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*GETTING STRAIGHT ABOUT DISCIPLESHIP*
Matthew 16:21-28 • by Steve May
How many of you know what it means to have a "Leon Lett" moment?
Most football fans will recognize the reference.
A few years ago Dallas was playing Buffalo in the Super Bowl, and Leon Lett, who is a defensive lineman for the Cowboys, recovered a fumble and began racing toward paydirt for what appeared to be an easy touchdown.
You've seen running backs and wide receivers hot-dogging it as they cross the goal line, high stepping, waving the ball in the air—Deion Sanders was a master of the craft.
Leon Lett is no Deion Sanders, but that day he tried to be.
As he approached the end zone, he held the ball out away from his body and slowed his step a bit, as if to taunt the other team and extend his glory for just seconds more.
What Leon didn't know, however, was that a Buffalo player was racing up behind him.
When Lett was at about the three yard line, the Bills' player knocked the ball out of his hand—and there was no touchdown for Leon Lett after all.
No glory.
No celebratory dance in the end zone.
But the play did become an NFL highlights favorite, and earned Mr. Lett a certain amount of notoriety.
A Leon Lett moment.
The Apostle Peter had one in Matthew 16.
You remember last week Jesus asked the question the question, "Who do you say that I am?" and Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God."
And Jesus said to Peter, "That's right, Simon Peter.
You are a rock and on this rock I will be build my church and the gates of hell cannot prevail against it!"
I don't know what Peter's immediate reaction to Jesus' statement was, but I can guess what mine would have been.
I probably would have turned to the other 11 disciples and said, "Did everyone get that?
Any questions? ...
And just in case those in the back couldn't hear, James, would you repeat what Jesus said for the whole group?
And, by the way, Thaddeus, from now on you're in charge of carrying my brief case."
Well, hopefully, I wouldn't really have reacted that way.
But Peter didn't have a chance to over-react, because he was about to have his Leon Lett moment.
Here's how it happened.
After Jesus told his disciples about the future of the church, he began to explain to them that he must go to Jerusalem to die.
Matthew writes...
*(v.
22) Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
"Never, Lord!" he said.
"This shall never happen to you!"*
Listen to what happened next...
*(v.
23) 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."*
Wow! Can you believe that?
Talk about saying the wrong thing—Peter did it!
And so, moments after Jesus told Peter he was a rock, he called him Satan.
He called him a stumbling block.
Wow.
Jesus then went on to tell his disciples what is the true cost of being his disciple.
He said...
*(v.
24-25) "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."*
There is a price to pay for following Jesus.
There is a cost to discipleship.
There's much more to being a Christ-follower than just coming to church on Sunday morning.
A recurring theme in my messages is the grace and mercy of God—how he can take a broken life and put it back together.
He can take a life that has been destroyed by sin and rebellion and heal the hurts of the past and bring you joy and peace and fulfillment.
But he can do nothing with a life that is not given to him.
In order to experience the fullness of God's blessings in your life, you must give him your life.
He is fully devoted to you, and he expects you to be fully devoted to him.
Today we're going to talk about what it means to be fully devoted to Jesus.
What it means to be a disciple.
Disciple.
It's an interesting word.
We usually associate it with the 12 who followed Jesus—Peter, James, John, Andrew, Bartholomew, Thaddeus and the rest.
They were Christ's first disciples, but not his only disciples.
Actually, all Christians are disciples.
The word disciple in the Greek language means "student" or "learner."
It was common in ancient times for teachers to attract followers—followers who were committed exclusively to their teaching—and these teachers would train their students on a sort of intern basis.
Common practice was that the student would leave his home, move in with his teacher, and serve him in the most servile ways—treating him with absolute authority.
The disciple was expected not only to learn all that his rabbi knew, but also to become like him in character.
In turn, the teacher (or rabbi) provided food and lodging to the student.
It was his way of insuring that his teaching was carried over to future generations.
When the gospel of Mark says that Jesus appointed 12 that "they might be with him," [Mark 3:14] Mark was referring to this custom.
/[Taken from Expository Dictionary of Bible Words, Lawrence O. Richards, c 1985 Zondervan Corporation.]/
Obviously, Jesus is the only one worthy of such loyalty.
No preacher or teacher today has the right to claim absolute authority over his followers—but Jesus has the right.
He proved himself to be the ultimate teacher, the ultimate authority.
He's the Son of the Living God, he conquered death, and he holds the key to eternal life.
Jesus doesn't invite us to be his casual acquaintances, he invites us to be his disciples—his fully devoted followers.
So, what does a disciple look like?
This passage tells us.
Three things I want you to notice.
First of all...
*1.
A Disciple Is Committed To Following God's Plan, Not His Own.*
Peter, in his enthusiasm, objected to Jesus' prediction of his death.
The Bible says that Peter "rebuked" Jesus -- it's a strong word, it means basically that Peter was trying to set Jesus straight.
I guess in the excitement of hearing Jesus say "upon this rock I will build my church" Peter had the misconception that he and Jesus were now business partners, equals, co-pastors.
With a show of audacity, he corrected Jesus--and Jesus put Simon Peter back in his place.
He said...
*(v.
23) "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."*
The prevailing belief among Jewish people at this time was that when the Messiah would come, he would establish a political kingdom and rule the world.
But the prevailing belief among Jewish people at that time was wrong.
God had a different plan altogether.
His plan was that the Messiah would come into the world, live a perfect life, die on the cross for the sins of the world, and in three days be raised from the dead.
Frankly, Peter liked his idea better.
And so, he made an attempt to set Jesus straight.
Jesus made it clear to Peter, "I don't need to change my way of thinking; you need to change your way of thinking."
You need to be committed to God's plan, not your plan.
If you want to be a follower of Christ, it works the same way for you.
You must be committed to following his plan for you life, not your own.
Ed Young Jr. grew up with one passion: basketball.
He dreamed of being a basketball player.
After graduating from high school, he was given a full athletic scholarship to Florida State University.
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