[0.00 --> 8.62] Well, good morning, everybody. It's good to see you here this morning, and it is good to be here. [9.08 --> 14.06] As Dave said earlier, you were sitting over there last time, you're going to throw me off, but as Dave said earlier, [14.38 --> 20.32] my name is Ed Gerber. I'm university chaplain at Trinity Western University. I'm also director of campus ministries there. [21.00 --> 24.48] And part of the reason I'm saying that again is because I was with the president last night, [24.48 --> 30.66] and I want to extend the greetings of Trinity to you. One of the things that we long for at Trinity [30.66 --> 36.36] is, and covet, is the prayers of the people of God in our local churches. So we seek to develop [36.36 --> 42.64] relationship with local churches, and we love it when you pray for us. As I said at the first service, [42.80 --> 50.38] there's 6,000 students at Trinity Western University, 50% of which are international students, [50.38 --> 56.84] many of which are hearing the gospel for the first time, and they are ripe to hear the gospel. [57.02 --> 62.78] They're coming to faith left, right, and center. So there's much work to be done, and much to be [62.78 --> 67.58] grateful for. So I covet your prayers. That's the first thing. Also, I just wanted to say it is an [67.58 --> 73.30] absolute tremendous honor to be able to bring the word to you this morning. Dave, thank you for the [73.30 --> 81.32] invitation. I'm glad to do it. As I was thinking about what to do, preachers will have this experience [81.32 --> 87.06] where you're studying a text and trying to prepare a sermon, and it's almost as though a message is [87.06 --> 94.72] given to you, and you receive it. And then it is a tremendous joy just to give it back. It's a message [94.72 --> 100.26] that is spoken to my heart, and it's my prayer that it will speak to your heart as well. In addition to [100.26 --> 107.16] that, I'm hoping that this message will do something of a bridging job from our time in Advent together, [108.04 --> 116.12] and particularly Dave's focus last week, and it will bridge us and send us well into 2025, as we have [116.12 --> 122.48] just a few more days left here in 2024. So in the grace of God, we'll travel that distance together. [122.48 --> 130.64] I invite you, if you have your Bibles, to turn to Luke chapter 22. We're going to look just at a [130.64 --> 139.96] short passage this morning from verse 54 through 62. So the context here is it's the passion of our [139.96 --> 147.62] Lord. Yes, we are moving straight from the incarnation, the celebration of the nativity, to the end of the [147.62 --> 155.50] gospel story. The apocalypse, John's revelation in chapter 12, will collapse. It's very fascinating. [155.96 --> 161.10] The woman is pregnant, she gives birth, and immediately it's the Christ child. It's actually [161.10 --> 166.44] the story of Christmas in Revelation 12. Immediately the child is snatched up to heaven and to God. [167.00 --> 173.34] It is incarnation, life of Christ, ascension in a single moment. Why? Because the birth of Christ is [173.34 --> 178.72] victory. And so it is appropriate, as we're moving through the stages here, to move right to the end of the [178.72 --> 189.28] gospel. So Jesus has been arrested, and then we come to this in our text for today. Beloved, listen to God's [189.28 --> 189.50] word. [192.46 --> 200.10] Then seizing him, Jesus, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a [200.10 --> 205.80] distance. And when some there had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, [205.98 --> 211.62] Peter sat down with them. The servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely [211.62 --> 219.18] at him and said, this man was with him. But he denied it. Woman, I don't know him, he said. A little [219.18 --> 227.46] later, someone else saw him and said, you also are one of them. Man, I am not, Peter replied. About an hour [227.46 --> 236.64] later, another asserted, certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean. Peter replied, man, I don't know [236.64 --> 243.88] what you're talking about. Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked straight at [243.88 --> 251.26] Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him. Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me [251.26 --> 258.80] three times. And he went outside and wept bitterly. The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. [264.80 --> 273.82] We've all experienced it. There are a few things like it. It can fill us with conviction or festoon us [273.82 --> 282.20] with shame and grief. It might even make us cry. I remember when my grandfather used to give it to us. [282.88 --> 291.22] Heavy eyebrows furled down, lines making creases in the side of his eyes. Receiving it was enough to [291.22 --> 296.62] assure us that we did not want to mess with him. I remember even better when my mother used to give [296.62 --> 304.60] it to us. Again, heavy eyebrows furling, one lifted slightly higher than the other, and sparks. I'm sure [304.60 --> 309.86] I saw sparks coming from those eyes at times. She occasionally gave it to us in a place just like [309.86 --> 317.22] this. At times, just like these, when we were sitting young and full of Dutch peppermints, buck teeth and [317.22 --> 323.40] bony knees shifting from cheek to cheek on wooden pews that I was convinced became stone as the preacher [323.40 --> 328.94] would go on and on. And when the long-awaited for amen didn't come quickly enough and we'd start [328.94 --> 336.30] fidgeting too much, we would get it. And we'd get it good. Yes, you know the it I'm talking about. [336.92 --> 347.24] The look. The formidable look. We've all experienced the look, haven't we? It's interesting to me that in [347.24 --> 358.74] our text for today, in verse 61, Luke makes special mention that Jesus turned and looked straight at [358.74 --> 364.20] Peter. For some reason or another, unlike any of the other gospel writers who don't mention anything [364.20 --> 370.86] of Jesus turning and looking at Peter at the moment of his betrayal, Luke wants us to pause [370.86 --> 379.20] and focus on Jesus' look for a moment. I don't know about you, but I imagine that this was one of [379.20 --> 386.08] the most piercing looks in the history of the world. If ever there was a reason for Jesus to give one of [386.08 --> 394.10] his disciples the look, it was now. If ever there was a reason for one of Jesus' disciples to weep and cry [394.10 --> 402.52] for having received a look, it was also now. The stage had been set. Only a little while earlier, [402.66 --> 407.80] while eating the last supper with his disciples in the upper room, Jesus had warned Peter that Satan [407.80 --> 415.60] desired to sift him as wheat to ruin his faith. Peter, in response, tried to live up to his name. [416.64 --> 424.00] He was going to be a rock. He confessed that while everyone else might be blown around like waves on [424.00 --> 431.30] the sea, he was going to be sturdy and strong. He was going to be resolutely dedicated to his Lord, [431.38 --> 437.52] to this one who had taken him from casting his net in the sea for fish and brought him to an [437.52 --> 446.06] infinitely more meaningful life fishing for men. Lord, he said, I am willing to go with you to prison [446.06 --> 456.64] and to death. But Jesus knew Peter. He knew his heart. He knew his weakness. He also knew the future. [459.26 --> 465.28] Before the rooster crows today, Peter, you will deny three times that you know me. [467.22 --> 471.88] We don't know what Peter may have said in response to Jesus' words. Luke doesn't spell it out for us. [471.88 --> 479.04] No, he allows Peter's actions to tell us instead. When the soldiers come up the mountain to arrest [479.04 --> 483.80] Jesus, we are told that one of the disciples pulls out his sword like John Wayne pulls out guns and [483.80 --> 490.40] starts swinging it around, lopping off a soldier's ear. And who might this passionately protective and [490.40 --> 496.40] daring soul be? Luke leaves it to the delight of our imagination, but the author of the Gospel of John [496.40 --> 502.92] tells us, it's Peter. When the soldiers get a hold of Jesus and begin leading him off down the Mount [502.92 --> 510.48] of Olives, we are told that all of the disciples run away and abandon the Lord, except one, one brave [510.48 --> 518.86] disciple patters intrepidly behind. And who is this fearless friend? Again, it's Peter. Peter does not run. [518.86 --> 526.42] Peter does not hide. No, as we are told at the beginning of our text for today, in verse 54, Peter [526.42 --> 533.58] follows behind right into the city and right into the courtyard where he will be able to see Jesus [533.58 --> 544.68] and consider it where Jesus will be able to see him, to see his faithfulness, to see indeed just how strong [544.68 --> 551.76] and resolute and how much a rock he is. But this is where the heat gets too hot for dear Peter. [552.72 --> 558.78] The rock begins to crumble and crack like clay in the desert sun. This is where Jesus' words to Peter [558.78 --> 564.18] and the other sleeping disciples on the Mount of Olives only moments earlier become dreadfully true [564.18 --> 572.20] for Peter. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Peter's spirit wants to be near his Lord, [572.20 --> 578.68] and so he is near his Lord. Nearer though than his flesh can handle and his character can hold. [579.60 --> 583.28] For just as Jesus is undergoing an interrogation from the high priest, [583.94 --> 590.44] so now will Peter undergo an interrogation of his own. It is a struggle for Peter of titanic [590.44 --> 596.72] proportion and significance. If ever there was a reason for him not to fail, it is now. [596.72 --> 603.36] Well, to betray a friend is bad enough. To betray a friend in their hour of greatest trial [603.36 --> 611.46] is as bad as it gets. Peter is about to lose his illusions about his own strength and his own [611.46 --> 615.80] character and beloved of God if we're willing to put ourselves in his shoes for a moment. [616.56 --> 622.18] We might be lucky enough in the providence of God to lose a few more of ours as well. [622.18 --> 629.20] Having situated himself by the fire in order to remain inconspicuous, unseen, and unnoticed, [629.26 --> 634.80] it turns out that Peter has seated himself a little too close to the flames. Enough light from [634.80 --> 640.80] the fire is thrown onto his face so that a servant girl sees perhaps the familiar shape of his jaw, [640.96 --> 647.30] the color of his hair, the color of his eyes. Quite convinced, she points at Peter and says to the [647.30 --> 654.82] other seated around the fire, this fellow was with him. We can imagine Peter's heart beginning to race, [654.92 --> 660.02] his ears getting hot, his knees trembling and twitching, and the first denying words bursting [660.02 --> 667.62] up through his throat and out of his mouth like a great big unswallowable hiccup. Woman, I don't know him. [667.62 --> 674.18] But this one denial won't do. Suspicions are aroused and others begin frisking Peter with [674.18 --> 682.06] inspector's eyes. And after a while of awkwardness and perhaps silent condemnation, Peter is faced with [682.06 --> 688.00] the second challenge. Yes, yes, you also are one of them. Peter hiccups again with a little more force [688.00 --> 696.98] and a lot more exasperation to make his words believable. Man, I am not. The text tells us [696.98 --> 706.26] that Peter sits there for a whole hour before he is faced with his third challenge. And I don't know [706.26 --> 711.78] about you, but I really wonder what Peter thought next as he sat there. Don't you think? It must have [711.78 --> 718.40] been excruciating for him to sit there, knowing that he's betrayed his Lord two times, knowing the [718.40 --> 725.00] prediction of his Lord that he's going to do it a third time, and wanting to back off, to go away, [725.00 --> 732.46] so as to not deny the Lord that third time. But then on the other hand, wanting to live into his [732.46 --> 737.78] name, to be that rock, to be resolutely dedicated to his Lord, to confess his relationship to Jesus. [737.90 --> 744.22] Yeah, you're right. I know him. I was with him. And then face whatever it came, whether it meant to [744.22 --> 750.64] rest, degradation, or death. But when the third challenge does come, with heightened conviction [750.64 --> 757.88] and proof on the part of those looking at Peter, Peter comes to the lowest of low points in his life. [758.54 --> 763.86] He buckles and breaks. He bends like a toothpick between a farmer's frustrated teeth. His best [763.86 --> 769.10] efforts aren't good enough, and he denies knowing the one who knows him better than he knows himself, [769.10 --> 775.14] and has loved him with a love that he could never have imagined before. The words must have occurred to [775.14 --> 782.34] Peter like vomit in his own mouth, but he cannot stop himself. Man, I don't know him. [784.42 --> 787.18] And this is where the text gets piercing. We read these words. [788.14 --> 799.34] Just then, the rooster crowed. Jesus turned and looked straight at Peter. Peter went outside and wept bitterly. [799.34 --> 807.10] Lyndon Baines Johnson, former president of the United States of America, is said by his biographer, [807.10 --> 813.32] Robert Caro, to have been a consummate reader of people. He would read people so as to figure out [813.32 --> 818.56] what motivated them, figure out what made them tick, so that he could manipulate them and foist himself [818.56 --> 824.76] up the political ladder, which he did with incredible skill all the way into the presidency [824.76 --> 829.72] of the United States. When he would teach his underlings or staffers how to read people, [829.72 --> 832.92] he would say something like this. He'd say, don't pay attention to their family history, [832.92 --> 836.40] don't get into their genealogy, don't try to read their psychology, [836.40 --> 841.08] don't read their body language, definitely, definitely, don't listen to what they say, [841.14 --> 851.68] but do this one thing. Look into their eyes. Read their eyes. For the eyes are the pathway to the soul. [851.68 --> 864.88] I wonder, what if Lyndon Baines Johnson were there the day when Jesus turned and looked straight at Peter? [866.32 --> 873.62] What would Johnson have seen in Jesus' eyes? What would he have read? What did Peter see? [876.24 --> 881.34] Well, people of God, what if Peter didn't see what he and all of us sitting here would have expected him [881.34 --> 892.62] to see? What if he didn't get the look? What if he didn't see anger or malice or self-pity and grief [892.62 --> 900.28] or the astonishment that a friend could do such a thing? But what if he saw love? Yes, what if he saw [900.28 --> 907.98] love in Jesus' eyes? Love as steady as mountain and sturdy as rock? What if the only hint of grief that [907.98 --> 914.78] Peter could detect in Jesus' eyes was a perfect sorrow? Not a sorrow that Jesus had for himself, [915.60 --> 921.30] but that he had for Peter? He who so desperately wanted to be faithful, so desperately wanted to [921.30 --> 925.40] be strong, so desperately didn't want to fall down in his face again and again and again, [926.30 --> 933.48] but whom, despite himself, did exactly that which he didn't want to do? What if he saw love in Jesus' [933.48 --> 943.74] eyes? What would that do to a guy? How would that feel? Well, I believe that might just cut a betrayer's [943.74 --> 950.60] heart in two. That might just be the greatest and the most painful look you could ever receive, [951.00 --> 959.54] a fatal blow and a bright new birth. Jesus' enormous generosity, exposing your own immense poverty, [959.54 --> 966.14] his strength to love and your cowardice, his light and no more doubt about your own darkness. [967.20 --> 975.12] The unlovable swept up in perfection's love. That might just be, a look like that might just cause [975.12 --> 982.06] a brokenness that renews. Instigate repentance tears that heal. [982.06 --> 989.82] It might just be a moment where Good Friday and Easter happen in a single sudden glance. [991.50 --> 995.02] I ask you, what would a look like that do to you? [997.18 --> 1002.72] Dear friends, don't you think it's possible, an altogether characteristic of our Lord, [1002.72 --> 1010.82] that what caught Peter's heart in half, what made Peter's heart weep with a repentance more sour [1010.82 --> 1017.40] than an ocean of spoiled wine and is meant to do the same thing to ours? Is that the God, [1018.44 --> 1025.02] the creator whom we have withheld from our lips no less than three times, even though we owe our [1025.02 --> 1032.62] lives to this man, he does not look at us with eyes torn wide open by surprise, nor with the glazed [1032.62 --> 1036.68] and benumbed look of a friend who lets you know that you've just snapped the last straw, nor with the [1036.68 --> 1041.30] red fireballs of a jilted lover who wants to scream, I told you so, I knew you'd do this. [1042.58 --> 1051.24] But whom instead looks at us with the soft and sanguine half-moon eyes of one whose greatest [1051.24 --> 1057.66] concern at the moment they are betrayed is to let the betrayer know that they are still loved as fiercely [1057.66 --> 1068.10] as ever. Whoa. One whose greatest concern at the moment that they are betrayed is to let the betrayer [1068.10 --> 1078.48] know that they are still loved as fiercely as ever. People of God, I bring the word to you this morning. [1078.48 --> 1083.50] I bring the simple gospel message, the message of good news. [1085.66 --> 1092.76] It is a good note to end a year and it is a good note to start a year. It can utterly and completely [1092.76 --> 1100.88] transform the motivational substructure of the heart, why we do what we do. Consider it. The good news is [1100.88 --> 1107.70] that God in the wideness of his mercy has chosen to look upon us in love. Even though the rooster crows for [1107.70 --> 1114.60] us all, none withstanding, the good news is that the God of this universe is not like the gods of the [1114.60 --> 1120.80] Greek pantheon who look upon people like us, who trip over our own feet, who fail ourselves, who fail [1120.80 --> 1127.82] each other, who fail him, and zap us with lightning bolts to satisfy their own disdain and self-pity. [1128.94 --> 1135.06] No, the good news, the greatest news is that God looks down at us from the cross that we put him on, [1135.06 --> 1141.96] but that he made a throne just like he looked at Peter and he says those impossible words that change [1141.96 --> 1150.14] everything, that in fact usher in a new creation for us according to scripture. Resurrection now, [1150.94 --> 1158.88] the words, you remember them, Father forgive them. They know not what they do. Father forgive. [1158.88 --> 1165.98] They know not what they do. This changes everything. Do you believe that it changes everything? [1166.88 --> 1171.68] Well, rest assured that it does. Yes, forgiveness changes everything because the old sages were right. [1172.28 --> 1176.58] The best way to defeat an enemy is not to fight them and kill them, but to forgive them [1176.58 --> 1183.38] and make them your friend. Forgiveness changes everything because the ancient proverb is right. [1183.38 --> 1191.26] the noblest vengeance is to forgive. Forgiveness changes everything because Mark Twain was right. [1192.26 --> 1198.54] Forgiveness is the fragrance, the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it. [1200.44 --> 1208.06] I want to say that one again. Forgiveness is the fragrance, the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it. [1208.06 --> 1214.94] And then forgiveness changes everything because lastly Martin Luther King Jr. was dead right. [1215.94 --> 1222.24] Returning hate for hate multiplies hate. Adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. [1223.22 --> 1230.74] Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that. [1230.74 --> 1241.30] Hate multiplies hate. Violence multiplies violence. And toughness multiplies toughness in the descending spiral of destruction. [1242.12 --> 1248.94] It is only the second chances that forgiveness offers that will change this world and bring peace that will last. [1248.94 --> 1259.82] On a New Year's Day in 1929 the University of California played Georgia Tech in the most important football game of the year, the Orange Bowl. [1260.62 --> 1267.54] During the first half, the University of California, one of the players for the University of California named Roy Reggles recovered a fumble. [1268.54 --> 1276.36] And much like I would do, became confused about direction and started running toward the opposing end zone. [1276.36 --> 1281.84] He was tackled by one of his own players just yards before scoring for the opposing team. [1283.62 --> 1291.12] The University of California tried to punt the ball but Georgia Tech blocked it and then they scored a safety which became a winning margin in this game. [1291.90 --> 1296.68] During halftime all of the players, University of California, filed into the room. [1296.80 --> 1300.76] They sat down and were extremely quiet. The air was sucked right out of them. [1300.76 --> 1306.42] Roy Reggles for himself was feeling pretty sorry for himself, like a complete flop and failure that he was. [1306.48 --> 1313.28] And he goes and sits in the corner and throws a towel over his head, crumples into a little ball and starts whimpering and blubbering. [1314.36 --> 1318.78] Three minutes before playing time, Coach Price, the coach of the team, stands up and he says, [1319.16 --> 1322.64] Men, the same line that started the first half starts the second. [1323.78 --> 1328.54] Dutifully, they stand up, start filing out into the field, except for Roy Reggles. [1328.54 --> 1333.14] Roy stays exactly where he was, doesn't move an inch, doesn't budge. [1333.82 --> 1336.02] Roy, Coach said, didn't you hear me? [1337.32 --> 1339.12] Get up, go on back. [1339.98 --> 1343.54] Coach, I couldn't go out there to face that crowd to save my life. [1345.20 --> 1348.24] Coach walks over to him, puts his hand on his shoulder and says, [1348.60 --> 1349.72] Get up, Roy. [1350.28 --> 1351.84] Get up and go on back. [1352.54 --> 1355.20] The game is only half over. [1355.20 --> 1363.90] Tech men to this day will tell you that they have never seen a man play football like they saw Roy Reggles play that second half. [1364.70 --> 1366.62] Oh, to be looked at in love. [1367.38 --> 1369.16] Oh, to be given a second chance. [1369.60 --> 1374.30] Oh, to receive the forgiveness that the God of this universe offers us. [1374.44 --> 1376.52] It is a transforming love. [1376.52 --> 1382.94] Dear friends, if you know, like I do, that you've blown it at the game of life, [1383.02 --> 1388.50] that you're more inclined to fumble than make touchdowns, run in the wrong direction, and play for the wrong team, [1388.70 --> 1391.62] you have come to the right place this morning. [1392.84 --> 1399.20] The Church of Jesus Christ is not for self-assured superhumans who think they've got it all figured out and mastered. [1399.20 --> 1406.38] It's for those of us whose hearts break because we know that we've slapped the God who looks at us in love right in the face. [1407.12 --> 1408.58] We've besmirched his glory. [1409.40 --> 1411.60] We've begrimed his magnificent creation. [1412.26 --> 1414.18] And we have wounded the ones he loves. [1415.18 --> 1415.82] Each other. [1417.12 --> 1417.68] Ourselves. [1418.46 --> 1419.30] His creation. [1420.24 --> 1423.50] And supremely his one and only son, Jesus. [1423.50 --> 1423.70] Jesus. [1424.74 --> 1431.46] The Church of Jesus Christ is for those who go back day after day after day to the foot of the cross, [1431.76 --> 1435.48] and they receive again those impossible words that change everything. [1436.56 --> 1439.62] And then, having received the forgiveness given to us, [1440.50 --> 1448.60] we are called to go by God to become the fragrance the violet has shed on the heels that have crushed us. [1448.60 --> 1453.52] How would 2025 look differently? [1455.40 --> 1457.78] If you took it to look on other people in love, [1458.36 --> 1462.52] not only to forgive them, which is the thrust of our text today, [1462.62 --> 1466.66] but also simply to do them some good. [1467.84 --> 1470.24] What if this whole room full of people this morning [1470.24 --> 1473.80] would seek to look at others in love, [1474.50 --> 1476.38] as we have been looked at in love? [1476.38 --> 1479.60] Not only are we transformed, [1480.40 --> 1482.18] but inch by inch, measure by measure, [1483.02 --> 1484.70] this is how it works. [1485.70 --> 1488.18] This is how the patient ferment of the gospel, [1488.44 --> 1490.34] as the book Dave had once suggested to me, [1490.94 --> 1493.60] works itself out into the world as our hearts are changed, [1494.12 --> 1495.74] and then we show love and others are changed. [1495.86 --> 1497.66] So may God give us the strength to do this [1497.66 --> 1499.48] in his mercy and his grace. [1499.58 --> 1500.36] Let me pray for us. [1500.36 --> 1503.58] Dear Lord God, [1503.78 --> 1506.94] it is truly unfathomable [1506.94 --> 1510.00] that you would look at us in love. [1511.02 --> 1512.76] So often when we are hurt, [1512.88 --> 1513.94] we want to hurt back. [1516.32 --> 1518.56] Lord, I pray not that we [1518.56 --> 1521.62] don't hold others responsible for their actions, [1521.86 --> 1523.12] not that we pretend that [1523.12 --> 1525.64] things others have done to us don't hurt, [1526.34 --> 1527.34] that it wasn't wrong. [1527.34 --> 1529.70] This is a betrayal of the truth about forgiveness. [1530.66 --> 1531.64] But I pray, Lord, [1531.74 --> 1532.82] that we would seek [1532.82 --> 1535.30] the restoration of other people, [1535.40 --> 1537.34] even as you have sought our restoration. [1538.50 --> 1541.24] Change the motivational substructure of our heart [1541.24 --> 1544.84] so that we may be motivated by your love, [1545.24 --> 1547.00] not by duty so much, [1547.08 --> 1549.08] but by the privilege of joining you [1549.08 --> 1552.36] in your restoration project for this world. [1552.36 --> 1555.26] Thank you for your great love to us, Lord. [1555.64 --> 1557.38] I ask that you would make it real to us. [1559.52 --> 1560.76] Pray this in Jesus' name.