Easter – Page 7 – LOVE | ACCEPT

Lent 2009 – 19 Steps to the Cross

Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord who is going to betray you?”) When Peter sah him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?”

Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.” (John 21:20 – 23)

This small section of scripture, buried in the larger pericope of Peter’s restoration is one that I go back to again and again to remind me of my proper relationship to the Lord and others in His Church. Dr. Vernon Grounds once spoke on passage in chapel, reminding the ministers in attendance that our ministry was never to be compared to someone else’s. Whether we were successful in the eyes of the world (i.e., megachurch growth) or a failure by the same standard (nurturing a small, unnoticed body), the minister was simply to make sure that he was a success according to the call of the Lord. If Jesus calls you to toil in some small body, go and do it with all your heart. If he places you in a megachurch, work every day to ensure your own humility knowing that the success is the Lord’s, not yours. Blogging pastors who spend more time bragging about all the conferences they speak at or their world travels that an ‘unnamed benefactor’ sends them on should bookmark this passage.

As Dr. Grounds said, pointing to men and women in the chapel body, “don’t worry about him or her and what they have been called to do. Simply follow Jesus.”

Amen Dr. Grounds.

Lent 2009 – 20 Steps to the Cross

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” (Matthew 16:24 – 28)

After Peter had substituted his human centered desires for kingdom thoughts in attempting to move Jesus away from the cross, the Lord felt it was a teachable moment and gave this lesson in cross-bearing. In four short sentences, Jesus clearly enumerates the cost of discipleship for His immediate circle and for all of us through the centuries.

The visual impact of these statements is clear to us so many years later, but put yourself in the sandals of the first disciples. They have not seen Calvary yet, there eyes have not played across the three crucifixes aligned there. The words they were hearing coming from the Savior’s lips held a much more personal invitation: give up your life if you are going to follow me. Your cross is your worldly death.

There certainly must have been second thoughts among the circle of twelve. Were we following Jesus just to die? Where was the anticipated reward? Especially to be crucified, this was the most humiliating death. For Peter and us, a different death is intimated on the first reading. We are to die to our will and take up God’s will.

At 20 days in this Lenten season, we are halfway to the cross. Have you fully died to self or are you following Jesus for the wrong reasons? Ask him and he will rebuke you, just like He did Peter.

Lent 2009 – 21 Steps to the Cross

From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”

Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” (Matthew 16:21-23)

As we began to explore yesterday, we wonder why Peter would make such a crucial slip of the tongue. This concern comes from the impression within ourselves that we might not have made the same mistake, knowing what we do about Jesus. The answer that may elude us is this; Peter’s statement was not the result of ignorance or a lack of information. Peter’s rebuke was located in his resentment.

In his mind, Peter has sacrificed everything to follow and serve with Jesus but not to the end that Jesus was unfolding before him. Had he known in the beginning that Jesus was headed toward the cross, he more than likely would have stayed in Bethsaida and kept his fishing business. Peter’s rebuke was centered on himself and the good things that he thought should come from an association with Jesus.

Denial of self and carrying one’s own cross was not on his agenda.

The meditation today is in large part for pastors. How many of us are in the same place as Peter? How many of us are tired of suffering for Christ and want to look for the good things that were promised? We are willing to carry our cross but, just so far before we want a reward. Our name should be Peter.

Lent 2009 – 22 Steps to the Cross

Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”

Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” (Matthew 16:21-23)

How fragile and tentative our faith!

No sooner has Jesus proclaimed Peter blessed than the capricious fisherman forgets his understanding and acts out of his own heart. Picture this, Peter grabs the Lord by the arm and takes a distance from the rest of the disciples to rebuke Him! Mere seconds after recognizing Jesus as the Messiah, Peter decides that he knows better than Creator of the Universe what needs to be done to put things right.

For Peter’s sake, Jesus does not simply smile and gently remind him that He, Jesus, must die for the restoration of right in the world. No, He gets angry and rises up in that weather worn face and puts him back with all of the others who seek to forestall His calling. Peter has committed the unthinkable in challenging the teacher and Jesus does not hesitate to grade his efforts…in love. Like every good teacher, Jesus clearly seeks to clearly point out the error in Peter’s thinking not to curse him, but to save him.

Who do you say He is? Who would Jesus say you are?

Lent 2009 – 23 Steps to the Cross

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ. (Matthew 16:16-20)

“Blessed are you Simon…” for the understanding of the true nature of Christ was revealed by the Father to Him. Unlike the world oriented guesses that ‘the people’ had proffered, Peter was given the spiritual knowledge necessary to understand Jesus as Savior. Peter, whether he knew it or not, was not just the impetuous, gruff fisherman who was following Jesus for all these years. He was a blessed vessel through which God was working by speaking to life a truth that all men would one day understand.

Reading this passage, you must interpret the truth of Jesus’ words about the ‘rock’ on which His Church would be built. Is it Peter as many believe or is it the Savior’s teaching, or the confession that Peter had just uttered? The answer is important theologically to the Universal Church but debating it detracts from a focus on the blessedness that comes from a union with the Father such that spiritual truth is revealed to us. Have you submitted to this relationship?

Would Jesus name you Blessed in your answer?

Lent 2009 – 24 Steps to the Cross

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” (Matthew 16:13-16)

Of many moments between Jesus and Peter, this confession of belief and faith is one remembered by the majority of Christians. When Jesus asks of the disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”, He must already know the answer. The responses—John the Baptist, Elijah, even Jeremiah—reveal the spiritual sense of the time. People were looking for a savior but perhaps, not for their souls. Their vision of the anointed one would be like David, a king who would lead them back to national prominence as befitted the people of Yahweh. Jesus asks those closest to Him the same question; do they hold the same nationalistic views? It is here that Peter steps forward as the spokesman to proclaim how the disciples view Him, He is the Christ, the anointed Son of the Living God, someone far beyond the human leader that many others craved.

Jesus asks us the same question. Who is Jesus to you? An insurance policy? A gift giver? Someone to be used as a theological hammer against those who understand Him in a different way? Has this question popped up in your prayer life?

Who is Jesus to you?

Lent 2009 – 25 Steps to the Cross

“Indeed, all the prophets from Samuel on, as many as have spoken, have foretold these days. And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.’ When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.” (Acts 3:24 – 26)

Ultimately in this chapter, Peter distills the essence of the ministry that the Church down to a single statement, through you ‘all the peoples on earth will be blessed. As we get closer and closer to the cross and the celebration of the risen Christ we can simplify our reflection to the blessing that comes from Christ. We are saved by our faith in Him, not solely for ourselves but in order to bless the rest of the world. With each step this Lenten season, we can further distance ourselves from our salvation in personal terms only and closer to our call to be the same blessing to others.

Lent 2009 – 26 Steps to the Cross

“Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Christ would suffer. Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you –even Jesus. He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from among his people.’ (Acts 3:17-23)

As Peter previously demonstrated, an evangelistic call matches the good news of Christ with the bad news of the sin that separates us from God. The sign of the healed beggar alone should have driven people to their knees right? Would it do so today? The challenge that we face is that people did not and still do not see themselves as in need of salvation. Our modern culture lives by the thought that ‘I’m okay, you’re okay.’ If that were true in the perspective of God’s economy there would never have been a Jesus. But we’re not okay, are we? We are sin driven, sin guided, and we live in a sinful culture. Will pastors preach that this week?

We must be willing to suffer the slings and arrows of pointing out the sad truth to people, even if the consequences of doing so are dire. When Peter voiced these words the people of Israel were in no mood to be confronted with the truth. If the realization of what they had done set in, the meaningless nature of their tiny sacrifices would have fell them like a tree. The cultural facts however, should never prevent us from speaking the truth. Sacrifice is to be a key component of our nature. How’re you doing?

Lent 2009 – 27 Steps to the Cross

While the beggar held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon’s Colonnade. When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see. (Acts 3:11-16)

Though it might have been momentarily tempting to claim the glory for healing the beggar, the Spirit in Peter guided him otherwise. He deflected to the accolades and pointed to the true source of power, Jesus Christ. In writing and in speech, we have heard reference to ‘mighty men of God’ and how powerfully the Lord has used men and women to accomplish various miraculous feats. It is easy for our culturally trained minds to hear Reverend So and So or Evangelist so and so were used by God to do this or that and associate the accomplishment with those men or women. We must take a more humble view and reread or relisten to what is said: they were used by God in His power to accomplish His will. They were merely vehicles. Peter is careful here to remind Israel that he too was just the vehicle, that is was the matchless name of Jesus that healed the beggar. It was the God who quickened Jesus and restored Him to life despite the sin of those who had put Him in the tomb and it was this same God who had healed the beggar. Israel, in her sin needed to meditate deeply on this act of Grace.

Is grace clear in your mind today?

Lent 2009 – 28 Steps to the Cross

One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate call Beautiful, where he was put every day to be from those going into the temple courts. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.

Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. When all the people saw him walking and praising God, they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. (Acts 3:1-10)

When was the last time we reached out to brokenness and, in the holy name of the Savior, fixed it? I dare say not often. We tend to toward prayer and hope these days rather than healing. In some corners of the Church, there is suspicion extended toward the healing ministry. Peter believed in the power of the Spirit, in the power of the Name, to heal and transform so our reflection must be centered on answering the question, why don’t we? Our ministry to others was never intended to be narrowed by what the culture allows. It was meant to be holistic and touch all areas of life and yet, many of us shy away.

We are walking with Peter during this season for a purpose. He was much as we are and yet the power of the Spirit transforms him in so many ways. Is there any reason the Spirit won’t do the same thing for us if we are willing to allow Him?