I believe that deep down; each of us has within us a desire to leave this place better than we found it.  We want to make a difference; we want to be remembered for the impact that we made.  It begins when we’re little and people will ask us, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” 

There are very few, if any who would say, “I would like to toil in anonymity.” Or, “I want to be a faceless, nameless cog in the machinery of life.”  We want to be doctors, scientists, teachers, firefighters, policemen, or the president of the United States (and with the field that we currently see, that seems more and more possible).  We want to make a difference.  I believe with everything in me that if we are people who truly want to make the world a better place, if we really want to make a difference, then we there is no place better for us to be than in the Kingdom of God.  The Kingdom of God is what makes a difference.

Yet, here’s what often happens:  we have these dreams and visions and plans for our lives.  We are going to do something great, but one day we look around and something has changed; life has happened and the plans we had seem to be a distant memory.  Must to our dismay, we seem to be ordinary and unimpressive.  That would be incredibly discouraging if it weren’t for this. 

He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.” (Matthew 13:31-33)

In these two very small parables, Jesus talks about one big thing and two seemingly insignificant things.  The big thing is the Kingdom of Heaven, the redemptive work of God in the world. It is what changes the world and makes it a better place.  He then said that ordinary, small, seemingly insignificant things like mustard seed and leaven accomplish this idea, this process of heaven coming to earth.  God can do, and in fact does, some amazing and extraordinary things through some of the most ordinary people and practices. 

When we look at scripture we see, what we sometimes think of as Spiritual Giants.  We see people like Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Hannah, David, Solomon, and Daniel; and we think that there is no way we can do the things in the Kingdom of God like they did.  We look at the Apostles and all they were able to accomplish, seriously wonder if we can accomplish nearly what they did.  But, when we start really looking at these Great Heroes of the Bible, and really examine their lives, it amazes us to discover that these were ordinary, everyday, run-of-the-mill, people who have the same failings, the same propensity to sin as we do.  Yet, God accomplished great Kingdom Work with people who are absolutely ordinary. 

Then there are practices that we see as unimportant.  Gathering with the church is one.  Being joined in fellowship and service with other members of God’s kingdom can produce some great things. It is in our worship together that we encounter God who saved us. It is the fellowship of the Spirit that has been given to us. It is where we sit at the table with Jesus, our host. It is a transformative event. The church is the vehicle through which God has chosen to communicate his message of redemption to a lost and dying world. 

Prayer is another seemingly small practice, but we are told over and over in Scripture what can be accomplished through it. We may see it as ordinary, as unimpressive, but we forget that God is the God of the mustard seed and leaven.  He is able to do great things with our ordinary.

We look for the next big spiritual high, or sometimes just more recognition for ourselves, and neglect the ordinary things like studying God’s word.  Can anything good come from this seemingly unnoticed, unimpressive act?  The answer is “yes” when we let that word get inside us and we begin to live out those commands and ideas.  The answer is “yes” when the word becomes flesh in our lives.

Think about this. A manger, a cross, and a tomb; something small and insignificant, something ugly that polite society would shun, and a place where people would rather not be; but God did something amazing with them.  We are ordinary everyday people who struggle with so many things, and sin is the chief among them.  But, God can do amazing things if we will surrender our will and our lives to him.

The challenge for all of us is to not neglect the ordinary, the unimpressive, the marginalized people and practices.  God can do amazing with our ordinary.  Paul to the Ephesians wrote, “to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think, according to the power of at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. ”