Let The Redeemed Say So

IV

Ah, but I hear you yet again. I hear you saying, Preacher, you still don’t have me. In the first place, you said I should be grateful because once I was lost but now I am found; but I really don’t know that I was all that lost. I’ve been a believer as long as I can remember. So nothing special with that. And, preacher, I don’t get depressed or down and out, so I don’t have anything to thank God for on that count. And the thing about getting sick or old or dying ... come on, now, I have plenty of years to live. I’ve never worried about that. So, really, preacher, what is there to be wound up about? What has the Lord done for me this year?

To you also the Psalmist speaks, for in the last part of the Psalm he addresses the ordinary guy who goes about his ordinary business, day after day after blessed day, just doing what he is supposed to do, not much going on. But the Psalmist will remind you too, Mr or Mrs Boring Normal, that God has done and is doing something for you: Psalm 107:23-32

Some went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the mighty waters ... some just went about doing the day’s business, so ordinary, so bland, so nothing. Just taking care of the job, paying the bills, trying to be a decent citizen, maybe giving the church a little time and leadership. But I tell you, what we do not see is that God has stilled the storms and made it possible for you to sail your little boat in quiet. God has suppressed the climate of fear and has made it possible for us to step on the streets and not worry about a dictatorial government arresting us. God has taken the ordinary workday world and has given it power and meaning, so that as you work or as you study or as you give your time to Kingdom things, plain vanilla as it all seems to be, our God is able to take it all and blend it into something beautiful for Him.

And you have meaning. You do have meaning. Your life is not just a speck of dust in a vast unfeeling universe. Your life is an integral part of the plan of God, and it matters. You matter. You are precious in His sight. Nobody can do what you are intended to do, and what you can give to the Kingdom is unique. Some go down to do business, just pajamas, socks, and underwear, and not many will notice. But somebody will be affected. Somebody will be shaped by who you are.

And so give thanks. Give thanks for the quiet, ordinary things. Give thanks for the God who comes as one infant among many, to an out-of-the-way village in a third-rate corner of the world, and transforms that ordinary human life into the Word Made Flesh. Give thanks.

And let the redeemed of the Lord jump up and down, let the redeemed of the Lord shout for joy, let the redeemed of the Lord lift voices in song. Look closely; God has given you something wonderful. Let the redeemed say so. Even when it looks like just pajamas, socks, and underwear!