November 12, 2001
Winning sermon: Three strikes and you're out--maybe
___By Brent Beasley
___Scripture passage: Mark 14:29-31, 66-72; 16:1-7.
___Opening day for T-ball season was yesterday. Lynn Ellis and I are coaching a team together. After the game, Kelly Al-Obaidi came running up to Lynn yelling, "Miss Lynn, Miss Lynn, did we win?"
___And Lynn said, "Kelly, everybody's a winner in T-ball."
___There isn't a lot left for us to do where everybody's a winner. You don't have to live very long or do very much to know what it's like to lose. To come up short. To fail.
___Ask Peter. Peter enjoyed the thrill of victory. But he also experienced the agony of defeat.
___Everybody knows he started out as a fisherman. He lived with his wife in Capernaum, where they shared a house with his mother-in-law and his brother Andrew. He and Andrew had their own boat and were in business with a couple of partners named James and John, Zebedee's sons.
___The first time Jesus laid eyes on him, he took one good look and said, "So you're
BRENT BEASLEY
Simon, the son of John" (John 1:42). And then Jesus said that from then on he'd call him Cephas, which is Aramaic for Peter, which is Greek for Rock.
BRENT BEASLEY, pastor of First Baptist Church in Eagle Lake, has won the inaugural George W. Truett Preaching Award, sponsored by Baylor University and the Baptist Standard. Read about the contest below.
___He could stop fishing for fish, Jesus told him. He'd been promoted. From there on out, people were to be his business. Now he could start fishing for them.
___Peter certainly experienced the thrill of victory in this business of being a disciple. There were all these half-baked theories of who Jesus was, so Jesus put it to them straight: "Who do YOU say that I am?"
___Nobody wanted to stick his neck out, until Peter finally said: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
___And Jesus said, "Blessed are you, Simon." Then Jesus told him that he was the rock he would build his church on. "I will give you the keys to the kingdom," Jesus told him. Another victory.
___But Peter also knew the agony of defeat. He didn't always say the right thing or do the right thing. One time Jesus was talking about heaven, and Peter wanted to know what sort of special deal people like himself got, people who'd left home and given everything up the way he'd given everything up to follow Jesus.
___Jesus took it easy on him that time because a rock can't help being a little thick sometimes.
___And then there was their last supper together. Jesus was explaining that he would have to be going soon. Peter didn't quite get it, and he asked about it, and Jesus explained what he meant was that he was going where nobody on earth would follow him. Peter finally got the point; then he asked why he couldn't follow.
___"I'll lay down my life for you," Peter said.
___Then Jesus said something terrible to Peter: "Listen, the rooster won't crow till you've betrayed me three times."
___And Jesus was right, of course. After Jesus was arrested, Peter was sitting out there in the courtyard keeping warm by the fire. Then the girl came up to ask him three times if he wasn't one of them with Jesus, and he replied each time that he didn't know what in God's name she was talking about.
___And then the old rooster squawked at the rising sun, and tears ran down Peter's face like rain down a rock as he remembered.1
___Peter knew what it's like to be a winner. He also knew what it's like to be a loser.
___But everybody's a winner in T-ball. Do you know why everybody's a winner in T-ball? Because we don't keep score in T-ball.
___Most of the time, sports are all about no second chances. There are clear winners and losers. There are the ones who start and play most of the time, and there are the ones who almost never get to play. There is the one who is picked first. And there is the one who is picked last.
___Most of the time, sports are about no second chances. But T-ball is one sport that is all grace.
___When you go up to bat, you can't strike out. The rule is you keep going until you hit the ball.
___An inning is over after three outs, or after everybody gets to hit.
___Everybody plays--the whole game. We had 13 players out in the field.
___And in T-ball, you don't keep score. And when the game's over, everybody gets a snow cone.
___Nobody knows the score. And everybody gets a snow cone. T-ball is all grace.
___One of the things we discover as we consider what happened to Jesus at the end of his life is that all of us share the burden of guilt as betrayers of Jesus.
___The truth is that all of us are a part of a company of betrayers.
___We can't run off and hide and leave Judas holding the bag.
___When the rooster crows, we can't just look smugly at Peter. Pilate is not the only one who has washed his hands of an opportunity to do the right thing.
___It's nice to have somebody else to point to as the guilty party. It's nice to have someone else to blame. It's nice to have a scapegoat. We don't like to have to admit our own daily betrayal of Jesus. We don't like to have to admit our own portion of the guilt in his death.
___And a lot of us would like to live in a world where when you go to church you never hear Christians--much less preachers--confess to the pain or sin of anything. The problem is that each of us has a story. And all of our stories include the truth that we are guilty, that we have all betrayed our Lord, that we are all a part of the company of betrayers. That is a part of our story. And it's the only story we've got. And that's my story, too.
___If you're keeping score, I don't think I'm winning this game. And I know I don't always deserve a snow cone.
___But the thing is, we don't have to end up like Judas. We don't have to let our guilt and our shame and our failure destroy us.
___Peter proves that. Peter.
___The Sabbath was over. Mary Magdalene and two other women were going to anoint Jesus' body. So, very early on the first day of the week, just before sunrise, they were on the way to the tomb. They were even wondering as they walked how they were going to roll the stone away from the entrance to the tomb so they could get in, because it was a very large stone.
___But when they got there, the stone had already been rolled away and an angel was there who told them that if they were looking for Jesus of Nazareth they were looking in the wrong place. He is risen. He wasn't there.
___And then, in Mark 16:7, there is this great line that I had never noticed before until it was pointed out to me in a book I read a few years ago.
___The angel tells the women, "But go, tell his disciples, and Peter, that he is going before you to Galilee."
___Go and tell his disciples, and Peter, that he is going before you to Galilee.
___Let me say it another way: Don't just stay here. Go and tell the disciples--and especially Peter--that he is risen and is going before you to Galilee.
___Peter didn't let his despair destroy him. Somehow he kept going. And then we have this great line in Mark 16: The tomb was empty. Jesus was alive.
___And the angel tells Mary Magdalene and the others to go tell the disciples--and especially Peter.
___It's as if even the angels were saying: "Be sure to tell Peter that he's not left out. Tell him that Jesus still wants to see him."2
___No wonder they call it the gospel of the second chance. Peter betrayed Jesus by something he said, just like you and I sometimes betray Jesus by things we say and do or by things we don't say and don't do.
___But Jesus wanted Peter especially to know that he was alive. And Peter allowed himself to be forgiven. And he got a second chance.
___Even the angels wanted Peter to know it wasn't over. The message came loud and clear: Be sure and tell Peter that even though he swung and missed, he gets to bat again.
___And Peter did take another swing. He hit a home run at Pentecost. He became the leader of the early Christian church.
___We live in a world that keeps score. And all of us know what it's like to lose.
___We also know enough about ourselves--if we're really honest--to shudder at the thought of God with his great scorebook in the sky. That's a pretty scary thought, isn't it? A tally mark here, a tally mark there. How do you think you'd come out? God's scorebook in the sky.
___Fifteen years ago in a large city in the far West, rumors spread that a certain Catholic woman was having visions of Jesus. The reports reached the archbishop. He decided to check her out. There is always, you know, a fine line between an authentic mystic and the lunatic fringe.
___"Is it true, ma'am, that you have visions of Jesus?"
___"Yes."
___"Well, the next time you have a vision, I want you to ask Jesus to tell you the sins that I confessed in my last confession."
___The woman was stunned. "Did I hear you right, bishop? You actually want me to ask Jesus to tell me the sins of your past?"
___"Exactly. Please call me if anything happens."
___Ten days later, the woman notified the bishop of a recent appearance. "Please come," she said.
___Within the hour, the archbishop arrived. He trusted eye-to-eye contact. "You just told me on the phone that you actually had a vision of Jesus. Did you do what I asked?"
___"Yes, bishop, I asked Jesus to tell me the sins you confessed in your last confession."
___The bishop leaned forward with anticipation. His eyes narrowed. "What did Jesus say?"
___She took his hand, gazed deep into his eyes. "Bishop," she said, "these are his exact words: 'I CAN'T REMEMBER.'" 3
___I'm practicing some of the things I'll be saying over and over at our next T-ball game:
___"I don't know the score."
___"Keeping trying until you hit it."
___"Everybody gets to play."
___"Everybody's a winner."
___"It's all grace."
___"Snow cones for everybody."
___1 The description of Peter is based on the chapter "Peter" in Frederick Buechner, "Peculiar Treasures."
___2 Max Lucado, "No Wonder They Call Him the Savior."
___3 Brennan Manning, "The Ragamuffin Gospel."
Beasley wins Truett Preaching Award
___Brent Beasley, pastor of First Baptist Church in Eagle Lake, has won the inaugural George W. Truett Preaching Award. The winning sermon is printed on this page.
___The Truett Preaching Award was launched this year by Baylor University and the Baptist Standard. The award program is designed to recognize and encourage excellence in preaching.
___The contest is open to ministers currently serving a church or association affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Entries were received from across the state.
___Finalists in the 2001 contest were Karl Fickling of Grand Prairie, "Too Big to Forgive"; John Petty of Uvalde, "Sand Castle Faith"; and Brett Younger of Fort Worth, "Am I at the Right Table?"
___"Baylor University is pleased to join the Baptist Standard in recognizing one of our state's best young preachers," noted Howard Williams, director of Baylor's office of church relations and coordinator of the award program.
___"Brent Beasley joins our other finalists in continuing the rich tradition of preaching that was characterized by George W. Truett."
___Truett was a Baylor graduate, legendary Texas Baptist statesman and pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas for most of the first half of the 20th century. Baylor's seminary is named in his honor.
___"The preaching event is a central focus of Texas Baptist churches," noted Marv Knox, editor of the Baptist Standard. "When people think about our churches, their thoughts often turn to great preaching. We are a people who exalt and proclaim God's word.
___"We were delighted to receive a number of fine sermons this year, the first time the Truett Award has been offered. We look forward to the coming years, as sermon after memorable sermon will present the gospel clearly and compellingly."
___Judges for the contest were Raymond Bailey, pastor of Seventh & James Baptist Church in Waco and a former professor of preaching at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky.; Hulitt Gloer, professor of preaching at Baylor's Truett Seminary; Knox; Vicki Marsh-Kabot, a writer and associate director of public relations at Baylor; Margarita Treviño, an author/lecturer and director of the Christian Education Research Institute in Keller; and John Wood, professor of theology at Baylor.
___The judges evaluated the sermons based on written manuscripts. They did not know the identities of the sermon authors until final judgments had been delivered.
___Beasley has been pastor in Eagle Lake since 1998. Previously, he was pastor of Spring Valley Baptist Church in Lorena. He is a graduate of Baylor University and Truett Seminary. He is pursuing a doctor of ministry degree from Princeton Theological Seminary.
___He has been active in the Baptist General Convention of Texas, serving on its Strategic Planning Committee, Committee to Nominate Executive Board Members and Memorials Committee.
___He and his wife, Heidi, have two children, Samuel Webb, 5, and Ivy Mae, 2.
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