Today we have conducted a baby dedication. Parents bubble with anticipation for their children. Each of them expect their child to be the next president. One of the jobs of a parent is to bring out the winner in their child. That requires work, sometimes this job is more difficult than others. Paul Dickson has written a book entitled, What’s In A Name? In that book he shares some of the most unusual names he’s come across. How would you like to have any of these for your name? Cletus Clodfelter, Rotten Earp, Jinglebells Kaplan, and Boomfa Umfumpa. Can you imagine? "Hey Boomfa!" Dickson also writes that some people seem to be destined to certain occupations by their names. Joe Bunt became a baseball coach. Dan Druff became a barber. Would you feel secure hiring a plaster contractor by the name of Will Crumble?
(Contributed to Sermon Central by Timothy Smith)
Children need help in overcoming challenges and in becoming all that God intended for them to be. Most of the time we fail to see the God given potential in others. I want for us to consider the way Jesus saw the winner in people.
For a text I want to read John 1:42. “And he brought him to Jesus. Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, “You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which is translated, A Stone).” (NKJV) This text describes Simon Peter. He was the son of John. He was to become one of the foundational leaders of the early church. Paul verified this truth. In Galatians 2:9 he wrote “James and Cephas and John, who were acknowledged pillars” John 1:42 is the record of an interview. Simon Peter was interviewed by Jesus. This interview changed his life. It also gave him a new name—Peter in the Greek, Cephas in the Aramaic—both of which mean “a rock.” It took a great deal of work for Jesus to transform weak Simon into a rock, but He did it! Jesus saw the winner in Simon!
As we get into this text I want to acknowledge that it is Jesus who changes lives. We cannot change anyone. However, we learn some valuable lessons about dealing with people. These lessons can be applied to employee/employer relationships. These lessons can be applied to coach/player relationships. These lessons can be applied to parent/child relationships. These lessons can be applied as we share God’s love with others.
So what did Jesus do with Simon that brought out the God given potential in him? We can do these same things.
1. Jesus saw the Potential in people. I once heard a quote that fits appropriately at this point. “Anybody can count the number of apples on a tree, but only a rare and wonderful person can count the trees in an apple.” Jesus had the ability to count the trees in an apple. When Jesus saw Simon he saw a diamond in the rough. Here was this weak, fledging man who became one of the leaders of the early church. Notice a special phrase in our text. “When Jesus looked at him.” Jesus saw the special person God intended Simon to be. We can do the same. Look for the potential in other people. When you follow Jesus life you see His treatment of others.
In Luke 19 we find Jesus encounter with Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus was an outcast. Jesus saw his potential. Jesus told him to come down from his hide away in a tree and He was going to share a meal with him.
In Matthew 9 we find Jesus encounter with Matthew. Matthew was a hated tax collector. Jesus saw his potential.
In Mark 16:9 we find Jesus encounter with Mary Magdalene. She had formerly been possessed by seven demons. Can you imagine having her sitting on the front row of your church? Jesus saw the potential in her.
In John 4 we find Jesus encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well of Jacob. She was living with a man and had been married five times. In addition, she was a person with a mixed pedigree. The Jewish people frowned on such crossovers. Jesus saw the potential in this lady.
In each of those situations Jesus saw the potential, not the problems. Potential sometimes lies dormant. "The history books are full of stories of gifted persons whose talents were overlooked by a procession of people until someone believed in them. To name a few ... "Einstein was four years old before he could speak and seven before he could read". Einstein became one of the greatest physicists who ever lived. "Isaac Newton did poorly in grade school." Newton, like Einstein was one of the smartest people of his day as a scientist. "A newspaper fired Walt Disney because he had "no good ideas" Listen to the rest of the story about Mr. Disney. "It is reported that Walt Disney was not only a remarkable man but also a remarkably happy man. Somewhere recently there was a story about his early years. When he started out in Kansas City, he couldn’t sell his cartoons. Some hinted that he had no talent. Disney had a dream, so he set out to conquer his foes. He found a minister who paid him a small amount to draw advertising pictures for his church. Disney had no place to stay, so that the church let him sleep in the mouse-infested garage. One of those mice which Disney nicknamed Mickey, became famous---as the world knows. How satisfying life must have been for Disney when he remembered the hard struggle from lean years spent in a church garage." "Leo Tolstoy flunked out of college." It was later on that he wrote the literature classic that we know as "War And Peace".
(SOURCE: Alan Loy McGinnis. Bringing Out The Best In People. Minneapolis: Ausburg Publishing House, 1985, p. 34)
2. Jesus saw the potential in people. Next, he empowered people. Jesus looked at Simon and told him he was going to become a rock. He was going to become a pillar of the church. That is empowerment. This is the history of what God has done with people. Through-out the Bible we find imperfect people that God empowered. Consider the following examples. Noah had a drinking problem. Abraham was too old to have a child. Isaac was a daydreamer. Jacob was a liar. Leah was ugly. Joseph was abused. Moses had a stuttering problem. Gideon was afraid. Sampson was a womanizer. Rahab was a prostitute. Timothy was too young. David had an affair and was a murderer. Elijah was suicidal. Jonah ran from God. Naomi was a widow. Job went bankrupt. John the Baptist ate bugs. Peter denied Christ. The Disciples fell asleep while praying. The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once. Zaccheus was too small. God took each of these people, empowered them and used them.
3. Jesus empowered people. Third, he was patient with people. Jesus predicted that Peter would become a rock of the early church. However, Jesus had to be patient with him. He patiently helped him develop into a man of God. I want to follow a time line of Peter’s development in order to show you Jesus’ patience with him. Follow along with me.
Mt. 4:18-20 is the record of Peter’s call. His call was a spiritual high point.
Mt. 14:28-29 is the record of the occasion when Peter walked on the water. This was a spiritual high point.
Mt. 14:30-31 is the record of a failure. Immediately after walking on the water Peter became overwhelmed with fear and began to sink. This was a spiritual low point.
Mt. 16:16 is the record of Peter’s confession that Jesus was “the Christ, the Son of the living God.” This was the first time anyone had made such a confession. This was a spiritual high point for Peter.
Mt. 16:22-27 is the record of a failure. Peter entertains inappropriate thoughts and Jesus accuses him of thinking like Satan. This was a spiritual low point.
Mt. 17:4-5 is the record of a failure. In this text Peter, James, and John are on a mountain with Jesus. Moses and Elijah are also there. Peter wanted to make three religious tabernacles in honor of Moses, Elijah, and Jesus. This seems like a good gesture; however, Peter made a mistake. He had lowered Jesus to a point of equality with Moses and Elijah. A booming voice reminds him that Jesus is the beloved Son of God. Peter missed the significance of Jesus life. This was a spiritual low point for Peter.
Mt. 26:69-75 is the record of Peter’s denial of Jesus. He denied Him three times. This was a spiritual low point for Peter.
Acts 2:14,28,42 is the record of Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost. Three thousand people were saved. This was a spiritual high point for Peter.
My point in doing this little commentary is to show Peter’s ups and downs. He was not a spiritual giant who was always on top. He had ups and downs. He had successes and failures. Yet Jesus was patient with him. Jesus gave him room to grow. Jesus gave him room to fail. Do you have ups and downs? Do you have successes and failures?
Illustration: I have shared the story of our son, David. There was an occasion, when he was a boy, when he got upset with me and Judy and decided to run away from home. Being a parent takes patience.
4. Jesus was patient. Next, Jesus encouraged people. When Jesus told Peter he was to be a rock he was encouraging him.
One of the most encouraging little books you will ever read is "Stories For The Heart: 110 Stories to Encourage Your Soul." In that book Dr. John Trent tells a story about the value of encouragement.
Recently, a woman grabbed my arm at a conference
after I had finished speaking. She discussed the
enormous need we all have for affirmation.
“Dr. Trent, may I tell you my story?” she
asked. “ Actually, it’s a story of something my
son did with my granddaughter that illustrates
what you’ve been talking about---the importance
of affirmation.
“My son has two daughters, one who’s five and one
who is in the ‘terrible twos’.” When a
grandmother says this child is in the terrible
twos,” believe me, she is!
“For several years, my son has taken the
oldest girl out for a ‘date’ time, but he had
never taken the two year old until recently. On
his first ‘date’ with the younger one, he took
her out to breakfast at a local fast food
restaurant.
“They had just gotten their pancakes and my son
decided it would be a good time to tell this
child how much he loved and appreciated her.”
“Jenny,” her son had said, “I want you to know
how much I love, and how special you are to Mom
and me. We prayed for you for years, and now that
you’re here and growing up to be such a wonderful
girl, we couldn’t be more proud of you.”
Once he had said all this, he stopped talking and
reached over for his fork to begin eating…but he
never got the fork to his mouth.
His daughter reached out her little hand and laid
it on her father’s hand. His eyes went to hers,
and in a soft, pleading voice she said, “Longer,
Daddy…longer.”
He put down his fork and proceeded to tell her
some more reasons and ways they loved and
appreciated her, and then he again reached for
his fork. A second time…and a third…and a fourth
time he heard the word, “Longer, daddy…longer.”
This father never did get much to eat that
morning, but his daughter got the emotional
nourishment she needed so much. In fact, a few
days later, she spontaneously ran up to her
mother and said, “I’m a really special
daughter, Mommy. Daddy told me so.”
(Stories For The Heart: 110 Stories to Encourage Your Soul. Compiled by Alice Gray. 1996. Vision House Publishing Inc. p. 162)
There are people all around us that need to know that they are special. Jesus said it is so.
5. Finally, Jesus lifted people when they failed.
We should understand that failure is never fatal nor final.
Illustration: On July 4, 1952,a young woman named Florence Chadwick waded into the water off Catalina Island in California. She intended to swim the channel from the island to the California coast. Long-distance swimming was not new to her; she had been the first woman to swim the English Channel in both directions. The water was numbingly cold that day. The fog was so thick she could hardly see the boats in her party. Several times sharks had to be driven away with rifle fire. She swam more than 15 hours before she asked to be taken out of the water. Her trainer tried to encourage her to swim on since they were so close to land, but when Florence looked, all she saw was fog. So she quit. . . only one-mile from her goal. Later she said, "I’m not excusing myself, but if I could have seen the land I might have made it." It wasn’t the cold or fear or exhaustion that caused Florence Chadwick to fail. It was the fog. Many times we too fail. Two months after her failure, Florence Chadwick walked off the same beach into the same channel and swam the distance, setting a new speed record, because she could see the land.
(Contributed by Sermon Central: Source: Joel Smith)
Many people around us are failing because of the fog in their lives.
Jesus helps failures finish. We saw a beautiful example of helping someone to finish in the 1992 Summer Olympics. Derrick Redmond, from Great Britain, was predicted to win the 440 meter race. Just as he was making the final turn in the race he blew out his hamstring. His leg buckled beneath him and he fell to the ground in pain. With a great deal of difficulty and sheer determination, he got up and tried to limp toward the finish line. Derrick’s dad saw his son go down, so he came out of the stands to help. As the other runners passed him by, the young man looked at his dad and said, “I have to finish.” His dad replied, “I am with you all the way.” The dad put his arm around his boy’s waist and helped him limp the final hundred meters. This story is currently being used for a television commercial. Jesus Christ has come down out of the stands to help cripples limp across the finish line.
Jesus Christ wants us to be winners in the game of life. He sees our potential, He will empower us, He is patient with us, He wants to encourage us, and He wants to help us when we fail. What a recipe for winning in life!
