I talked with someone this past week who commented that they are ready for 2024 to be in the rearview mirror. I know some of you may be feeling that same way.
Perhaps some things happened in 2024 that you are ready to move on from. Maybe it was a struggle with anger, and you said some things to your kids that you can’t take back. Perhaps you made some bad financial decisions in 2024, and you have spent every day regretting it. Maybe you betrayed your spouse, and they just haven’t been able to move forward. Maybe you faced divorce this year, and you keep thinking, if only I had … Maybe it is the maddening cycle of reoccurring sin you have been struggling with or perhaps life just hasn’t measured up to your expectations, and you’re wondering, is this all there is?
Whatever has been a struggle for you, you’re ready to move on from 2024 because of things that have happened, things in your past that you have been unable to change.
This is the last week of our series Travel Light. We’ve been talking about parting with some things to make room for the things that will be truly helpful in our journey. We talked about letting go of stuff, distractions, bitterness, control, fear, and this morning, to end our series I want to talk about Letting Go of the Past.
If anyone understood letting go of the past, it was the Apostle Peter.
Luke 22:60-62 (CSB)—But Peter said, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Immediately, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. Then the Lord turned and looked at Peter. So Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.
In case you don’t know the story, before Jesus is crucified, He tells Peter that he will in fact deny Jesus 3 times before the rooster crows. Peter insists that he would never ever abandon Jesus. But once Jesus is arrested, falsely accused, and tortured, Peter is approached three different times and is accused of being one of Jesus’ followers. Each time Peter denies even knowing Jesus. The third time Peter denies Jesus, the rooster crows and Peter remembers Jesus’ words.
Imagine the guilt and shame Peter must have felt. After all that Jesus had done for Him and after all of the times Peter had pledged his allegiance to Jesus; promised that he would be steadfast no matter what came. But when the test came, Peter failed.
What do you think was going through Peter’s mind at that moment?
Probably some of the same things our enemy says to you about your past. He says:
You are unforgivable.
The enemy is whispering in your ear that you’ve done too much or that thing you’ve done could never be forgiven. The enemy has piled so much shame and guilt on you that you easily identify with King David’s words in Psalm 38:
Ps 38:4 (CSB)—For my iniquities have flooded over my head; they are a burden too heavy for me to bear.
You are unloveable.
You think that if people only knew the truth about me, no one would ever accept me, let alone love me. If people knew that I’ve lied or cheated or whatever you might have done.
In Gen 3, after Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they suddenly realized what they had done. In their shame, they hid their nakedness from God by sewing fig leaves together, and then they hid from God.
I wonder how many of you here this morning are feeling like you are unloveable because of your past, and because of that, you want desperately to hide that shame so no one will know.
You are useless.
Some of you have been convinced you are useless because of your past. You think He could never want or use you because of something you have done.
Here’s the problem with believing the enemy’s lies:
If you can’t let go of your past, you can’t take hold of your future.
We see this played out when Jesus deals with Peter after his failure?.
In Jn 21, Jesus has already appeared to the disciples after He has risen from the dead. He has addressed them as a group, He has dealt with Doubting Thomas, but we don’t see Him interacting at all with Peter until we reach Jn 21. Peter and a couple of the other disciples go fishing, but they haven’t had much luck.
Then they see someone standing on the shore. He yells at them and suggests they cast their net on the other side of the boat and suddenly the net is full of fish. At that moment they realize it is Jesus on the shore. Realizing it is Jesus, Peter ties his robe tight and jumps in the water and swims the 100 yards to Jesus. Jesus invites them to have breakfast and then says this to Peter:
Jn 21:15-17 (CSB)—When they had eaten breakfast, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said to him, “you know that I love you.” “Feed my lambs,” he told him. A second time he asked him, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” “Yes, Lord,” he said to him, “you know that I love you.” “Shepherd my sheep,” he told him. He asked him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved that he asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” “Feed my sheep,” Jesus said.
First, notice that it was Jesus who came to Peter. I’m sure that Peter is wondering, what is Jesus thinking about me; how does Jesus feel about me after I denied Him three times? Jesus comes to Peter.
Earlier, before His crucifixion, Jesus says I have come to seek and save the lost. Later in Rev 3:20 Jesus says, “I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come in and dine with him and he with me.”
Even in our broken and disappointing past, Jesus actively seeks us; He comes to us, wanting to restore us.
Peter could have sat in the boat, “I wonder what that guy wants?” But he didn’t. He jumps out of the boat, swims to the shore, meets Jesus, and receives the restoration Jesus wanted to give him.
Three times, Peter denies Jesus, and three times, Jesus asks Peter, do you love me? By the third time, Peter knew what was up. It says, “Peter was grieved that he asked him the third time.”
Even though Peter’s feelings were hurt, Jesus dealt with him to restore him. Jesus is less concerned about our short-term feelings and more concerned about our long-term healing. You can’t heal until you acknowledge and deal with your past. Sweeping it under the rug won’t do. Ignoring it won’t do. Feeling bad about it won’t do. But allowing God to reveal it and pour a little hydrogen peroxide on the wound will ultimately bring healing.
If you feel far from Jesus because of something in your past, you need to realize that Jesus hasn’t gone anywhere. He stands, waiting to restore you. Meet him, confess you sin and your brokenness and allow Him to move you out of your past and into your future.
The bad news is if you don’t let go of your past, you can’t take hold of your future.
The good news is
Although you can’t change your past, God can change your future.
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How do you let go of your past?
Close the door to your past.
Accept that God’s grace is bigger than our sin.
1 Jn 1:9 (CSB)—If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
It’s not like He doesn’t know our sin, but look at what He doesn’t ask us to do: to feel guilty, beg, or do penance. He simply asks do you love me? Jesus said, If you love me, obey me. We do the things He has asked us to do because of our love for Him. When we disobey Him, we make a statement about our love for Him. Confession is God’s way of dealing with what is in the way of your relationship with Jesus.
Sometimes things come up in my and Stacey’s relationship that require us to have some communication before we are able to move forward. The same is true for us in our relationship with Jesus.
Here’s the thing that many followers of Jesus can’t wrap their head around: Our standing with God is determined by relationship not rules. We don’t confess our sin because we’ve broken a rule; we confess our sin because it gets in the way of our relationship.
When we hold on to our past, when we refuse to come to Jesus and confess our sin and restore the relationship; when we believe the lies that we are unforgivable, unloveable, and useless, what we are saying is the power of my past is stronger than the power of the cross—the power of what I did is stronger that what Jesus did for me.
Gal 4:7 (CSB)— So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then God has made you an heir.
Jn 1:12-13 (CSB)—But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born, not of natural descent, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God.
How did Jesus respond to Peter’s betrayal and denial? What did Jesus do in light of Peter’s past? He forgave him, and he restored him.
“When God put a calling on your life, He already factored in your stupidity.”
—Unknown
Often we think before we come to Jesus to deal with our past, we need to be a better person, clean our act up, or straighten some things out, etc.
But we must remember we are not what we have done; we are who God says we are. God says we are forgiven, His children, and His chosen instrument.
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To let go of your past, you need to close the door on the past and
Step into your future.
God saves you from your past so you can step into your future.
When Jesus meets Peter, he restores and gives him a new future-. He tells Peter to feed my sheep. This is the calling given to Peter from Jesus. The prerequisite for this call is not Peter fulfilling a checklist of do’s and don’ts. It is rooted in Peter’s love for Jesus.
God is in the business of using imperfect people to impact his world. God doesn’t choose to use us because we are faithful. He chooses to use us because He is faithful.
When we read about Peter’s denial of Jesus, we get pretty focused on what Peter did, but the
The story is really about Jesus. It’s about His forgiveness, and His love, and His moving Peter out of his past into his future.
When we look at our past we shouldn’t see our failure, we should see God’s faithfulness. We shouldn’t see our defeat, we shouldn’t see our defeat, we should see God’s victory. We shouldn’t see how bad we are, we should see how good God is.
When all is said and done and our journey on Earth is finished, our story is will not be a story about our failure, but about God’s victory! We should not be held captive by our past, but we should see the freedom we have for a new future with God.
Even though that future is unknown to us, we can trust that His plans for our future are good.
When Peter is fishing on his own how well does he do? When Jesus shows up what happens? A boat full of fish!
Phil 3:12-15 (NLT)—I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
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Close the door on your past and step into your future.
Leave the broken, irreversible past in God’s hands, and step out into the invincible future with Him.
—Oswald Chambers
What is the difference between Peter and Judas? Both betrayed Jesus! Neither trusted that Jesus would do the things He said He would do. The difference is only Peter saw a future with Jesus! Only Peter closed the door on his past and stepped into his future.
2024 is the past. In 2025, make Jesus the main character in your story.
You can’t change your past, but God can give you a new future.
Chris Hankel 
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