Uncommon People for a Common Mission

1 Samuel 17: 38-46

 

 

          How many of you have used Tupperware? I doubt there is an adult in this room who hasn’t. How many of you have been to Kentucky Fried Chicken in the last month? We’re talking about two American business institutions and yet, without a little luck and a lot of failure along the way, those products wouldn’t exist today.

          Earl Tupper invented the plastic containers we now call Tupperware in the1940’s, but he could barely give them away until a single mom named Brownie Wise, who worked for Tupper, began to host something called Tupperware parties. The rest is history.

          Harland Sanders was a sixth grade dropout who went broke trying to peddle a chicken recipe, but he didn’t give up. Today, KFC is in practically every town in the country with over 17,000 stores. Then there are Ben and Jerry, who took a correspondence course together on the art of ice cream making. Aren’t we glad they did! They just wanted to start up an ice cream store in their home town, but when an idea is good, well, things happen.

          We can look at the Bible and find story after story that can outdo even those American dreams. There is Abraham, who fathered a people numbering in the millions though he was a century old man having his first child with Sarah. There is Noah, whose family repopulated the world after surviving a flood for the ages. There is Moses, a shepherd from the hill country, who took on mighty Pharaoh and his armies with nothing but a staff. There is David, the boy who slew the giant with a sling; Joseph, the slave who ran the nation of Egypt; Elijah, who took on four hundred prophets of Baal; Ruth, whose quiet loyalty earned her the status of grandmother of David the king, and Daniel, who wouldn’t bow or change his loyalties to God even to save his own skin.

          The Bible is full of such stuff of heroes and heroines and they all have something in common with those American success stories. They were not geniuses or rich or somehow favored. Quite the contrary. They were ordinary people just like you and me. None of them, not one, would have been picked for some high school or college superlative list like Most Likely to Succeed or Smartest. They were ordinary people—but they were uncommon.

          In the case of those American business success stories, they were people with an idea who didn’t give up. As time went by, the ideas gained traction. But they had to work for it and wait for it. Their success came not so much from brilliance as from tenacity.

          In the case of those Biblical folks, they were as ordinary as you can get. Nomad, farmer, slave, shepherd, poor girl from another country, exile, teenager. That’s not much to write home about. But look what they did, these ordinary people. They did so much so well because though they were just ordinary—they were uncommon.

          What makes people like this, who seem so very ordinary, who would never stand out in a crowd, so memorable? They do things that people don’t do. They attempt things that should not be attempted. They don’t seem to understand about risk/reward ratios or they would never attempt to do such things. What makes them tick, these people we read about now with awe? They were uncommon. They sought to do that which could not be done.

          The story of David and Goliath is such a tale. When no else in the army of Israel will step forward, a teenage shepherd appears. He has never been in battle. He comes to the front simply to deliver food to his brothers. Before he knows it, he is to be the giant killer. David says to the king fearlessly: “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of the Philistine.” Then King Saul says to David the word we all need to hear: “Go, and the Lord be with you.”

          I don’t know about people like Colonel Sanders or Earl Tupper, but I do know about those biblical characters. They were tapped in to a source which fueled them in a way that sheer ambition and work ethic can never do. They showed faith in God; faith that could overthrow armies, persuade kings and embolden young men and women to take on overwhelming tasks. And that faith is what made them and so many others uncommon.  

          Uncommon is not an everyday thing. If it were, it would be common. Uncommon is different. It’s doing things other people don’t do; looking at life in a way that other people don’t understand. If you live that way just to be different, you will certainly succeed at being different. But what if you live that way because you have a purpose, a purpose bigger than yourself? Then, uncommon becomes something very special.

          We live in a world surrounded by people who live lonely lives. Many whom we know are trapped in their individual pursuit of happiness. When I practiced law, I was fortunate to have a number of clients who were millionaires.  Thank goodness for rich clients. They helped make up the difference that allowed me to take on clients who couldn’t afford legal services. I remember one client in particular. He always had toys. He had a beautiful home in town, but he could afford more, so he bought a McMansion on the lake. When he got bored, he bought a fifty foot yacht with two bedrooms belowdeck, all to cruise around on the lake. When he tired of lake living, he moved back to town to another McMansion. Now he’s trying the mountains. Another mansion, this one equipped with a fabulous automobile just to drive around while he is in the mountains. My friend goes to church, too. I’m afraid it’s more a part of his connectional life than to find his higher purpose. He’s not a bad guy at all, but I worry that he will be forever getting new toys because he has no idea what it’s like to be uncommon.

          The church is uncommon. There is no institution like it in the world. It exists not because we fuel it or feed it. It exists because Christ began it and Christ will maintain it. It does not depend on the good graces of individuals, but rather the grace of Christ. We do church as community. Wes Roberts calls the community of the church “the living, breathing, in-your-face demonstration of what it means to live under the reign of God.” [1] We are part of the body of Christ and he moves us common people to continually do uncommon things.

          The church is just as much at risk of missing the mark as any other institution. It’s very hard not to become worldly. It’s difficult to watch all the apparent success of televangelists. Who can help but notice the megachurches around us which feature topline entertainment, canned music and slick promotions. They use bleacher seats instead of pews, ATMs instead of passing collection plates. I have almost no experience with that and do not mean to criticize. What I do mean to do is worry about what message all that consumerism sends. Sooner or later, people in need must be fed with the Word one on one, face to face.

          There is a story about a Korean pastor who visited a large church here in the states. The church had Wednesday night prayer services, but few showed up. It had a new educational wing and overflow parking for Sunday services where thousands would attend. After a tour of the huge facility, the local pastor asked the Korean minister his thoughts. His response was simple. “It seems that you can do quite a bit without God.”

          It’s not about technique. While resources are nice, it’s not about resources either. It’s about finding ourselves by giving ourselves away. It’s about what Peter and Paul and Joseph and Moses found out. It’s about being disciples.

          As we bond together as the church, we can begin to feel ourselves part of a common mission. We are set apart from the greater community as God’s people trying to do God things. We come together to fellowship, to worship, to disciple. We move out into the world around us as a people set apart from our world but working in it. We are commissioned to go, teach and baptize. How uncommon is that! We gather to be sent. We come to be equipped to go. We learn in order to teach.

          As this message closes, let me hasten to say that in very great part, I am speaking to the choir. This church community that I serve is in most ways a model for what church should be. People here give of themselves not just on Sunday morning, but all week long. People here value their relationships and constantly cement them with acts of love along the way. People here will quickly give and give generously, not only from their abundance, but from their substance with both their money and their time. There is always room for improvement, but I am constantly humbled by the voluntary acts of kindness and generosity I witness here in this gathering. This church is an uncommon community and it acts on the common mission of discipleship day in and day out.

          We will do well to remember the words of King Saul to young David. As David prepared to meet the Philistine giant on the field of battle, Saul sent him out with these words: “Go, and the Lord be with you.” That’s all we’ll ever need.

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[1] Wes Roberts and Glen Marshall, Reclaiming God’s Original Intent for the Church (Navpress, Colorado Springs), 2004, 87.