Get Behind Me

Well some of you have heard this but a few years ago I ran in a marathon

and I don’t believe I actually mentioned this part but they organize the marathon by groups so the first groups are the fastest followed by the second group and so on.

And you are supposed to stay around that group throughout the marathon

This way no one is running over each other.

And so the race started and I got so excited and pumped up.

I mean people are chanting your name, little kids are giving you a highfives, its crazy.

And so I got so excited that I actually ran way ahead of my running group and was with some people who were fast.

And I kept up for the first half, but the second half I was in some pain and was moving slow.

And while this was an issue for me its also an issue for everyone else trying to run,

Because the street is packed with runners and now there is this worn out out of shape guy limping down the middle of the street.

And people are having dodge me.

And so then I had to figure out a way to not get ran over in the street by all the people.

(but I did finish incase anyone was wondering)

But you know the issue is I got ahead of the group I was supposed to be a part of and you do not want to do that!

But really when we get ahead of where we are supposed to be with anything it causes issues

And this is going to sound crazy but this is something that we actually do with God.

We get ahead of God.

And really today we are going to be talking about what this means, the damage it causes, and how we can get back where God has called us .

Because the truth is there are times where we assume God will move one way and we have this very preconcieved idea, but then he moves differently.

And when that happens we get ahead of God.

And so we are in Matthew 16:21-25 and this is so important for us to understand because I can guarantee there are points in our life where we try to get ahead of God.

So we will just be starting int he first few verses starting at verse 21. It says:

Matthew 16:21–23 (NIV)

Jesus Predicts His Death

16:21–28pp—Mk 8:31–9:1; Lk 9:22–27

21 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, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

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

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 concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

So before we even dive into this we need to understand the culture that this society lived in.

Because during this time the Jewish people were strongly oppressed by the Roman people .

I mean the Romans made their lives miserable

They would kill people to make a point

If a Roman would tell you to do something and you would have to do it with no questions asked.

And on top of it all they made you fuel the terrible things they are doing by having the Jews pay high taxes where they couldn’t feed their family

And if you lived in this area during this time you hated these guys and you would raise your kids to do the same.

Its almost like how I grew up a Ravens and an Orioles Fan and so we hated the Steelers and the Yankees right?

Because first off they are our rivals, but also they tend to be good a lot of times and the Ravens and Orioles tend not to be sometimes.

And so when they play eachother we do not just want a nice good game, we want to see the other team detroyed and humiliated on that field.

We want them to be the laughing stock of the NFL and MLB.

But truthfully this is how the Jewish people felt about the Romans.

They do not just want them to leave they want them destroyed. I mean there is a lot of hate for the Romans.

But here is the thing in the middle of this the Jews believe that the Messiah is coming.

the passage right before this where we were last week one of the disciples named Peter said Jesus you are the Messiah.

But the issue is that even though he recognized Jesus being the Messiah He did not understand what that meant.

Because the Jews thought the messiah would be a military force who would get rid of these Romans, and put them back on top.

And so in this passage Jesus say’s something surprising because Peter just said Jesus you are the Messiah and now Jesus is explaining what that means.

He says look I am going to Jerusalem (and you can imagine the disciples excited because this is the equivalent to our DC)

but then he says and I must suffer man things and be killed.

I mean no one wants to hear that their Messiah is going to be killed.

And look what Peter does because it says Peter rebuked Jesus because He thought Jesus was wrong.

I mean that takes some guts dosen’t it?

But all of this to say in this passage Peter has gotten ahead of Jesus.

Because he has allowed his culutre and background to shape what Jesus was doing.

And you know whether he does it with good intention or not he is saying Jesus I think I know better then you.

And I know this might sound crazy but we do the same thing today.

Because we will say okay Jesus I will follow you until you tell me to do something that I do not like.

We will say okay Jesus I will follow you as long as it means I do not need to love that person

We will do what Peter does and allow our culture to shape Jesus.

And ultimately we will say Jesus I love and trust you but I think I know best.

Its almost like this: some of you may know this but I had to teach Arika to drive when we were dating. She did not have her license.

And I remember before I let her drive I started by explaining basic things to her about the car and I would drive and tell her what to do in a certain situation

And she will probably hate me for saying this but the first time I was getting ready to let her drive we were out she asked which peddle makes the car go.

And I thought we are in trouble.

But eventually she learned how to drive and she is great at driving.

But there was this point where I had to hand over the stearing wheel and I had to let her drive and stop being the back seat driver.

And you know in our walks with God it looks pretty similar,

Because often times we have a hard time giving full control of our life to God.

We withhold things or we think He should be doing something different and ultimately what happens is we want to be ahead of Him.

And when we do this we actually become a stumbling block instead.

If you were here last week Peter made this declaration that Jesus was the Messiah and Jesus actually said: ““That is great” Its on that Testimony (Peter) that I will build the entire church”

I mean Peters Testimony of Jesus being the Messiah was the cornerstone (this huge stone) that the entire church was going to be built on.

But then Peter gets ahead of Jesus and this huge stone got moved from the thing that built the church to the thing that is now blocking the church.

We never want to get ahead of God.

And I love verse 23 because it tells us how we get back to the proper place God has called us.

Because look at Jesus’s response. He says “Get Behind me satan”

Ouch… I mean that is a little harsh isn't it?

But I think Jesus wanted Peter to understand that it is so vital to be in the proper place that He has called you.

Because satan will find the smallest detail to twist in your life if you are not where God has called you.

And Jesus tell’s Peter exactly how to fix this issue.

And it is so simple he says “Get behind me”

You want to know how to stop allowing yourself to get ahead of God. It is just to say God I am going to start following from behind instead of trying to lead.

I just wanted to end by reading the last two verses of this passage because it is so relevant for us today. Verses 24 and 25. It says:

Matthew 16:24–25 (NIV)

24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.

You know something that is so interesting about this passage is that it all takes place on the way to the cross.

And Jesus is saying when you follow me you have to be willing to die to yourself and follow me

I have mentioned this before but that is why we do baptism because when you go down in the water it represents you dying to your sin and all of the things you placed above Christ

But then you come alive in Christ.

And I just want to say that is something that is powerful for us to remember today.

That to get behind Christ we need to die to ourselves.

And I just want to close with this:

I mentioned the story about me teaching Arika how to drive and how the process of it was scary.

But once I did it I was going wow I should of taught her to drive years ago because I did not have to drive her everywhere.

I mean she was free and I was free.

But you know thats what its like to die to Christ. It is scary at first, but once you come alive their is more freedom then you can imagine.

And maybe today is a day you just want to say I am ready to stop leading my life and start allowing Christ to lead it.

I would just invite you during this last song to maybe make that commitment to place Christ first in your life.

Will you pray with me?