My church started a new series today called Extraordinary. It is a series that will be centered around God using ordinary people to do extraordinary things. I am super excited about this series because we will be talking about a few of my favorite stories of ordinary people being called by God to do extraordinary things such as Peter, Moses, and David.
Today we talked about Peter. Before Jesus called Peter, he was a fisherman. A FISHERMAN. Aka, in this day and time, a nobody. Fishermen were close to the bottom of the totem pole when Jesus was on Earth. But Jesus called him anyways. In Matthew 16, Jesus asks His disciples who people say He is. They give Him answers like Elijah, a prophet, or John the Baptist. Jesus then asks them who they say that He is. Peter was the first one to say anything and in verse 16 he says, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God." Jesus then tells Peter in verse 18, "And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not overcome it." Wow. That is pretty powerful. Now, imagine being Peter and hearing that from Jesus. The first thing I would say to Him is "What the heck? You can't possibly think that I can do that!" And that statement is very true. Jesus knew that Peter couldn't do it alone. That is why He sent His Holy Spirit to do the work through the followers of Jesus.
What is so cool to me about this interaction between Peter and Jesus is that a few verses later they get in a fight! Jesus is telling the disciples about how He is going to die and Peter said, "Not on my watch!" Matthew 16:23 says Jesus turned to Peter and said, "Get behind me Satan!" You remember what Jesus just said about Peter being a rock? Yeah, Peter messed up. But that just shows that he was an ordinary guy! Peter was an ordinary guy that God chose to do extraordinary things through.
In Exodus 3, God speaks to Moses through a burning bush. He tells Moses in verse 10, "So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt." Now if God tells you this through a bush that is on fire, are you going to ask any questions? Most of us will never know what we would do in that situation, but if you ever do find out what it's like to hear from God through a burning bush and your reaction to that, I would love to talk to you about it when you have time. Anyways, Moses then asks God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" Basically Moses is telling God that he is a nobody, as if God didn't know. God told Moses "I will be with you." Then Moses starts asking a million questions trying to get out of this. Oh well, what if they ask me Your Name? What do I say then? What if they don't believe me? One of my favorite parts of this interaction is Exodus 4:10-12: "Moses said to the Lord, 'O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.' The Lord said to him, ' Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.'" God just answered all of Moses' questions and came up with answers for all of his lame excuses. So Moses makes a last ditch effort to get out of it. In verse 13 Moses says, "O Lord, please send someone else to do it." Moses was scared of the task ahead of him! Freeing the Israelites from the oppression of Pharaoh? Shouldn't someone with a little pull in the government do that? Certainly not an ordinary guy! Yes, an ordinary guy. Once again, God chooses ordinary people to do extraordinary things.
In 1 Samuel, the people of Israel ask for a king. Well the first king (Saul) didn't turn out too well, so in chapter 16 God tells Samuel to take some oil, go to Bethlehem, find Jesse, and anoint the son that God chooses. Well Samuel gets there and he sees Jesse's eldest son Eliab. Eliab must have looked like Cam Newton or something because as soon as Samuel saw him he said, "Surely the Lord's anointed stands here before the Lord." And verse 7 says, "But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.'" I absolutely love that verse. When God chooses someone, He chooses them based on where their heart is, not what they look like or how they act. So pretty much Samuel looks at Jesse's first seven sons and God says no to all of them. Now Samuel is starting to worry a little and asks, "Are theses all the sons you have?" Jesse tells him that there is one more tending the sheep, so he sent for him. As soon as David walked in, God told Samuel, "Rise and anoint him; he is the one." David, the youngest son, a shepherd, so ordinary that his own dad left him out until the last resort, was chosen by God. And David did extraordinary things with the help of God.
Through the stories of these people in the Bible, it has been made obvious to me that God wants to use ordinary people like you and me to do extraordinary things throughout this world. The question is, will we let Him?
I am an ordinary guy trying to live my life for an Extraordinary God.
