When Fault isn’t Failure

“It was all my fault.” As Robert E Lee surveyed the carnage that resulted from the failed effort at Pickett’s Charge, he is reported to have met his troops retreating from the defeat, with the words, “It was all my Fault.” And in fact, it likely was. The three day engagement at Gettysburg had ended on day one as a stalemate. The events of day two proved decisive as the Union’s Joshua Chamberlain almost single-handedly saved the battle and likely the war with his textbook flanking maneuver on Little Round Top that swept around to send the South into retreat. But by now, there was no putting Lee off. He would fight them here and now, and it was in the heat of those charged emotional circumstances that he ordered the hapless charge by Colonel George Pickett, placing thousands of Confederate soldiers within the open wheat field of battle where they were cut down by Union gunfire. It was a complete disaster and proved to be the turning point of the war. Never again would Lee venture so far into Union territory and increasingly, Grant would have his way with the depleted forces of the South. Failure, no matter the cause brings us face to face with the consequences of our pride, anger, and impure if not conflicted motivations.

In some cases, as with Moses of Exodus fame, it yields unintended consequences that dim an otherwise stellar life. There is no doubt that Moses dwells eternally in the realms of glory; how unfortunate though that as a result of the failure at the “Rock” incident, he was denied the joy of entering into the land he had pursued for so long.

And then, there is the Apostle Peter. Maybe it was his swagger at which he approached any and all that he faced that attracts us to him. He appears more often in the Gospels, he asks more question than the other disciples, and speaks more rashly than any of his comrades. He is emotionally driven and intensely loyal but given to lead with his mouth rather than his mind. He can be heard to testify to the primacy of the Lord’s person, his power, and his mission and then almost without missing a word, he can descend into the depths of depravity, presuming upon the Lord’s passion and his impending march to the cross. But it wasn’t as if Peter wasn’t warned. At the Passover feast, when the discussion over Jesus’ betrayal turned to who was capable of betrayal and then almost immediately, who really was the greatest, Jesus prayerfully prepares his servant for what is just ahead at the hands of Devilish schemes; only to be assured by Peter, that, “I’ve got this.”

But it was this rash impertinence that ultimately was responsible for his undoing. The blow was pointed, painful and it quickly unraveled the prideful confidence that had been Peter’s staple. Luke is the only writer to record that at the moment of his betrayal,

I suggest that this act of denial remains lodged in the mind of Peter in spite of the forgiveness offered by the Lord at the time of his resurrection. So when waiting for the impending departure of the Lord, and unsure of his future, it is not surprising that in John 21, we find Peter back to his old profession, even as his future work is as of yet unsettled. For the sake of brevity and in light of my upcoming message on this topic (June 27, 2021), allow me to suggest just briefly the kind of regular check up we need to take us though the biggest or even the smaller failures of our lives. Our modern culture terms it a deep dive; I’ll simply argue for the Ken Burns effect. The Ken Burns effect was made popular through the production the documentary, produced by Ken Burns, titled, The Civil War; in which as a photograph would appear before the viewer, the camera would then zoom in and examine some smaller detail of the picture that often might be missed in merely a passing glance. So then, as we draw closer to the failures of our lives what must we see?

1. An uncertainty in life will likely remain to trouble us. Where do we go from here? What do I do now? In Peter’s case, until the fog of uncertainty, he returned to fishing, at least for awhile.
2. Relationships still matter. Often we are tempted to “go it alone” because of the fear of letting others in. Peter’s friends, his colleagues still matter, and he matters to them. We were not created to be alone and while solitude may have its virtues, we require the warm embrace of another; someone who will say, it will be okay, come and eat.
3. The past will likely need poking, if only to heal. Jesus cuts to the heart of Peter’s love and commitment to him; his willingness to return to the work and stay at it for the long haul.
4. A life full of challenges. What awaited Peter sooner than later was A Divine enablement, the likes of which he could not imagine, and a new boldness to advance the gospel into a new era of Jewish-gentile ministry, and at least until the deployment of the Apostle Paul, Peter would be the guy at the forefront of Luke’s account in Acts.
5. And finally, a closer look at our exit from failure, suggests a need for stronger focus. Forget the temptation to execute our lives through others, we are to concern ourselves with what God is doing in our life, not the life of a competitor, or even a trusted friend. “What about him?”, Peter asked Jesus in John 21? “What is it to you?”, Jesus responded.

And so it is with us. We will fail, that’s a given. What remains challenging, is the life beyond the failure and if, then how it will count for eternity.

MJC