INTRODUCTION
A pig and a chicken were walking together one morning when the pig suddenly blurted, “I’m hungry! Let’s have some breakfast!”
The chicken replied, “Okay. We could always have eggs and bacon.”
The pig stopped, looked at his companion, and stated, “That’s fine for you! It only requires a sacrifice from you, but for me, it’s total commitment!”
Commitment is a concept we rarely speak about today, yet it is a required attribute for God’s people.
Jim Elliot was one of four missionaries murdered by the Auca Indians of South America in 1956. He kept an extensive diary, and his wife Elizabeth has shared some of his writings. He once wrote in his diary: “He makes His ministers to be a flame of fire. Am I ignitable? Deliver me from the dread asbestos of other things. Saturate me with the oil of Thy Spirit that I may be a flame. But flame is transient – often shortly-lived. Canst thou hear this, O my soul? Short life? But in me there dwells the Spirit of the great Short- Lived, the One whose zeal for His Father's house consumed Him. Make me Thy fuel, O flame of God!”
Jim Elliot and the other three men understood that as Christians, God wants all of who we are. As the old saying goes, He wants us lock, stock, and barrel! What that calls for on our part is a complete surrendering of ourselves and our will to the will of God. Like the pig, it requires commitment.
INTRODUCTION
In our continuing series Unlikely Heroes, we now turn to the New Testament portion of our Bibles. Our hero for today was just an ordinary laborer in his little hometown of Bethsaida, near Capernaum on the Sea of Galilee. His original name was Simon, a Hebrew word meaning “hearing.” You may know him better by the name given to him by Jesus, Peter, which in Greek means “rock.” By the way, he is sometimes called Cephas, which is the Aramaic word for “rock.”
Peter, like his family, was a fisherman on the Sea of Galilee. He probably attended the local synagogue school for boys, but he had no formal rabbinical training. His days consisted of fishing and home life with his wife. Everything about Peter screams unlikely hero.
Until that one day he was introduced to Jesus. His younger brother, Andrew, had heard the Master speak, and rushed quickly to his brother to lead him to see and hear the Master for Himself. Later, he, his brother, and their two fishing companions, James and John, would respond to Jesus’ call to be His disciples. Scripture records that all four immediately left their fishing to follow Jesus.
But Peter quickly establishes himself among the Twelve for a specific attribute that would turn him into a hero. That attribute was commitment. As we shall see, Peter committed himself fully to this new life, and set an example for all of us unlikely heroes to follow.
We will begin our perusal of the life of Peter with his own words, written in 2 Peter 1:16-18. Then we will survey the Gospels to uncover the commitment of this man, Peter. READ
The first matter in which we notice Peter’s commitment is:
I. He Was Committed to the Person of Christ (Matt 16:13-17)
In Simon’s day, there were false Messiahs aplenty. They broke onto the scene every few years, espousing their doctrine and claiming to be the long-awaited, long-anticipated Messiah. And, as was always the case, something would occur that disproved their claim.
When his brother Andrew, in John 1:40-42, heard Jesus and straightway went and told him, “We have found the Messiah,” Simon, trusting his brother and yet wanting to know for himself, went immediately to see the man. Jesus, upon gazing at Simon said, “So you are Simon the son of John? You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter). Jesus recognized in Simon a stalwartness of commitment, and later, when Jesus passed by their boats and said, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men,” Peter with Andrew, James, and John did not hesitate to leave their livelihood and commit themselves to this true Messiah.
Peter proved his commitment time and again, but none so evident as his bold declaration found in Matthew 16:13-17. When Jesus asked the Twelve who other men were saying that Jesus was, they responded with John the Baptist (who had been beheaded), Elijah, Jeremiah, or another of the prophets. But when Jesus inquired concerning their own belief, Peter boldly proclaimed, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus commended his commitment to the Messiahship of Jesus, remarking that the Father Himself had revealed that knowledge to him.
In his address on the day of Pentecost, Peter announced, “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” This was the message Peter preached often, because he was committed to Jesus as being the Messiah. In his two letters, he refers to Jesus as “Christ” 14 times!
In a time when many are denying the deity of Jesus, we must defiantly stand and defend it, for it is the very heart of our gospel proclamation.
Fellow believer, you must believe and be committed to Christ as the Messiah, the second person of the Trinity, the God who came in human form and died for us! Let others notice in you such commitment, so they may be inspired to follow Him!
II. He Was Committed to the Word of Christ (John 6:66-69)
Peter may have had the opportunity to hear a false Messiah or two, and to listen to their empty and false rhetoric.
But listening to Jesus was different. The words He spoke rang true and clear, and were words like Peter had never heard. With ease and precision, He spoke of grace, mercy, and justice; of heaven and hell; of sin and righteousness; and of truth and falsity. Rather than be the repetitive words of Rabbis long past, His words were fresh and spoken with an authority all His own.
That is why Peter remained with Him when all others failed Him. In fact, on one occasion in John 6:66-69, John records that, after Jesus had spoken some words that were extremely hard to understand and digest, many of His listeners began to leave and walk away. They had some problems comprehending what He spoke. Jesus, perhaps somewhat discouraged in His spirit, then faced His disciples and asked, “Do you want to go away also?”
It was bold and brash Peter who looked steadfastly into the eyes of Jesus and replied, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” In the heart and mind of Peter, Jesus’ words were truth and life for those who would listen.
The Word of God would come to play a huge part in Peter’s life. This “unlearned man” would preach the Old Testament Scriptures as if he had had the finest Rabbinical training in Israel. From His sermon to the large crowd on the day of Pentecost to his stand in the halls of the Sanhedrin and to his message in the home of Cornelius, he displayed a knowledge of the Word of God second to none.
Later, in his first epistle, he would stress the importance of the Word to his readers when he would encourage them with these words in 2:2: “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation.” In his second letter 1:19-21, He would discuss the divine origin of God’s Word: “And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
We must not only defend the Bible as God’s Word, but live our lives according to it.
Methodism’s founder, John Wesley, has given us a rich heritage as people who love the word of God and are committed to it. He once said, “God Himself has condescended to teach the way: for this very end He came from heaven. He hath written it down in a book. O give me that book! At any price give me the Book of God! Let me be a man of one book.”
Christian, how committed are you to the Word of God? Are you committed to reading it daily, meditating upon it, memorizing it, and living according to it? Do those around you see you as a person of one Book?
III. He Was Committed to the Work of Christ (John 21:15-19)
While Jesus was alive on earth, Peter was committed to doing everything the Lord had commanded. He obediently went where and when the Lord commanded him.
However, denying His Lord three times and watching Jesus crucified and buried seemed to take some of the starch out of him. Then there was some revitalization when he heard Jesus was alive, and an amazement to actually see Him!
He still seemed to have some issues, and so the Lord took him to task, testing his commitment to the work he was called to do. In John 21:15-19, we have an interesting exchange between the risen Lord and Peter. Jesus queried him three times about his commitment by asking him, Simon, son of John, do you love me? Grieved that the Lord would ever question him about his commitment to Him, each time he responded with, “Lord, you know that I love you.” For each of Peter’s responses, the Lord’s instructions were, “Feed my lambs,” “Tend my sheep,” and “Feed my sheep” respectively. Then Jesus ended it with the same command He had issued to him some 3+ years earlier, “Follow me.” This seems to have been a reminder to Peter to be faithful in what he had been called to do.
And faithful and committed he was! His sermon on Pentecost garnered 3000 souls for the kingdom. His healing of the lame man gave him an audience with the Sanhedrin. Later, Peter would be used to demonstrate that the gospel was for the Gentiles as well as he was commissioned to the home of Cornelius. Because he was so committed to the work of Christ, it earned him a martyr’s death on an upside-down cross.
God has called each of us to a life of commitment to Him. Our will must be wrapped up in His will, our work must be the work of God.
Robert Calhoun, in his book God and the Common Life, said, “Commitment does not stop with contemplation. It seeks issue in work. For the God discovered thus is a God at work, reconciling the world to Himself.
Brothers and sisters, are you so committed to God’s work? Is your desire to see souls saved for the Kingdom of God? Are you dedicated to the work of God’s church?
CONCLUSION
Fifty-six men signed the Declaration of Independence. Their commitment resulted in untold sufferings for themselves and their families. Of the 56 men, five were captured by the British and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons in the Revolutionary Army. Another had two sons captured. Nine of the fifty-six fought and died from wounds or hardships of the war. Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships sunk by the British navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts and died in poverty. At the battle of Yorktown, the British General Cornwallis had taken over Thomas Nelson's home for his headquarters. Nelson quietly ordered General George Washington to open fire on the Nelson home. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt. John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their thirteen children fled for their lives. His fields and mill were destroyed. For over a year, he lived in forests and caves, returning home only to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later, he died from exhaustion.
The cost of commitment cost something
It cost Abraham the loss of his homeland and family.
It cost Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to be cast into the fiery furnace.
It cost Daniel to be thrown into the lion’s den.
It cost Stephen death by stoning.
It cost Peter a martyr’s death.
It cost Paul to be beheaded.
It cost Jesus to die on the cross.
HAS IT COST YOU ANYTHING?
Somewhere someone looks to you as a model for commitment to God. What do they see? Do they see a hero no matter how unlikely you may be?
