The importance of failing

  14th March 2024

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Jesus told the disciples to get into a boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray.

When evening came, he was there alone, but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It’s a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. 

But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it’s me. Don’t be afraid.”

Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 

He said, “Come.”

So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” 

Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Matthew 14

I like Peter. He’s often the first to give and answer – even though it may be wrong. Or to have a go, even though he’ll fall flat on his face. I thought this story was a good one for today, when we’ve got our circus skills workshop -which is all about trying new things, knowing that we may fail completely… And we did!

I was thinking about failure on Sunday. The church I go to hasn’t got a vicar at the moment, so I’m ending up taking the All Age Services. It always feels like a risk – you never know how things will go, and there is always an element of ‘mild peril’ as they say in the warnings before TV dramas.

I realised on Sunday that perhaps this is part of our calling – to take the risk, to step out of our comfort zone, to have a go – and then sometimes to fail. And perhaps those are the most important times – because it’s when we fail that God reaches out to catch us – as Jesus reached out to catch Peter. By risking failure we make a space for God’s grace to come in. On Sunday I’d got confused and I ended up with too many young helpers for the service – but that was really good – more people got involved, it all worked out, no one was upset… it felt like a little grace moment.

A few weeks ago, before another service, I had an image of standing at the bottom of a ladder about to go up for my trapeze act – which is perhaps a little difficult to imagine. I looked across to see Jesus on the other side of the circus ring, at the bottom of his ladder, looking at me with reassurance. I wrote this poem, called ‘Showtime’:

We take our places,

hands reaching for the familiar ropes,

fibres rough to our grasp.

One foot on the first rung,

one in the sawdust.

Our eyes meet across the ring.

I will launch myself

and fall.

You will catch me

and throw me

somersaulting into the lights.

Trust returns,

fear swings back into joy.

I pack my church bag

smiling.

I wonder if there are times when you have stepped out and taken a risk?

Have you had the experience of falling – or sinking, like Peter – and being rescued by grace?

Or maybe you can sense God’s invitation to step out of the boat in some way – to put your foot on the ladder – to trust that whatever happens, you will be caught. We can spend a lot of our life trying so hard to succeed. But perhaps our calling is this – to step out like Peter, and to learn that our failure can lead us into a closer partnership with Jesus and a deeper dependence on God.

You might like to close your eyes and think of a situation which you face, which has the possibility of failure… 

How does it make you feel? Can you sense the deeper fear underneath your fear?

Now imagine that you are the person in the circus ring, standing at the bottom of the ladder. You look up to the trapeze platform. The possibility of falling frightens you. You don’t trust yourself.

Then you look across the ring. There, at the foot of the other ladder, is Jesus. He is looking at you.

What is his look like? How does it make you feel?

Now think of the situation you face…

Are you able to trust that Jesus will catch you?

Are you ready to start climbing the ladder, as you remember his look of love….

Lord Jesus, you know our fears and our failings,

and you love us.

You invite us to step out in faith, promising

that you will catch us.

Give us courage and trust – and may we find the joy

of relying only on your grace and your love.