Resolve to Focus Pt 2

A preacher's car broke down just after his Sunday service. The next morning he took it to the only garage in the little town. "I hope you'll go easy on the costs for this....I know things can get expensive. And I'm just a poor preacher." The mechanic look back and said, Yeah, I heard you preach yesterday."."

Today we’re going to look into some more thoughts/ideas concerning one of our disciples…but also while thinking about our own discipleship....or disciple-making. Maybe even about reality. What Jesus is trying to show us, share with us, give to us, verses what Satan would show, share and give.

We’re going to look at a pivotal point in Peter’s life again…last week we looked at him walking on water and the decision that presented itself to him after he asked Jesus a question.

If you remember, the disciples were having a hard time crossing the sea of Galilee, during what looks like to be a small storm. Jesus comes walking across the water, not effected by the wind or waves…and the disciples see him and are freaked out....Jesus said…don’t be afraid it's me...

Peter then says, if it's you, call me out of the boat.

Jesus says…come on out.

Scripture says that Peter was making his way towards Jesus…when his attention, his focus, went from Jesus to the wind and waves…and he began to sink in the water. He yells “Save me.” And…Jesus does…but says, You of little faith, why did you doubt?

Doubt what? That’s my question....

Doubt Jesus? Doubt his own faith? Doubt reality?

Remember, Jesus calls us…the called out ones. Called out from something to something.

From the world…to the Kingdom…His Kingdom…His way of life…His world.

So it seems to me we always have this back and forth focus…sometimes on Christ, sometimes on this world. It’s a battle.

We’ll see this back and forth struggle in these few accounts today…focusing on this main one....

John 18:15–18 CSB

15 Simon Peter was following Jesus, as was another disciple. That disciple was an acquaintance of the high priest; so he went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard. 16 But Peter remained standing outside by the door. So the other disciple, the one known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the girl who was the doorkeeper and brought Peter in. 17 Then the servant girl who was the doorkeeper said to Peter, “You aren’t one of this man’s disciples too, are you?” “I am not,” he said. 18 Now the servants and the officials had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold. They were standing there warming themselves, and Peter was standing with them, warming himself.

John 18:25–27 CSB

25 Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They said to him, “You aren’t one of his disciples too, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.” 26 One of the high priest’s servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, said, “Didn’t I see you with him in the garden?” 27 Peter denied it again. Immediately a rooster crowed.

In Luke’s record of events, he writes that at the moment of the last denial, the Lord turned and looked at Peter.

Can you imagine? Just some time before this Peter had vowed to lay down his life for Jesus’ life. And Jesus said…really? before the rooster crows you will deny me three times.

Can you imagine....denying Jesus to strangers.

In the distant past from this event we have Peter talking about his ideas about what should or shouldn’t happen to Jesus.

There was a point in Jesus’ ministry when he did begin to hint at and tell about his future here on the planet....that he would be taken, beaten and crucified.

Peter at one point wouldn’t have this talk.

Ok…so this is Jesus, the son of God sharing the game plan....and Peter expresses doubt....again.

Now just before the passage I’m about to read…Jesus had been with his disciples and asked the question…who do people say I am…and Peter was the first to speak up and he said…The Christ (Messiah) the Son of God....that was Peter’s confession of faith.

Mark 8:31–38 CSB

31 Then he began to teach them that it was necessary for the Son of Man to suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and rise after three days. 32 He spoke openly about this. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning around and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! You are not thinking about God’s concerns but human concerns.” 34 Calling the crowd along with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me and the gospel will save it. 36 For what does it benefit someone to gain the whole world and yet lose his life? 37 What can anyone give in exchange for his life? 38 For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Wow! Can you image Peter’s face when he’s called out like that? He just confessed faith in who Jesus was…faith…believe…the son of God! And then he pulls Jesus aside and says, Matthew records, This will not happen to you....

Peter had his plans for Jesus…and Jesus’ plans cut in front of Peters...

Jesus is pretty succinct when He says…you must deny yourselves. Focus on the things of God…not the things of this world.

The last one we’ll look at here is this one. Jesus has just been praying in garden…it is before his arrest, and Peter gets involved.

John 18:1–11 CSB

1 After Jesus had said these things, he went out with his disciples across the Kidron Valley, where there was a garden, and he and his disciples went into it. 2 Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, because Jesus often met there with his disciples. 3 So Judas took a company of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees and came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons. 4 Then Jesus, knowing everything that was about to happen to him, went out and said to them, “Who is it that you’re seeking?” 5 “Jesus of Nazareth,” they answered. “I am he,” Jesus told them. Judas, who betrayed him, was also standing with them. 6 When Jesus told them, “I am he,” they stepped back and fell to the ground. 7 Then he asked them again, “Who is it that you’re seeking?” “Jesus of Nazareth,” they said. 8 “I told you I am he,” Jesus replied. “So if you’re looking for me, let these men go.” 9 This was to fulfill the words he had said: “I have not lost one of those you have given me.” 10 Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) 11 At that, Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword away! Am I not to drink the cup the Father has given me?”

Peter…once again…is putting himself into the plan. Into what is happening in reality around him. Forcing his own feelings about the situation....trying to make things better by his will....not Jesus’ will…not the Father’s will.

I think in these three little accounts…and I’m sure you could add more…we have something happening that is not uncommon to any other person on the planet.

When something happens to or around us…we have a choice to make. Look at this even or situation as we would…as other people would…as the world would…or as Jesus would.

In the very beginning of time we have Adam and Eve…and Satan…Satan isn’t actually a name it is a title…this evil being is sometimes referred to as “the Satan.” Or the “adversary.” The one opposed to God.

So in the beginning we have Satan communicating with Eve.

Adam and Eve have been instructed about the ways of the Garden…so to speak…Reality.

Satan’s plan is to bend reality just a little bit. He tell’s Eve…Listen…did God really say all of these things? Surely you won’t die. Did God really say this?

Eve saw this altered state of reality…and considered it ok…worth her attention…even good enough to act upon.

We see this happening even with Jesus’ disciples in different ways.

Satan just sneaking in that phrase…Did God really say....???

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Many Now Reside in Their Illusions

For decades television, and recently the internet and social media, have taken a strong foothold on people's minds, shaping perceptions, opinions, and effectively distracting people from reality. In 1961, Newton Minow, head of the Federal Communications Commission, gave a speech before TV-industry leaders. Television had become “a procession of game shows, formula comedies about totally unbelievable families, mayhem, violence, sadism, murder, Western bad men, Western good men, private eyes, gangsters, more violence, and cartoons.” He stated that they were turning TV into “a vast wasteland.”

Major tech companies, from Microsoft to Google and Facebook's Meta, have invested vast amounts in recent years in augmented and virtual reality. "Their approaches vary, but their goal is the same: to transform entertainment from something we choose, channel by channel or stream by stream, into something we inhabit. In the metaverse, the promise goes, we will finally be able to do what science fiction foretold: live within our illusions." Why just surf the net when we can live there.

Various science fiction writers such as George Orwell (1984), Ray Bradbury (Fahrenheit 451), and Aldous Huxley (Brave New World) have predicted people will simply give in to the deluge of compelling entertainment. "We will become so distracted and dazed by our fictions that we’ll lose our sense of what is real. We will make our escapes so comprehensive that we cannot free ourselves from them. The result will be a populace that forgets how to think, how to empathize with one another, even how to govern and be governed."

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Illusion of reality vs. reality.

I think this is the pivot point for Peter in each one of these events. Will I see the world how I want to…how Satan has decieved me to? Or will I see Jesus, His plan for me…His plan for helping all of us receive real life…His plan for showing us reality…saving us for reality…for His Kingdom.

Satan had a way of swaying Peter into an illusion of reality.

Here we have Peter...

When Peter won’t have Jesus’ way of saving all men…Peter says...My plan - Satan has Peter thinking....your plan is probably much better than His…just pull him aside and say this…Jesus…your plan…that just can’t happen. My plan for life is just so much better, sound…it makes so much more sense…you don’t need to go through with all that. My way is much better. My Plan....My reality. My will…not yours.

When Jesus is about to walk into the final act of His plan…Peter says…no no no…you need My protection - Jesus…you need my protection. I need to rise up and tell these people how horribly wrong they are for doing this to you. My act of violence is well worth it to protect you. My way…my reality verses what you think is best. My will …not yours.

When Jesus is walking through his plan to save humanity....Peter looks at his reality and thinks about his preservation - I’m not going to end up like that. That Jesus? I don’t even know who he is…really. I don’t. Don’t even associate me with that guy. I don’t know the man....I need to protect my own life…and I’ll do it my way. My reality is so much more real to me than … My will…not His.

My reality - My distorted view vs. Jesus’ reality for me.

How many of us have this battle of the mind?

We can easily see that Peter had the wrong perspective of God’s plan for Christ’s suffering and death. But we must also see how easily we can become an unwitting spokesperson for Satan. This is especially true when we lose sight of God’s plan for us. This comes about when our focus is on our careers, our possessions, our security, and the things of the world rather than upon sacrifice and service and the proclaiming of God’s message. When Peter’s focus shifted to his own desires and plans, Jesus rebuked him in order to get him back on track. May our focus always be on God and His plans, that we may never experience a similar rebuke from our Lord.

My plan

My protection

My preservation

Jesus came not only to die for us, he came to save us from something for something.

He came to save us from the effects of living for this world…a way that leads to death....and to save us for a life with Him in His Kingdom forever…life forever with God. The way God created it to be in the first place…before we saw a different version of reality…an illusion of the best life.

Are we like Peter? It’s so easy to sit back and read these stories and say…I would never do that. Ha! Not me. And day by day…we have this battle of the heart and mind.

Can Jesus still be faithful to us when we’re unfaithful to Him? Yes…in fact, until the last moment when all is finished, He will hold out His invitation to you to have that completely full and perfect life.

He is completely faithful to us....He still asks us to focus on Him. On His will. On His ways...

Not on Satan’s illusions of what is best for us..best for others.

Disciples…will we be true disciples of Him. We know we won’t be perfect. But can we pick ourselves back up after falls…look at the world around us…try to figure out what is and isn’t reality…and fix our eyes on His eyes.

And…can we, even through our failures…can we help others see truth…help others see reality…help others see what Jesus has done for them. Can we?

We can be…all of us…can be disciple makers.

We’re the called out ones. The ones called out of the world and its deceptions to Jesus, the Kingdom, and His truths.

Here’s how Matthew recorded Jesus’ mission.

Matthew 4:13–17 CSB

13 He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. 14 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: 15 Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, along the road by the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. 16 The people who live in darkness have seen a great light, and for those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned. 17 From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near.”