Sermon Title: Spiritual Recovery: When I’ve Lost My Way
Scripture: John 21:15-19 ESV
Introduction
We’ve been going through a series on spiritual recovery, looking at the different spiritual conditions we experience in life. Last week, we looked at Psalm 51, where spiritual recovery goes deeper than our circumstances and asks what happens when our own sins are the reason we are spiritually broken and struggling. Today, we’ll look at one last spiritual condition: spiritual defeat.
Spiritual defeat is when you feel like it’s all over because you’ve failed and really messed up. You’ve failed yourself, failed others, and most of all, failed God. You lose your spiritual direction, confidence, and purpose, and you no longer know what it means to follow Jesus after everything that has happened. It’s not necessarily that you don’t believe in God’s forgiveness. Rather, you no longer feel worthy of His forgiveness. You become so consumed by your failures that you begin to see everything, including yourself, through that lens. You may still attend church and appear fine outwardly, but inwardly you feel ashamed, defeated, and lost.
Simon Peter
Simon Peter failed Jesus spectacularly. Peter was the most vocal and proactive of the disciples. He walked on water, declared that he would never abandon Jesus, and promised that he would lay down his life for Him. And I believe he truly meant it. He loved Jesus and believed his faith was strong enough to withstand anything. Yet on the night Jesus was arrested, Peter ran away like the rest. He eventually followed from a distance, but when people recognized him, he denied Jesus three times, just as Jesus had said. Luke tells us that Jesus turned and looked at Peter, and Peter went out and wept bitterly [Lk 22:61–62].
Think about what Peter had just experienced. Only days earlier, Jesus entered Jerusalem as the Messiah King, with crowds crying out, “Hosanna!” Now everything seemed to have fallen apart. When Jesus looked at Peter, Peter knew he had utterly failed. We too can be swallowed up by guilt, shame, and grief. We may run away from God, not because we reject Him, but because we feel unworthy of Him. We tell ourselves, “How could I do this after everything You’ve done for me? I’ll just end up failing again.” But that is how we see ourselves, not necessarily how God sees us.
In John 21, we find Peter back at the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias, where Jesus first found him. Peter tells the other disciples, “I am going fishing,” and they go with him, but catch nothing [Jn 21:3]. Peter seems to have lost his way, so he returns to the life he knew before Jesus. Jesus called him to be a fisher of men, but now he is just fishing, and even that isn’t going well.
Then Jesus appears on the shore and tells them to cast their net on the other side of the boat. Suddenly they catch so many fish they cannot haul the net in [Jn 21:4–6]. Does this sound familiar? Jesus is recreating a moment like the one when Peter first encountered Him [Lk 5:1–11]. When Peter realizes it is Jesus, he jumps into the water and swims to shore. There, Jesus has prepared breakfast over a charcoal fire [Jn 21:9]. That detail is significant because Peter had stood beside a charcoal fire when he denied Jesus [Jn 18:18]. I can only imagine what was going through his mind. Yet Jesus simply invites them to come and eat.
The Remedy
1. Jesus restores our relationship with Him [Jn 21:15–17]
Sometimes, when we’ve messed up horribly, hearing harsh words almost feels like a relief because at least we are getting what we deserve. Peter may have expected Jesus to say, “How could you do that to Me? Didn’t you promise to be faithful? Didn’t you say you would lay down your life for Me?” But Jesus says nothing like that. Instead, He asks Peter three times whether he loves Him.
The three questions bring Peter face to face with his three denials, but Jesus addresses his failure with grace and mercy. Jesus is not pretending that it never happened. He is showing Peter that his failure will not have the final word in his relationship with Christ. Peter is grieved by the third question, yet he answers, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you” [Jn 21:17]. Jesus knows Peter’s heart, his failures, and his love. And rather than pushing Peter away, Jesus restores him to a relationship of love.
2. Jesus recommissions us for His purposes [Jn 21:15–17]
Each time Peter answers that he loves Jesus, Jesus commands him to feed or shepherd His sheep. Jesus is not simply asking whether Peter still loves Him. He is reminding Peter that he still has a purpose and a calling to fulfill. Restoration is not merely about recovering from past failure; it is about returning to faithful obedience and service.
Our love for Christ is not simply about what we feel or what we say. It is expressed in how we live, obey, and care for those who belong to Him. When we experience spiritual defeat, we can become so preoccupied with the mistakes we made, the people we disappointed, and the person we failed to become that we forget we still have a life of obedience to live. We stop serving, withdraw from fellowship, and distance ourselves from the very things that helped us grow in Christ. But Jesus does not allow Peter’s failure to become the conclusion of his life. He restores Peter and gives him renewed purpose.
3. Jesus calls us to continue following Him [Jn 21:18–19]
Jesus then tells Peter that when he is old, others will take him where he does not want to go. John explains that Jesus was speaking about the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. And then Jesus gives him a command: “Follow me” [Jn 21:18–19]. These are the same words Jesus spoke when He first called Peter by the Sea of Galilee [Mt 4:18–20]. It is as though Peter has come full circle.
The point is not to feel better and then follow Him. It is to follow Him now. Those who are struggling, weary, brokenhearted, ashamed, and lost—follow Him. Peter was not suddenly better or fully transformed in that moment. Jesus was restoring him, but not merely to the person he used to be. He was transforming Peter into the person he would become.
Jesus’ words about Peter’s death show us that restoration does not mean life will become easier or that we will no longer suffer. According to early Christian tradition, Peter was eventually crucified. The man who once denied Jesus and ran away to save his own life would later become a man who would not deny Christ, even at the cost of his life. In a way, what Peter once promised in genuine love—that he would follow Jesus even to death—would finally be fulfilled. But it happened through the transforming grace and power of Christ, not through Peter’s confidence in himself.
Conclusion and Reflection
Brothers and sisters, as we finish this series on spiritual recovery, remember that the direction and destination of our recovery is to obey Jesus’ command to follow Him. Jesus must be the true anchor of our lives. Our recovery must not turn inward, so that everything becomes about ourselves and how we feel. It must turn outward toward Christ. The purpose is not simply to feel better and return to our normal way of life. The Lord is transforming us through the spiritual storms of life so that we may draw others closer to Christ and care for His flock.
I often wonder what Jesus might have been thinking when He looked at Peter that night. I may be wrong, but I imagine something different from the words Peter was probably telling himself: “I know you. I know your heart, your struggles, and your pain. I know you meant it when you said you loved Me. It is going to take some more time. But I have not given up on you.” We must be careful not to confuse the condemning words we speak to ourselves with the words of our Lord. Jesus knew Peter would fail, and He had already prayed that Peter’s faith would not fail and that he would strengthen his brothers when he turned back [Lk 22:31–32].
And remember, Peter was not alone. The other disciples were with him when he went fishing. They walked with him through his spiritual defeat. The Lord has also given us the body of Christ so that we do not have to walk alone. Our failures may defeat us, but they will never defeat the purposes of God. His grace and mercy are sufficient to restore us and enable us to continue following Him. Brothers and sisters, when you stumble or fall, do not be afraid. Although you may be a person who has fallen, Jesus Christ is risen. Trust in His power to restore you, recommission you, and enable you to follow Him.
