Plain Ordinary People

Today was a fun full day in worship in very typical Bethlehem style.  We had a baptism of a grandson of some members, a temple talk on stewardship that was very eloquently given by a council member and a few Bethlehem mishaps.

The baptism, as always was lovely.  We all gathered around the font for the baptism, allowing kids to gather closest so they could see.  After the baptism, we sang the first verse of "Children of the Heavenly Father" in both Swedish and English, as the child's grandparents are Swedish.  I'm still in awe every time I am able to baptize someone.  To pour water on their head and baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit gives me goosebumps every time.

My sermon was on Matthew 4:12-23, the story of Jesus calling Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John and telling them that they will fish for people.  I was struck by how Jesus came to these men when they were so ordinary and while we are so ordinary Jesus also comes to us.

Enjoy!

Close your eyes for a second and think of somewhere you will go this coming week that is a public place.  Maybe you are at work or at school.  Maybe you are at the mall or at the grocery store, maybe the restaurant that you went to dinner to the other night.  You are doing just ordinary things on an ordinary day.  And you are your ordinary self.  It is pretty easy to picture isn’t it? 

And this is what it was like for Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John the day Jesus came to them.  They were going about their business working, fishing and mending nets.  And yet Jesus comes to them.  There was nothing extraordinary about these people.  They weren’t special.  They didn’t have advanced degrees or special training in discipleship.  They were not big shots in the government.  They had working class jobs living week to week on what they caught and sold.  We aren’t even sure if Simon Peter and Andrew were wealthy enough to afford a boat. They blended into the towns people of Capernaum.  They had family and friends like everyone else.  They drank and ate normal food.  They weren’t special. 

They were plain, ordinary people.  And yet Jesus comes to them.

They were plain, ordinary people going about their plain, ordinary lives.  And yet Jesus comes to them.

And when Jesus came to them, when they answered the call to follow Jesus and become his disciples, they became extraordinary.  They became people written about in the pages of history.  They became people who could heal the sick in Jesus’ name.  There were people who comforted the poor, the persecuted and the oppressed.  They were people that lead communities that were changing the world. 

And we too are plain, ordinary people.  We aren’t that special.  We have pretty plain ordinary jobs.  We have a variety of degrees represented here among us and a variety of job.  Yet, at least as far as I know, none of us mingle with presidents and other world leaders, nor will we be written about in the pages of history.  We have plain, ordinary lives.  Our income levels vary but none of us go without what we need and I don’t think anyone here make it to the list of riches Americans.  We blend into the communities in which we live.  We go to the grocery store and no one stops us for our autographs.  We eat at restaurants and the paparazzi is not keeping track of our every bite.  We have family and friends like everyone else.  We eat and drink normal food.  We aren’t special. 

We are plain, ordinary people.  And yet Jesus comes to us.

We are plain, ordinary people, going about our plain ordinary lives.  And yet Jesus comes to us. 

And when Jesus comes to us, we become extraordinary. 

Jesus comes to us through ordinary things.  Jesus comes to us in bread and wine, ordinary bread made of flour and probably closer to sub-ordinary wine of Manischewitz.  Through God’s unimaginable grace, these ordinary things become the extraordinary, the body and blood of Jesus, gifts that are given to each of us. 

In a few minutes Leo will be baptized with water.  Plain ordinary water that came out of the kitchenette faucet earlier today.  But yet through the Holy Spirit, in ways which neither I nor no one else can really accurately explain, that water become extraordinary.  Through the waters of baptism, Leo’s sins, both the ones he has already committed and the many he has yet to commit will be forgiven and he will become a child of God, something that ordinary water is not capable of doing.  Through our baptisms, through God’s unimaginable grace, our sins have been forgiven and we have been made children of God.   

Jesus comes to us through these ordinary things and makes us extraordinary. 

Through the waters of baptism we become the children of God.  Through the bread and wine of communion we are reminded that Christ died for us.  We are so extraordinary that God claims us as God’s children.   We are so extraordinary that Christ died for us.

So close your eyes again and imagine the same place you pictured at the beginning of this sermon.  You are just and ordinary person, going about your ordinary life.  Now imagine that you are extraordinary.  Imagine that God has claimed you as a daughter or son.  Imagine that your sins are washed clean. Imagine that you are so extraordinary, so special, that Christ died for you.  Imagine that God called you to comfort the poor, the persecuted and the oppressed.  Imagine that Jesus called you to lead communities that were changing the world.  Jesus has called you!  Jesus has made you extraordinary.