OPEN: I recently heard a radio announcer tell about a man who went through a drive up at a KFC restaurant. He ordered about $6 worth of food and then pulled up to give his money to the teller. He handed her a $200 bill. It had President George Bush’s picture on the front and on the back was a picture of a vegetable with the words beneath it declaring "I hate broccoli!" She took the bill and gave him his food and exact change. He drove away, apparently never to be seen again. (For the record, there are no $200 bills and no US legitimate currency has the picture of President George Bush - let alone broccoli - on it."
By contrast, this is a $20 bill (hold one up, and explain some of its characteristics). If I were to offer this to you, who would want this $20 bill? Let’s say I were to do this (crumple the bill into a tight ball) would you still want it? What if I did this (throw the $20 on the floor and stomp on it)? How many of you would still want it?
APPLY: Most of you would be willing to have me give you this $20 bill, no matter what it’s condition, because you know it has a value that doesn’t depend on how it looks. You know that it’s value is more than appearance - it has real worth.
I. Years ago, Laurence J. Peter visited several corporations and studied some of their management characteristics. As a result, he came up with a maxim he called "The Peter Principle." The Peter Principle roughly said this: A person is hired by a company and does a good job. Somebody notices his competence and he is promoted to a higher level of responsibility. He does a good job there as well and is elevated another notch in the corporation. This happens again and again. But eventually the individual is promoted to a position that they can’t handle. They are promoted to a point where they are incompetent. And once they reach that level of incompetence, they are no longer useful to the company. They no longer have value.
The World’s evaluates people based on a kind of Peter Principle: people are regarded as valuable based upon good looks, intelligence, personality, wealth, and so on. But sooner or later many people reach a point in their lives when they are no longer useful by those standards.
By contrast, (when it comes to value of people) God has a different attitude than world does. God looks less at what the world considers valuable than on what He knows lies within them (their inner worth).
ILLUS: A Philosopher named Haserot, once observed Dutch housewives wrapping their household belongings in pieces of canvas. Upon closer examination he discovered that the women were wrapping their goods in actual paintings by the Dutch artist Rembrandt.
These women saw a value in the canvas based upon its usefulness to them.
But they missed the canvas’ true worth, because they didn’t understand inner value of paintings
God told the prophet Samuel: The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." 1Sa 16:7
The world focuses on outward thing: what you’re good at, how attractive you are, who you know. God focuses on the heart: potential that lies within.
II. That brings us to our text: John 1:40-42. We’re introduced here to a man named Simon.
Now, I want you to see Simon the way the world saw Simon - he was useful.
This was a man who was a skilled fisherman
* he knew boats
* he knew nets
* he knew the sea
* he knew fish.
He was a man’s man
* confident
* likable
* outspoken
* highly opinionated.
AND amongst his circle of companions he’d have been a leader. Peter was a useful person. He contributed to his community.
But now, here is Andrew bringing his brother Simon to Jesus. It doesn’t say anywhere that Andrew gets the chance to say: "Jesus, this is my brother Simon." The 1st words that are uttered are by Jesus: "You’re Simon."
It is as if Jesus were saying: "I know who you are. I know you’re a skilled fisherman, a man’s man, a leader among your peers… BUT then Jesus says: "You shall be called Cephas"
Jesus not only knew who Simon was, Jesus also knew who Simon could be (potential within) and Jesus gave Simon a new name that reflected what Jesus saw as Peter’s inner quality.
It’s intriguing. Whenever God wants to do something special in person’s life, he often gives them new name.
1. Abram becomes Abraham
2. Jacob renamed Israel
3. In the New Testament, Saul turns into Paul
4. And the Bible tells us that when we become Christians, we’re given a "new name."
So, when Jesus gave Simon a new name, he was saying He intended to something special with him.
III. You might say to yourself: "That’s nice. Simon was useful to his community. Now he was going to be useful to Jesus."
But there is a problem with this concept of usefulness. If usefulness is the basis upon which we evaluate a person’s worth, then - once a person stops being useful - they stop being valuable. They become the fulfillment of the Peter Principle.
Had you been watching Peter during his time with Jesus - he would have been the embodiment of the Peter Principle.
ILLUS: One man once observed: Peter was a failure in ways that we most dread: he was impotent in a crisis and socially inept. At the arrest of Jesus he collapsed, a hapless, blustering coward; and in the most critical situations of his life with Jesus, following his confession that Jesus was the Son of God on the road to Cesarea Philippi and the vision he saw of Jesus with Moses & Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter ended up saying the most embarrassingly inappropriate things. He was not the companion we would want with us in time of danger, and he was not the kind of person we would feel comfortable with at a social occasion.
And you could have almost predicted that.
Peter was a rough, uncultured, uneducated man. He often spoke & acted without thinking.
And you couldn’t always depend on him. When Jesus asked Peter, James & John to join him in prayer in the garden of Gethsemane before he was betrayed, what did Peter end up doing? He fell asleep. Not once, not twice, but three times. Then, when Jesus was arrested -
Peter had a chance to boldly declare Jesus as his Lord and master. Instead, he denied Christ 3 times, the last time cursing as he made his denial. Then after the resurrection, perhaps from shame that he’d failed Jesus so miserably, he went back to fishing, possibly with the intention never to return to the work Christ had trained him for.
This is Peter - the man Jesus put such stock in. A failure...
V. But about 30 days later... after he fallen asleep, after he’d denied Christ 3 times, and after he’d decided to go back to fishing… we find Peter preaching one of the most powerful sermon of the church, convicting over 3000 people to repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of their sins.
Then we see Peter in temple courts, after healing a lame man, proclaiming the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
As a result of that, he was arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin’s intention was to flog, imprison, and perhaps even execute Peter for his boldness, and yet Peter responds to them, in essence: do what you will with me, "We must obey God rather than men! (Acts 5:29)
That’s quite a change. Something had apparently happened to Peter. But what?
VI. If I can discover what changed Peter - what energized him, what turned him on, what turned him loose - then you and I can lay hold of that same energy and literally turn our world upside down…
We can make difference for God like we’ve never done before.
Some people believe that what we need to accomplish that is more "head knowledge." Just study Bible more, attend Church more regularly, start going to Sunday School, maybe go to Bible college. Learn as much as I can, and then maybe I’ll change. Now, the Bible tells us all that is important. "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. (2 Tim. 2:15)
However, if anybody had "head knowledge" it was Peter. Before the crucifixion Peter spent 3 years at Jesus feet. He was taught all the right things. His doctrine was pure. BUT Peter still denied Jesus, he still hid in a locked room fearing arrest and he still nearly gave up his faith & went back to fishing.
VII. Peter needed more than "head" knowledge. The Problem with Peter went deeper than what he knew, or what he didn’t know.
Peter’s problem was that he had a character flaw. And it’s a character flaw many Christians share.
His flaw was this: when faced with a challenge Peter always said "I can do all things" (emphasis on the "I").
This was a man’s man, a leader amongst his friends. A decisive, bold, physically imposing alpha male. Peter was a tough man. You didn’t mess with this man. And, if he couldn’t do it - couldn’t be done. That was the kind of man that Peter was.
But when Peter started walking with Jesus - his whole world changed. When Peter saw Jesus walking on the water, he said to himself: "I can do that!" He said to Jesus, "Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water." (Mt 14:28) He thought to himself, "if He can do it, I can do it." But then, he found himself out on the water, feeling the wind in his face and feeling the water lap around his legs, and he said to himself: "I can’t do this!" and he began to sink. He reached out his hand to Jesus and said: "Lord, save me."
Later, when Jesus said he was going to be betrayed, arrested, and crucified, Peter thought to himself, "I can stop this!" But then Peter found himself alone by a fire. Jesus was not far away under arrest and being subjected to unknown punishments and possible death. Peter had no opportunity to make any difference by admitting he was Jesus disciple and he found himself in danger of being discovered, and feeling threatened with possible imprisonment and death, he said to himself: "I can’t do this!"
The problem for Peter was his theology. His theology was "If I can’t do it, it can’t be done." And every time he discovered that this theology wasn’t going to work around Jesus, it hurt him… and it hurt him and it hurt him some more. And the last straw was when he cowardly denied Jesus 3 times. It hurt so bad - Peter just couldn’t face it anymore and he thought it best to just walk away.
VIII. The change in Peter happened when he stopped saying: "I can do all things" and started saying: I can’t do all things… by myself." BUT, I can do all things through him who gives me strength (Philippians 4:13).
You see, it’s when Jesus was allowed to have His way with Peter that he reached full potential.
ILLUS: Someone has once noted:
A basketball in my hands is worth about $19...
But a couple of years back - put basketball in Michael Jordan’s hands is worth about $33 million.
It depends on whose hands it’s in!
A baseball in my hands is worth about $6...
BUT you put that same baseball in Mark McGuire’s hands is worth $19 million...
It depends on whose hands it’s in!
A tennis racket is useless in my hands...
BUT you put same tennis racket in Jennifer Capriati’s hands is a Grand Slam in a Tennis Championship. It depends on whose hands it’s in!
Peter learned that he needed to place himself totally in Jesus’ hands to be truly used. Peter learned that left to ourselves we eventually fail and lose "value." BUT when we allow ourselves to be touched by the master’s hand - lives change
CLOSE: ’Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer thought it scarcely worth his while
To waste much time on the old violin, But he held it up with a smile,
"What am I bid, good folks," he cried "Who’ll start the bidding for me?"
"1 dollar, a dollar"; then, "Two! Only two? Two dollars, and who’ll make it three?
Three dollars, once; three dollars, twice; Going for three --" But no,
From the room, far back, a gray haired man came forward and picked up the bow;
Then, wiping the dust from the old violin And tightening the loose strings,
He played a melody pure and sweet As the caroling angel sings.
The music ceased, and the auctioneer, With a voice that was quiet and low,
Said: What am I bid for the old violin?" And he held it up with the bow.
"A thousand dollars, and who’ll make it two? Two thousand! And who’ll make it three?
Three thousand, once; three thousand, twice, And going, and gone," said he.
The people cheered, but some of them cried, "We do not quite understand
What changed its worth?" Swift came the reply: "The touch of a masters hand,"
And many a man with life out of tune And battered and scarred with sin,
Is auctioned cheap to the thoughtless crowd, Much like the old violin
A "mess of pottage," a glass of wine A game - and he travels on.
He is "going" once, and "going" twice He’s "going" and almost "gone,"
But the Master comes, and the foolish crowd Never can quite understand
The worth of a soul and the change that’s wrought By the touch of the Master’s hand.
