GOD USES ORDINARY PEOPLE FOR EXTRAORDINARY TASKS
Preached at Shiloh Baptist Church
Waukegan, Illinois
On 21 March 2009
For Mission Emphasis Day
Too GOD be the Glory...
- I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
- Oh magnify the LORD with me and let us exalt his name together.
- O Taste and see the goodness of the LORD
- Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
- Ok you missed your cue, let everything that has breath, if you got breath in your body, if GOD woke you up this morning ... started you on your way, then you have reason to give GOD praise.
- Why ... because this may be the last chance, your last opportunity to say thank you unto the LORD, so give GOD some praise on this day
- Why ... because this is the day that the LORD has made and we will rejoice and be glad in it.
I greet you this morning in the matchless name of our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank President Darlene Hill and the General Mission Board for this opportunity to share with you on this special day...
Also want to thank my mentor, my friend, my Pastor for his leadership and for agreeing to allow me to speak to you this morning... and I like to thank each one of you in advance for not falling asleep on me ...
So, let us examine our text Mark 14
(v.1) After two days was the feast of the Passover, and of unleavened bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death.
(v.2) But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar of the people.
(v.3) And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head.
(v.4) And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made?
(v.5) For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her.
(v.6) And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me.
(v.7) For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always.
(v.8) She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying.
(v.9) Verily I say unto you, wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.
Subject: GOD Uses Ordinary People to do Extraordinary Tasks
- GOD Uses Ordinary People for Extraordinary Tasks
- GOD Uses everyday people for Extra-ordinary purpose
- GOD Uses common folks, poor folks, the plain Jane(s) of the world, average folk
- The folk that everybody said wasn’t gonna amount to anything ...
- Yes ... GOD uses them to do some stuff, that will blow your mind.
Yes ... GOD uses regular, run of the mill kind of folk to do the unexpected, the astonishing ... and what some people think is bizarre, but yet, these are the folk that GOD uses, and I want to let somebody know that there is no task too small or too great for GOD to use you.
Well let’s paint the picture, in our text; Jesus is on His way to die for our sins (repeat)
Walk with me...
(v.1) Notice the timing ... only GOD could have ordained this. Our text tells us that Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were only two days away.
Well ... what does that have to do with anything? Well, I will simply tell you that they are important and if it wasn’t it would not be mentioned here. So, let me help you. You see, both of these festivals had their origins in the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. (cf. Exodus 12)
Let me help you, lets deal with them one at a time ... you see, the weeklong Feast of the Unleavened Bread was reminiscent of GOD’s instruction to the Jews in Exodus 12:19 that they were to clean out their house and remove all traces of leaven (yeast) in preparation for the extraordinary thing that GOD was about to do in their lives.
Why this requirement, well, not sure if you knew this ... but in the Bible Leaven is symbolic of sin. So GOD tell them to get it out, cus just a little bit could spread and cause sin to rise and grow out of control in their lives. So this yearly festival called for a ruthless cleansing of life and home, whereby the Israelites had to remove any possible evidence of compromise with sin.
Now ... on the other hand the Passover told the story of GOD’s Grace.
You see ... on their last night of captivity the Israelites in Egypt were spared the death of their first born because GOD was gracious.
Now sure if you realized this or not but the Bible says, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom 6:23).
Now ... watch the correlation, so on that night ... a lamb had to died, and its blood was sprinkled on door post, and that mark caused GOD’s judgment to “Passover” them.
Now the purpose for these festivals was to reinforce gratitude, humility and thankfulness for GOD’s Grace and Mercy.
Let’s paint the picture, in our text; Jesus is on His way to die for our sins (The Lamb of GOD was about to be sacrifice on Passover) ... which simply means that GOD’s Grace was on the way
However ... walk with me, (vv. 1-2) tells us that Jesus is a wanted man ... because there was some church folk in the crowd who could care less about gratitude, humility, and thankfulness. You see ... they loved the law but they did not love the LORD.
Walk with me (v.3)
And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat (which simply means that they are chilling, maxing and relaxing), there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head.
Now, I gonna get to this women, but I have to first deal with Simon the leper. Now, I gonna get to the Simon the leper, but I must first deal with this house. Now, I’m gonna get to the house, by I got to deal with the disease.
So, let’s paint the picture, in our text; Jesus (The Lamb of GOD) is on His way to die on Passover for our sins... yet He decides to stop by a house that had been at one time declared defiled.
Well ... I’m not sure if you knew this or not, but just like leaven ... leprosy too is symbolic of sin.
In fact in the Old Testament, leprosy was sometimes used as punishment for sins. Oh, yes it was, ask...
- Miriam, who was stricken with leprosy because of her criticism her brother Moses (Num. 12)
- Gehazi, Elisha’s servant, who was stricken because of his greed (2 Kings 5:20–27)
- Uzziah, the Judean king was stricken because he tried to act like he was a priest and burn incense before GOD (2 Chron. 26:16–21)
In fact ... the Eastern Bible Dictionary defines Leprosy as “the outward and visible sign of the innermost spiritual corruption; it goes to say that Leprosy defiles man’s inner nature, and renders him unfit to enter the presence of a pure and holy GOD”
And yet...Jesus (GOD THE SON, The LAMB of GOD) is having supper with a leper ... now that’s Grace.
Well, that is a little about the disease, now let of discuss the house.
You see ... not only was the person defiled, by his clothes and his house was also defiled. In fact, turn with me real quickly to Leviticus 14
(v.1) And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
(v.2) This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought unto the priest:
(v.3) And the priest shall go forth out of the camp; and the priest shall look, and, behold, if the plague of leprosy be healed in the leper;
(v.4) Then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds alive and clean, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop:
(v.5) And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water:
Lets break it down ...
two live clean birds: The slain bird would then symbolize the death he had just escaped, and the released bird symbolically carried away the polluting skin disease.
(v.6) As for the living bird, he shall take it, and the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop (Notice: the purification process), and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water:
(v.7) And he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose into the open field.
Let’s paint the picture, in our text (Mark 14); Jesus (The LAMB OF GOD) is on His way to die on Passover for our sins...yet He decides to stop by a house that had been at one time been declared unclean.
You see ... the house was now clean but the sin remained. Jesus is on his was to do what the priest could do, and that is die for his sins.
Now that is a little about the disease and about the house ... now let of discuss the man.
(v.3) First, notice his name, Simon the leper. Well, it is obvious that this man is no longer a leper, that he has been healed, if he hadn’t, according to the Leviticus accounts, Jewish people would not have been hanging out at his house.
But what messed me up is the fact that he is still called Simon the Leper, not Simon the cured, or Simon the healed ... but the Simon the leper. Come on now ... Abram’s name changed to Abraham, and Saul’s name changed to Paul -- but why is this man still called Simon the Leper. This tells me, watch out because once you get a name for yourself, it is hard to get rid of it.
However, I’m a firm believer that GOD specializes in doing the extraordinary.
I’m a firm believer that GOD specializes in ... Is that Simon the Leper ... the one who had sores all over his body
Oh, don’t change his name ... cus somebody needs to know that, YES -- that is Simon the leper who hair was white as snow
I’m a firm believer that GOD specializes in the beginning and the end ... which simply means that just because you started out one way, does not mean that you have to stay that way...
Oh, don’t change his name ... cus somebody needs to know that, YES --- that is Simon the leper who house was once defile
Oh, don’t change his name ... cus somebody needs to know that, YES --- that is Simon the leper -- who use to walk around town crying, unclean, unclean, unclean
Yet, one day Jesus was passing by on his way to die for our sins, and decided to stop by his house, and pronounced clean ... so, don’t change his name. Yes, that is Simon the Leper, some sinner needs to know that GOD can do extra-ordinary things.
You see that is the grace of the text. Some of you may feel unclean like Simon the leper once did ... but I want you to know that you are in the right place for GOD to stop-by your pew and heal and cleanse you.
Stop-by here my LORD, stop-by here; somebody needs you LORD stop-by here
Now, we have talked about the disease. We have talked about the house and the home owner, now let of discuss the women.
Walk with me...
(v.3) And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head.
(v.4) And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made?
(v.5) For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her.
Now ... I like that, but I like John 12 better.
Why, because Mark’s account only identifies Jesus and the host but stops short of identifying this women and the other house guest. So with that said and in an effort to get a better understanding and to glean what this story is teaching us ... let us turn real quickly to John 12.
(v.1) Then Jesus six days before the Passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead.
(v.2) There (Where: Simon the Leper’s House) they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him.
(v.3) Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment. (notice: in Mark’s account she anointed his head)
So, from this verse, we discover that Jesus, Mary, Martha, Lazarus, the 12 disciples are all in the Simon the Leper’s house at a dinner party in honor of Jesus.
So back to our text: Mark 14:3 this woman (Mary), went outside of tradition, and went outside of custom and left her sister Martha (again) in the kitchen cooking and cleaning ... and decided to set the party off right ... with some worship.
Let examine the worship ... (v.3)
#1. Notice that Mary broke the alabaster box. This action is symbolic of the brokenness that is required for true worship. You see ... true worship always includes a broken vessel.
Psalm 51:17. “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
The Hebrew word “contrite” means to be crushed or beaten into pieces. You see, our flesh needs to be subdued, our hearts need to broken, our attitudes humbled before GOD before we can worship Him in Spirit and in truth.
Why is this important ... because it is in our brokenness, that we are exposed for who we really are. It is in our brokenness, that we are humbled to the point of submission.
A good example of a broken and contrite heart is David ... remember what David said in Psalm 51
(v.1) Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving-kindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
(v.12) Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
#2. Notice that Mary Not only broke box but she also poured out the contents.
You see ... true worship also includes a pouring out. After breaking the box, she poured it out upon Jesus Head and feet. You see true worship always inclines a pouring out.
David said in Psalm 62:8
Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us.
You see ... for Mary to have just open the box would not have sufficed for what GOD intended; the contents had to also be poured out. You see ... there is an emptying of ourselves, a pouring out, that takes place in worship. We pour ourselves out, and then He pours out His Holy Spirit upon us and fills us.
Watch this ... walk with me, Mark 14:4
Notice ... while Mary is worship, others around her were complaining about the cost of her worship. In essence, they were probably saying why, would this woman, take a year’s worth of salary and ... waste it.
Simply put ... we have in our text in (vv. 4-5) a bunch of HATERS.
Now, I know the text does not say it, but these are human beings that we are talking about ... and I’m sure somebody in our text said within themselves
- Man why did I think of that
- Some women in the room, probably said, what in the world does she have on ... that scarf doesn’t match that hat
- And a jealous man ... probably said, ain’t no women ever down that for me.
- HATERS
Brothers and sisters, I come to realize that it does not matter what you do. It could be good or bad, right or wrong. Folk always have something to say ... HATERS!
Here this woman is worshipping ... and the church folk are tripping. HATERS.
Now, let’s face it ... some folk are just flat out jealous. And YES ... that includes some church folk. Here you volunteering your time ... and church folk sit around and complain about the ineffectiveness of your ministry, HATERS.
NOTE ... they want volunteer for nothing, nawl, nawl, they just complain about your group, HATERS.
However, notice ... that the text records the women worshipping and not responding to her critics... But Jesus did!
Watch this ... (NIV)
(v.6) “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.
(v.8) She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial.
You see ... Mary’s deed were not just an act of devotion, but a conscious intention to anoint Christ in anticipation of his approaching death and burial.
Because Mary had sat at the feet of Jesus and listened intently to his teaching, she had come to understand, even better than the disciples, the truth of his coming death.
(v.9) I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her
You see ... when Mary anointed Jesus, she wasn’t looking for a place in the spotlight. She wasn’t trying to get her named called, or win the applause of the crowd. What she did was done because of her overwhelming love for the LORD. But her act made her name immortal. In fact, had she performed this deed in order to be remembered, she probably would have been forgotten, because the Bible is not given to preserve the names of those who seek self aggrandizement.
But Mary was assured by Jesus of a permanent place in history because she performed a deed of such selfless love. If fact, Jesus commanded preachers to include this story in of Mary in our preaching text. Hence, I’m talking about her today
But only if we can be more like Mary
- Less logical and more generous with our treasures
- Less analytical and more compassionate
- Less self-centered and more Christ-centered
- Less concerned about what somebody might think or say and more anxious to honor One who first loved me.
And that is what I want to let somebody know today. Don’t ever allow anybody to get you to the point whereby you stop worshipping GOD and ... start worrying about your critics.
You see ... you can’t do both. Either you gonna do extraordinary things for GOD or you gonna respond to what your critics are saying about you...
I stopped by to tell you that you got to shake off the haters ... Turn to your neighbor and say ... GET OFF ME. I ain’t gonna let nobody stop me from allowing GOD to use you.
Church folk are always trying to decide who can be used. Church folk always trying to decide who GOD will use ... but I want to let somebody know that if a donkey can talk, cock and crow, and rocks can cry out ... then baby, GOD can do extraordinary things with you.
I’m a firm believer that GOD does not call the equipped, but that He equips the called -- why, so that no man shall boast. This simply means you don’t need a big fancy title for GOD to use you. No matter how great or how small the task ... GOD can use you.
Oh yes, GOD specializes in using ordinary folk like you and I to do extra-ordinary things. This simply means that with GOD there is no one:
- To low to be lifted
- To dirty to be cleaned
- To cracked to be cured
- To lost to be found
- To broken to be fixed
- To hurt to be healed
- To fractured to mended
- To oppressed to be renewed
- To wounded to be redeemed
- To bruised to be anointed
- To sinful to be saved
I want to let somebody know that it does not matter, if you
- Stepped out
- Cracked out
- Dropped out
- Flucked out
- Dranked out
- Walked out
- It does not matter ... GOD can still use you
So the next time you feel inadequate ... just remember that you in good company and in the right place to be used by GOD.
You see Noah got drunk (Gen 9:20-22), but that still did not stop GOD from using him.
- Abraham was too old, Genesis 17.
- Jacob was a liar, Genesis 27:19.
- Leah was considered ugly, Genesis 29:17
- Joseph was abused, Genesis 37:24-36.
- Moses stuttered, Exodus 4:10.
that still did not stop GOD from using them
- Gideon was afraid, Judges 6:21-23.
- Samson had long hair and was a womanizer, Judges 14.
that still did not stop GOD from using them
- Rahab was a prostitute, Joshua 2:1.
- Jeremiah and Timothy were too young, Jer. 1:6-7 and 2 Timothy 1:2.
that still did not stop GOD from using them
- David had an affair and was a murderer, 2 Samuel 11:3-27.
- Elijah was suicidal, 1 King 19
- Isaiah preached naked, Isaiah 20:2-4
that still did not stop GOD from using them
- Jonah ran from God, The book of Jonah
- Naomi was a widow, Ruth 1:3.
- Job went bankrupt, The Book of Job.
- Peter denied Christ, Matt 26:69-70.
- The Disciples fell asleep while praying, Matthew 26:40.
- Martha worried about everything, Luke 10:40.
- Mary Magdalene was cleansed of seven demons, Mark 16:9.
- The Samaritan woman at the well had five husbands, John 4:18.
- Zaccheus was too small, Luke 19:3.
- Paul persecuted Christian
- Timothy had an ulcer, 1 Timothy 5:23.
- Lazarus was once dead! John 11.
that still did not stop GOD from using them
I stop by to tell somebody ... that ain’t no task to small when it comes to working for the LORD.
In fact, throughout the Bible, it is consistently the small things that have made the biggest difference to GOD.
- Moses used a ROD to defeat the Egypt army
- David used a sling shot
- A few loaves of bread ... fed over 5,000
- Mary gave Him her ointment
- But one Friday Night Jesus gave His life
- Joseph gave Him, his tomb
- But early, one Sunday morning Jesus Got up out the tomb
- Simon the leper ... allowed some friends to host a party at his house
- But Jesus ... is going to give us a mansion
- Simons house had to cleansed
- But Jesus has gone away to prepare a place ... where there will be no more crying, no more dying, no more sickness and pain
- One of these days ... one of these great get up morning, we will be over there where JOB declared, that wicked will cease from troubling and our weary souls will be at rest.
- Amen
Invitation
