An Introduction without distractions

An Introduction without distractions

1 Peter 1:1-2
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you. ESV

1.      I’m learning how to slow down, how not to be in a hurry with everything.  Looking at these first two verses of 1 Peter,

There is much that can be gleaned from an introduction or even from a simple greeting.  And when, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, it is found in the Holy Scripture, wouldn’t you agree that it is  blessing to spend some time meditating on it?  Also, the amazing thing is that this gleaning can be used by you and I in our fast pace world. 

Notice the first six words that start this letter; ‘Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ.’

·         I had to stop here because I am impressed by the simplicity of this greeting and I am ashamed at how we introduce so many distractions in our greetings, introductions and mannerism. 

·         What is so amazing about this greeting is the simplicity of it.  It is to the point and there are no distractions, nothing to turn our focus away from object or ministry at hand. 

·         And thus my subject to start this series – “An introduction without distractions”

·         Only six words are used to tell us the man, who he is, and whose he is.

·         The man is Peter nothing fancy, nothing formal, just Peter

·         He uses the name that Jesus gave him instead of his given name of Simon Bar-Jonah (Simon son of John)

·         And he adds nothing to it, no Mr. Peter, Dr. Peter, Pastor Peter, Rev. Peter, Bishop Peter, or Pope Peter its real simple - Peter

·         Peter is able to demonstrate a lesson that we today need to learn and that lesson is “I must decrease.” 

·         The focus is not on me and when the focus is on me that creates a distraction

·         How much of what we communicate is lost because it was distracted in the greeting or the introduction?

·         Many of you may have experienced this with your dealings with church things.  Someone is introduced with the words “the most reverent doctor so in so from you name it church” and a list of accomplishments and awards are stated.  At this point you are usually distracted focusing on the individual and not the message

·          I said I’m ashamed because it is easy to let this slip and get caught up in it!  Peter here reminds me to take note of how I greet others.  How I come across to someone who is meeting me for the first time.

·         As we will see in this series, Peter is greeting, presenting himself to some and maybe even introducing himself to others who are saints of the Lord, but suffering, hurting and even losing hope.

·         And he does this without distractions turning their focus to him

·         My point, I’ll say it again, I must decrease

·         Who is he?  “Peter, an apostle.”

·         Most of you who hear and are listening to this know that this is a special office and calling from Jesus Christ.

·         Listen to what a simple change does to this statement; instead of ‘Peter, an apostle,’ if he said ‘Peter, the apostle’.

·         Do you hear the change of focus, the distraction?

·         And Peter could address himself that way and no one would probably question it

·         An Apostle is a special messenger, an envoy, an ambassador meaning the focus is again not on the person.

·         The focus must be on the message and not so much the messenger

·         But let’s not leave the messenger just yet

·         Peter could have use many other descriptions to say who he is

o   Peter, Andrew’s older brother

o   Peter, son of Jonah

o   Peter, a fisherman

o   Peter, from Galilee

o   Peter, who walked on water, was at the transfiguration, who recognized Jesus as the Christ the Son of the living God, and who said to him one day to whom shall we go You have the words of eternal life

o   Peter, the leader of the twelve, the preacher of the first sermon on the day of Pentecost.

·         And all of these would have been distractions and focusing away from the real purpose and goal

·         The point is that Peter was called to be an apostle listen

Mark 3:13-16
13 And he (Jesus) went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. 14 And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach 15 and have authority to cast out demons. 16 He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); ESV

·         How would you describe yourself?

·         What are you called to do?

·         And are you doing what you are called to do or are you distracted from it?

·         Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ

·         Not only does Peter knows who he is, he also knows whose he is

·         His calling and his authority is from Jesus Christ

·         The object, the purpose and the goal

·         Paul said it this way

Romans 1:5
5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations,

·         And His name is Jesus Christ

·         Most of you know this so I say it for a reminder Jesus is His name and Christ is a title means the Messiah - the anointed one, God’s special choice

·         This greeting could be said this way, ‘Peter the apostle of Jesus the Christ’! or ‘Peter the messenger of Jesus the anointed one’

·         Peter has put all those other things behind him, and his focus is on the Lord and what Jesus has called him to do – He must increase, but I must decrease

·         It is simply said but requires a life time commitment it’s of Jesus Christ

·         What have you subtracted or removed from your identity or are you still adding or holding on to things that indirectly affect your ministry?

·         How many of these things flare ups from time to time causing you for a moment or two to digress from your ministry, your calling, your fulfillment of the great commission

Matthew 28:19-20
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” ESV

·         How many of these flare ups, distractions, serves as points of disconnection from the power source and result in no witnessing

Acts 1:8
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” ESV

·         If you were asked to say something about yourself, what would it sound like?

·         Listen closely to this and apply it to yourself

Philippians 3:1-14
1 Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you. 2 Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. 3 For we are the real circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh— (flesh confidence is a distraction) 4 though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness, under the law blameless. 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. (His culture, his education, his prestige all counted as loss)  8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. ESV

·         Peter and Paul represent two extreme Peter, the simple, limited educated, blue collar worker and Paul the Roman citizen with his Law and Theology degrees but both removing these distractions from their lives in order to serve Jesus.

·         Far too many who say they are active in the Church, are still caught up in things like

o   Their race or ethnic background, my blackness, my whiteness, my people, etc

o   Where they – live, work, shop, or play – City, County, rural, North, South, East, or West

o   Their education or lack of education – Masters degree, didn’t finish high school, Seminary trained, or can barely read

o   Their Physical conditions – too old, too young, health issues, can’t get around

o   Their political association – Democrat, Republican, Independent, Conservative, Liberal

o   Our jobs and or hobbies – Doctor, Lawyer, Supervisor, common laborer, domestic worker, janitor, unemployed

·         You wear many hats and some of these hats you enjoy because it takes up your time and use up your energy, it keeps you busy

·         Valuable time that can be used for ministry is soaked up in worldly stuff that we feel is so important.  Distracted

·         It’s about taking off stuff and not adding more stuff to ourselves and when we don’t, we are pulled away from, distracted from doing what we are called to do and that is to be messengers of Jesus Christ.  He must increase!

·         Look at the example of Jesus:

·         He refers to Himself as the ‘Son of Man’ in the gospels.  He came to serve and do the will of His Father in heaven

·         In Hebrews 3:1 we are told therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession.  But

·         Going back to Philippians Listen

·         Philippians 2:4-8
4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. ESV

·         Do you hear it?  Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus

·         He made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant and humbled himself.

·         Why do you and I do the opposite?

·         Even within the faith, we allow names and dogma to hinder the ministry of being able to say like Peter; “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ.”

·         Names that separate and split

o   Rural church and city church

o   Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal, non denominational

o   Black, Southern, Full Gospel, Faith based

o   Various doctrinal positions

·         These are just some names that has causes disagreements and church splits.  They have become distractions

·         And we are spending more time in theological debates than bringing the good news to the lost

·         Peter gives his nickname and says that he is just a messenger of Jesus Christ.  Even though this is a special position for just a select number, it is not the position but the one who is the source of the position. 

·         Too many times we stop at the position and we want others to see us and dwell on us because of the position instead of seeing the one who is the position maker.  And that one is Jesus Christ our Lord

·         Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ.  Simple and to the point without distractions

·         Lord I confess that I have added stuff and kept stuff and they are distractions and the sad thing Lord is that I have enjoyed it please forgive me for all of these things that soaks up my energy and remove them so that I may serve you better.  Order my steps and direct my path in Jesus’ name.  Amen