Crash the Chatterbox - 4
Luke 22:34-62
May 18, 2014
Have you ever told someone you would stand by their side, you’d be willing to go to battle with them, you’d be willing to die for them and with them. You’re so passionate, you feel it in your heart and spirit. Your mind is picturing the victory. Your starting to sweat as you feel the energy and passion within you. The adrenalin is flowing, your feeling it, your loving it. You feel you can destroy anyone and anything, your like the Fantastic Four all in one person! What a rush!!
It’s time! It’s time to enter the battle. You check your weapons, yup, you’re set. You step forward, but something happens, your feet aren’t moving. You’re trying to step forward, but wait! Nothing’s happening. You’re supposed to be in the battle, but you’re not. The energy is turning to anxiety, you suddenly feel weak. It’s supposed to be this glorious moment and nothing is happening! The rush is the rush of fear, panic. What now!?
Today we’re entering week 4 of the Chatterbox. We’re trying to put away the words and the images, the voices which enter our heart and head which tells us the negatives, and instead we need to hear the words of life through Christ.
What I described a few moments ago is part of a Bible story. We find it in the third book of the New Testament, the gospel of Luke 22. It’s been an amazing night. The disciples and Jesus share a Passover meal, Jesus institutes the Lord’s Supper, and Jesus looks at Peter, the rock and says this to him ~
31 “Simon, Simon, behold, satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat,
32 but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”
33 Peter said to Him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.”
34 Jesus said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me.”
You can feel the drama. Peter tells Jesus, I’ll die with you, I’ll go to prison and be beaten with you. Jesus looks at Peter, at tells him, not so quick friend. You’re going to battle, but it’s not what you thought.
Finally, the pivotal moment arrives and Luke tells us ~
54 Then they seized Jesus and led Him away, bringing Him into the high priest's house, and Peter was following at a distance.
55 And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them.
56 Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, “This man also was with Jesus.”
57 But Peter denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know Him.”
58 And a little later someone else saw Peter and said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not.”
59 And after an interval of about an hour still another insisted, saying, “Certainly this man also was with Jesus, for he too is a Galilean.”
60 But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed.
61 And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how He had said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times.”
62 And Peter went out and wept bitterly.
When Jesus was arrested, there was Peter, then he followed in the distance. He didn’t want to get to close. All that bravado was quickly melting away. One person called it a “guilty distance.” Instead of trying to fight, he stands in the background, hoping to blend in with the people, but still wanting to get a look at what was happening.
As we consider Peter, I wonder how many of us are following Christ at a distance? Maybe even at church, you’re here. And that’s great. But that’s where it ends. You’re a good person, and the voices tell you that much and more. You see, satan knows reverse psychology to get you to do nothing, too.
Hey, you’re a good person.
You don’t have to give 10%, how many really do?
You do enough.
You’re here aren’t you.
You helped your neighbor last month.
Look around you, if others don’t do it, why do you?
We buy into the cheap grace satan offers us. You see, he wants us to do nothing, yet he still wants us to feel guilty. To stand at a distance from Christ, feeling guilty and helpless and hopeless . . . in our hearts.
Your body can be in church, but your heart can be far from God.
Your lips can say the right things, but your heart can be far from God.
You can sing the right songs, but your heart can be far from God . . .
When we think of satan and his attacks on us, we consider him the tempter, he’s the one who’s filled with temptation. He puts those things before us, hoping and expecting us to trip over them.
Have you ever been in Peter’s shoes? Peter told Jesus yes, Jesus told Peter no! When it came to crunch time, this ‘rock’ was pretty soft.
Peter was reckless and bold; and now he’s ashamed as he stands at a distance. The one he hoped would bring salvation is now in trouble, and Peter stands at a distance.
When the rooster crowed, Jesus looked at him, eye to eye, even from a distance. Peter knew Jesus was staring right into his soul . . . and Peter remembered Jesus said. Then he wept bitterly.
Peter wept bitterly because he was now convinced he was a failure. This impulsive rock failed to stand with his Savior. He felt shame. You see, shame takes what you did and convinces you that what you did is who you are.
Please understand this because this is really, really crucial. We get this stuff mixed up. We often say we ‘feel guilty.’ But really we’re stuck in shame.
There’s a HUGE difference between guilt and shame.
Guilt is something you did. When we feel guilt, the focus is on our behavior. It’s a feeling of responsibility or remorse for a wrongdoing.
Shame is focusing on ourselves. Shame is something you believe you are.
You’re a disgrace, no respect for yourself, dishonor, ignominy!
The enemy wants to convince us to do what is wrong, so he can hold us down with shame.
Let me give you what I believe is one of the main and possibly the main role of satan. And it comes in the real meaning of his name. And it’s not temptation, it’s really accusation!! His major weapon is accusation. In fact the name devil or satan means “slanderer or accuser.” The nature of our enemy is to slander, defame and accuse us.
When you read Revelation 12:10 notice how John describes satan ~ 10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come,
for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.
This is the only time in the New Testament satan is referred to as the accuser. You see most of us think he is the tempter, the one who leads us to temptation, and he does a great job of putting temptation before us. And too often we jump into that temptation. So, his role isn’t just to get you to do what you shouldn’t do, which he’s really good at. But it’s in convincing you not of your guilt, but how shameful you are which then suffocates the spiritual life right out of you.
Understand the scary part of all this occurs in at the end of the chapter when John tells us ~ 17 Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring,
ON THOSE WHO KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD AND HOLD TO THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS. Do you hear those last words? Who’s the accuser making war against? You and I. We’re in a battle and we don’t take it seriously, so it’s so easy to fall prey to the accusations of our enemy.
Yet, we’re told in verse 11 ~ 11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. Now, that’s the great news we have in Jesus. – Revelation 12:11
God wants us to learn how to have victory over our enemy. Satan can’t make us feel ashamed. We sadly accept that from him.
Yet, John gives us great words in the gospel of John 14:26 - Jesus is telling the disciples He will be sending the Holy Spirit to be with them. And Jesus said, But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance of all that I have said to you.
You see, we have the accuser, satan, on one side of us, trying to make us feel shame and ashamed of who we are. But we have the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, who, if we believe in Jesus, the Holy Spirit lives within us, so we have satan all around us, but we have the Spirit, the Advocate, the Helper, who dwells or lives within us. And the Advocate is there to help us to advocate for us, to speak on our behalf, to comfort us, to strengthen us! He’s our defender!
I feel like I’m flying through this. So, I want to try and make this a little more practical, I don’t want you to walk out of here this morning saying, ‘Wow! That was good stuff!’ But that’s as far as it goes for you.
So, I’m going to share a little with you about me. Most of you don’t know this, I can get really angry! If I don’t check myself, I can explode. That’s the type of home I grew up in. Not to pass the blame, but it came from my father. He was an angry man, and it didn’t take much for the anger to come spewing and it didn’t have to be much which made him fly off the handle. Unfortunately, my sisters and I grabbed a hold of that anger. I’m sure if my sister was here, she’d tell you some juicy stories.
I’ve had my share of meltdowns. I think I’m better, but I always have to be on guard about letting it fly. In the past, I’ve broken things, punched concrete walls, and done some pretty stupid things in the name of anger. (Don’t feel sorry for me, this isn’t about me.)
My anger didn’t come in words spewing out of me, where I didn’t think and said hurtful things. Maybe you’ve been down that road, where you said some pretty vicious things without thinking.
Afterwards, thoughts come flying in, the accusations. We can’t stop them, we feel defenseless. We become angry at ourselves. The madder you get at yourself; the more the accusations come flying at you ~
what’s the matter with me?
You always do this.
You’re just like . . .
You’re screwing up your kids?
If only people knew how bad you are.
You’re a stupid idiot.
Add whatever you hear!
Then you want to go and break something else, which of course leads to more accusations and self-condemnation. Then you have to pick up the pieces which is really the worst part of it all. That’s when you really feel like a fool.
Then you think about what God thinks about you. How disappointed He is, how can I call myself a Christ follower, I’m worthless.
And you know you should stop and pray, but in those moments when you need to pray the most, it’s so hard, because you feel the least worthy for God to even open His ears and listen to my ramblings.
Folks — we all have our junk, our issues which lead to shame. We can all name something out there. We need to be able to admit them to ourselves and give them to God. But, as time passes, we start to believe the lies about who we really are. You see, what we did begins to become who we are!
At that very same time of our self-condemnation — God has sent the Advocate to help us, to convict us of who we are supposed to be in Christ. He’s there to encourages us, strengthens us, supports us to make the changes we need to make so we can become the person God wants us to become.
You know you need to change, and you even want to - - - But there’s the accuser. And the accuser is convincing you that change is absolutely impossible.
So, we have a choice. Who are we going to listen to? We will accept the words of the Advocate or the accuser?
The accuser and Advocate talk to you about the same issue, but come from different sides. The accuser is telling how bad you are, you’re no good, you’re infecting others around you.
The Advocate is trying to encourage you. Helping you to work through your issues. Reminding you, you’re not alone!
The accuser wants to destroy you. Does this sound familiar? One is out to destroy, the other is out to build up. Who do we choose?
Christian psychologist Henry Cloud has spoken about shame and what it does to you. When your thoughts have become shame based — destructive and negative. He calls them the 3 P’s of shame.
He wrote, negative thinking is always ~
Personal
Permanent
Pervasive (spreads to every area of your life)
Shame doesn’t say you made a bad decision, it says you’re a horrible person. Shame says you not only lost your temper, but you’re out of control. Shame takes what you did, and makes it into who you are. It makes it personal. Our identity is wrapped up in the what we did.
When we start listening to the accuser we start thinking “I always mess everything up. I’m no good to anyone. Why am I alive. Life stinks! Nobody could love me!”
We make it personal. It’s not about what you did, it’s about who you are. You’ve personalized it. Shame makes you think you’re messed up. You always blow it.
It’s permanent as well, because we often associate our problem as I ALWAYS do this. Not once in a while but it becomes our new identity. I always mess up. I always drop things. I always do what’s wrong. I always say the wrong things!
It’s pervasive, it spreads to every area of our lives. We picture ourselves as failures. Now, you may say it doesn’t stick. But deep down, you know it does. Because it’s the familiar mantra every time something bad happens and we end up with that ‘woe is me attitude.’ The thought that if something bad is going to happen, it’s going to happen to me. The only type of luck I have is bad luck.
You know you’re just no good. (Rooster sound)
You thought I forgot about Peter?
Remember when Peter denied Jesus that 3rd time? What happened, the rooster crowed. Have you ever wondered how many times for the rest of his life Peter would hear the rooster crow and immediately be reminded that he turned away from Jesus, from the one he said he would die for? And every time he hears the rooster crow, he sees Jesus’ eyes staring at him.
So, what roosters are crowing in your head and heart? What crowing do you hear which is reminding you of your screw ups. Whatever it is that you did or didn’t do, what is that constant reminder that you messed up and always mess up?
What’s the enemy trying to plant in your head and heart? If we’re not aware of it, it becomes shame which is personal, and permanent and pervasive.
We know we need God, but we think we don’t deserve God. We can’t be loved by God because we’re such total screw ups. So, we cry out to God telling Him we don’t deserve Him. But God comes with that soft whisper and says, “you’re right. You don’t deserve me. You really don’t. But that doesn’t mean you’re not worthy of it. You don’t deserve it, but I made you worthy of it through my Son.”
Only grace can change us. The rooster can only remind you of your sin, but do you know what God can do for you? Grace can look at you and tell you you’re loved because God declares you to be worthy. That’s not wimpy, that’s power!!
You don’t need to listen to that rooster. The accuser will always try to remind you of who you are as a shamed person. But through Jesus, the Advocate will remind you of your righteousness. Paul wrote ~
21 For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. – 2 Corinthians 5:21.
and John added ~ 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. – 1 John 1:9
The same Jesus loves us, before, during and after our screw ups. It’s the same Jesus, Jesus who is the same yesterday today and tomorrow (Hebrews 13:8).
It’s the same grace. It’s all a matter of which voice are we going to listen to. Some of you have been listening to the rooster to long. Taking you back to the place where you failed.
Shame makes us hide from God.
God saw what you did, and says you need me now more than ever. Admit it, and confess it, and turn back to me.
As we close, listen to the words of Jesus — in Luke 22:32 ~ but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” You see - - - Jesus knew Peter’s heart and He knew Peter would be fine. He would be the leader of the church God called him to be. Peter needed to believe it as well.
So, when the rooster crows, tell the rooster you can crow if you want to. What you say doesn’t define who I am. When you turn back to God, and listen to God’s voice of love, accepting His power and His grace, you will know that you never have to listen to the accuser, ever, ever again. We do it in God’s power, because He claims you as His child! And God has the power!
