Spiritual Gifts: Ordinary Men & An Extraordinary God
When Jesus called the first disciples, these ordinary, imperfect, overlooked and unlikely group of misfits on the banks of the Sea, He simply said “Follow Me. and I will make you fishers of men“.
They had no idea what power and significance was held in those 10 words, other than the expectation that they would walk alongside God, the Messiah. In the flesh. The One they had long been waiting for.
I wonder in their journey if they ever looked up around a campfire and asked why us? Why would Jesus choose this group? These men? What was so special about them? A group of mostly fishermen, a tax collector, a zealot, a thief? Or could it be that Jesus saw the hidden parts; the absolute allegiance and willingness of their heart, things that were worth far more than any talent, experience, prestige, or resume they could ever possess?
Does anyone ever ask a similar question, what could God possibly do with me? I want to share a few stories that will remind us that God is notorious for using anyone and everyone and following Him is more times than not, going to include a lot of scribbling outside of the lines of who we think He is or what we think He’s calling us to.
Rich Mullins said it best:
“God is a wild man…and I hope you encounter Him. But let me warn you, you need to hang on for dear life or let go for dear life…maybe is better.”
Rich Mullins
NOT BY POWER OR BY MIGHT BUT MY SPIRIT THUS SAYETH THE LORD.
Zechariah 4:6
Have you ever had a time in your life God called you to do something completely out of your wheelhouse? That uncomfortable feeling we have is Him stretching, refining and maturing us. The older I get, the more I’m convinced it is for our good; to protect us from a self-sufficiency which can ripple rather quickly into self-righteousness. This is the exact heart issue Jesus saw and rebuked in the Pharisees. Remember the invitation on the shore to the disciples? “Follow me and I WILL MAKE you fishers of men”. Let’s not miss that. What if God was less interested in what we can do and more in what He can do through us?
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more glady about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me“.
1 Corinthians 12:9
I come from a long-line of gifted teachers, in both my extended and immediate family but teaching is not one of my spiritual gifts. I can do it because of some other supportive gifts and experience, but it doesn’t come easy. In fact you might not know this, but the podcast series was one, that we had been working on for over a year. Not an entire year straight, (there was some illness that bumped the series to the next semester) but mentally, I felt like I was holding my breath. Spontaneous speaking is difficult for me. I struggle with anxiety, short term memory loss, over-analyzing and wrestle to keep one cohesive thought unless I write most of it out. But it’s interesting that most of my adult life, God has placed my feet in arenas where I am front and center, when my comfort zone is actually behind the scenes, orchestrating. During this series, God did what He sometimes does when I’m wrestling (or trying to find a handy excuse to get out of something) — He’ll stir me in my sleep with a word, a piece of scripture or a story. This particular time, He had me skimming through the pages of the Old Testament, specifically to the story of Moses.
Moses was a reluctant leader. (Boy, preach!) Twice He tells the Lord that “He speaks with faltering lips”. Perhaps that was a speech stuttering issue (we see his brother Aaron step in to be his spokesperson at times) or maybe it was a lack of confidence, we aren’t completely sure. He even goes as far as to tell God, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.” (Exodus 4:13) Can anyone relate to that!? But God doesn’t bend to Moses’ insecurity or let him off the hook. In fact, in Exodus 4:14 it says “The Lord’s anger burned against Moses for his continued hesitancy.” And yet, God still chooses to give Moses this massive responsibility to lead the people of Israel. Wow! He responds then to Moses by saying this: “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 I will teach you what to say.”
Okay God. I’m listening.
If that wasn’t a word for me I’m not sure what was! Maybe that story is for you too.
GOD, THE EXTRAORDINARY, USING THE ORDINARY
The Redwoods Women’s group at our church is finishing up Priscilla Shirer’s study on Elijah. If you haven’t read this yet, it’s powerful and perfectly timely to say the least. She says this…
“Stop downplaying the significance and influence of your position. Stop undervaluing how critical and purposeful your current posture is. You are necessary right where you are. God’s hand is on you wherever He has placed you, to be used for His purposes and His glory. Keep your spiritual eyes open and don’t drop the ball.”
Priscilla Shirer “Elijah: Fire & Faith”
I wanted to share a few modern day stories of God’s fingerprints woven throughout history where He is seen, strategically positioning ordinary men/women right where they were suppose to be, for His glory.
Williams Cowper, once institutionalized for insanity, found refuge in the evangelical church. He wrote some of the most theologically sound hymns, including “There is a fountain filled with blood.” He was also associated with people like John Newton (author of Amazing Grace) who was an avid anti-slavery campaigner, which resulted in Cowper being asked to write the abolitionist campaign. He also wrote a poem called “The Negro’s Complaint”, which rapidly was quoted by Martin Luther King Jr. Despite Williams severe, crippling bouts of depression and mental illness, he penned some of the most beautiful poetry that has blessed generations.
John Bunyan had no formal education. While being imprisoned for his refusal to give up preaching, John began writing a spiritual autobiography, “Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners”, and began work on his most famous book, “The Pilgrim’s Progress”, which was not published until some years after it’s release. His book became one of the best sellers in England and helped spark a spiritual awakening in the 17th century.
Mary Fair Burks, an African American woman in the 1950’s from Montgomery, Alabama. She is the unspoken hero of the early Civil Rights Movement. She heard a sermon at Reverend John’s church and was moved to action. She started the Montgomery Bus Boycott with a bunch of Sunday school ladies, which lead to people like Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks to show up later. Without Mary Fair Banks, there likely wouldn’t have ever been a Civil Rights Movement.
Corrie Ten Boom. You may have read or seen the movie “The Hiding Place”. This is her story of hiding Jews and her arrest. Even earlier, in 1844, her grandfather, William, began a weekly gathering to pray for the Jewish people, who even then were beginning to experience discrimination in Europe. I wonder if these prayers, unbeknownst to Him, saved countless Jewish people.
William Booth – a very simple man who later became an evangelistic pastor. Over the years, he created an elaborate social relief system because he believed practical means of charity would speed the work of evangelism. That system is known today as the “Salvation Army” which has over 25,000 officers and extends to over 91 countries across the world.
Franz Jaggerstatter was an ordinary farmer who lost his father in WW1, when he was just a young boy. He later had an encounter with God that his neighbors recalled as “so sudden that people couldn’t understand it”. When the German troops moved into Austria, he rejected an offer to take the position as mayor and in fact, he was the only one in the village to vote against the evil that was unfolding. (Leadership!) Later he was forced into military training, but openly remained “anti-Nazi”. These strong convictions would lead to his arrest and eventually his death. His last recorded words before his death were, “I am completely bound in inner union with the Lord”.
Ming Wang Dao was a Chinese Christian, who had no formal theology degree, but went on to found the largest evangelical church in China. He was later jailed for 25 years because of his refusal to worship the way the communists in China demanded. When he was released, he was missing most of his teeth, but he continued to sing “Onward Christian Soldier” in the Mandarin language.
Clara Barton, in 1881, displayed the tremendous gifts of mercy and service as she risked her life to bring supplies and support to soldiers during the Civil War. She later founded the American Red Cross and served over 20 years in this organization.
Your turn! (You had to know this was coming…)
Where have you been? What’s your story? What fire is God stirring up within you?
Oh sister. Please don’t ever underestimate the power of your position and the reach of one single act of obedience.
Ordinary Men. Ordinary Women.
Yielded to the convictions and callings of an Almighty, Extraordinary God.
TO WHOM MUCH IS GIVEN, MUCH IS REQUIRED
In Matthew 25:14-30 Jesus tells a parable about talents. It is a parable about the stewardship of the grace that God has given to all believes. In Jesus’ day, a “talent” referred to the largest unit of currency at the time – it weighed about 75 pounds and would be the equivalent of 20 years of normal wages for one person. This was an enormous responsibility for each of the servants to bear. The master was leaving on a journey and to one of his servants he gave 5 talents, to another 2 talents and to another 1 talent according to their ability. What happened when the master came back to settles accounts was this: the first two servants had put the money to use and were able to double their amounts and present the master with his principal and profits. He tells them “Well done, good and faithful servants. You have been faithful with little. I will set you over much”. But the servant with the one talent hid his master’s money and was afraid to use it. His talent was taken from him and given to the one who had ten. This parable shows us the importance of using the gifts He has given… not to bury them or to minimize the importance of our calling.
“Not to use our gifts is an affront to God’s wisdom, a rebuff of His love and grace, and a loss to His church. We did not determine our gift, deserve it, or earn it. But we all have a gift from the Lord, and if we do not use it, His work is weakened and His heart is grieved. “
John MacArthur
Like the parable, we are each entrusted with something based off our abilities. God may have only entrusted to you one gift. Be faithful, stewarding it well and watch Him bless your life. He wants to do a good work in and through our lives and is waiting for our response.
“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of Gods varied grace.”
1 Peter 4:10-11