You may not be familiar with his name, but you all are familiar with his accomplishment. Kemmons Wilson started working when he was just a boy of seven years old selling magazines. As a teenager he first worked for a cotton broker and then for a variety of different businesses. Kemmons was an ordinary man but he had a vision. In the early 1950’s he took his wife and five children on a road trip from Memphis to Washington DC. The trip was not too far, only about 900 miles, but it required a couple of night’s stay between the two cities. Motels had sprung up all over the country since the 1920’s. Some were nice family places; others looked good on the outside but were terrible on the inside. The problem was the traveler didn’t know which he would find. This bothered Mr. Wilson. When he returned to Memphis after their trip he hired a draftsman to design his first hotel. He wanted it to be clean, simple and predictable and he wanted his hotel to have the things his family wanted; a clean room, a television and a pool at every inn. The next year he opened his first hotel on the outskirts of Memphis. Out front on a sign fifty-three feet tall flashed its name: “Holiday Inn.” By 1959 there were 100 hotels, ten years later there were over 1,000, and by 1972 a Holiday Inn opened somewhere in the world every seventy-two hours. Do you have a dream?
So what is God calling you to do right now? Not for your life, not your entire purpose for living, but what is God asking you to do today, this week, this year? I have been giving a lot of thought to God’s call for our church today and for our future. Last week we celebrated our 9th Anniversary as a church and we looked back over the past 108 months with thankfulness. We talked about our beginnings; we celebrated all of the births, baptisms and weddings. We remembered the formation of our small group ministries and we reflected on all we have endured along the way. Every change has brought new opportunities and blessings, every single one! We do cherish our past, but more importantly we embrace our future as well. We are now stepping into our 10th year together, thanking God for bringing us to here and now, to this place and to this time. So today, I want us to look forward to see what God may have in store for us. Ken Solomon once said, and I hold this to be true; “When man plans, God laughs.” I do believe God has a plan for our church and it is up to each of us to determine exactly what His plan is may be. God wants us all to look forward, to plan and keep moving forward.
This is vision stuff. Our church is and should be full of people who love to come together to worship and praise God. Full of people who love God, who are seeking His wisdom for their lives, and apply it to daily things. Not monumental, not newsworthy, actually just ordinary. Our church should be full of people inviting their neighbors and friends to participate in a celebration every Sunday, where small group ministries come together and where we may encounter someone, even a visitor for the very first time. And if we are this kind of church, God is working in our everyday lives. The evidence will prove it to be true. Yes, we will be reaching out to others, sharing that what we believe can make a difference in people’s lives. I believe church should be a place where we can come in to worship and be equipped to go out to be an example of our faith. To encounter those around us every day and connect with them on a different level. Not better, not higher, just set apart. And how do we make these connections? Relationships. Relationships. Relationships. Finding common ground, finding common interests. Scripture instructs us clearly in this area. “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus. (Philippians 2:3-5)
Here’s how God uses people:
Throughout the centuries, God has used and will continue to use ordinary people. Not the rich and famous, but everyday ordinary people like you and me. The Apostle Paul addressed this very issue in his first letter to the church in Corinth, modern day Greece, most likely only 25 years after the resurrection of Jesus.
Just for reference, there are many people today and there have been thousands over the years who question the accuracy of the writers of the New Testament. The letters of Paul, Luke, James, Peter and Jude, the Gospel writers Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and John’s prophetic book of Revelation have been questioned regarding their validity and just exactly when they were written. Many have said they were written hundreds of years after Jesus Christ walked this earth, long after any first-hand knowledge or any true recollection. They were written just to make things fit into some sort of belief system.
The truth is the Gospels were written well before the turn of the first century. All of Paul’s letters were written less than 30 years after Christ’s resurrection. John’s Revelation may have been written when he was in his 90’s, but still only 60 years or so after Christ. Can you remember 60 years ago with accuracy? Think about where you were when John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963? Or 5 years later, 1968 when his brother Bobby was killed in Los Angeles? Yesterday a High School was dedicated in honor of him on the same spot he was killed. Or even Neil Armstrong, one year later in 1969 when took his historic first step for mankind on the moon? Do you remember? Of course you do. You remember where you were, perhaps what you were even wearing, conversations you had and vivid memories you shared. So that being said, why do we question the accuracy of the writers of the New Testament?
The first century Christians saw, they knew, they were there to easily recall. First hand. They recorded it so we could learn from it and teach others. So back to Paul’s writings regarding How God uses each ordinary one of us.
In Eugene Peterson’s translation known as The Message, he writes in 1st Corinthians chapter 1, verses 26 through 31; “Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into this life. I don’t see many of "the brightest and the best" among you, not many influential, not many from high-society families. Isn’t it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses chose these "nobodies" to expose the hollow pretensions of the "somebodies"?
That makes it quite clear that none of you can get by with blowing your own horn before God. Everything that we have—right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start—comes from God by way of Jesus Christ. That’s why we have the saying, "If you’re going to blow a horn, blow a trumpet for God."
God not only uses ordinary people, He uses broken people. Think of people in your own lives, the ones who have been broken, but now are a strong witness for Christ. You know those who have experienced trouble, minor, major, jailed or otherwise, those downtrodden who have turned their lives completely around because of Christ. You may have known those who have had a lot of worldly things yet lost everything or those who have never had much to start. You may know those who have had tremendous faith, even through the tough times. There are so many Biblical examples. Do you remember Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well? The Gospel writer John records her account in the beginning verses of chapter 4. This woman was out in the daylight, frowned upon back then, and was just trying to fetch some water. Then she met Jesus at the well. She had been married several times, was then living with a man who was not her husband, but Jesus loved her and shared the truth, it didn’t matter. God could use her too. He always does. In the end, she not only believed but ran off to tell others of her experience. John, chapter 4, verses 39-42; “Many of the Samaritans from that village committed themselves to Him because of the woman’s witness: "He knew all about the things I did, she said. He knows me inside and out!" They asked him to stay on, so Jesus stayed two days. A lot more people entrusted their lives to him when they heard what he had to say. They said to the woman, "We’re no longer taking this on your say-so. We’ve heard it for ourselves and know it for sure. He is the Savior of the world!"
God uses all of us, no matter our past or even our present. God has the power to change lives, including our own. Several years ago now I asked Audrey Mensching to come forward. I asked her about some of her concerns and worries from her past.
As she honestly mentioned them, I handed her a large rock representing each one of her concerns. Within minutes she had several rocks and I put them all in a bag. The bag weighed well over ten pounds. I asked her to carry that bag everywhere she went throughout the upcoming week. So she did.
She took them home, carried them with her to work, took them to the store, carried them in her car and lugged them up and down stairs. At the end of the week she was tired from carrying them all. So my question is obvious? Why do we carry our concerns from the past knowing that God has forgiven us and can use us, even if we have been broken? We shouldn’t we leave the past in the past and trust that God can use us no matter what. He can and He wants to.
God not only uses those who are ordinary or broken, but uses people who are obedient to His Word. God asks us to be faithful, to be obedient. Sometimes I think of obedience as in dog training. Once a dog learns, sometimes even the hard way, he will be obedient. Not because he wants too, but because he has been trained too. I believe we can force a dog to be obedient instead of loving them so they will. Remember the old adage, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him…..what?” Not drink. That’s not the correct answer. We can force him to drink, we really can, but none of us can make him thirsty. That’s entirely up to the horse. The same should be true for our lives. We should want to study God’s Word and apply it to our lives. We should be thirsty, to desire to be obedient, so we can listen when God is speaking to us. Again, there are many, many Biblical examples. People who heard God calling and responded. Joshua, Joseph, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Peter, Paul, the list goes on and on.
Because of our obedience, our training if you will, we can apply God’s Word to our lives. Not just the Big Ten Commandments, but the greatest commandment of all according to Jesus, to love God and others, no matter what. Unconditionally, no strings attached. To let others see the love of God, of Christ mirrored in our lives. So others may ask, “Why did you do that for me? Why did you help them?” “Why did you take time to listen, why did you reach out?” And then we can say, “Because God’s Word asks me to do so.” “Would you like to learn more about the Bible? Would you like to attend a church full of people who feel and act the same way?”
And then God uses worshipping people. Those who are in the practice of honoring Him and praising Him for all He has created. People who love to worship right alongside ordinary, broken and obedient people. In the 4th chapter of the Book of Acts, we learn that two of the inner circle disciples, Peter and John had been arrested because of their bold witness. They proclaimed the Word of God and healed a man who had been lame all of his life. The religious rulers of the day had forbidden the two from sharing their story of the Gospel truth and how Christ had saved them.
We read this starting in verse 21; “So when the Sanhedrin had further threatened them, they let Peter and John go, finding no way of punishing them. They could find no crime. So Peter and John went to the people and reported what had happened and in one accord the people raised their voices to God saying, “Lord, You are God who made Heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them. Help us to spread Your Word, by stretching out Your Hand to heal and that signs and wonders may be done through the Name of Your Holy Servant Jesus.
And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and they spoke the Word of God with boldness.”
I want our lives and our world to be shaken. I want us all to accomplish great things by just being ordinary and obedient. I want us to have a vision just like Kemmons Wilson. I want us to be able to share our story of faith and love. I want our families, our neighbors and community to see the difference in us. Not because we’re better or higher, but because we can connect with people finding common interests as we humbly love God through Christ Jesus.
No one has come to a relationship with Jesus Christ by losing an argument. No one. But people have come to Christ because of a relationship with people like you and me who loved them just the way they are. We can all do that. I have said this dozens of times, St. Francis of Assisi once said; “We are to preach the Gospel at all times, but only occasionally we are to use words.”
All we may have to offer up is broken pieces – give it to Him. He can use it.
We may not have a lot of knowledge or skill – give it to Him. He can use you!
For some, you just need to walk in obedience to what He wants you to do. Just do it!
God can use people who will just sing His praise and worship Him. Wherever you find yourself in the process, know this. God can use each of us!
God bless you all.
