Focal passage: Luke 5:4-11, 27-32
Around the turn of the century, actress and former fashion model, Jane Fonda, became a Christian. Having grown up an atheist, it wasn’t until someone invited her to church that she began to consider what a life with Jesus might look like.
Who extended the invitation? Being a two-time academy award winning actress, Fonda probably knew many high profile Christians in Hollywood. Yet, the person wasn’t anyone famous or recognizable. The evangelist was none other than her own chauffeur.
This story reminds us that God often does incredible things through ordinary people.
Jesus demonstrates this for us in Luke 5. Here we see Jesus recruiting His first disciples. It wasn’t to the priests or governing officials that Jesus went. Instead, it was to ordinary laborers – fishermen in fact. They didn’t have special training, money, or influence. What they did have was a willingness to leave everything and follow Him (v. 11).
This means that we don’t need a seminary degree or great wealth to change the world. Those things are bad but they’re not what’s most important. Like the disciples, if we have a willing heart, God can move mountains through us.
In his book Ordinary, Dr. Michael Horton says that we’ve “forgotten that God showers his extraordinary gifts through ordinary means of grace … and sends us out into the world to love and serve others in ordinary callings.” In other words, God uses our ordinary lives to make a difference in the people around us.
This is true no matter your personal history. There are countless stories of former alcoholics, gang members or drug addicts who went on to do tremendous things for the kingdom of God. As the Lord told the prophet Samuel, “Humans do not see what the Lord sees, for humans see what is visible, but the Lord sees the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). No matter our background, God can use us if we are willing.
The ordinary can truly become extraordinary when there’s a desire to abandon all and follow Jesus.