The Enthusiasm of Simon Peter

Let me start by stating, here and now, that I firmly believe the Holy Bible to be infallible and inerrant. It is the inspired Word of God, and as such is indelibly intertwined with the Lord Himself.

'Nuff said there.

We had our company Christmas shindig this past weekend and, boy - what a blast! Unfortunately (for me, at least), I allowed myself to be cajoled into singing a little karoke. (My boss informed me I had a nice voice. Trust me - I proved him wrong.)

The song selected for me to warble: "Born to be Wild." The choice was ill-fitting, to say the least. It is not a song that fits me in the least. Indeed, I was born to be mild.

As I prepped to teach last week's second installment of our Peter class (Flawed Yet Chosen), I pondered this. Peter had a zeal, an eagerness, that I really crave. What was it that made Peter so excited about following Christ?

We dug into the four Gospel accounts of Jesus' calling the four disciples. Matthew 4:18-22 and Mark 1:14-20 basically tells us Jesus called Peter and his brother, Andrew, and "at once they left their nets and followed him" (Mt.4:20, Mk. 4:18, NIV). They didn't just abandon their boats. They left everything . Consider that for a moment. If some stranger came up to you at work and said, "Leave your livelihood behind and come follow me," would you do it? People would say you were nuts, wouldn't they? (If you think I am trying to say Peter or any the apostle were unstable in any way, purge that thought from your minds and read on...)

Luke 5:1-11 fills out the picture somewhat. We see Jesus on the shore, teaching a crowd. He has Peter take Him out in his boat and produces for the weary fishermen a net-busting bounty of fish. This after a long night of toil for Peter and his fellow fishermen that produced a catch of exactly zero fish.

Nil.

Nada.

Nothing but net [and maybe some seaweed]).

Peter's reaction: "When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, 'Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!' For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken..." (Lk. 5:8-9, NIV).

John 1:35-42 tells what appears to be a different story altogether. In this account, which apparently takes place before the encounter noted above, Andrew (Peter's brother and a follower of John the Baptist) came to Christ first. Then, "the first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, 'We have found the Messiah' (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas" (which, when translated, is Peter)" (Jn.1:41-42, NIV).

How do we account for such different accounts of essentially the same event? Consider this: Mark was most likely the first gospel written. It only makes sense that Matthew and Luke would have had access to John Mark's gospel as it circulated throughout the churches. I believe Matthew and Luke are, in a sense, both expounding on and confirming what Mark wrote. Likewise with John, whose gospel was written perhaps 30-50 years after the other three synoptic gospels. I believe that the purpose of John's gospel was, in part, to fill in the gaps from the other three gospels. Therefore, if you take all four gospel accounts together, you have a cohesive whole. You see the bigger picture.

To demonstrate what I meant, I sat a soda bottle down in the middle of a round table and asked the people sitting at the table to look at it. Some could see the trademark on the label. Some could see the list of ingredients. Some could see the Iowa / Michigan 5 cent deposit box. Some could see the barcode. If you turn it, you get the full picture. The same is true with the gospels. If you look at all four gospels, you will get a much fuller view.

So... as for Peter. He heard about Jesus through his very enthusiastic brother, Andrew. Perhaps Simon Peter was skeptical at first (this may in part account for the shame Peter expresses in Luke 5:8). If he was, Jesus eradicated the doubt with a net brimming with fish.

Of course, Peter had just looked our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the eye. I cannot imagine the glory one would have seen in those eyes!

WWPD?

As I prep for teaching a series on the apostle Peter, I find myself trying to mentally walk in his shoes and thinking, "How would Peter react to a given situation?" I say react because Peter had a real proclivity for being reactionary (as opposed to proactive). Forethought wasn't Peter's forte.

For example: Jesus calls Peter out of the boat. Peter reacts by walking on the water.

Jesus appears with Moses and Elijah. Peter reacts by offering to build them a tent.

Roman guards arrive at the garden to arrest Jesus. Peter reacts by lobbing off a centurion's ear.

Scripture doesn't tell us Peter considered these things and then acted. Peter worked off impulse.

And, boy, did he ever mess up!

And yet... "And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven" (Matthew 16:18-19, NIV).

Why would Jesus choose such an impulsive individual to be "the rock" upon which He builds His church? Generally speaking, while Peter's actions tended to be wrong / mistaken, his heart was right. He wanted to please Christ. He wanted to do right. But Peter tended to get in his own way.

Don't we all.

Maybe God isn't looking for the most able. Maybe what's more important is who is the most willing.

(c) 2008 by Chris & Jennie Courtney. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
The "NIV" and "New International Version" trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by International Bible Society. Use of either trademark requires the permission of International Bible Society.

Serendipity and God

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." - Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

Statistically speaking, Harry S. Truman should never have been president. Not only that, he should never have been elected to a second term. But he was. And his presence in the White House changed the nation - if not the world.

I heard a very popular musician talking about his pre-fame days. He had traveled to Los Angeles to seek out a record contract for his band. In the midst of making calls from a payphone, he found a slip of paper in the phone booth. On the sheet was written the names and phone numbers of 25 record companies.

The chances of winning the big payoff in the lottery are 1 to xx millions. Yet people win lotteries. (No, I am not promoting playing the numbers or gambling in any way.)

Here's the good news - at least if you believe in God. There is no such thing as "luck", no serendipity. God is in control. Can we make choices that change things? Yes. Does luck just happen to fall into our lives? No.

I find that wonderfully soothing, to know that God is in control. I can tell you that I tried many times to move back to Indiana - for selfish reasons - only to have the door slammed in my face time and again. When the decision was made to follow God and move to Minnesota, he opened doors wide that I never would have dreamed of. (He even blessed me with a job working for a great company who I didn't send a resume to, through a person who I had known many years previous and many miles away!)

Looking back at the moments of my life - successes, failures, embarrassments, mistakes, troubles, sorrows, joys - I can see them all interconnected, working together to make we who (and bring me where) I am today. I look back and see the hand of God working in my life, smoothing the rough patches, making course corrections...

And, if you'll look back at your life, I'll bet you can see His work, too.

If things are looking bleak or you can't understand why you can't get from point A to point B, relax. Pray. Look around. Listen for God. Trust in His direction. We aren't in control anyway. He is!

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
The "NIV" and "New International Version" trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by International Bible Society. Use of either trademark requires the permission of International Bible Society.

Flawed Yet Chosen... A Shameless Plug

I really love teaching. And I am really stoked right now because I get to re-teach my favorite class - the very first adult ed class I ever developed - this winter at church. It's called "Flawed Yet Chosen: Looking at the Life and Times of the Apostle Peter."

I feel so blessed to teach this class because I think most people connect with Peter. He was just so... flawed.

Imperfect.

Human.

The poor guy has gotten a bum rap over the centuries. OK, so he nearly drowned walking on water. And there was that whole embarrassing episode at the transfiguration. Not to mention the earectomy he performed in the garden.

And, oh yeah, he seems to have committed the cardinal sin of denying Christ. Not once. Not twice. But three times.

In one night.

In rapid fire succession.

With swearing.

Pastors have probably been fired for less.

And yet... Jesus kept His word. "And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it" (Matthew 16:18, NIV). It doesn't matter where you are in life, what you've done or how others view you. If the apostle Peter doesn't give you hope, I don't know what will!

Over the next weeks and months, I will update this blog as the class plan develops, to share with all of you the wonderful promises of God and lessons we can glean from the life of Peter. This is an opportunity not only to teach before a class, but via a blog setting as well. I'm really excited about this - and hope you are, too!

Keep checking back here for regular updates.

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
The "NIV" and "New International Version" trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by International Bible Society. Use of either trademark requires the permission of International Bible Society.

REVISED, REVAMPED AND REWORKED

Welcome to the newly revised E-ncouragement blog, The View From Down Here...

Why the change? Well... I changed the appearance because I want a fresh start here. It's been far too long since last I blogged, so I felt a change was in order. A new coat of paint (so to speak) on the background seems a good place to start.

The name change - "contemplative" didn't fit so well. After many seconds of deep "contemplation" (assuming contemplation can truly be achieved in such a short time), I came up with what I think is more fitting name: The View From Down Here... After all, what can we know about God (or anyone / anything else for that matter) that wasn't revealed to us by Him? The best we can do is look upward - in prayer, in time spent with the Lord and His Word - and look at what He shows us, hear what He tells us.

Please visit often. Leave comments. And enjoy!

More to come soon...