mercy, grace, and love should then be the means of that mercy, grace, and love flowing out into the lives of others.

When I was speaking to students once, I mentioned this very truth.  Where are the grateful people of God who remember what they used to be and how God's mercy and grace altered their lives?  Where are those who have received so freely from Christ who are so freely giving and pouring out into the lives of others?  Then I said, "Too many Christians have become reservoirs instead of conduits. I'm praying if that is us, God will bust some holes in our dam so that we spring some leaks."

My prayer for Refuge Church today and always: "Here are we. Send us!"  May we display and declare the good news of Christ's kingdom to others near and far until the day we see Jesus face to face.