A Successful Life Matthew 16:21-28 Sunday, August 31, Success... it s something we strive for in all aspects of living.

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1 A Successful Life Matthew 16:21-28 Sunday, August 31, 2014 Success... it s something we strive for in all aspects of living. This time ever year, the fall reminds us that there are a host of football teams seeking to be successful... to be #1. We seek to be successful in our relationships... with our spouse, with our children, with our friends. We seek to be successful academically... which (we hope) leads us to be successful in our careers... Success is sought after because I think most of us would agree that when we re done in this world, we hope to be able to look back and see our success. Yes, we seek to be successful, but often don t like to put forth the effort to ensure success. I m reminded of the story that s told about a young man who was seeking to be successful in the business world... And so he thought, what better way to gain the understanding of what it would take to make it to the top, than to visit someone that had become successful. And so he went to a well-known businessman to learn how he made it, and asked him, what s the one thing that you did that would help me be so successful? The businessman answered without hesitation, "Hard work."

2 2 After a long pause the young man asked in a desperate tone, isn t there ANYTHING else? I think the young man expressed a general mentality that can be all-to-easily adopted by many people today. We don t like to hear that it takes HARD WORK to be successful. Which appears to be some of what Jesus is dealing with in today s Scripture text... as He talked about the incredible temptation of the easy way. Some call it laziness... others may call it the word we ve all heard ~ and may know ~ procrastination... I heard a quote the other day that goes something like this: Don t put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow. The Apostle Paul called it idleness and warns the Thessalonians about it in his second letter to them. But, whatever you call it, it s that THING, in us, that says, Yeah, I ll get to it, but right now, I d prefer to do what I WANT to do. It s a mentality that stems from SELF-CENTEREDNESS... and it s something that our world caters to. It s the mindset that reinforces the idea that it s about US! It s getting what we want... how we want it, and when we want it. It s the slogan that put Burger King on the map ~ Have it YOUR WAY.

3 3 And it s a concern that Jesus has with his Disciples, and so He talks about it with them... let s look at what He says. As you ll recall, Jesus and His disciples were at Caesarea Philippi. Their ministry to this point had been a stunning success: Feeding of 5,000 at one setting and feeding 4,000 at another, healings of all kinds... and the word had gotten out. And now, the crowds are pressed in on them everywhere they go. Eager to just get a glimpse of this miracle man from Nazareth. One could easily imagine that the Disciples themselves were caught up in the excitement of it all. And it was in the peak of this excitement that Jesus asked them the question we discussed last week, Who do YOU say I am? And how Simon Peter answered enthusiastically, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God! It was one of the most dramatic moments in the disciples' pilgrimage with Jesus, as this solidified in their minds that He would reign and rule and set-up a new order of government, one, in which, they would, no-doubt, move them to the top! To the top of the ladder of prestige & respect... They d be leaders... ~AND~ they d receive the PERKS that come with leadership roles. And it s in the middle of this mentality that Jesus ~ Instead of going along with that line of communication ~ He, instead, began to tell

4 4 them things that, no doubt, DIDN T go along with their line of thinking. Things that were CONTRARY to THEIR PLANS. Contrary to the way THEY had it all thought-out in their minds. It s something that I think all Christians have dealt with... and that s WHY it takes FAITH! <p> And so Jesus, instead, begins to tell them that the crowds (these same people that were pressing in on Him just to get a glimpse of Him) would soon turn against Him; To the point where He would be crucified... but on the third day he would be raised. And the disciples didn't know what to make of all this. And so, Simon Peter, I m sure by this time assuming some form of leadership of the group... takes Jesus aside, and says, God forbid it, Lord! This must NEVER happen to you. And Jesus' response to Simon Peter is as harsh as any words in the New Testament, when He says, Get behind me Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things. Perhaps Jesus called Simon Peter Satan because He could see the correlation with His experience with Satan in the wilderness when He began His Ministry. We all remember what happened there, how Satan came to tempt Jesus... In today's language, you could say that it was there that

5 5 Satan revealed to Jesus how to be a success in any of three easy steps: 1) turn stones to bread, 2) leap off the pinnacle of the temple, 3) "Bow down and worship me!" You could have the adoration of mankind without dying. Instant success ~ Instant glamour ~ Instant gratification... and ALL... without the sacrifice. And Jesus encounters that mentality, this time, in Simon Peter: Forbid it Lord that you should have to suffer and die. But Jesus response told them... and reminds us today... that His way is NOT the easy way... Which lead Him to say, If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. Deny SELF. Many of us today are making the mistake of following the easy way. We can see it in our family life. Homes are disintegrating because a father or a mother decides one day that enough is enough, and one or the other simply walks out. Not to mention, the difficulty parents have in dealing with their youth... Parenting is hard work. We have to work at realizing what makes our children tick and work to establish, maintain, and grow in our relationships with each other. We can t take the easy way in our families. <P>

6 Another area we can t take the easy way is in our work. 6 I remember that attitude being reflected in a Doonesbury cartoon a few year back that had the character Zonker noticing a despondent student coming out of the library. Zonker asked, "What's the problem?" The student replied, "It's nothing anybody can do anything about. It's just that tomorrow I'm graduating and on Monday I'm assuming a position as a junior vice president of the Chase Manhattan Bank of New York." Zonker is immediately shocked and saddened and says, "Hey, man, I'm sorry... I didn't know." But those were the seventies and all that s changed, hasn t it? Yes, today many people would sell their soul to be a junior vice president of the Chase Manhattan Bank... and... according to what we ve seen in business... MANY OF THEM HAVE. Ethics gets thrown out of the window when we seek the easy way. <p> Yes, we must be careful of taking the easy way... especially because Christians understand TWO IMPORTANT TRUTHS. THE FIRST IS THAT THE WAY TO TRUE SUCCESS IS THROUGH THE PATH OF SELF DENIAL. <p> Well-known inspirational speaker Zig Ziglar tells of visiting the Washington monument.

7 7 And as he and his party approached the monument, he heard a guide announcing loudly that there would be a two-hour wait to ride the elevator to the top of the monument. But then with a smile on his face, the guide said, there is, of course, no waiting to go to the top if you re willing to take the stairs. Ziglar observed the THING that successful people already know, which is... that there s no limit to what a healthy, reasonably intelligent person in this society can accomplish if he or she is willing to climb the stairs. He said that, the opportunity is there for anyone willing to pay the price. <P> Success in life requires a willingness to resist the lure of the easy way. A sound body requires that we exercise, we eat the right foods, and we avoid bad habits. A sound mind requires that we read, that we observe, and that we continually learn. A sound marriage requires that each partner goes into it with the understanding that marriage isn t a 50/50 proposition but a 70/30 one... in which both parties give the 70 %. A sound family means that we will take the time to be sensitive to the needs of our children, and that we provide not only for their physical needs but their emotional and spiritual needs as well.

8 8 But such goals involve words that make us cringe when we hear them... words such as sacrifice, perseverance, determination... commitment. <P> And so that s the first TRUTH we ALL know, which is that the path to personal success is the path of self-denial. Which leads us to the second important truth, which is that SELF DENIAL IS ESSENTIAL TO THE SALVATION OF THE WORLD. Our world faces some tremendous challenges... challenges that can only be met through those who care enough to act. But some have said, that when the going gets tough, everyone leaves. And Jesus can certainly relate to that, can t He? For as sure as the way got harder, the numbers of those who followed dwindled... until finally there was his mother and only one his Disciples ~ John, left at Calvary s cross. Yet, if He d been unwilling to lay down His life, the world would never have known the love of the Father. And if those early disciples hadn t picked up Jesus' cross and followed after Him, we still wouldn t know about that love. And if you and I don t pick up the cross in our time, and make those hard choices, and assume those difficult responsibilities... I wonder how our children's children will know the old, old story of Jesus and His love. <P> You may know the thrilling story of Glen Cunningham, a young man whose legs were so badly burned as a boy that doctors said he would never walk again.

9 9 However, this determined champion went on to win an Olympic gold medal as a miler. Even more importantly, Glen Cunningham devoted his life to helping troubled youth. Once, his wife asked him, Glen, why do we have to give so much more than others? No one else is doing what we re doing? And Glen answered, That's the reason, Ruth. No one else is doing it. Christian music artist, Matthew West, in his song: Do Something, expresses this concern to the Christians everywhere. Here these challenging words of this song: I woke up this morning Saw a world full of trouble now... Thought, how d we ever get so far down... How s it ever gonna turn around? So I turned my eyes to Heaven I thought, God, why don t You do something? Well, I just couldn t bear the thought of People living in poverty... Children sold into slavery... The thought disgusted me... So, I shook my fist at Heaven and Said, God, why don t You do something? He said, I did, I created you If not us, then who... If not me and you... Right now, it s time for us to do something! If not now, then when... Will we see an end... To all this pain? It s not enough to do nothing... It s time for us to do something!

10 I m so tired of talking about how we are God s hands and feet But it s easier to say than to be... Live like angels of apathy who tell ourselves It s alright, somebody else will do something Well, I don t know about you, but I m sick and tired of life with no desire... I don t want a flame, I want a fire... I wanna be the one who stands up and says, I m gonna do something We are the salt of the earth... We are a city on a hill... But we re never gonna change the world... By standing still... No we won t stand still... No we won t stand still... No we won t stand still <p> If we don't care what happens to this world, who will? If we don't feed the hungry, don't shelter the homeless, who will? If we don't tell others about Christ, who will? <P> In the words of General William Booth, founder of The Salvation Army and a friend to the down and out, three months, before his death he wrote: "While women weep as they do now... I'll fight; while little children go hungry as they do now... I'll fight; while men go to prison, in and out, in and out, as they do now... I'll fight; while there is a drunkard left, while there is a poor lost girl upon the streets, while there remains one dark soul without the light of God, I'll fight... fight to the very end." Jesus puts it this way: "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me." SELF DENIAL is an idea we HATE to hear, but it s a reality that desperately needs to be SEEN in today s world. 10

11 11 In Zig Ziglar's analogy it s the lonely stairwell as opposed to the crowded elevator. Or as Jesus himself once said, it s the narrow way that only a committed few will pursue. <P> So, once again, we must ask the question to ourselves ~ How about us? <P> No doubt there are many who will say, but what can I do?... the first thing I d tell you is, don t ask me... ask God, have a matter-offact conversation with God, and ask God, You live in me, what do You want to do through me today? Mother Teresa once said these powerful words: Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love. Jesus said, If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. That s His call upon us... I invite us to be a part of the committed few. Prayer/Hymn of Invitation: I Need Thee Every Hour 428 (1, 2 & 4)