Matthew
5:14-16
“You are the light of the world. A
town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither
do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its
stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In
the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good
deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
With the “Big Game” being
both celebrated by fans and played on the grid-iron by the best teams in the
American and National Football Leagues on this Super Sunday, it gets me to
thinking about how extraordinary an ordinary day is also. I remember a Sermon
message by Pastor Jason Oakes on how we use extreme words for ordinary things
today. I just read an article by Dr. Michael Horton, where he writes that we
are radical, awesome, amazing, exciting, super, life-changing, and taking
things to a whole new level has became a part of the ordinary conversations in
today’s society and church. “Ordinary” has to be one of the loneliest words in
our vocabulary today. Who wants to be an ordinary person who lives in an
ordinary house, is a member of an ordinary church, has ordinary friends, and
works an ordinary job? Our life has to count. We have to have a legacy, make a
different and leave our mark. And yet, there is a sense of growing restlessness
with this restlessness. Some have grown tired of the hype and constant calls to
radical changes through the ever-changing, new and improved, jumping on the
next bandwagon or blazing new paths to greatness. There is a growing sense of
weariness with the cult of extraordinariness and returning to steady maturation
in Christ through participation in the ordinary life of the covenant community.
1 Corinthians 13:11 “When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I
understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put
away childish things.”
Dr. Horton states that if
gradual growth in Christ is exchanged for top trends and a radical experience,
it is not surprising that many begin looking for the “Next Big Thing”. I
remember when my sons were younger fishermen, they couldn’t leave their lines
in the water long enough to catch anything. Fishing takes patience and their
initial excitement of going fishing turned quickly into boredom. Breaking News:
We are not the star in our own movie. If the whole apparatus of life, culture
and church life is designed for radical excitement, extraordinary
entertainment, amazing experiences, and high-energy fun times, then we never
grow up by these distractions. It’s unrealistic that the extraordinary should
replace the ordinary day.
Genesis 1:31-2:1 Then God saw everything that He had made,
and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning
were the sixth day (an ordinary day begins). Thus
the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished.
Any renewed appreciation for
the ordinary begins with God. Of course, God is hardly ordinary, but delights
in working in ordinary ways. God is no less the ultimate source of reality when He
is working within creation to bring forth His purposes in providence and
through the ordinary means of grace. Though the Prophets and Apostles were
called to an extraordinary calling, they were ordinary people who communicated
God’s Word in ordinary language. God’s incarnation in the womb of a virgin is
miraculous, yet born from Mary in the ordinary way, through an ordinary
nine-month pregnancy. Ordinary does not mean mediocre. There is an importance
of everyday ordinary faithfulness to mundane tasks because it leads to “excellence”.
We are called by God to maintain a faithful presence in His world. We look up
in faith towards God and out toward our neighbors in love and godly, good works.
Luke 16:10 “If you are faithful in little things,
you will be faithful in large ones.“
You don’t have to transform
the world to be a faithful ordinary mom or dad, church member, or neighbor. Maybe
we will discover a fondness for the everyday familiar and a respect for the
wisdom of our ordinary elders that spans generations. This Super Sunday, God is
asking if you and I are on His team. What team are you a fanatic for?
Ordinary in Christ, Brian
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