I am a fan of transformation stories. I like the articles that show houses that
were dumps, renovated, and remade into beautiful homes, or outdated homes, gutted and made new!
Even better
are the stories about people. Have you
heard of Jared? The fellow who lost 245
pounds by eating at Subway twice a day and walking a lot (and by the way kept
it off now for 17 years) who became the spokesperson for Subway and is
reportedly worth about 15million made mostly from his commercials he did for
Subway. Subway attributes 20-50% of its
growth to Jared.
Or Arthur
Boorman the disabled veteran who the
doctors told would never walk again unassisted, he believed them, consequently
his weight ballooned to 247 lbs. but at age 47, through disciplined exercise lost the weight and the
canes and became a you tube sensation with almost 12 million views of his
transformation.
But the
transformation stories I like best, are the spiritual ones.
The Drug
dealer transformed into a faithful father and usher in the church.
The Convicted
felon transformed by Jesus into singer and preacher.
The Marriage
broken by adultery, healed by Jesus.
So the man
we see this morning is transformed before our eyes as we read the gospel.
Peter, the
fisherman, not educated, not polished, not from a royal background, the
fighter, the curser, the ambitious businessman, often swift to speak and first
to fail.
On a
construction site, the building project is often broken into stages.
Let’s see
Peter’s life as a project and consider the stages, and the choice he must make
at each stage.
Stage 1 SOMEONE TELLS PETER ABOUT Jesus!
Choice: Believe? Or
Belittle?
This is
where we all start. Andrew, Simon’s
Peter’s brother had been a follower of John the Baptist, so he was there when
John announced that Jesus was the Messiah, the Lamb of God, and Andrew began to
follow Jesus.
When you
start following Jesus, one of the first things you do is begin inviting others
to come see and hear this one that has so stirred and changed your heart.
But when
Andrew tells Peter, Peter has a choice to make.
Do I believe Andrew about this one he says is the Christ, the Messiah,
God in the flesh? Or do I belittle my brother for falling for such a scheme as
this.
This is the
same choice we make today.
Someone
tells you about Jesus. Do you
believe? Do you open your heart to the
possibility that maybe He is the one that has the answers. Maybe He is the one that can forgive my sin
and give me a new start!
Or do you belittle? Are you kidding me? Religious fanatics, too dumb to understand
science, too close minded to see how religion and Christianity oppress people….
That is
belittling…and that will never get you into the presence of God!
Stage 2 JESUS TELLS PETER ABOUT PETER!
Joh 1:42 And he
brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the
son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.
Peter is
standing there with his brother next to him and suddenly Jesus speaks to
him. Thou are Simon, son of Jona…Thou
shalt be called Cephas, a stone.
How does
this man know my name?
How does he
know about my now, and my future?
Choice: Receive or
Resist?
Peter had to
make a choice. Do I resist what this man
is saying to me. Just explain away the
fact that he is speaking to me about me, and that He seems to know me better
than I know myself?
Or do I
receive it? Dare to believe that I have
a future, beyond a fishing business, beyond the Sea of Galilee, to believe that
I can actually be what God intends for me??!!
God speaks
today and shows us our now…
When Jesus
spoke to Peter, the names revealed a lot about him. People used name in a much more significant
way then than we do now.
What if we
were known by our weakness? Larry the
luster, Criticizing Chris, or Angry Ann, here comes Fornicating Frank! Or Dave the drunk, or Slutty Suzy…
We get
indignant and sometimes pretend that when Jesus speaks to us about us that He
is off. But we KNOW He is telling us the
truth.
***Sister
came to me last week and said the man she was living with was not really her
husband and she wanted to get married but there were legal difficulties….she
called back later in the week and said they got a lawyer to get the legal
difficulties fixed and would I conduct their marriage ceremony!!
Peter is at
stage 2, he is open to hearing what Jesus has to say and he is receiving the
teaching. There are many at this
level. They come to church, listen to
the preaching, are ready to learn, that is good, but don’t stop now!
Stage 3: Using what you have learned
Choice: Take Action
or Take Up Acting
Peter had
learned a lot. He had seen many
miracles. He had participated in some of them, but he wanted to have an
individual one. When He sees Jesus
walking on the sea in the middle of the storm, something stirs within him that
says it is time to take action. He asks
Jesus, if it is really you, ask me to come to you on the water….Jesus says
“Come!” and Peter does.
He takes
action with the knowledge that he had
He takes
action inspired by the miracles he has seen
He takes
action motivated by a desire to be with Jesus
I know that
most of you know, that Peter starts to sink in the water and Jesus has to
rescue him, but have you ever considered what the other disciples were doing in
the boat?
Peter had
taken action, they had taken up acting!
They acted
as if they didn’t really hear Jesus!
They acted
as if learning about miracles and seeing them was what the end result was
supposed to be, not doing them!
They acted
as if they didn’t believe Jesus could do these works THROUGH THEM!
What will
you do today after this service? Will
you take action? Will you pour out the
booze, get the marriage license, flush the drugs down the toilet, and begin
today by setting a goal of inviting 5 people a day to church?
Or will you
pretend, take up acting, as if you didn’t really hear this challenge, and after
all, attending church is enough….isn’t it?
Stage 4 Recovering after failure
Choice: Get up Or
Give up?
Peter had a
lot of failures. He spoke when he should
have listened. He was slow to believe,
gave in to fear in the hour of need, cursed out Jesus, denied the Lord when He
needed him the most. I think he has
probably topped your failure…
Peter had a
choice, when he started to sink on the water….He cried out Lord help me!
When He
denied him by the fireside, he cried, wept bitterly, and repented.
When he
returned to his secular business instead of pursuing the calling that God gave
him.
Every time,
he said I will rise! I will get up! I won’t stay down!
(Proverbs
24:16) For a just man falleth seven
times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.
The truth is
that we will all fail. The choice is
what will you do when you fail? Get up
or Give up?
Wallow
around in self-pity and blame others for your sin, get on social media and tell
half a story to make yourself look like the victim.
Gossip to
others and harbor bitter thoughts about the leadership who had the job of
calling you to account for your sin?
Get bitter
and quit the church and forever grumble about how unfair things were without
ever revealing the entire truth of the matter?
You can’t
get up carrying excuses for your sin!
You can’t
get up telling everyone else it really wasn’t your fault!
You can’t
get up complaining about your husband fulfilling his role in the family while
you are shirking your duties.
Stage 5: Becoming empowered by the Holy Spirit
Choice: Passive or
Powerful?
After
everything that Peter did, and remember he had to face the humbling experience
of going back around the other disciples when he had failed:
·
His
clothes wet from sinking after taking his eyes off the Lord
·
They
knew he had cursed out the Lord
·
They
were there when he was acting as a tool of the devil “Get thee behind me satan,
thou savorest the things that be of man and not the things that be of God!”
His failures were personal but they
were not private!
Look!
He got up and went back to church!
And wasn’t he glad he did!
Jesus appears, and tells them to wait
for the promise of the Father….So they pray…and they pray…and they pray again…and
after seven days of praying the Holy Ghost is poured out and Peter gets filled
with the power of God!
What would have happened if he had
just given up?
What would have happened if he had
just gotten bitter?
Stayed sullen? Separated himself and sulked in the shadows?
He would have missed the power of
God!
You can sit here this morning and
hear this message and be passive in your pew, or you can come today and say I
need the baptism of the Holy Ghost, I need that power in my life and come to
the altar today to receive!
