Using the life of Peter the apostle as an example, Matt uses the illustration of a roller coaster to describe how following Jesus is worth the cost.
You can read the manuscript behind the jump. Or, you can click here to listen to the message.
Lessons From A Roller Coaster
Matthew 4:18-20 & John 21:15-19
July 17, 2011
Matt Todd
Well, we’re back. Our family has successfully completed our first vacation as a family of five and I think things went pretty well. Thank you, Bob, for sharing the message last week. I’m sure those who heard it were touched and challenged. A very interesting thing happened last Sunday morning while we were worshiping with our friends at a church in Charlotte: part of the message that God had laid on the preacher’s heart was from 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 – those of you who were here last week might think that sounds a bit familiar. That’s because it’s the same passage of Scripture that Bob shared from last week. I’m thinking God really had something important to say to us from those verses. Or maybe He just had an important message for me – like He was going to extremes to get something through my thick skull. That really doesn’t surprise me. Sometimes it takes quite a bit to get through my thick skull. Maybe you can relate? Or maybe it’s just me.
But that’s not the only experience that sticks out from our stay in Charlotte. Aside from the crazy streets we encountered while we were in the city itself, we had a fabulous time. It was great spending time catching up with old friends while we were there. And the highlight of our time with our friends was probably this past Monday when we spend the day at Carowinds amusement park. And while we were there, we discovered a pretty neat little secret to having the whole park to yourself: 1) Go on a weekday because everyone goes on the weekend. 2) Go when the heat index is hovering around 100 degrees because…well…you’ve got to be insane to want to stand in that kind of heat all day. Just make sure you don’t get heat stroke or anything like that.
If you follow these two simple steps, you’ll encounter empty lines for the rides all day long. Fortunately, there’s free ice water and plenty of shade so it wasn’t quite as unbearable as it sounds.
I was amazed at another discovery that my family made while we were there: my two older children love riding roller coasters! Now, I’m not talking about the little kiddie-coasters that are gentle on the stomach and don’t go too fast. These were the big-huge, gigantic roller coasters with scary names like the Cyclone, the Hurler, and the Intimidator. Just watching some of the drops on some of those rides can make you feel a little bit light-headed.
But the kids were excited to try them. Maybe they didn’t know any better. Or maybe they were more fearless because their friend, Caleb, was there with them. I don’t know. But after riding some of the more tame coasters for adults, Alyson decided it was time to ride on of the big, hardcore rides: The Carolina Cobra. And so she, Caleb, and Caleb’s dad got in line. And because the lines were so short, there was very little time for her to talk herself out of getting on the ride.
The Cobra is a pretty intimidating ride when you look at it. You load onto the cart, they strap you in, and then they pull you back…and up the rail, so you find yourself suspended in the air, waiting for the lock to release you into this whirlwind of…well….it might be easier if you just watch this video to see what it’s like…
Of course, our hearts skipped a beat or two as we waited for what seemed like an eternity as we watched our daughter dangle there in the middle of the sky, waiting for certain doom to come upon her. Our minds raced through all kinds of scenarios about what could possibly happen to her while she was on this monster of a ride. Of course, none of this happened. But we were full of all of these “What if…” questions.
And you know, the more I think of it, the more I realize that this roller coaster ride (and others like it) can be a pretty good example of what life is like as a follower of Jesus Christ. It’s full of twists and turns and the highest mountaintop experiences and the deepest most difficult valleys and questions and even some uncertainty but in the end, it’s the most exhilarating thing you’ve ever experienced and you want to get right back on, doing it again and again and again.
I can’t help but think of the Apostle Peter when contemplating the ups and downs of life as a follower of Jesus. If you have your Bible with you – and I hope you do – please turn to the Gospel of Matthew, which is the first book in the New Testament. We’re going to begin by reading from Matthew 4:18-20. If you don’t have your Bible with you, you’re welcome to use the one in the pew in front of you. Matthew 4 is found on page 837 in the red pew Bibles.
After Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, he went into the wilderness and was tempted by Satan for 40 days. After his time of fasting was completed, Jesus emerged from the wilderness preaching a fiery message about the kingdom of God and urging those who heard him to repent and turn towards God. While walking along the countryside, Jesus came upon a small outfit of fishermen. And that’s where we’re picking up the story in the Scriptures.
And so it began. Now, keep your Bibles open because we’re going to be moving on to another part of Peter’s story in a few minutes, but right here we see here that as Jesus began his ministry, he was regularly bumping into fishermen, tax collectors, political activists, and other people, inviting them to follow him. “Astonishingly, these men” beginning with Peter and his brother, “abandoned their careers, their families, and their futures to follow Jesus.”[1] They heard a simple invitation: Follow Me. And they responded with reckless abandon. Sure there was uncertainty. Sure there was the risk of failure. Sure it could end in disaster, like a roller coaster train flying off the tracks. Why would Peter give up all he knew to follow Jesus into what he didn’t know? Because, somehow he knew that life with Jesus is what he had been searching for all his life. Something about Jesus drew Peter in and he “knew that life’s greatest adventure was waiting just beyond the limits” of a calm, easy, careful, predictable life.[2] He knew there was something waiting for him that was just beyond his reach. And that same longing for something more, something greater, something real, something…adventurous that is just beyond our own reach, is embedded in our own hearts, too. The Teacher, who wrote the book of Ecclesiastes, reminds us in Ecclesiastes 3:11 that “(God) has set eternity in (every) human heart.”[3] Jesus has invited us to a deeper, richer, more adventurous life than we could ever dream or imagine – even if it means we never leave the streets of Cowan.
Are you willing to abandon everything? Am I? What about our jobs? Or your retirement? What about security? Or even our homes? That sounds quite scary, doesn’t it? But there is a possibility that accepting the invitation to follow Jesus means accepting the invitation to give up all that we hold dear. But, as those who love roller coasters know, the most thrilling part of the ride is once you let go.
And that’s what Peter did. He dropped his nets and followed Jesus. And it was quite a wild ride, although he certainly didn’t enjoy all of it while it was happening. Jesus said things that were hard to understand. He said things like “Love your enemies,” “Pray for those who persecute you,” “When someone takes your shirt, give him your coat, too,” “Let the little children come to me because the kingdom of heaven belongs to people like them,” and “It’s easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Conventional wisdom says that this isn’t how you gain a following. And it’s certainly not how you make friends with the rich and powerful. But Jesus kept surprising him with twists and turns and unforeseen rises and dips. But part of the adventure of following Jesus is the fact that it’s unpredictable: He cannot be confined into our limited understanding of who God is and what He should be doing.
But following Jesus was also full of amazing surprises and exhilarating experiences along the way, too. Peter was an eye witness to the most amazing miracles anyone had ever seen. Jesus made the blind to see, those who could not walk were able to walk, the broken were made whole, the sick were healed, thousands of people were fed with just a few scraps of food, and the dead were made alive again. Nearly every step along the way, Peter was smacked in the face with a new revelation from Jesus about himself. Peter surely felt like he was on something like a roller coaster ride as he attempted to follow Jesus. With each new twist, with each new and unexpected turn that revealed something new about Jesus, it was an invitation to follow Jesus more closely, to know him and be known by him more deeply; to become so wrapped up in Him that when the crowds or the Pharisees or any other people they encountered saw Peter, they saw a reflection of the Master Himself.
But it wasn’t always easy. There were some pretty serious uphill climbs in the journey of following Jesus. And Peter failed many times. There was the time in Matthew 16 where Jesus predicted his own death, burial, and resurrection. Peter pulled the Master aside and told him that this could never happen to him; probably because he thought that was what Jesus wanted to hear. After all, it’s a pretty good sign of devotion to say that you’ll fight for someone, isn’t it? But Jesus rebuked him, even calling him a stumbling block from Satan. Over and over again, Peter just didn’t get Jesus and his mission. He didn’t understand what the journey was all about. All of this talk about death and dying and things like eating Jesus’ body and drinking his blood…it was just too much for many people. And they stopped following Jesus. It was almost too much for Peter – especially in what could have been his greatest opportunity to give up his life for Jesus. Instead, he cowered in the corner and denied that he ever knew the man when he could have ended the entire façade of a trial by merely standing up in his defense. But he didn’t. He caved in. He hid. He huddled around a charcoal fire and trembled in fear, trying to become as anonymous as possible. When it was popular to be with Jesus, Peter was bold and confident. But when everyone had left, he showed his true colors. He was a coward. And in the world’s darkest hour, he gave up on Jesus. The cost had been too great. The journey had been too exhausting. He desperately wanted to be the hero. He even tried to fight the Roman soldiers when they came to arrest Jesus. But he wound up a colossal failure.
This could have been the most depressing story ever told in the history of human storytelling if that was the end of the story, right? Everyone abandoned Jesus, even his most vocal and loyal followers. And Jesus died on a cross outside of Jerusalem, mocked and scorned and ridiculed by all who passed by. He was even rejected by the Father Himself. The ride, it seemed had come to a crashing halt.
Ever felt like that? Ever wondered if the cost of following Jesus is too great? It’s easy to sit in this Sanctuary, surrounded by other believers and sing songs about how we love Jesus and how we’ll follow Him to the ends of the earth. It’s quite another thing when you’re having a one-on-one conversation with a neighbor or a family member who is hostile to the good news of Jesus Christ. Do you show that same kind of boldness on Tuesday that you do on Sunday? Or are you like Peter and cower in the corner when things get too tough?
Ever think the valleys you’ve encountered when following Jesus have been too long and too dark? Ever think the climb was too steep to really put forth the effort? Ever want to just throw up your hands and say “I can’t take it anymore! Enough already!”? If you search down deep enough, I’d take a guess that somewhere along your journey, you’ve been tempted to think something like that. Somewhere along your journey of following Jesus, you’ve failed. You’ve screwed up. Big-time. And it felt like the ride came to a crashing halt.
Peter’s story doesn’t end there. And neither does yours. If you still have your Bibles open, please turn with me to the end of the Gospel of John. John 21 is found on page 946 in the pew Bibles. Jesus has appeared to the Disciples on two previous occasions, but Peter has not had the opportunity to speak with him. In his heart, he is still a failure of colossal proportions. There’s no way he could ever forgive himself for giving up on Jesus.
That’s when Jesus invited him to a breakfast on the beach: a breakfast consisting of bread and fished cooked on a charcoal fire – the same kind of fire that Peter stood around and denied any connection with Jesus. And…in a way that only Jesus could do it…he does something unexpected and amazing here.
After all that Peter had done…after all that he had said (and didn’t say)…Jesus gave Peter the same invitation that he gave the first time they’d met on the docks some three years prior: “Follow Me.” And he did exactly that. He followed Jesus to the ends of the earth.
The roller coaster ride of a journey did not stop with Peter’s failure. It didn’t stop with the dark valley. And it didn’t stop when the journey became too tough. When you read the opening chapters of the book of Acts, you see that the ride had only just begun. Peter’s life following Jesus led him on a great adventure that there’s no way he could have imagined when he stood there at the beach with his Risen Savior.
Where are you in your journey of faith? Are you in a dark valley? Or do you feel like a colossal failure because you didn’t stand up for Jesus the way you should have? Are you considering whether this whole following Jesus thing is really worth the blood, sweat, and tears? Is it really worth the cost?
Jesus has an invitation for you: “Follow Me.” Keep pursuing Him even in the midst of the darkness. Draw closer and closer to Him as He guides you on an amazing journey of faith. You’ll find it to be the most exhilarating thing you’ve ever done.
Oh – and one more thing about our experience at the amusement park – after Alyson got off the Carolina Cobra, she ran to her brother and to me and couldn’t stop talking about how amazing the ride was. She did everything she could to convince us to join her on the ride because, by golly, she was going on it again. Once you’re on the journey with Jesus, you can’t stop talking about it. You want others to be part of this amazing journey, too. It’s not something that you force – it’s a conversation that just…happens, because it has totally consumed you. In fact, if you ask Aiden about the Carolina Cobra today, almost a week later, I’ll bet he’ll talk your ear off about it. It was that inspiring. It was that life changing.
And that’s nothing compared with the journey with Jesus. Are you on that journey, or have you put yourself in park and decided to wait on the sidelines? Being on the journey doesn’t necessarily mean God is going to lead you halfway around the world to share the good news of Jesus or to build wells or to care for orphans – although He might. He might be inviting you to follow him across the street or around the block or even into the next room to share His love with someone who desperately needs to know Jesus.
The adventure has just begun. And the invitation to Peter is the same one He has for you: “Follow Me.”
It’s a choice we have to make every minute of every day. But it’s a decision that will change your life forever.
[1] Michael Yaconelli, Dangerous Wonder: The Adventure of Childlike Faith , 1998. Page 52
[2] Ibid.
[3] TNIV
[...] Never thought Aiden would like roller coasters very much. He does. He and his thrill-seeker sister have declared the Carolina Cobra to be their favorite amusement park ride of all-time. It’s definitely one of my top five coasters (Note to self: Share a list of my top-five coasters). It impacted us so much that I even wound up preaching about it the following Sunday. (seriously!) [...]
[...] with them. Aiden and Alyson rode their first real roller coaster. It was life-changing. I even preached about it the following [...]