Ordinary

Sermon given at Grace UMC 8/30/15

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Scripture Reading:

^NRS  1 John 1:1 We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life-- ² this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us-- ³ we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. ⁴ We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. ⁵ This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. ⁶ If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; ⁷ but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. ⁸ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Sometimes there are great books that come into my consciousness, books that change the way I think about things, important things like life. Bruce Wilkinson’s little book, The Dream Giver, is one of those works that I think everyone would enjoy reading and having a copy available in their libraries. It is a short book which makes it even more likeable to my way of thinking. The central character is someone that all of us can identify with, a person called Ordinary. I believe that this book is wonderful in its illustration of faith and perseverance.

You see this fellow Ordinary lived in the Land of Familiar. There he had the usual job, friends and family, and lived a life that could be considered by us as routine and well, Ordinary. Each of us can identify with this type of existence, for the most part; it is how we live our lives each and every day. We bumble along in our ordinary existence, wandering from place to place, looking for something to fulfill our needs. So too is the story of Ordinary. In the midst of this existence, Ordinary suddenly had a dream and in the window sill he found a feather. When he talked to his father, he found out that his father also had had a big dream when he was young, which included the feather. But unfortunately, his father never followed up on his dream and feather wilted away. What strikes me as rather extraordinary about this story is the inclusion of the feather. For a feather is the instrument that was used to write words on a page in the early days of our ancestors. So isn’t it interesting that a Big Dream would include a reference to a written record. It is my belief that we have here an analogy to the one true written record that records our big dreams and the story of each of our lives, the Bible. The other fact that strikes me in this story is the dream itself. For I believe that God reaches us sometimes through dreams. In our dreams we are given insight into our future opportunities as well as being instructed on his will for our lives.

So in our story, Ordinary decides to act on his dream. He decides to go in search of the land of opportunity. He doesn’t know where he is going or really how to get there. This story to this point really begins to remind me of the story of Abraham and Sara. They had a very comfortable life in the land of Abraham’s father, with land and wealth and means. And then one day, God sends Abraham a message, a Big Dream. Just as Ordinary decided to seek out this dream, so too did Abraham and we all are thankful for that decision.

I read the other day that we do not come to Jesus because we are righteous and strong, but because we are needy. Once in his presence, then he lifts us up so that we may become instruments of his ministry. As we experience our Big Dreams and begin to contemplate what they mean, let us be reminded to pray and experience then the discernment of God’s will. That is a difficult thing to do as each of us has at different moments in time experienced a strong urge to go in one direction or the other.

So Ordinary begins his quest. He sells all that he has, quits his job and says goodbye to all of his friends and sets out on his journey. Have you ever experienced this? Have you began a college career, gotten married and moved from where you were to a new place, gotten a new job or began a new phase of your life? Now several members of my family are in this phase of their lives today, college, marriage and new jobs. With each passing moment we experience anxiety and fear as we move out of that magical place called our comfort zone. I often ask myself what Abraham must have felt, moving to place as yet unknown to him, to a life he could not even imagine, for a future he could not even see. Each of us finds ourselves being asked to move out of our comfort zones many times during our lives and it is a difficult thing to do. We find hundreds of excuses and reasons why we should stay right where we are. If we are not careful, we then find ourselves stuck in the ordinary world and miss out on the extraordinary opportunities that God has in store for us. It is during these times that we must learn to pray, one with another and alone to discern what Big Dream God has for us.

As Ordinary begins his journey, he encounters bullies. Now these are not the bullies whom you might expect. They are his friends and his family. They have come to talk Ordinary out of this dream. I am reminded by this story of the story in Matthew where Mary and the brothers of Jesus had come to take him home. The reason that they try and help talk you out of your dreams is that the dream itself is taking them out of their comfort zone. While we are busily moving along in search of our purpose, we interact with others. That interaction can disrupt their lives as they are themselves forced to look introspectively into their purpose and their lives. So too it was with Ordinary as he first talks to his mother and then his friends. But we must prevail, God has a purpose for each of us and we cannot waver. When we do, the devil puts bullies in our path to discourage us or force us another way.

As we begin the journey, many of us have been fortunate to receive help from friends and new acquaintances. These champions help sustain us, lift us up and give us strength. Jesus and the Holy Spirit are great examples of those whom we can rely on when things do not go well or we need help and strength in the face of adversity and fear. We often refer to our guardian angel when we talk about those times that we were weak and yet we were given the strength to overcome the obstacles in front of us. One of the tragedies of the story is the loss of a champion who on the road to the Land of Promise gives all they have. The bright spot is that they are lifted up as a true hero. We have an excellent example of this type of champion in the story of Jesus who gave all that he could, so that we might yet attain our dreams.

This story would not be complete without a time of testing. As we move forward in our journey, we encounter the waste land and giants. Again I am reminded of a biblical story of the forty days in the desert and then of Paul who went off alone to prepare for his ministry. Many years ago, I was reminded that we are all tested and over the last few weeks, months and years, I have felt tested to limits of my very being. At times I have failed and have stood before God in tears and asked for forgiveness. How about you? Have you not had similar experiences in your journey and throughout your life? Why even now, one or all of us may be in the midst of the greatest trial of our lives. Before us stand giants who are prepared to keep us from our path. These giants are familiar beings, hate, financial woes, discouragement, lust, fear, anger, and bitterness. But we must lift our battle up to God to help us. We ourselves are not prepared or able to win these fights. Oh, we think we can our egos bigger than the world around us. But the reality is that we cannot. Much of our world’s noise and activity seems designed to silence our hungers and longings of our heart. Maybe we are unaware of these deep, inner hungers. They are there, but perhaps no one has encouraged us to pay attention. If we would listen to Jesus, we will discover that these longings are the doorways through which we come into the land of God. As we travel through the waste lands of our lives, occasionally we come to a place of sanctuary. In those places we may be tested even more by being asked by God to give up our dreams. Remember the story of Abraham and Isaac? After all he had been through, Abraham was asked to give it all up. When he did, God knew that he truly was a man with God in his heart.

How would you do? Today I fear that asked to give up everything, I would waver from the path or fail in my strength to fall to the giants in my life. How about you? We must hold to the path, stay the course as the expression goes. And open our hearts to the God’s message. Will we falter, sure we will. Will we fail at times, we most certainly will. But God knows this and has sent champions into the world to help us fight these battles. Think about the pray in the Garden of Gethsemane. Even Jesus was having a weak moment, faced with death and fear. But he lifted it up to the father who sent angels to strengthen him. If you have not had the opportunity to see the movie “the Passion”, I highly recommend it. But be prepared to be challenged in how you currently thought about the last hours and how they actually were. Champions, who give their all in the struggle for righteousness, are beaten severely before they fall. Be thankful for champions.

And then one day when we least expect it, we have arrived. We begin our life of service as instruments of hope on a dark world. We become the means through which others may experience their big dreams and start on their journeys. But don’t get too comfortable. Just when things are going really well it’s time for a new big dream and off we go again. But don’t let that discourage you, for each dream takes us closer and closer to him, upon whom, all big dreams reside. You see my friends, God is always calling.  “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.” (NRSV 1 Jn 1:5)